US Pro Championship Greenville SC

Hot...that is all I'm sayin'....what a weekend!



This Labor Day weekend started like the past couple of years....up early, hitting the road to Greenville from Shelby,NC. Only a little over an hour ride on Saturday morning. I met up with HoJo...fellow moto Howard Johnson in Spartanburg SC at the RaceWay gas station for the ride down.

The US Pro Championship time trials (http://www.usacyclingchampionships.com/) were scheduled for an 11:00am start and the support motos are usually requested one hour and a half prior to start times for an organizational driver's meeting. As usual....we all show up an hour early for that....typical anal retentive behavior that is one of the common threads of our collective make-up.

The location this year was inside a new business park just off I-85 in Greenville which made for a "secure" venue. Our function as moto marshals are many, but primarily to help keep cyclist safe as they do their thing on the open road.

As we arrived a little after 8 am, and found our staging location...all the familiar faces that work behind the scenes started showing up and moving around. It really is like a traveling circus...one big extended family! We all get together about 4 or 5 times a year to work these races, and you get to know folks all over the US and other parts of the world.

For me, the day was pretty predictable and mild. Of the "Velo" photographers, I am usually paired up with Mr. Jonathan Devich (http://adventuresofjono.typepad.com/) of http://www.cyclingnews.com/ . We have ridden more miles together over the past few years in races than my wife and I! Jono as he is commonly referred to has a very artistic style and likes getting high....I mean he likes getting on top of things to shoot....bridges, trains, buildings, parking garages...you name it.
For Saturday, he found a nice little spot that he liked and so did I. I ended up in this ladies front yard under a shade tree talking with her about her home place. She was in her late 70's and one of 12 children...never married and looking at all the construction going on around her house....it was definitely caught in the past...just the way she liked it. It was really a highlight of my weekend to chat with her at a distance as we talked about her recent hosting of a family reunion. I felt like I had slid back to the 50's while looking across the street at a huge retirement village under construction! Oh...yeah and a pro time trial was going on too!
As the time trial continued...my fellow moto's were all passing by my relaxed spot under the shade tree....grinning, laughing and shaking their heads with approval!

We waited for the last rider and winner David Zabriskie to go by....and shortcutted the course to find ourselves rolling beside him opposite a divided median with 1k to go....Jono was a happy boy as we had it all to ourselves. I think we actually could have moved over and got a little closer to Zabriskie and the median....but the Commissaries were very close in numbers....I didn't want to create discussion for being to close to the rider....so we laid low.

Alex Dudley and I decided to break the heat post race by visiting the local Arby's for a Jamocha shake...he had not had one in 24 hours. Then back to the hotel...but wait...wanna check out Touring Sport BMW/Aprillia/Ducati? Why not...so a quick detour to the moto store to scour over the inventory and kick tires. Dean Lyons, a fellow moto and time board driver showed up shortly after we got there....we are so predictable!

My wife came down for dinner and a night on the town in Greenville Saturday night....we had a dinner reservation at a recommended place on the river. Didn't realize that a Gun's n' Roses/Motley Crue type band would be playing about 3 feet from our outside table! The band was great, food was most excellent....and our waiter could have sold bird poo wrapped in pita bread....what a great guy!

Race day Sunday....did I mention it was hot? Holy smokes man...by noon we were all soaking wet! Our pre-race meeting took place at 12 and shortly after the national anthem. The crowds were fantastic as the 115 riders took the stage. Three laps around G'ville and then out to do 4 laps over Paris Mountain...then back to do 3 finishing circuits in town. This course was not a moto-photo course! It was very tight and technical with very few places to pass. We did a lot of shooting off the front and roadside. We had split medians in a few places that allowed us to get in with the group but it was limited. Paris mountain had great crowds as well....they had a competition for best roadside party....and the competition looked stiff! As the day wore on and the alcohol kicked in...it started looking and sounding more like the European crazies! These folks were having big fun! On the last pass over the mountain I saw 3 home boys that always make the trip up...Mike Keeley, Mike Ribydynera, and Roger Ivester roadside yelling and hooping it up!

As we came into town and across start finish to drop off Jono for the finish and surprise winning pictures of Rock Racing's Tyler Hamilton....man the crowds were fantastic! The cowbells and cheering.....they were even cheering us on! Another great day albeit hot on the moto workin the peleton!

Next stop....Kansas City Missouri for the Tour of Missouri! We will be heading out Saturday September 6 for a 920 mile jaunt to begin the 2nd annual tour out there.
I hope to give you an update on our adventures on a daily basis while out there....stay tuned!

Many thanks to Mr. Alex Dudley for the great photo's that we will share in the coming posts...but for now just to get you goin'...check out