Georgia Cup Round 3-Dahlonega
Category: Masters
Date: June 11, 2005

by Blowin Doorsin

Round three of the Georgia Cup series kicked off this past weekend in Dahlonega. Despite the threat of tropical depression Arlene, racers turned out in droves for the opportunity to race the gaps.

Due to lack of police support and the varying degrees of ability within each field, the officials decided to start the masters, 4’s and women all together. On a course like this, it wasn’t going to matter all that much, so everyone seemed to go with it.

The masters field was staked with perhaps its strongest field in a road race all season, at least for a course like this. RBM showed up in force with about 6 or 8 riders. The Smith Barney train had 4 riders there, so it looked like game on between these two local powerhouses and they would not disappoint. A great group of guys from Birmingham also sent a few guys over to tackle the mountains and proved that old guys can hold their own against guys 15 years their junior.

Half the way up Woody’s the selection had been made. Smith Barney and RBM each had 3 riders in the break along with one guy from Birmingham. A gutsy CAT 4 from Bikes Unlimited made the juncture to the group a bit later. The first KOM of the day would go to a streaking Tony Scott from Smith Barney who caught the group napping a K from the top. The group stayed together through Suches until they hit Wolfpen Gap. Wolfpen took a Smith Barney rider out of the break on the way up and an RBM rider on the way down. We all hope Phil is recovering well! Just some scratches, a fat lip and one downed tree.

The now group of 5 masters and 1 CAT 4 seemed content on just setting a good tempo until they got closer to the line as the peleton could be seen down the hill on each climb. No fireworks up Neel’s until the sprint for the KOM where RBM was leading out their strongman Dougie Pomeranz who made Tony dig deep for his 2nd KOM of the day.

Things stayed together until the group hit the rock pile at R-Ranch. From there, Tony and Big Jon Atkins relentlessly attacked on the way back to the school. Counter after counter, but Doug and Greg Turner were having none of it. RBM decided they would take their chances in a sprint. The Smith Barney train has been as dominant as any team could be when it comes to sprinting this year and this day would be no exception. Big Jon accelerated as the group crested the small climb just before the school and as he let off the gas and the RBM riders followed, Tony launched his sprint from about 500 meters out. Chomping on his heels was Doug followed by Greg and Jon.

This was a great race from many standpoints. The course was great and the competition was great. RBM rode a gutsy race and gave Smith Barney their toughest test of the year. Hopefully, this will turn into a great rivalry for the rest of the year. In addition, if all of the masters in Georgia could race more often, perhaps they could combine their efforts and derail the Smith Barney train that’s been motoring along all year.