• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions, now Garmin-Cervelo)
• Timothy Duggan (Garmin-Transitions, now Liquigas-Cannondale)
• Danny Pate (Garmin Transitions, now HTC-Highroad)
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
• Miguel Minguez (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
• Alan Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank)
• Tom Stamsnijder (Rabobank, now Leopard Trek)
• Dennis van Winden (Rabobank)
• Levi Leipheimer (Team Radioshack)
• Kristijan Koren (Liquigas-Domino, now Liquigas-Cannondale)
• Brian Vandborg (Liquigas-Domino, now Liquigas-Cannondale)
• Dries Devenyns (Quick Step)
• Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step)
• Francesco Reda (Quick Step)
• Jurgen van de Walle (Quick Step, now Omega Pharma-Lotto)
• Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky)
• Michael Barry (was scheduled to race in 2010, but couldn’t because of a broken rib)
• Sandy Casar (FDJ)
• Thibault Pinot (FDJ)
• Michael Morkov (Saxo Bank, now Saxo Bank Sungard)
• André Steensen (Saxo Bank, now Saxo Bank Sungard)
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Farnese Vini, now Lampre-ISD, but the grapevine says he is ill and won’t be racing)
• Simone Ponzi (Lampre-Farnese Vini, now Lampre-ISD)
• Simon Spilak (Lampre-Farnese Vini, now Lampre-ISD)
• Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Farnese Vini, now Lampre-ISD)
• Gert Dockx (HTC-Columbia, now Omega Pharma-Lotto)
• Patrick Gretsch (HTC-Columbia, now HTC-Highroad)
• Craig Lewis (HTC-Columbia, now HTC-Highroad)
• Frantisek Rabon (HTC-Columbia, now HTC-Highroad)
• Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne, now Movistar)
• Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d’Epargne, now Movistar)
• Gerald Ciolek (Milram, now Quick Step)
• Niki Terpstra (Milram, now Quick Step)
• Fabian Wegmann (Milram, now Leopard Trek)
• Mirko Selvaggi (Astana, now Vacansoleil-DCM Pro)
• Yukiya Arashiro (Bbox Bouygues Telecom, now Europcar)
• Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom, now FDJ)
• Cyril Gautier (Bbox Bouygues Telecom, now Europcar)
• Sébastien Turgot (Bbox Bouygues Telecom, now Europcar)
• Alessandro Ballan (BMC)
• Brent Bookwalter (BMC)
• George Hincapie (BMC)
• Jeffrey Louder (BMC)
• Danilo Wyss (BMC)
• Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis)
• Rémi Cusin (Cofidis)
• Leonardo Fabio Duque (Cofidis)
• Sébastien Minard (Confidis, now AG2R La Mondiale)
• Amaël Moinard (Confidis, now BMC)
• Dominique Rollin (Team Canada, now FDJ)
• Bruno Langlois (Team Canada [Quebec City race only], now Spidertech p/b C10 [Quebec City race only])
• François Parisien (Team Canada, now Spidertech p/b C10)
• Will Routley (Team Canada, now Spidertech p/b C10)
• David Veilleux (Team Canada, now Europcar)
• Ryan Anderson (Team Canada [Montreal race only], now Spidertech p/b C10)

“Oh yeah, keep going. I don’t want to catch you again,” I said with what I’m sure was playful sarcasm.

“Fuck you, asshole!” he yelled over his shoulder.

A guy in the minivan called to me, across a woman in the passenger seat :

“He’s going to get hit someday.”

It was offered like a consolation. Sure, ambler was passing you and slowing you up, but he’d get what’s coming, don’t worry ruler-follower. The words were also a show of solidarity. We didn’t run red lights. We were good drivers. It’s like we were on the same team. But we’re not.

“Yeah, but that happens to cyclists who follow the rules, too,” I said.

We both started moving on the green.

