East Tosa Gran Prix Kicks Off on Grand Day

With the temperature fluctuating wildly between 77 and 78 degrees, the bright sun dimmed occasionally by a fluffy white cloud, a breeze blowing steadily from behind on the modest hill between 69th and 70th streets, the first running of the East Tosa Gran Prix got under way Sunday.

Perfect. On a day made in heaven, Wauwatosa for the first time hosted the last day of the Tour of America's Dairyland 11-day bike race series.

A crowd estimated at 15,000 descended on East Tosa to watch pros and amateurs of all ages spin around a tight course from 69th Street to Lefeber, up to Meinecke Avenue and back to 69th.

Races ranged from a few laps for kids to 80 or mores times around for "masters."

A Wauwatosa police officer conducting traffic control confided that, yes, the department had "tested its radar" on pro riders and found them in excess of posted speeds on Meinecke – "from 30 to 32 miles per hour" – but no one was getting a ticket Sunday.

BelAir Cantina, at 68th and North, wasn't even quite on the race course but was packed on the last day of its first full week of operation. Cranky Al's, which usually closes from noon until 4 p.m., stayed open and busy through the afternoon.

Ono Kine Grindz, Wauwatosa's Hawaiian snack and gift shop, turned out singers and dancers as well as food.

The Tour of America's Dairyland has been going on for more than two decades, with the "big" race being the Downer Classic on Saturday. Sunday had been reserved for a circuit of Capitol Square in Madison – but that turned out to have been something of a bust.

So, how did it turn out, moving the final day to Wauwatosa?

"They (race organizers) say this is the earliest crowd they've ever seen," said Ed Haydin of the East Tosa Alliance, the local sponsoring organization, just after noon (races would go on until 8 p.m.).

"It's a beautiful day, it's going great, and it's only going to get better," Haydin said.

And it did. Crowds lined the course on North Avenue and were deep by mid-afternoon when top racers from across the country, and some from around the globe, were competing in what is billed as the biggest criterium bicycle race series in the world.

Smaller but stalwart crowds gathered on the residential streets outlined by the course.

Alderman Bobby Pantuso of the 5th District turned his front yard into a bistro for the day, with tables and chairs, kegs of beer and hula dancers delivering dinner. A "walking quorum" of the Wauwatosa Common Council required him to post an official notice stating that no city business would be conducted – and none was.

"The idea of hosting this race started with a pitcher of beer at Walter's," said 5th District Ald. Joel Tilleson, "and ended with one of the biggest success stories in Tour of America's Dairyland's history.

"We look forward to working with the Tour for many years to come and continuing the dramatic revitalization of East Tosa."