tour of Qatar

[redrhodie]

I watched this on Versus the other day, and was wondering, where are the spectators? There were no people watching along the routes, and maybe <20 people at the start and finish lines. Anyone know why? It seems to me that even if a sport is not popular in an area, people would still come to watch just for the novelty. I wonder if attending is invitation only? Seems sad for the riders.

[lawnchick22]

Couple of reasons, I think.
Not a lot of excitement there...flat stages, no KoM jersey, a 2k TT. It may be considered more of a 'training' ride and.....

the recent doping scandals

[shootingstar]

I wonder what the temperature is like there at this time of year.

I knew 2 different people who worked in Dubai (also in Middle East) at construction sites. The temperatures would climb to 50 degrees C. That's way over 90 degrees F. (I'm too lazy to get the metric to imperial measurement converter here...)

I'm sure there are also women are involved /interested in cycling...but would be expressed different there vs. here in North America. So, I wouldn't expect a ton of local Arab women being spectators on-site at a bike race at this time. Maybe cycling doesn't yet have the same cache /interest as ie. soccer.

There are alot of ex-pats working in those areas..which is where at this time, competitive cycling in that country might have an instant audience/fan base.

[redrhodie]

Couple of reasons, I think.
Not a lot of excitement there...flat stages, no KoM jersey, a 2k TT. It may be considered more of a 'training' ride and.....

the recent doping scandals

None of those things would stop me from coming (obviously, since I even watched it on tv). Boonen making his comeback, Fabian, Cav (who took a good fall in the tt), O'grady, a bunch of guys I'd love to see. I'd pay to watch them train. Who am I kidding, I'd pay to watch them bowl. ;)

I suspect there's another reason, because even if the entire populace cared about doping, the heat, or thought the race would be boring, there should be some people who would be at least a little curious to see some of the world's finest athletes compete in their backyard. There was almost no one. It was weird. I can't help but wonder why this race is put on there. Someone is obviously paying big money for it. Why?

[Laguna]

I watched that race too. That looked to be the flattest, windiest, most boring, race course I have ever seen. I'm sure there must be some nice parts of the country but man...that looked brutal. Not sure the Qatar Chamber of Commerce hit a home run...at least from an aesthetic point of view.

[marni]

plus, most arab women aren't allowed out without a male escort, and the expats all require body guards, plus it is one of the more relatively unpopulated arab countries, and the majority of the population that there is would be found in the cities since that is the only place anything really exists other than heat, sand and wind.

been there, lived there, enjoyed it but it had nothing to do with life in the unfettered US.

[shootingstar]

How long did you live there, marni? I'm glad you spoke up..I did very much want to hint that there were various cultural preconditions that wouldn't be cultivating an intense cycling culture in certain countries like one would get in Europe or parts of North America (however paltry cyclists might be even in certain parts of North America.)

I have applied for jobs in the Middle East but did notice their rather stringent requirements..even for librarian / library manager roles, where there was a clear separation between men and women at the university and college level... by having men's universities and women's universities. For an ex-pat to work with the students, clearly they look for foreign candidates that fit within their restrained lifestyle.

To me, that says volumes about how the sexes should or should not interact even if only at the intellectual level.

I believe I read somewhere in an academic journal that in Kuwait there is actually a problem of rising obesity in certain local groups, particularily if people are affluent....the hot climate (which doesn't encourage intense exercise outdoors or in non-air conditioned buildings), the cultural restrictions particularily on Muslim women to exercise...if the sport requires more "revealing" of the body parts...

[Kiwi Stoker]

Quite interesting, in Singapore and Malaysia there are significant Muslim populations- of course not as strict as some of the Arab countries, but still women dress modestly.

Was really pleased to see a young Musilm lady here competeting at top level in Tae Kwan Do. She wore tight fitting leggings and top under her gi and a tightly fitted head wrap.

I have also seen Muslim girls cycling on road bikes. They wear long tights and long sleeved jerseys with a skort over the leggings and a tight fitting head scarf under their helmet.

Of course in Australia they had the Birkini for Musilm girls wanting to be surf lifesavers!

Most Muslim women can exercise, but only in women only gyms or swimming pools (that of course are totally private).

[shootingstar]

As for local males attracted to cycling vs. soccer....it's not surprising that soccer has a stronger worldwide attraction across all types of cultures and countries:

Anyone who can run /be mobile can play soccer. It doesn't require special equipment. And it's cheap. Easier to learn and to relate to..vs. cycling. No wonder IFA soccer matches might even have a larger audience/spectator base world-wide compared to competitive cycling, that would beat out even the Tour de France.