Arsenault has been involved with road racing for more than 30 years. In 1974, he was a Radio Canada commentator for the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal, which the great Eddy Merckx won. From 1988 to 1991, Arsenault organized the races in Montreal that were part of the UCI’s World Cup circuit. His television stations, Serdy Vidéo and Canal Évasion, have broadcasted the Tour de France. Out of these experiences, Arsenault was able gain a UCI licence last summer to hold North America’s first ProTour races.

The Quebec City race, on Friday, September 10, is a 12.6 kilometre circuit that will take riders by the Plains of Abraham and through the old city 15 times. The Montreal race, two days later, is a 12.9 kilometre circuit that takes riders around Mont Royal 16 times. According to Arsenault, they are tough, aggressive courses. He figures only 40 per cent of the riders, out of roughly 170, will finish the race.

“A rider won’t win in Montreal and Quebec City by chance. He and his team will have to have a perfect day and execute their game of chess without mistakes,” Arsenault says alluding to the myriad tactics involved in winning a road race.

For Arsenault, these two races mark the future of professional cycling. From the early 1900s to the 1970s, cycling was a continental European sport dominated by riders from France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain. The riders from the U.K., North America and Australia have only been a fixture over the last 30 years, over which time the field has become even more international. There is pressure to make the ProTour races reflect this growing internationalism and to take the sport beyond Europe. While there are continental UCI races around the world, only Europe and Australia have had ProTour races.

“Both Russia and China want races,” Arsenault says, “In the next year—maximum two years—the U.S. will have race.”

Arsenault wants to be ahead of this wave of expansion and be a part of the new face of cycling. For the two Canadian Grand Prix races, he’s pulling out all of the stops. You know those motorcyclists who follow the cyclists in the Tour de France? The ones with a cameraman on the back. Arsenault has hired those guys because they are the best. It’s a good thing too. These races will be broadcast during the afternoon, Eastern Standard Time, but during prime time in Europe. Arsenault is also trying to create a festival atmosphere around the races. One proposed event is a festival express train that will take riders, journalists and fans from Quebec City to Montreal on the Saturday between the races. The train ride has been billed as an event in and of itself.

There may be one damper on the festivities already though. The races in Quebec will happen in the midst of the Vuelta a España, which is the last of the three Grand Tours, after the Giro d’Italia in May and the Tour de France in July. This arrangement doesn’t seem to worry Arsenault too much. The ProTeams have to send eight racers each to the Canadian races so there will be no problem stocking the event. But how attractive will these races be for riders? Will the big name cyclists want to ride in these new races, or participate in the Vuelta with its history and prestige? In terms of the points a rider can earn from these races, which determine his UCI World Ranking, Arsenault sees the Canadian races as a better deal.

“A winner at both Quebec and Montreal will get 160 points,” he said. “That’s in just two days. A win at the Vuelta, which is 21 days of racing, will bring 170 points.”

Arsenault added that the Vuelta is in decline. This year may be its 75th anniversary, but it also seems to be its last as a 21-day race. In 2011, it will run 14 days. The ProTour calendar is already pretty busy, and will get busier. There just doesn’t seem to be room of 21-day epics. However, the Vuelta still carries weight amongst riders. Dominique Rollin, a member of Cervélo Test Team, has some ambivalence over the Canadian races and the Spanish Grand Tour. He’s the only Canadian on the Canadian-backed team, which is, however, based in Switzerland. He knows it would be good from a marketing perspective to be in Quebec City and Montreal, but his sights are set on the Grand Tours and he would prefer to attend the Vuelta.

I can’t blame Rollin for wanting to go to Spain at the end of August for three weeks. But, I’m keen on watching the Canadian races in their respective cities, even if that press pass doesn’t work out. There are many reasons to go. One of those reasons, which Arsenault pointed out near the end of our conversation, is that cycling is the only professional sport that you can attend for free.

