COURSE NOTES

Stoney Point Road Race

This course has lots of rolling hills and good road surfaces. The entire circuit is on typical two-lane country roads, some of which are rather narrow. There are lots of the low rolling hills typical of this area, none of which are particularly long or steep. The second turn comes up suddenly just after coming over a little rise, so be prepared! Likewise, turn #4 (the left-hand turn) comes up suddenly after a slight downhill. The course will be open to traffic and of course the center line rule will be in effect. We will allow both lanes to be used only for the final 200 meters before the finish (not for the hot spot sprint), but keep in mind that it is always possible that a vehicle will manage to get onto the course as the sprint approaches so be sure that the road is clear before crossing the center line. We expect to have a lead motorcycle and a following car/wheel truck. All of the classes will be on the circuit at the same time. It is probable that the Cat. 1,2,3 field will catch and pass the Women and Juniors before they finish, but it is not usually a problem. Race numbers go on the right side and back. Details are in the Race Bible - be sure to read it before the road race. Results of the Road Races will be posted at the start of the Time Trial.

Parking: Parking for the Road Race will be in an unpaved field downstream of the start/finish near the Stony Point Baptist Church. Absolutely please respect church property so we can use this course again!

Wheel Trucks: Each group will have a single wheel truck. Please bring spare wheels to the wheel truck, which will be in the parking area, well ahead of time. Wheels will be "neutral" which means we won't take time to look for your specific wheels while the pack rolls off into the distance. Be sure to mark your wheels with your name and number, and if you receive a wheel during the race, bring it back to the wheel truck immediately afterward. The wheel truck will generally stay with the largest group in the race.

Special Rules: We use pack timing for the road events, which means that everyone in the pack gets the same time. There are bonus points for the top three places, but if it ends in a field sprint everyone else who was in contact at 200 meters to go gets the same time, so there's not much point in sprinting if you don't think you can make one of the top places. If there is a pack sprint, you need to check in at the start/finish immediately afterwards so the official can get your verbal sign-in, otherwise we may assume that you did not finish. Yes, we will penalize riders who we catch advancing their positions while over the center line.

Stifel Nicolaus Time Trial

The Time Trial is moving to a new location this year, and starts at the new Lakeshore High School on La. 1088 near Mandeville, LA. The TT is a one-way 3-mile route along a two-lane road with a good to very good asphalt surface and low traffic volume. Because it is a one-way Time Trial, riders will have to ride back to the start/finish area on the same road. It is extremely important that you do not ride back two-abreast and that you stay as far to the right as possible so that cars passing you from behind do not have to go very far into the oncoming lane where the other riders are doing their time trials. Riders start at 30-second intervals. Your number goes on your right side.

Special Rules: Check the Race Bible for details and estimated start times. You must have finished the Road Race in order to start the Time Trial. Your official time starts whether you are there or not, so don't miss your start! Riders who ride back from the finish two abreast or otherwise block the road will be penalized. Riders start in order of number within their groups.

Time Trial Results: We should have the TT and GC results posted to the LAMBRA website (www.lambra.org) within a few hours of the finish of the time trial. Results will also be posted at the Criterium in New Orleans.

Lakeshore Criterium

This is the course we used in 2009, located on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. The course is a 0.95 mile L-shaped circuit that crosses over the levee twice each lap and includes two very wide sweeping U-turns. Near the start/finish, riders make a loop around Shelter #1, through the parking area, and back onto Lakeshore Drive. Since half of the course is directly on the lake, wind can be a major factor on this circuit. Shelter #1 was the starting location of the very first Tour de Louisiane Time Trial back in 1972. Results will be posted at Shelter #1 as soon as they are ready after each event. The awards ceremony for all classes will be held following the last race. All of the event details (wheel pit, free laps, start order, hot spots, etc.) are in the Race Bible, so check it out. You have to finish the TT and RR in order to start the Criterium.

Parking: There are two large parking areas on Lakeshore Drive immediately to the west of Shelter #1.

Wheel Pit: Please bring spare wheels to the wheel pit before your race and be sure to mark them with your name and number. Wheels will be neutral if we get enough, otherwise we may have to resort to wheels-in, wheels-out.

Special Rules: We usually try to avoid pulling lapped riders in smaller races if we can, but of course all riders finish on the same lap as the leaders. If you are lapped, your finish time will be calculated using the USCF formula. Likewise, if you are pulled, your time will be calculated according to the USCF formula. Ties on GC are broken by using tenths of a second from the Time Trial, and calculating the sum of stage placings if still tied. If there's still a tie, then the placing in the criterium determines the winner. We won't worry about tie-breaking for riders whose final placing is beyond the prize places in order to speed up the results, but we'll break those ties later if possible before posting the results to the NOBC website. The criteriums are all time-based (i.e. 60 minutes). The officials will start putting up laps-to-go cards when the leaders have approximately 8 km (5 laps) to go. Once you pass the start/finish line with 8 km to go, no more free laps will be granted. We use pack finish timing just like the Road Race, so if there's a pack sprint, you will need to check in at the start/finish for a verbal sign-in with the official, otherwise you might get a DNF. If you do drop out, be sure to let the officials know so that results don't get delayed because they're trying to figure out if you finished or not.