Georgia on my mind...

[pedalfaster]

It's dreary and rainy here today, so I'm riding vicariously.

Anyone else following the Tour of Georgia (http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2004/apr04/tdgeorgia04/?id=stages/stages)

Some nice pictures of George for you Hincapie fans. Any Southern posters going to watch any of the stages?

[aka_kim]

I've been following the tour, and wishing it were televised. It looks like OLN will be doing a measly 1 hour summary in May.

It's nice to see super Mario in the US!

[skibum]

I'm taking the day off work and heading up to see the mountain stages tomorrow. We're going to ride part of the course and then stake out a spot on one of the climbs to watch the riders go by. It will be my first attempt at climbing some of those hills on my bike so wish me luck!

The finish on Sunday is not too far from my house. But, I have family visiting from out of town for the weekend so I may not make it over to see it. :(

[pedalfaster]

Originally posted by skibum
I'm taking the day off work and heading up to see the mountain stages tomorrow.

I'm green with envy :D


Cheer for Bobby (http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2004/apr04/georgia04/index.php?id=pressconf/BSjullich) for me?

:)

[jobob]

Go Bobby :D

[trekchic]

I live about 2 hours north of Dalton, Ga........I should just get in my suburban, with the bike in the back and go, shouldn't I? If anyone has the ability to go, they should.......huh? OK.....I'm skipping work, I'm on call at night this week anyway and was up all night last night, so I deserve a break...............right?

Think I can get away with it as long as I am back by 6:00?

I've talked myself into it........see ya'll lata!

Kim in TN

[pedalfaster]

trekchic--give us a race report when you get back?

have fun :cool:

[aka_kim]

Go Chris Horner! Go Bobby! And oh yeah, go Lance!

We definitely need race reports, with pictures!

[skibum]

It was a beautiful day for the race. We drove up early in the morning to a friend's cabin that happened to be along the route. We wanted to get a vantage point along one of the climbs to watch the race so we hopped on our bikes and rode up to Woody Gap.

It was awesome... there were bikers everywhere just riding through the mountains to get to their favorite spot to watch the race. Even all the traffic on the road was heading for the race so the bikes and cars were able to peacefully co-exist much better than usual.

The closer we got to Woody Gap, the more spectators we saw lining the route. It was great seeing all the people coming out to support the race. There were a lot of hard-core cyclists but also many locals just out to enjoy the day and see what this bike racing is all about.

We managed to stake out a spot near the top of the climb on Woody Gap. The anticipation was building and the crowd would get excited any time an official looking car came through, certain that the riders weren't far behind. We finally got word that there had been a break-away and that they would be coming through at any minute. Wow those guys can climb! I struggled up that mountain and they were riding like it was nothing. The main peloton followed a couple of minutes later and two riders from Jittery Joes were in the back, a few more minutes off the pace.

The riders would actually pass through Woody Gap a second time but my friends wanted to try to catch them at Wolfpen Gap so we headed down the mountain. I needed to get back to Atlanta early so I staked out a spot near my car instead. It wasn't the excitement of a mountain climb but there were much fewer spectators at that spot so I got a better view.

By the time they passed me, there was a single rider in the main breakaway (eventual stage winner - Jason McCartney) followed by a smaller breakaway pack. The peloton had broken up into a couple of groups and the main pack had closed in on the breakaway groups. At the finish line, the peloton had gained enough time on the breakaways for Lance to maintain the yellow jersey.

It was a great day. I'm glad I skipped work to see it. I think I got some good pictures. I'll post a link once I get them uploaded.

Beth

[trekchic]

Unfortunately, I didn't get to go!:(

I was leaving out this morning, when a huge rain system moved into our area and I decided not to spend all day driving in the rain, sitting out in the rain & then driving back in the rain. So I didn't go........I am so sad!

Kim

[aka_kim]

Sounds like you had a great day, skibum (sorry you weren't able to see the race trekchic). Isn't it amazing how fast the pros can climb? Like more than twice as fast as most of us mortals can climb, and on the flats, a peloton racing by at 30+ is a thing to see. I've been to the SF Grand Prix, but I would love to see a stage or two of a real tour. You're so lucky.

[Barb]

I used to just "play" at biking. I now know I'm done for. I sat up the other night watching the race in OLN...eyes drooping, thinking, I just want to watch this last hill!!!!!! Second clue...I'm going shopping for bike shoes (I'm not putting it off any more!)

[pedalfaster]

Thanks for the trip report skibum! :)

Sorry you didn't get to go trekchic...so many shaved legs, so little time :D

[skibum]

I managed to get my family out today to see the finish. Actually, we camped out about 1.5 miles before the finish at a spot where they were doing a 4-lap circuit. Because of the place we were standing, we saw them pass by 8 times. It was a pretty flat part of the course so they were flying. It's amazing seeing such a big pack going by so fast. I'm so glad I could be part of the experience.

I didn't get any photos today but have uploaded the ones I took on Friday to shutterfly. Hopefully this link will take you there:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/view?i=EeIMm7hq1YtXEA&sm=1&sl=0

[pedalfaster]

Thanks for sharing your photos skibum :)

Looking forward to OLN next Sunday!