The TradeWind Energy Team is off to St. Louis for the Gateway Cup that starts tonight at Lafayette Park. There are 4 criteriums starting tonight at 9:30pm and ending Monday, with a criterium around Benton Park, which is a new course.

I’ve done these races for a long time. On and off since the mid 90’s. The courses have changed up a bunch. They used to be much more challenging. Way more altitude gain, which I prefer. Now, 3 out of 4 are flat, wide open races. I pretty much like any criterium. Well, I’m not big on parking lot criteriums, lined with cones, or park type criteriums, that don’t really have any corners, just curves. But, I don’t like these courses as much as the older, harder ones. I’d much prefer a hard course with technical handling skills required.

Anyway, I think it is amazing how much it costs to race bicycles now. The entry for these races is $159.25. We’re staying at a pretty inexpensive hotel, but it will still be around $80 each for the three days. Gas and tolls have to be close to $40 bucks each. That isn’t even counting food. And equipment. So, $300 for the weekend plus all the stuff that gets worn out or destroyed. That is the cost for the regional Labor Day Races in St. Louis, on a budget. If I had to pay for this out of my pocket, every weekend, I’d have to get a job.

I’m still not going any better than last weekend. I probably shouldn’t have destroyed myself on Tuesday. I only rode an hour today, so maybe tomorrow I’ll feel better. It isn’t supposed to be hot at all, so that is a plus.

I’ll try to keep up to date on the results, etc. I like the late night racing, but not so much when they throw afternoon racing into the middle of it, which is the case here.