Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504280057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's touted as the stage that separated race-winner Viatcheslav Ekimov from the rest of the pack in last year's Tour DuPont.
It's also the stage that separates a lot of Roanokers from wherever they might want to go Monday.
Beginning as early as 4:30 a.m. in some areas, streets will be closed along the race route from the Salem Civic Center, across two mountains and into downtown Roanoke, where the finish line will be. Most streets will be closed only between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
"It's just a few hours one day a year, but it's one time when 'you can't get there from here' applies," said Roanoke police Lt. Ramey Bower. He's in charge of the posse of officers who will be herding people behind barricades and keeping cars in check along the Roanoke sections of the course.
Most residents who live along the route don't seem to mind being trapped in their houses while more than 100 men in skin-tight pants and bullet-shaped helmets roll by their homes.
Take Mary Jane Burgess, who lives on a narrow, winding stretch of Mount Chestnut Road in Roanoke County. She's the self-appointed superintendent of nearby Happy Hollow Gardens.
"I'm 81 years old and I live in the prettiest place in Roanoke County, and I don't care if I never get out," she said.
Last year, she and a friend stood along the road and watched every cyclist pump his way past Hettie Poff's cow pastures. They hollered to each one that he was near the top and it was downhill all the way after that.
"They all did fine, too, except for that one that ran off in the peach orchard" she said, referring to Brett Dennis, who dislocated his hip when he missed a turn on his Mount Chestnut descent last year.
Bea Thomas was out trimming the hedges at her Front Avenue home in Salem on Tuesday just so she could see the race better. "It gives me something to do," she said. "Something you don't see too often."
Many business owners have a different view of the race, though.
Richard McNulty, who owns the Dilly Dally Mini-Market at Front Avenue and Eddy Street in Salem, figures that - biggest bike race in America or not - the Tour DuPont isn't doing much for his profits.
"Anything that restricts the regular flow of traffic isn't going to help much," he said. "Last year, there was maybe 100 people out there, but they weren't buying nothing, just watching a bunch of bikes go by."
McNulty figures nine out of 10 business owners don't care much for the race's coming anywhere near them.
Judging by what it will take to get around Roanoke on Monday while the time trial is going on, McNulty's concerns are justified.
Say, for instance, that for some reason Bea Thomas needed to drive to the Dilly Dally. Though it's just across the street, she'd have to four-wheel it through her yard, go out the alley behind her house and out to Apperson Drive. She'd have to take Apperson to Electric Road to Texas Street to Roanoke Boulevard to Fourth Street to Union Street to Eddy Street, where the Dilly Dally is. That's about six miles to cover 45 feet or so.
So, if you're hungry for lunch and live on remote, narrow, Twelve O'Clock Knob Road, - which is remote and narrow enough that you'd need a pretty good reason to leave under the best circumstances - you might be best heading out in the back yard and rustling up a little poke salad.
Folks in the valley the other side of Sugar Loaf Mountain will be a little better off. Roanoke, Roanoke County and state police will allow some vehicular traffic across the race course at designated points.
Roanoke County police Lt. G.W. Roach said many businesses are not scheduling appointments and are giving employees two-hour lunches to watch the race.
Also, plenty of police, fire and rescue vehicles are stationed on both sides of the course to avoid interrupting the race in an emergency.
Police are hoping that by getting out the word on closings early, they can keep the complaints to a minimum.
"There's always a few, though," Bower said.
by CNB