Hanes Park Classic 2011

One think I really like about the Hanes Park Classic is that it's close. I mean, 'open the door and walk for 5 minutes' close. Yeah, I like that a lot. So, despite the myriad of child transportation duties that I had this weekend, I was sure to take the young ones out to watch some cyclists ride around the neighborhood.

As we walked toward Hanes Park, the ladies race had just begun and we were able to get some good pics of them doing their thing. The corner turn and climb up Northwest Blvd is fun to watch, as folks string out a bit.
It was really hot, like 95 degrees hot. So, we found other viewing points with a little more shade. No crime in that...

In between races, I bumped into my pal Chad, who is a mighty strong rider in his own right. He, apparently, rode in the 35+ Masters race earlier in the day and was still able to smile afterward.

Then it was the Mens' Pro race. We had a couple pals racing in this one, so we shouted a little extra loud.

Finally, the call of the kids was such that we had to leave so we could make their roller skating shindig. But, as we left, we got to see the men take another lap around. We ran into some pals and Barry even walked with us a bit. Sad to have missed our newest cycling buddy, Mr. Fischer, but I'm sure we'll bump into him at races down the line.

Barry, casting a critical eye at all those pros' bad form.

In summary, I'm really pleased that Winston has an event like the Classic to represent the city's love of cycling. VERY cool.

Addendum: after we left, there was a gullywasher that stopped the race. It started back up and was stopped short. Looks like we got the best of the viewing when we did!