5:28 AM Bike Racing Fans

I’m not gonna lie. Cycling Fans are wack. I like bikes, but it really hit me during the Tour of California that what fan’s of cycling do is ridiculous and often made up of a descending level of poor choices.

Think about fans of traditional ball and field/court sports. For all the crazy antics they have they at least the kits they wear can easily be tied into the subject/team of their adoration and they get to watch a bulk of the event unfold right in front of them.

CyclingFan is a bit different. There is really no reason for half of the outfits. I’d like to think some are thought up over time and planned; others have just got to be paying debts for lost bets. Beyond the whole issue of the kits making no sense there is the fact that they only see the race for between 10 seconds and 40 seconds depending on how fast they can run.

My favorite by far The Devil. The Devil is a mainstay in Europe and in fact has sponsors. Dude is legit.

In terms of the Tour of California there have been some interesting ones over the past few years. The dude with the Texas or Montanta jersey and huge antlers is a machine. I still can’t figure out how he runs with that thing on his head. I heard a rumor that someone stole his antlers mid tour this year. I hope who ever did it answers to the wrong ad on Craigslist and ends up in a bathtub missing his kidney.







Last years star of the tour was probably Big Hair SuperFan. With his big hair, cape and custom sublimated jersey. I think he was a one year wonder cause I hadn’t seen him before and didn’t see him this year either. There were some others last year on The Palomar stage that made no sense at all- certainly the sumo guys made some trouble as well.

Big Hair Super Fan





Umm...





Multiple issues with this guy- It's hot out and that is a thick wetsuit. He is climbing Palomar Mountain on a beach cruiser (one of the only if not the only "hor catagorie" climb in So Cal that isn't an out and back. He is at least 30 miles from the beach.







This year we had Spartacus. I was shooting some video and he was confused. After instructing him he finally figured it out. There is some sort of a theme in being a fan. Dress like a super hero, villain, Halloween costume etc. If you look crazy enough you just might get your 3 seconds on versus or universal, or whatever low budget cable channel is now carrying cycling. Don’t get me wrong- I’m glad it’s on tv.

Spartacus from JPOV on Vimeo.

Here is where the “wack” really comes in. The silver lady. Does one really wake up in the morning and think it’s a great idea to throw on that mirrored silver body suit to show the appreciation you have for bike racers? And why would you have that in your closet? Beyond that when you walked in front of the mirror and you noticed your naughty bits being exposed in shiny mirrored glory weren't red flags going off in your head? Was the Livestrong banner going to balance out your kit? And lastly I saw you riding your bike. How did you do that in that kit with no shammy?







I thought she took the cake for the most outrageous of the year then I saw green suit dude. This guy’s suit was not only green but it completely covered him, including his head and eyes. I have no idea how he was able to see. Turns out he was following orders from a male version of the mirrored body suit lady. Only his kit was more like a wrestling leotard. He must have been using liberal amounts of tape to keep his junk in at the speed he was running. The most shocking part of it all was when mirrored wrestling kit guy turned around I realized he was someone I know and ride with on occasion. Oops.