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Written by Andy Akard
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Monday, 25 May 2009 |
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 A hearty congratulations to all who came out for the GA 600.
There were 8 finishers and 6 DNF’s. (Since Gary Garter had to return so early for personal reasons I have excluded him from those stats.)
The ride is an out and back from Cumming, GA to Rome, GA via Ringgold, GA. The first 100 miles of the brevet goes through the mountains. The middle 150 traverses some ridge and valley topography and finally some pure valley riding through some remote parts of the Chattahoochee National Forest. Then the finish is back across the two mountains with considerable up-and- downs in-between the climbs.
The word from the finishers was that the course was extremely difficult. There was specific mention of the cruelty of the climb up the third face of Burnt Mountain and the relentless climbing between the early (and late) gaps. The climbing elevation indicated almost 5,000 feet on the way to the first “climb” and a total elevation gain of over 26,000. (I may have that wrong but corrections will show up to this info.)
The final DNF on the course was the tandem couple, Viktoriya Shundrovskaya and Alain Abbate from very south Florida. They had driven up with the goal of getting in some climbing training prior to the Shenandoah 1200 next month. They felt that goal was achieved and they vowed to come back to complete the ride. Alain said that he had never been on a ride with so much beautiful scenery and that he was impressed with the quality of riding that North Georgia had to offer.
A road begins to grow around trails or railroads. They tend to take advantage of the flattest routes and the gentlest grades between towns or places of interest. Then other roads start connecting those towns, the towns grow and the roads expand with more traffic and higher speeds. Then you have roads like the ones that access the tops of Burnt Mountain and Fort Mountain. Those roads intentionally seek the tops of the mountains to provide access to views, home sites and recreational areas. They often involve switchbacks in attempts to keep the roads reasonable and not too steep for driving in the rain or inclement weather. Our new 600 course stitched together the climbs and cities with an often meandering route to avoid traffic; with predictable results in topographical challenges.
The terrain tended to be steep rollers with several climbs that ended up being compared to parts of the Hogpen climb on 6 Gap! I heard from several folks that the route up the “third road” up Burnt Mountain should simply remain undiscovered by cyclists.
Their descriptions were more colorful of course. Someone said they had never delivered so many F-Bombs directed at a climb. A couple of the DNF’s were steady, accomplished randonneurs like John Shelso that found themselves sick and unable to recover or his pal Alan Schwartz who stopped with him rather than leaving a friend in need alone in a sleazy hotel with a love tub. Or ones like Jim Shanni who encountered a serious saddle interface problem. Or Walter Wilson, who was trying to make the leap from the Augusta 300 to the hardest ride of the North Georgia series. The distances that they completed were impressive considering their conditions. I wish the course had not taken such a toll on them.
The group that did finish generally around the 32 hour mark is a pretty elite group. (Everyone finished within an hour and a half span.) Toss in a couple of RAAM veterans in the form of Jeff Bauer and Kevin Kaiser. Add one of the strongest and longest riding members of Audax Atlanta, Ian Flitcroft. Include Wendy Gardiner, surely in the running for the region’s strongest female endurance cyclist.
Then representing the League of the confirmed Mountain Goats was Alan Gosart. Also you have David Nixon and George Hiscox. For years finishing anywhere near the time of Nixon was close to impossible and George apparently simply rides with the front group no matter what. Rounding out the elite group was Steve Phillips who managed to look pretty fresh at the finish and was already looking forward to next weeks Tennessee 600!
Everyone took full advantage of the Dura resort after the finish. Melinda and her mom Sue had a kitchen full of great hearty food and deserts. Scott had stocked a very “mean” cooler. It has been a while since I have seen so many biker tans around a pool. One of the beverages of choice was a new beer from Redhook brewery called Long Hammer. The suggestion was made that the ride, if it were to be run again, should be named the Long Hammer 600! (That is not because the cyclists hammered the course, either.)
A very big thanks to the Duras for opening up their house for the weekend and stocking it with so much hospitality. What a holiday weekend! In closing, I must admit that it was suggested by several participants that perhaps the new course is a bit too “scenic”. My thought is that mere mortals need to have a course that is challenging but that can still be successfully completed. Maybe a little fine tuning is in order? |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 05 June 2009 )
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