Eleven Signs That You Are At A Euro Bike Race

1. Techno: Loud enough to rattle your eardrums. DJ is much better (or worse, depending on your taste) than the one at the Tour of California.

2. Hair: Mechanics and racers have matching mullets or fohawks...bleached if they are uber-euro (usually the Germans).

3. Shades: Screw Oakleys. Most riders eyewear would be just as much at home on the runway in Milan.

4. Helmets: Not to be worn during warm-up or cool-down laps. Just messes up #2.

5. Kits: At least one team has a purple and pink kit with hearts on the back. But they are euro, so they can rock it.

6. Cursing in the Pack: Srpski/Hrvatski/Bosanski...Italiano...even German. It just sounds more colorful when they yell "get the @#$% over" cornering at 40 kph. (Knowing how Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats curse, pack chatter was probably much more colorful than this)

7. Spectators: The one in front of you is old enough to be the grandma of one of the racers. The one next to you needs to get on his dad's shoulders to see over the barricade.

8. Podium Girls: They actually have them.

9. Rainbow Strips: At least one rider in the pack has worn them (in this case Ivan Stevic, B World Champ).

10. Home Club: All of the riders are actually from the town where the race is taking place, and the crowd knows them all.

11. Race Director: Drives every lap in his red Mercedes 450 SL Convertible...even though this is just a crit.

I love bike racing.