At Dundas and Yonge a trumpeter was playing Taps. Yvonne Bambrick, executive director of the Toronto Cyclists Union, thanked pedestrians and motorists blocked by the ride for their patience and understanding. Going north on University, a woman shouted, “Our friend was murdered by the former attorney general of Ontario,” repeatedly. Tommy Toast and a friend opened a can of Grolsch, each took a swig and poured out beer for Sheppard. Later, a cyclist would make a similar offering at the Canada Post grey box on Bloor on which messages for Sheppard are attached. The cyclist would squat down beside the piece of street furniture that Sheppard collided with and break apart a cigarette.

When the ride got to Avenue and Bloor, at about 5:45pm, riders gathered around the site of Monday’s accident. Many raised their bikes up in salute. Friends of Sheppard put their bikes on the road and sat down. Stephanie Thompson, a friend who had seen Sheppard a few days before the accident held up a sign that read “Justice for Al.”

A man walking by the gathering said to his companion, “When you hang onto a car, that’s what you get.”

One cycle cop on the scene said to his co-worker, “You still with that beautiful broad?”

The reply: “Yup.”

A woman walking by said, “…and this ruined his political career.”

Around 6:15pm, the police, who had managed traffic around the protest, started corralling the remaining riders, either to bust up the event or open up an eastbound lane on Bloor. Some of the riders shouted at the police. Then they chanted, “Who’s streets? Our streets!” for a bit. But the crowd dwindled. By this time, I was on the north side of the street talking to some interested passersby.  We agreed that the best things that could come of this tragedy are more awareness and action for safe cycling in the city.

Click for pictures.

So, as an exercise in ego resuscitation, here are a few things I can do faster than Lance Armstrong:

• walk through a crowd at a cycling event (because I don’t have the burden of being recognized and having to sign autographs)
• name all the provinces and territories of Canada
• use the Toronto subway system to get from Bay station to St. Claire West station (Lance would probably make the newbie mistake of transferring at Spadina instead of St. George)
• parse a sentence
• buy a two-four of Lucky Lager from the Dupont Street Beer Store (Lance would probably ask the guy to send it up from the back. Sucker. I know the Lucky is always on the left slide of the open rack—Crap! Now Lance knows where it is too.)
• copy edit
• really dig an album by Vibracathedral Orchestra
• vacuum my house (I already live there and have a key; right now, Lance would have to fly in from France and have someone let him in…and then find the vacuum)
• get annoyed by one of Margaret Wente’s articles
• buy the latest New Yorker from Book City on Bloor Street (Lance doesn’t know that the issue is usually…Nice try Lance. I’m not falling for that one again.)

We all know that much of Lance’s success comes from the support of his team during the race. I must acknowledge the help of Team Amadeus Patio for helping me to recognize some of the skills presented above.

Really though, now that I think of it, I could beat Lance Armstrong in a race from my home to my office, assuming he follows traffic laws like I do. Lance would probably take the designated bike routes through the city, which are never direct. Think about it. He always follows the prescribed routes. Those Tour de France organizers say, “You’re going to bike from here to here following these roads.” (Well, they say that, but in French, I guess.) And then he just rides where he’s told. Not me, man. I take whatever route is fastest.

Broken glass lies in bp nichol’s concrete letters. At a nearby loading bay, a man dips his moustache into his coffee. None of this is in the university’s brochures.

Two city workers merry-go-round a man-hole, their monkey wrenches augering a metal shaft down at Avenue and Dupont. They walk away from the open hole.

Molson Street shows no sign of beer, nor house fronts, only alley entrances and garage doors.

At Yonge, a rig is turning left. A city-worn man offers up a newspaper, which the driver declines.

An hour and a half later, all the drivers are aiming for home. The tone of the traffic turns, so I leave.

Despite being on a bike decked out in flashing lights and reflectors, I was nearly hit by a car last week. The driver made a left in front of me. I jammed on my breaks in time; he would have been too late with his. I definitely swore very loudly at him and then I definitely followed him for a block, reciting his license plate number. He parked outside of a school. I think he was late for his child’s performance in a Christmas recital.

