45“Bike racing can again sort itself out…I hope that we still find a company as title sponsor for the future edition of this beautiful sporting event that currently offers: a broad media of 300 journalists, well over one million spectators, tradition and exciting sport. The future sponsor can determine the goal and the new name.”
Bernd Moss Achenback, Director of semi-classic, Rund um den Henninger Turm
May Day racing
Hope springs eternal this time of year. No matter how bitter the winter, the gentler season brings confidence and newness of life. Resurrected hopes are the Easter theme as late spring racing continues into May. With options for one-day racing and several small tours, attention upon pro cycling divides until all eyes focus upon the Giro in late May.
During this transition, some classics specialists export considerable fitness to Germany’s semi-classic, Rund um den Henninger Turm now called Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop. This Frankfurt Grand Prix is one of the most important races in Germany. The race around the tower has been won most frequently by Erik Zabel and features steep climbs. The Mammolshain’s 26% gradient gives riders a second chance to conquer it before the finish circuits in Frankfurt.
Some see the race as the last of the last of the spring classics and others as preparation for major stage racing to come. Both motivations depend on a second wind since the event is run mid-week after the final monument classic L-B-L. The sport’s proud traditions, contemporary parity and eternal passions easily elicit a second wind. We’ve seen this before with resurrected teams changing countries and called a new name under a new sponsorship. The media too have shown resiliency in its renewed coverage of cycling. Second chances to maintain cycling’s transition resurrect its hopes.
Prayer for Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop
“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.” 46Matthew 28:6
We are glad for second chances. We confess we lose hope when we don’t see tangible evidence at first. We pray for new resources and ask blessing upon the risen Rund.
Ponder Have I reached a sort of dead end in my cycling? Affirm I resurrect it with glorious new form. Watch for ways to refashion and update the traditional for the contemporary.
45Translation by www.babelfish.altavista.com and paraphrased loosely by myself from “Veranstalter Bernd Moos-Achenbach im Wechselbad der Gefühle: ‘Rund um den Henninger-Turm kommt mir vor wie eine Kneippkur’” Zehn Fragen zum Jahresende 2008 www.henninger-rennen.de
46Holy Bible, King James Version, public domain
good spin 