[marni]

qattar a year, oman 18 months, saudi 2 years, nigeria about 6 months untl the second body guard got injured in an attack on our car, followed by various numbers of years in belgium, france, england and 13 years in the netherlands which after all the other madness was bliss and I miss it. It seems to be an unfailing weakness in the American mentality, that they cannot really comprehend how differently different culters in different countries think. They tend to assume that all muslims are like the american muslims who live here. Until you live as a foreigner in a foreign country and learn to obey their laws and cultural mores, and learn a bit of their history and get to know the people you really have no understanding of why or how they are and how or why they think the way they do, nor can you criticize or question why or why not there are people at a bike race.

While progress is happening, they still have a long way to go. Personally while I am willing to dress as modestly as the more modern Arab countries require, I will never again willingly wear a burka or live in a compound with body guards required. In Saudi many years ago, I was not even allowed to drive or leave the house without my husband or a male family member accompanying me and then only fully covered and veiled from head to toe- Why, because hat was what was required and we were guests in their country and had to be on above reproach behaviour. A far cry from being able to run down to the local grocery store in a car wearing sandals, shorts and a t shirt.

[redrhodie]

Marni, do you know if you would have been allowed to attend the race if you were there?

[marni]

things have loosened up in Qattar- while most expats do live on guarded compounds, they are allowed to drive, and most women can go out in groups- they are even allowed ( the expats) to drive themselvs. They are still expected to dress modestly and most of them cover their hair because of the dust, so yes I probably might have been able to attend the race with a group of women, but would have felt extremely uncomfortable alone unless I had a male ( husband or guard) companion. we were in the arab type countries in the mid 70's and moved progressibely westward after that, ending up in the netherlands in 2004.

[malkin]

I was investigating a job possibiltiy in the UAE a couple years ago. There is a German bike shop (Wolfi's) and a cycling club (Dubai Roadsters) in Dubai.

It could have been interesting, but it is not one of those opportunities that I regret passing up.

[shootingstar]

One firm I was with, was encouraging employees to apply for internal jobs for a construction project in Nigeria. They tried to sell the luxury of living in a protected compound with swimming pool, etc.

Sorry, I couldn't live in a country where I had to be constantly protected or walled in from the locals.

[crazycanuck]

With my dear's company, he could get transferred to the middle east & it almost happened. The only downfall would be a LARGE drop in pay. Ya see...The pay here in Western Australia for Engineers (Civil, Mining, Electrical etc) is much much much larger than overseas.

When he did his stint in China last year, the contractor looked at his charge out rate & had a freak out moment.

I'd live in the Middle East, just let me know how to dress, live and teach me some intro vocab & i'm there.

[malkin]

I'd live in the Middle East, just let me know how to dress, live and teach me some intro vocab & i'm there.

That's pretty much what I was thinking, until I learned more about it.
I'm ok with the clothing customs, but transportation, legal system, economics, and the weather--both the high temperatures and casual descriptions of sand storms--which sounded to me like some medieval description of torment--pretty much dampened my enthusiasm for the middle east.

[crazycanuck]

Oh oops, I meant those bits as well Malkin. It's part of the package & you grin n bear it (although you really want to thwack someone!). It goes for all countries, english or non english speaking.

[malkin]

For me the sandstorms-days without seeing the sun because of wind full of sand--well, dealing with them would probably require considerably more alcohol consumption than local custom would tolerate!

[Koronin]

I wouldn't mind visiting one or two of the muslem countries (Saudi Arbia and Egypt most specifically). My husband was in Saudi during the first Gulf war. Well he was actually in Spain with the KC-10s, but when they would take supplies in and out of Suadi part of the time he would go. It's actually one of the few countries he was in that he actually saw any part of outside of the base. He's told me that a couple of the women who were actually stationed in Saudi had wanted to go into town so several of the guys including him who were not there for very long and didn't really have anything to do agreed to accompany them. The rules they had were that the women had to be accompanied by the same number of men and of course being military they all had to wear their hats while out. However, the women did not have to wear anything else that was not part of their uniform and the local women did not all wear viels. My guess is by the time my husband was in Saudi that they had loosened up some of the rules a bit.
Also I'd thought it would be cool to go to the F1 race in Bahrain, but of course with the unrest over there and the postponement of that race, it's just not a good time to even consider that.

(The place my husband most wants to take me is Spain. He spent about a year there during the first Gulf war and loved it. He not only road his bike a good bit while there, but got to ride many times with a group of locals who enjoyed having the US military guys who wanted to ride ride with them.)