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