Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 11, 1994 TAG: 9405110015
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MOUNTAIN LAKE LENGTH: Medium
But they didn't have any choice.
"I feel it's our duty to come and see it," Gil Willis said.
The Willises, with their 7-year-old son Thurston, were among the dozens of spectators who lined the twisting, steep climb up Virginia 613 in Giles County. The crowd included cycling enthusiasts, interested locals and at least one well-behaved baby.
The 700-foot elevation change in the final mile before reaching the Mountain Lake resort was the big draw.
"You want to see these guys when they're going slow, otherwise it's a blur," Gil Willis explained.
Shawn Hash sat atop a cooler, sipping a beer. He runs Tangent Outfitters, a mountain biking business at Mountain Lake. "This section could dictate the race," he said. "People have to understand, this is a world-class event."
The first seven racers passed by the crowd at 4:40 p.m., with world-famous American cyclist Greg LeMond in front but fading. Just a few feet back, 20-year-old Kevin Livingston tracked closely behind Lance Armstrong, a nationally famous rider from Texas.
John Livingston beamed on the roadside as only a proud father can. "I'm jacked up," he said. "When I looked up and saw my son on Lance's wheel, I almost had a heart attack!"
The scene was especially sweet for Livingston, who lives in St. Louis. During last year's race his son was struck by a team van and put out of the contest.
Not everyone was up on cycling.
Six-month-old Lindsay Johnson sat patiently with her mother, Tamara, while her father, Alan, scoped out the course. Though the race ran late, Lindsay remained quiet and smiling. Later, she got to help her father clean up a few thrown-away bottles while they killed time.
How did they choose the vantage point? "I rode up here a month ago and this is where I hurt the most," Alan Johnson said.
Larry Alexander, who teaches in Virginia Tech's business school, was astride his Trek 21-speed bicycle. He and his daughter Karen, 11, are veterans of many a ride up Salt Pond Mountain. They've ridden a tandem cycle up the other side, on Virginia 700.
"I just like to see somebody really good, how they do it,"Larry Alexander said. "This is pretty tough here."
Alexander had measured out a steep portion so he could time the cyclists and later compute their speed, which he expected to be in the 15 mph range.
Raymond and Lou Ellen White came up from their home in Pembroke with daughters Patricia and Jessica and their friend, Carrie Stevens.
"I wanted to see them climb the category 1 mountain,"Raymond White said. That's the toughest climb classification.
Someone up there was a big LeMond fan. He or she had chalked LeMond's name across the road - several times.
"I think Greg's had more stuff written on the road than anybody else," Johnson said.
Denver McMillan had a perfect vantage point. The Pulaski County resident and his wife, Betti, had taken off from work to stake out a spot above a hairpin turn and steep slope. If the cyclists were bunched up, McMillan was going to photograph the race from a plank atop his white van.
If just a few of his favorite cyclists came along, say LeMond or Armstrong, he'd shoot it from ground level.
The McMillans had decorated their van with three miniature U.S. flags and posters cheering on their favorites and one for the rest of the pack: "You're all great," it read.
"To get a look at Greg LeMond is everything," McMillan said.
by CNB