"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Tour De Georgia - Anyone been/going this year?

I see that they have this yellow jersey club thing at the Tour de Georgia where you get access to the VIP area at the finish line. I was thinking of doing it, but wanted to see if anyone had and if it was any benefit over just being out on the road with the crazies?

Free food.

Better view of the finish.

Schwag.

But it comes with a certain expectation that you'll behave in a civilized manner. Some people find that rather encumbering.

I'll be driving one of the official's cars in the caravan. I think I have the best seat in the house.

We're thinking of going this year (2005.) Has anyone been? Or anyone from the area do you have suggestions for best ways to get around, cool places to stay. Best way to get to and from the stages? We're going to do the whrilwind trip, fly in Thursday night try to get as much of the two stages on Friday and Saturday and fly home Sunday. Any thoughts or insights would be most appreciated.

We're thinking of going this year (2005.) Has anyone been? Or anyone from the area do you have suggestions for best ways to get around, cool places to stay. Best way to get to and from the stages? We're going to do the whrilwind trip, fly in Thursday night try to get as much of the two stages on Friday and Saturday and fly home Sunday. Any thoughts or insights would be most appreciated.I'm toying with the idea. My brother lives in Atlanta so I could stay at his place and drive to see a stage or two of the race. I may even pack a bike up and take it along but don't know if it would be a good idea or not. It may sound like fun but it may not be very practical. I may just opt for drinking a lot of beer instead. :D

I don't know anything about the locations race per se. Just the Atlanta's north side and some of the metro area as I lived there for 10 years. If you're going to be driving anywhere near Atlanta just be prepared for really heavy traffic and A-hole drivers. No matter how fast I drove it always seemed there was some idiot riding my bumper.

I'm think of going to Augusta for the first stage. The week after are a series of crits in South Carolina in Walterboro and Greenwood with many of the same teams and riders as the TdG, except the ProTour teams :(

If you're talking about the Saturday at Brasstown Bald you've picked a fantastic stage to go see. Get yourself up the mountain, the crowds are big, the riders are suffering, it's pretty sweet.

http://www.rodvesper.com/portfolio/pages/croppedlance.htm

http://www.rodvesper.com/Ekimov.jpg

Try volunteering for the race. They'll ship you to and from each stage. Feed you. House you. You'll see a bunch of the race. And they'll give you a ton of schwag.

But you can't have my job. Sorry.

Try volunteering for the race. They'll ship you to and from each stage. Feed you. House you. You'll see a bunch of the race. And they'll give you a ton of schwag.

But you can't have my job. Sorry.
I'd love to do that, but the company I'm employed by has hang-ups about people taking vactions to work for someone else, even if it is a volenteer job.

I am kicking around the idea of going down for a day or two. I want to see Lance ride LIVE at least once.

Dalton's just a bike ride away from here.

Never been to a professional cycling event before. My wife and I are flying down for stage five and six. Any suggestions on the best place to watch, how early to arrive, etc would be appreciated.

Keep an eye on these two websites. SABA is offering an organized ride around the Bald before the race

http://www.sabacycling.com/Talk/

http://www.tourdegeorgia.com/2005/the_race/race_overview.html

Run if you start to hear banjos.

The stage to Brasstown Bald is sweet. Get up on the mountain and watch the elite suffer. I'm looking into this VIP tent thing, because to be honest it's much better to watch this stuff on TV. But it's cool to hang out with everyone on the mountain roadside. I met a lot of really cool people last year.

I was at the starting location of the final stage of last years race (Dawsonville). I got there about 2-3 hours before the race started and got over 80 excellent photos. Had plenty of time to see the bikes and talk to team members.
There were only about 1000 people at the start. The finish was swamped with people. If I recall correctly, there were over 250,000 people at the finish. :eek:

My advice - Be at the start (Gainesville and Blairsville) and you'll see a lot more than you will at the finish.

Anybody going? Anybody doing the spectator rides?

http://www.tourdegeorgia.com/2005/index.asp

Driving one of the VIP cars in the Caravan.

I'd offer you a ride, but it's not up to me.

