GR Cycle Classic

This past Saturday was the GR Cycle Classic. A day long bike race in downtown Grand Rapids, the race course winds around the arena, with a mixture of brick and asphalt roads. I got down there early, meaning to wander around, but quickly ran into a friend of mine. We wandered, but not as fast as I had originally planned.

Once the race started, the two of us and a third photographer spent a couple of hours just walking the course and stopping to photograph whenever the whim struck. We spent a short while under a awning while a quick summer shower passed by. It made the race a little more exciting, the pavement got slicker until it dried and there were a few crashes.

Early afternoon, while the race was still going on, we decided it was time for lunch. We spent an hour or so at Hop Cats, with the starting section right outside the window. We were able to watch the race in the AC and have a bite of lunch.

We went our seperate ways afterwards. While the race was going on until 4:30 or so, we all had other things to take care of.

The race really did not have a lot of spectators, not nearly as many as have lined the course in past years. I feel part of the reason is the lack of advertising. I knew about it, because I was expecting the event and had double checked the date. The only real notice I saw about the race was a small blurb in the local paper the day of the race. It's too bad, the crowds have always been a lot bigger in years past.