Today begins Stage 5 of the Tour de Georgia, the longest and most challenging legs of the tour. This stage will cover 133.4 miles through the most rigorous-and most beautiful-terrain on the tour, the mountains of North Georgia. Cyclists will make three epic ascents today: Burnt Mountain, Woody Gap and Crown Mountain, before making the mother of all ascents, Brasstown Bald. Brasstown Bald, in Hiawassee, is Georgia's highest peak, rising 4,784 feet above sea level and has awe-inspiring views of four states. The cyclist who makes the ascent to the summit of Brasstown Bald first earns the title KING OF THE MOUNTAIN!
The Tour de Georgia is in its sixth year and is rated as the United State's highest-ranked professional cycling event, along with the Tour of California. The six stage event covers 600 miles in six days as cyclists ride through Georgia's unique geography, from the beautiful coastal community of Tybee Island to the spectacular mountains of North Georgia. Two of cycling's greats have won the Tour de Georgia on their way to winning the Tour de France: Lance Armstrong in 2004, and Floyd Landis in 2006.
For complete coverage of the Tour de Georgia, visit their Website.
Here are some interesting -- and colorful -- cycling terms:
Big Ringing It - The chain on the big chain ring, going for maximum speed.
Bonk - Total exhaustion caused by lack of sufficient food during a long race or ride.
Domestique - A team rider who will sacrifice his individual performance to help a designated teammate. Duties can include giving up one's bike for another rider, supplying refreshments to teammates, and catching breakaway riders. French for "servant."
Hammer - To ride hard. Also, to "put the hammer down."
KOM - King of the Mountain. Award for the Best Climber.
Peloton - The main field, or pack, of riders in the race. Peloton is French for a group moving forward.
Popped - Blown. Had it. Knackered. Stuffed. Lots of words to describe the legs just going all weak. Loss of power.
Wheel Sucker/Wheelsucking - Someone who sticks to a rear wheel ahead of him or her and refuses to go to the front.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
Kim, never heard of htis Tour. Love watching Tour de France, will it be on TV?
Duane: If you go to the Tour de Georgia website (link above), you will be able to find all the info on the event, including TV coverage.
I have been aware of the event for the past few years, but never knew until I researched for this post, that it really IS a big deal in the world of cycling. (Ah, the beauty of Active Rain! )
Thanks for stopping by!
Kim, thanks I'll check it out.
Duane: Sorry...in looking at my post, I see that I somehow inadvertently deleted the link to the Tour de Georgia website. Ooops! Here it is: http://www.tourdegeorgia.com/
Kim, didn't want to sound like a ding-a-ling that may have been the reason I wasn't able to locate it, thanks for the link. I was going to google it.
Kim, don't think I can get the Sport South, may try it on the AT&T link to see how that works. Thanks again.
Duane: Hope you'll get to enjoy some of the tour!
This is a great post! I had not been aware of the Tour de Georgia until I saw the news coverage of it this week! Great info and good job with embedding the video!
Rich: Thanks! I enjoyed putting the post together...I learned TWO somethings new: The Tour de Georgia really is a big deal and embedding videos is a pain in the neck!
Thanks for stopping by!