ROANOKE, Va. – As the top riders in the United States take on the short track course at Roanoke’s Elmwood Park, they’ll be battling the course, one another and 90-degree temperatures.
“It’s gonna be real hot. It’s probably going to hurt a lot,” said racer Gavin Morrison of San Diego, whose race was scheduled for mid-afternoon when the forecast called for temperatures over ninety degrees.
The medical team is keeping an eye on riders who might fall as they take on the famous rock feature in Elmwood Park, but they will also be watching riders weaving for a different reason.
“We are also set up in the medical tent in case somebody is confused and hot. We assume that to be heat stroke until proven otherwise and really have a plan to rapidly respond,” said C.J. Waasdorp, an emergency room doctor for Carilion Clinic who is volunteering as medical director for the championships.
In extreme cases, Waasdorp says they will put a rider into ice water to cool them.
“(They will be) dunked in basically ice-cold water and then have that sort of washed over them with a tarp if you will, so we call it the TACO. Okay? Tarp-assisted cooling with oscillation,” he explained.
Across the street in the parking lot, which is where riders stage prior to races, Silvia Palmaki wears an ice vest as she warms up on a trainer. She’s ranked number one in her age group.
“It’s keeping me cool before the race,” she said, as her parents looked on. Her nine-year-old sister also wore an ice vest as she prepped on a slightly smaller trainer.
Just after the men’s master’s race, riders said they were riding with ice packs tucked into the backs of their jerseys.
“Oh, yeah, it’s just a little snippet of like some women’s pantyhose with a knot tied in it and some ice. So, we fill it up with ice beforehand and throw it in the back of your jersey. And definitely keeps you a little bit cooler than if you didn’t have it,” said racer Thomas Savage.
“We were ready for the heat. We was prepared. We’ve done some training. We come to the Roanoke area. We were here last year. We knew it was going to be hot. And we live in North Carolina. So, it gets hot as well‚" said Robert Marion, who finished third in the men’s master’s race.
As the day progresses, temperatures will be climbing. Tomorrow is expected to be even hotter. As that happens, race organizers say they’ll be especially attuned to the heat.
“We’ve got extra ice buckets, cooling towels, extra water on site,” said Kyle Knott USA Cycling race director. Knott praised the downtown venue, saying riders like having the crowds -- heat or no heat.
“They love it. You know there was riders last year, they’re like man I was a little concerned about this going in you know because it’s so different that they said you know the crowd was amazing and that’s an experience that they won’t forget,” Knott said.
As to the spectators – they are looking for cool treats. By late morning, a line was forming for fruit smoothies. Inside the food trailer, the servers said they were ready for the heat.
“Yes, and we’re more than ready to it, too, because I’m from Venezuela, she’s from Colombia, so we’re very used to this weather,” said Maria Beasley, who now lives in Christiansburg.