Creating a Machine: Tour de Georgia

This week marked the annual Tour de Georgia, a seven day race through various parts of the state. Growing in popularity, the TdG is only second to the Tour of California in popularity among cycling races held in the U.S. But anyone will tell you, Georgia offers something that very few states can....a huge variance in terrain. From the flats of Coastal Georgia to the peaks of North Georgia mountains, the seven day event drains even the most elite. The details of the event can be found here, Tour de Georgia

Here is a brief overview of each stage.

Monday, April 21, stage 1 — The race will make its first ever visit to the seacoast when it starts at Tybee Island. The 71.8-mile stage passes through the coastal lowcountry, with several intermediate sprints before the finish in Savannah. The race has not visited the historic city since it hosted the prologue in 2003.

Tuesday, April 22, stage 2 — This 115.7 mile stage is another one for the sprinters, with two intermediate sprints and a mostly flat route before a circuit finish in downtown Augusta, which is on the Georgia/South Carolina state line. The route includes the race's first categorized climb, in North Augusta, where King of the Mountain points will be awarded.

Wednesday, April 23, stage 3 — A 109.7-mile romp across rolling terrain, this stage travels from Washington to Gainesville, with one rated climb and three intermediate sprints before the downtown circuit finish. Gainesville hosted a stage finish in 2003 and a stage start in 2005.

Thursday, April 24, stage 4 — The Georgia race's first team time trial will be held on Road Atlanta's 2.5-mile, 12-turn track, used for events such as the Petit Le Mans. The 16.1km races will be held in heats with two teams on the track at a time.

Friday, April 25, stage 5 — The longest stage of the tour will include three major climbs: Burnt Mountain, Woody Gap and Crown Mountain. The 133.4-mile route starts in Suwanee and passes through 10 counties before finishing in Dahlonega.

Saturday, April 26, stage 6 — This stage's mountaintop finish at Brasstown Bald has become a Tour de Georgia legend. Before getting to the finish at the highest point in Georgia (at 4,783 feet), the race travels 88.4 miles passing rated climbs at Hogpen Gap and Unicoi Gap.

Sunday, April 27, stage 7 — The race returns to Atlanta for the final stage, a new 62.7 mile circuit race around the state's capital, beginning and ending in Centennial Olympic Park.

In years past, my schedule hasn't afforded me the opportunity to attend the events. I vowed to change that this year. I took off Friday afternoon and headed up to Dahlonega to watch the final half mile of the stage. It is amazing to see the power these guys are generating after a 133 mile trek. I was lucky enough to score a seat right next to the finish line.

I decided to camp out Friday night in Hiawassee so that I would be able to get up the next morning take in a long ride in the mountains and then be in place for the next stage. This leg of the tour include a climb up Hogpen Gap and a finish at the summit of Brasstown Bald. These climbs are easily considered two of the top 10 toughest climbs in the entire US. And to think they had to finish going up the 3 mile hill. Brasstown Bald is not for the weak. I have actually never tried it. (more to come later). Reports indicated that about 25,000 people were going to watch from Brasstown and when I rode through the area a few hours before the race...it was evident that it was a spectacle. Instead, we decided to watch the race from the base of Unicoi Gap...about 10k from the finish line.

One thing that sets cycling and triathlon apart from other sports is that one can not only interact with the elite athletes but you can get a front row seat to the event. And when I say front row, my pictures are evident of how close you can get. I seriously thought my face was chapped because of how close they came.

On Sunday, I even scored front row seats to the Atlanta crit. I was able to see 4 of the 10 laps as they passed right in front of the house when I was. So not bad as I saw 3 / 7 stages. It was something else. The US didn't fair to well this year. Levi Leipheimer was an easy pick to win it all but came in a disappointing 3rd. The victor was an unknown guy from Belarus. Not surprising at all but Team Astana came away with the victory.

Finish Line in Dahlonega: