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..The Georgia Cup: Siege of Rome is more than just a race it is a chance for cyclists rising through the ranks to test their mettle.
Click for Georgia Cup race results.
Preparing for a competition takes weeks of riding, with sometimes 10 to 15 hours on a bike a week, said Adam Sitz.
“You’ll probably work for about 6 to 8 weeks with maybe an average about 10 hours a week on the bike — it takes a lot of work,” said Sitz, who rides with locally based cycling team, Rome Velo.
Two races were held Saturday beginning with a time trial on Technology Parkway, followed by a criterium downtown that kept many of the roads closed until after 7 p.m.
The event continues today with a road race beginning on Everett Springs Road near Floyd Springs Road, in northern Floyd County. The approximately 30-mile route will travel through Walker, Whitfield and Gordon counties, with the circuit finishing on Lake Marvin Road.
A cyclist rides down a rain-soaked Glenn Milner Boulevard in the 35+ Masters division of the Georgia Cup race Saturday afternoon. (Lindy Dugger Cordell / Rome News-Tribune) |
Depending on the category, riders will travel either 26 or 52 miles during the road race, and some intersections along the route may have traffic slowed to allow riders to pass safely.
A majority of the racers are amateur racers of varying levels, but some pro teams hit these types of road races to stay sharp and possibly win cash prizes.
The Jet Fuel team, a coffee company from Canada, came to the Southeast for just that kind of honing.
“There are a lot of races in the Southeast this time of year,” said Chris McHagge, one of the race organizers. “They came do
Teresa Waddell of Rome watches the Georgia Cup races with her dogs Max (center) and Issabella and her husband, Copeland, (not pictured) from her car parked outside City Hall on Broad Street on Saturday afternoon. She said they opted to stay in their car, which was parked near the first turn in the race course, because of the bad weather. (Lindy Dugger Cordell / Rome News-Tribune) |
wn to get in on the road race.”
Sitz, wearing the teams’ Georgia Foot & Ankle jersey, recently moved up to the Elite class — about half way up the ladder of recreational bicycle racing.
“We’ve got two more steps up to get to pro, and even then you’re not Lance Armstrong,” said Sitz.
Moving up also presents its challenges.
Sitz moved up in class a couple of years ago and was considered a good hill climber in his previous class. But moving into a more elite group of riders, and greater competition, presents new challenges, and there is a realization that he needs to improve to compete.
“Hopefully I can turn into an all-around good rider,” he said. “But that’s easier said than done.”
And improvements don’t come easy in the rainy and 40-degree temperatures.
“They did this same criterium back in 2006; it was really popular although it was raining back there as well and could turn into quite a crash fest,” he said Saturday morning.
The corner of East Eighth Avenue and East Third Street ended up being a bad spot sending at least one cyclist to the hospital with a shoulder injury.
In the rain there are a lot of small things that can cause a crash, and, Sitz said, trying to stay loose really is the biggest thing.
“You try not to ride your brakes too hard,” he said. “You can maybe run your tire pressure a little bit lower than you normally would to increase the surface area touching the ground too.”
But all the preparation and best-laid plans can also go awry.
“Sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw, I mean, you might get behind somebody squirrelly and you go down,” he shrugged.
If the bike isn’t damaged and the cyclist isn’t too injured, then it’s time to get back on the bike and try and catch up
“That’s easier said than done,” he said.
He took third place in his class in the time trials Saturday morning but dropped some points by coming in 16th in the criterium. He admitted that he’s going to have to push it today to catch up.
“Hopefully the guys who beat me can’t make it up those hills (in the road race),” said Sitz.
Not everyone participates in all of the races in a series — some cyclists have a preferred type of race — but Sitz is competing in all three and then going on to other cities in the Georgia Cup.
Click to see a slideshow from the Georgia Cup race.
