This year because the mountain road is still closed due to ice storm damage the finish line was moved to the center of town...right at the end of my road. So this year instead of just seeing the hundreds of riders pass by but not seeing the finish we enjoyed the best part of the race. There were 800 riders in all this year. The pro men's group had 175 total I believe. Riders come from all over the world to do this race. In the picture below you see some of the pro men coming to the top of Gregory Hill into the center of town. This is the hardest hill of the whole course (referred to the "the wall" by the riders for obvious reasons). Just after they passed me here they turn right into Princeton common & the finish line is just a couple hundred meters around the corner...they have about 8 mores loops to do at this point though.
This was a portion of the pro women's group...they do 64 miles.
The lead woman after the first loop.
And the lead man after the 2nd loop
It was a sea of legs as you sat on the sidewalk and watched the large packs of bikes go by..
The riders were so focused they barely saw you as you cheered them on...the pain & determination was all you could see on their faces. And an occasional smile here & there.
The biggest display of determination was the youth rider that broke his chain on Gregory hill just before the finish line & picked up his chain in one hand and put his bike on his other shoulder and RAN the rest of the way up the hill, around the corner & over the finish line. Amazing !! It was a good day and I was so inspired I got on my bike today & did 20 miles...not up Gregory Hill though !!!Hope you all had a great holiday.
2 comments:
Wow. Good for you! What an athlete! I love those pics. Such cool angles!
Amazing photos! How fun to have a ringside seat to such a great event and even better to be inspired by it. Love that you captured both the big picture and the little details. Well done! Brenda
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