When Pros Crash Local Parties

By Jessica | Permalink |

No Comments | February 14th, 2007 | Trackback

Imagine you’re training for your local time trial. You’re on a team, sure, but you’re a cycling hobbyist. You’ve got no aspirations to go pro, you just like the idea of winning a local race in your category every now and again. Then imagine that you get to your local time trial - the one you’ve been training to do well in - and Tom Danielson shows up. Yeah, that might put a damper on your day.

It’s not unusual for pros to race in Arizona at this time of year, given the weather in most parts of the country, but still. The race director thought the name on his registration sheet just might be a mistake:

There are some jokesters on my team, and when someone handed me a registration form with “Discovery Channel” listed in the club entry, and then I see the name “Tom Danielson,” I said “now, what is this?” thinking it was a joke. The guy standing in front of me said, “yea, I’m just his twin brother.” I looked up and sure enough it was Tom.

Apparently Danielson (Discovery Channel) and his wife Kristin (Velo Bella) got tired of the snow in their hometown of Durango, Colorado, so they headed to sunny Arizona to participate in the Bartlett Lake Time Trial this past Sunday. Danielson showed up in the full Discovery TT kit, including the aero helmet and dimpled Nike skinsuit, and - not surprisingly - obliterated the old course record by more than three minutes. Kristin also won the women’s race, riding without any aerodynamic equipment.

I have to say, given the number of volunteer helpers I’ve seen at the myriad of local racing events I’ve been to, I’m not sure I’d want to be the guy responsible for holding Danielson’s bike upright before his TT start. One false move, and you’ve got a professional’s broken collarbone on your hands. Yikes.