Sojourns, Swanee-Style: 2009 Worlds in Mendrisio

(My friend Peter Swan (Swanee) seems to travel quite a bit. When he does, he doesn't always bring his bike. But he's never without cycling. Once in a while he sends GamJams some pictures and a story from his travels. We're going to publish them here, because sometimes local cycling is found 5000 miles away.)

Sojourns, Swanee Style: 2009 Worlds in Mendrisio
by Peter Swan, NCVC Lifer

(For many more pictures, see the accompanying photo gallery on the GamJams Facebook page.)

After hanging out on the Amalfi Coast for a week, site of this year’s Giro Stage 19, we ate and drank – la dolce vita - our way through Italy to the 2009 World Cycling Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland.  We’ve had the pleasure of attending a few of these championships when we lived in Germany years ago, and it’s always an experience that’s hard to describe.  Sort of like of like a combination of the Superbowl and a NASCAR event. 

Watching the action on TV is great, but you’ve really got to be there to feel the vibe and enjoy the thousands of rabid fans who circle the course, often in ridiculous costumes, cheering on their favorites.   These are true fans, who really know all the rider stats, are super enthusiastic (and often well lubricated with beer and wine) and come in large numbers, particularly from Norway, Holland, Italy and, of course, Belgium. 

Many of the fans are old hands at this.  Fifteen minutes between laps, no problem dude, how about a friendly game of bocce with your buddies.  Need a place to hangout in style? Set up your RV on the course days in advance, on space rented from enterprising farmers who supplied water and power hookups.  The RV folks, and there were many, took in the race on their satellite TVs, while eating their lunch on linen covered tables -- and only rushed out to cheer on their favorites at the appropriate moment.  

We spoke to one well traveled British couple at their RV encampment and they told us that they regularly attend the Tour, Giro and Worlds.   Noting we were Americans,  Sir Rusty went into his RV and emerged with a book on the 2003 Tour and said, “You’ll like this.”  Quickly thumbing to a page showing a picture of one turn on the Alpe d’Huez climb, he pointed to his van and chuckled, “That’s my KICK ASS LANCE sign and I also painted the big American flag on the street!!”   As we walked the course, similar displays could be seen for all the favorites.

And, you never know who you’re going to bump into.  We spotted Stephen Roche, who was scouting the course for his son Nicholas, coming our way and he stopped and chatted with us for a quite a long time.  What a friendly unassuming guy, particularly for a World, Tour and Giro winner!  And, he lit up when he saw I was wearing his camp’s polo shirt. “Hey, you’re flying my flag, excellent.”

Then, a few hundred meters further on, we spotted a group of profi photogs talking shop, with world famous Graham Watson at the center of the bunch, of course.   The cost of their equipment hanging around their necks could have supported a small town for a couple of years.   I wish our friend Kevin Dillard could have been here, he would have had a blast swapping trade secrets.

We missed the first day of time trialing on Wednesday, so we didn’t get a chance to cheer on our World Champ, Kristen Armstrong.  But, we arrived early the next day for the profi TT, the event all of Switzerland was waiting for.   Everywhere you looked along the course, the locals had put out Swiss flags and “Forza Cancellara” signs.  Practically every store front around the course had an interesting collection of old bikes, pictures, medals and posters artfully displayed.  They even let the kids out of school early with their teachers to cheer Fabian on.  And, of course he didn’t disappoint, crushing the competition with machine like precision.  USA’s Tom Zirbel was outstanding also, his early time held up all day, until the final group rode, just pushing him off the podium.

As an ex-promoter myself, I marveled at the how well the events were run.  The entire TT and road course was fenced off with portable barriers and they must have had a thousand road guards strategically placed every 50 meters around the course .  What’s that old saying about something running like a Swiss watch – these events definitely did, even when things got dicey.  For example, as we were walking by, one of the huge inflatable course markers arching over the road sprung a leak and slowly collapsed on the road, fortunately only seconds after the profi pack had just passed.  Swiss civil guards unplugged, untied and pulled the inflatable off the course in minutes, allowing all the follow vehicles and ambulances to catch back up rapidly.

The promoters were also clever in the course design, setting up the TT course on the flatter side of town and the road race course on the hilly side, but with the same start/finish leg.  That way the fan and UCI/press stands remained the same for all four days.  At the conclusion of each days event, it was great fun to watch large packs of local “Fred” riders zooming around the closed off tracks, doing their best Cancellara and Boonen impersonations.

The time trial events were well attended, but the you could sense at Saturday’s U23 and Women’s road race that the crescendo of enthusiasm was building for the Elite/Profi race on Sunday.   On the final day, busload after busload of Cunego fans began arriving early, each carrying a flag to cheer on their hero.  And, everywhere you looked Norwegians, decked out in matching team shirts, moved like big herds of cattle up and down the tight corridors behind the barriers.   These were nearly matched by the horde of Tom Boonen fans.  At one particularly corner, at the top of the second climb, it was a virtual mob scene, with music booming and drunken fans swaying to the beat, shouting out cheers to folks across the street.  Who needs the riders, eh?  We’ve come to party hardy!!

Determined to walk the entire 8-miles circuit during the profi road race, we found ourselves on the downhill side of the course, between the climbs, with only three (15 minute) laps to go.  We were too far away from the finish line or the big screen TVs to see who was going to win, so we ordered a beer and grabbed a seat in the nearest pub to watch the finish on TV.  About 20 fans were in the bar kibitzing among themselves as to whether the Italians were going to pull off another win (they’ve won the most in the last 20 years) or whether Superman Fabian could score the double. 

Each time the breakaway passed a certain point on the course they knew, everyone ran outside to cheer on the small group of leaders in the break, including their favorite, Cancellara.  Then, on the bell lap, some huge guy sitting in the corner of the bar, dressed in a kilt like a Highland’s Games competitor, hauled out the biggest cowbell I’d ever seen (some church bells are smaller) and, once outside, started swinging the thing violently up and down, all the time yelling, “Forza Cancellara!!!” 

On the final climb, Cancellara and the Italians finally ran out of gas and it was Cadel Evan’s day, sweet redemption for a less than stellar season.  And, even though the win went to an Aussie, and not Fabian, I thought it was a great show of sportsmanship when everyone in the bar gave Cadel a round of applause as the screen showed him crossing the line. 

No doubt about it, these were true cycling fans!!