Sweet! Nice work if you can get it. Right now I'm planning on attending only the last stage - thinking about whether I should cough up 95 bucks to get into VIP area. Of course, I can drink that much in champagne easily. :D

I'll be in Dahlonega on Friday probably, and definitely around the finish on Sunday. I'd like to get to Brasstown, but not sure yet. Hell, I'd like to take the whole damn week off too!! Rome would be sweet for the TT. I'll probably end up riding up to Alpharetta again from Tucker/Northlake Mall area. A ride was put together last year to do that, about 20 miles total. Only about 5 people showed up though.

We're going again this year. Will be there at least fri,sat,sun. I cant wait. Will be camping at Unicoi state park in Helen. Last year we did Brasstown Bald and Dawsonville and then shot down to Alpharetta. If you go to the starts you can get tons of pics and autographs. At Brasstown we wont be at the top as it is to crowded. We will probably start at the base of the big climb(where they turn onto the road of Brasstown and climb a little ways, hardly any crowds as no one wants to climb much. You can get great pics here as they will be riding very slowly! Anyway if you're thinking of going, do it . You wont regret it. North Georgia is beutiful, there will be great racing, lots of great people.

I'm planning on going to brasstown bald this year, so maybe a few of you who were there last year can answer some questions for me.

What is a good time to get there to get a good spot on the mountain? 2 or 3 hours before the riders arrive? or even as soon as the race starts? Will we have to walk up the mountain to find a spot? I guess I could figure out parking or whatever when I get there...

antone know their way around rome? i want to go to the TT and either get some photos from the climb or the finish. Any ideas about directions or anything? thanks. btw, coming from I-85

I'd love to go, but my Jeep wouldn't make it to the Tennessee line. If it rains, it won't get past my driveway.

At Brasstown Bald There are shuttles to run you up to the top. We got there well over 2 hours early and had to park a good ways down the mt. The only problem was they shut the shuttle down. From what i heard it was very crowded on top. I think it will be more so this year because it is such a grueling stage. We ended up walking close to a mile from where we parked to the base of the big climb. However you can park on the mt and watch them go by. We just wanted to be at the major climb. Also last year we watched them pass though Cleveland (about 1/2 way) then went to Brasstown. This time we will be at the start then Brasstown. It's a whole lot of hauling a** to watch this, but man what a blast!

I will be working as a course marshal for the tt in Rome on the 21st. I'll be on Horseleg Creek Rd. I'm also going to Brasstown Bald, but just as a fan.

You might want to check with the folks at the civic center for the best places to watch. They want us there by 9am (the race starts at 11am). To find the civic center take hwy20 (turner mcall blvd) toward downtown Rome. After crossing the Etowah river @ home depot go through 2 traffic lights. turn right on Reservoir St. Bear right toward the Visitor Center. Turn left onto hill where Visitor Center is located. Civic Center is the stone building in the parking lot. You need to get there early as the roads will be closed by 10:30 am, maybe earlier. I think the finish will on 1st street close to 5th ave. I know parking is very limited on Mount Alto rd. The key is to get there early and find a good spot and parking place. You might can call the civic center and get better directions. I will be working as a course marshal on Horseleg Creek rd, never done it before, but really looking foward to it.

One more question for brasstown bald/blairsville: What's the deal with camping?

I've got my hotel reservation, but it's an hour away in Murphy, NC. So I'll be driving to brasstown bald, staying the night there, driving an hour up to murphy, staying the night, driving an hour back to blairsville, watching the start of stage 6, and then retracing my steps once again to drive home.

So where is the camping? is it free? will there most likely be space? where is it and how do I find more information on it? because google is not helping me :(

Well, I can tell you that Webcor will not be there. Despite being team of the year in 2004, I guess losing Chris Horner and Justin England was more than the promoters wanted to hear. Bah!

I dont know of free camping. We are camping at Unicoi State Park in Helen(have reservation). Howver i did see people last year at Brasstown that had tents set up just in the woods on the way up the MT

I'm planning on going, probably to the Gainesville area (start of stage 5), just because thats closest to me. Never been before, is it worth it to go to the start of a stage?

Definitely worth going to the start. You will be able to get autographs and talk w/ most riders freely. We really enjoyed the start at Dawsonville last year. The riders have to sign in and on the way to and from usually will be available. Also some teams (not Discovery!) will be milling around getting ready.