While I was still shaking from the scare or from anger, I decided I would tell the police about this incident. I had heard something about reporting bad drivers. This guy, at the very least, deserved some kind of file. As soon as I got home, I called the non-emergency police number. Some woman transferred me, while I was mid-sentence in an explanation, to a helpful man, to whom I had to re-explain everything. He made the process of filing a driver complaint seem pretty straight forward. I could even go to any station to do so.

Today, I went to the 52 Division station. I explained to a woman behind a long counter that I was nearly hit by a careless driver and wanted to file a driver complaint.

“You mean a report?” she asked.

“Yes. Fine. A report then.”

She then had to ask a very large man about the details of such a report.

“It’s for that person over there,” she said to the large man as she pointed at me.

The large man nodded. He then walked to one of the desks behind the long counter. He sat, tapped the mouse, looked around and got up. He came out from behind the counter, on the left, walked behind me and then left through a door on the far right wall. I found myself blessed with some time to read the whiteboard of traffic fatalities for the year. As of today, the Toronto Police have only had two cyclist fatalities, one within 52 Division’s jurisdiction. While I was waiting, a man came in and asked if he could get a copy of the charges that have been pressed against him. He couldn’t.

The large man reappeared through the door. He passed me and went behind the counter.

“So, what do you want?” he asked.

I explained my situation.

“So, you were cut off,” was the large man’s précis. “Where did it happen?”

I was prepared for this. After all, I was once a security guard. I know the necessity of having clear documentation of an incident. Places and names—those are what the police need.

“Dupont and Palmerston.”

“Where’s that?”

His curtness and denseness were getting to me so I tailored my next response just for him.

“That’s north of here.”

The large man’s buddy threw him a bone.

“It’s Honest Ed’s country.”

The large man then explained that I’d have to go to 14 Division as the incident happened in their jurisdiction. I protested. The nice man on the phone had said I could file the complaint or report or whatever it was called at any station. The large man said they were very busy and it would take three hours. I’m not sure if he heard me thank him for his help as I was walking away when I did so.

At the 14 Division station, two women were ahead of me. An officer was explaining that they couldn’t travel with the police who had to pick up the women’s step-father and take him to the hospital. However, one of the women would have to present some papers to the police when they picked up the step-father.

“When will the police arrive?” asked the woman.

“I can’t say,” said the officer, “This will be put on a priority list. It depends.”

This situation made perfect sense to the officer, but not to the woman. She would be back, anxious for more clarification, before I would leave the station.

When I got an officer, he had to find out how one files the type of thing I wanted to report. It turns out that the thing is called a Traffic Violation Report.

I was seated across from the officer’s desk as he took down the details. It felt like something out of a cop show.

“So you were cut off?” the officer asked.

“Well, yes.”

“What do you want us to do?”

Find this shitty driver and bitch-slap him. Then, when you are done, you and your friend at 52 can sit on your batons’ and spin… or so my thoughts ran.

“Well, this is were I need some clarification,” I said, “I would like the driver to be aware that he was really careless and drove dangerously. I want it official. Is this the right process for that?”

“You want him charged?” asked the officer.

“No. No. More like a warning.”

“All right.”

The officer got down to typing in the details with his two index fingers.

After a bit, he paused and blurted, “You from the city, man?”

The question caught me way off-guard.

“I’ve been here a while. Why?” I said checking for straw behind my ears.

“You know, this kind of thing happens all the time.”

“Yes I know. It’s happened to me many times, but there’s got to more I can do about it than yelling at the guy’s tail-lights.”

“That’s what I do. Get some instant gratification.”

Educational. In so many ways.

I don’t know if I can totally fault the police for their condescension and unwillingness to help. They do have more pressing matters than a cyclist to was nearly killed/just cut off. This is the city and bad drivers are a fact of life. Really what can you do, except maybe find more creative ways for getting instant gratification?