Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 28, 1990 TAG: 9005280119
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"It's been a long time since I'd been up a mountain like that," said Gerry Fornes, after finishing the last leg of his 100 kilometer race - a twisting, seven-mile climb up the side of a mountain most cars could only handle in second, if not first gear.
"We need to have more road races like this in the U.S.," he said. He placed second in the Mens II and III category, behind his teammate Mathew Koschera.
Fornes rode a 30-mile criterium the day before in Charleston, S.C., and planned to race in Roanoke's Festival Cup today.
But first, another 40 miles of pedaling. Is he crazy?
"I know I am," Fornes said with smile.
The Mountain Magic Race Weekend has gained instant popularity among cyclists because it's hilly, challenging and doesn't go around in circles, like most race courses on the East Coast.
The Taco Bell Race to the Lake course starts at the Blacksburg Community Center, goes out toward Catawba, loops around and comes back, continues out U.S. 460 into Giles County, hangs a right on Virginia 700 and then up, up, up to the lake.
"That's a hill," said Ron Irvine, 33, of Springfield. "This is the best damn course."
Irvine, who wears a prosthetic on his left leg below the knee, won two silver medals last year in the World Championship for Disabled Cyclists.
But mostly he races with able-bodied cyclists.
"It's sort of fun to have guys in the pack say, `Hey, what's that on his leg,' and then beat them to the line," Irvine said. He came in 59th in the Mens II and III Sunday, out of a field of about 125 riders.
The other Sunday races - United States Cycling Federation divisions for women, men over 35 and Mens Category IV - were 75 kilometers.
As the cyclists came back by the community center, they entered the "feed zone." Here, volunteers and teammates held out water bottles or food sacks for riders to grab as they sped by.
The foods favored by most cyclists are bananas, Fig Newtons and Power Bars, a mixture of fructose syrup, oat bran, brown rice and other healthy ingredients.
Some riders fill their bottles with Coke - defizzed and watered down.
Well, they have to keep going somehow.
Folks from the Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Blacksburg and about 100 volunteers helped keep the races flowing smoothly, along with three amateur radio clubs that kept tabs on the riders' whereabouts.
There were a few casualties - a broken collar bone, a busted chin that required some stitches, a mild concussion and a few cases of "road rash" - but, it's all in a day's race for bicyclists.
Bicyclists in Sunday's races were all licensed by the USCF, and had to adhere to certain rules, said chief judge David Puckett.
No crossing the center line, no shoving or pushing, and wear a helmet - all in the name of safety. "We don't want them to become hood ornaments," Puckett said.
First, second and third place in the women's category were Karen Menge, Mauree Chambers and Susan Swensen. In the Mens IV, they were Dave Shaffer, Bruce Meyer and Paul Battaglia.
In the over 35 category, winners were David Leduc, Allen Locks and Bill Holder. Dirk Pohlmann placed third in the Mens II and III.
Purses ranged from $425 to $1,025.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on May 30, 1990\ Correction
Because of a reporter's error, sponsorship of bicycle races in Blacksburg's Mountain Magic Weekend were incorrectly listed in Monday's editions. Diet Pepsi sponsored the Race to the Lake on Sunday, and Taco Bell sponsored Saturday's criterium races on the Virginia Tech campus.
Memo: correction