All things denied….

A Gaby FanFic by PB

Chapter 18

Derek had already taken Don, Hooch and Patty out to the 40mi. mark at Powder Springs Creek to join the other support crews in setting up the ‘feed' as the rest of the Grottoes Express made their way from the Georgia Institute of Technology to Piedmont Park where they gathered for the mass start with the other participants. Gaby followed Frank and the other members of the ‘Express' as they threaded their way through the mass of cyclists, finally working their way up to a place in the front half of the growing peloton.

“Nice kit, Erin!”

“Wha? … RONNIE!” Erin shouted as she snapped around to see who was talking to her. The two briefly hugged then Ronnie noticed the other members of the Grottoes Express team.

After warmly greeting each one, Ronnie caught sight of Gaby. “Aren't you going to introduce us, Erin?”

“Oh, sorry … Ronnie … this young ‘un is Gaby Bond … she's a British exchange student at yer ol' school … she's also been riding with us while she's been here … Gaby … this here's Ronnie Wilcox … she used to ride with us until she pulled up stakes to attend the University of California … you can see she's the competition … must be yer second or third year with the Lady Anteaters, huh?”

“Second,” Ronnie replied. “So, Gaby … you compete?”

“I've ridden a few races back ‘ome,” Gaby slyly offered. Erin and Diane were standing behind Ronnie and doing their best to keep a straight face. Before anything else could be said, a race official gave the gathered peloton a five-minute warning before they started off.

“Excuse me … Gaby … guys … I should get back to the others … catch you later? … Nice meeting you Gaby!” Ronnie enthused as she made her way over to the rest of the Lady Anteaters. Once with her team, she repeatedly looked over to her old friends while she talked to one or more of the other girls on her team.

There was a bang somewhere and riders in front started to move down Monroe Drive. Initially, the peloton eased forward but within a city block, the speed according to Gaby's computer had increased to a relaxing 35kph. Erin had already told Gaby about the ‘neutral zone'. This was the initial three miles of the course in which the peloton was to organize itself into some semblance of order before the official start. A helicopter was soon shadowing the cyclists as they turned off North Ave. and re-entered the grounds of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

“Erin? … I think it'd be a good idea to try to move up closer to the front … not ‘right at the front' … just behind the pros ‘at the front'. Gaby suggested as Erin moved up beside her. “That way we'd be in a better position to react to any move.”

“Makes sense!” Erin agreed as she discreetly motioned the others to follow. Since the rest of the peloton was still jockeying for position, the sight of a team moving forward was nothing to cause concern amongst the other riders.

Erin dropped back to let Frank know the plan. Gaby took a quick glance behind her to look at Frank and Erin. Once he nodded his agreement to her plan, she subtly indicated that Frank and Aidan casually ease a path through the cyclists in front of them so that the remaining team members could move up. As they slowly entrenched themselves into the back half of the lead pros, Gaby noticed familiar kit of a few of the pro teams; Gerolsteiner, CSC, T-Mobile and US Postal.

Still showing 35kph, Gaby took the opportunity to glance around her and take stock of their new surroundings. She figured they were comfortably sitting front third of the newly-formed peloton in a group of about sixty pros and some pretty serious looking amateurs.

As they swung onto the sweeping half-circle of Ferst Drive, the general demeanour of the peloton took on a serious feel. Once they reached the Institute's Aquatic Centre, the flag was dropped by the Governor of Georgia, officially starting the race and the speed dramatically jumped, unleashing the 175 cyclists on Atlanta and the surrounding area.

A quick right-hand turn, a short dash across Tech Parkway, followed by a sharp left-hand turn onto the multi-lane Marietta Street and they were at last released onto city roads. As Gaby had predicted, the pros made their move as they negotiated the sharp right-hand turn off Jones Drive onto Route 29. Taking advantage of the road's four lanes, they took it as wide as possible and were immediately faced with a very noticeable ascent!

“Gaby! … You do what you have to … ride your race!” Frank mentioned as he pulled up beside her. He felt her competitive need to rise to her potential.

“It's a team race … I should stay with you guys,” Gaby protested.

“Listen girl … five of us have to cross that line … nuttin' sez we all have to cross together!”

“Erin's right Gaby … if you have to … you go ahead … we'll follow,” Frank stated.

No sooner had Frank spoke than the pros at the front upped the stakes with the result that the peloton was effectively divided. The Grottoes Express rose to the challenge as they managed to cling to the back of the lead group of forty-five pros and amateurs after opening up a small but increasing gap.

As they reached the summit of the first climb, the pace slowed slightly as their breakaway group enjoyed a short flat stretch of road before tackling their second climb of the day. Gaby was riding between Frank and Erin with Diane and Aidan close behind. “I bet the pros will try again to lose us … probably on that climb, ahead.”

“Think so?” Erin wondered.

“Tha's wot I'd do,” Gaby replied.

“Suggestions?” Frank knowingly asked.

“If it was me … I'd wait until most of us were committed to the climb … then use my power to accelerate and break from the rest of the group,” Gaby paused briefly as if assessing the situation. “Too easy to be dropped back here …I'd say we'd stand a better chance if we individually worked our way further into the pack … before … we get to that next climb … no point in telling the rest what we're doing.”

Frank and Erin agreed with Gaby's tactics. He motioned to Aidan and the two of them gently eased their way through the congestion in front, opening a path for the rest of the team to follow.

Again, the sound of a helicopter could be heard above them. As they moved away from the more built-up areas of the city, the helicopter dropped to a lower altitude and stayed off to one side of the lead group. Gaby noticed it was outfitted to supply TV coverage.

“Hey guys … we're on the telly!” Gaby jokingly enthused.

Once again, Gaby's intuitive knowledge of tactics paid off. Once the group was into the second climb of the day, she noticed the familiar tell-tale signs of an impending move by some of the pros and she quickly caught the attention of her teammates. As if on cue, several of the pros rose from their saddles and made a charge for the distant summit, drawing the stronger riders of the group along with them. Because they were expecting it, the Express managed to stay with the leaders, but a few around them missed what was happening and got left behind.

The faster pace of the climbers carried them over the summit and during the short, but steep descent, Gaby saw her computer nearing 100kph as she powered down the wide stretch of open road. Because of the hilly nature of the course, the sprinters soon revealed they were determined to make the best of this or any flat stretch.

A few serious and half-hearted attempts to break from the lead group occurred, but they were quickly reeled in by the body of the break-away group. As it was, a composite group of pros at the front were setting a steady pace of 50kph, probably in the hopes of wearing down the weaker riders.

The two quick climbs right from the start and the fast steady pace on this flat stretch was starting to have an effect on several riders in the lead group, both pro and amateur. Frank noted with some concern, that Grottoes Express was starting to spread out a bit within this lead group. Both Aidan and Diane were looking a bit tired and fell back a few places. Even Frank fell back to ride on Gaby's wheel, but the good news was that the team was still together.

When one of the official motorbike escorts passed the lead group, the passenger held up a white board stating that as a result of the last climb, the lead group had split the original breakaway group and had opened up a fifteen second gap from them. It was another four minute gap back to the main peloton. Gaby took a quick backward glance and saw they had a good stretch of clear road between them and the next group with a couple of individual riders in between.

“We gonna keep this pace fer the rest of the race?" Aidan gasped.

“Cheer up … it's going to get much faster … this here's the slow part,” Rob joked.

“Relax Aidan … they'll slow down … sometime … even the pro's would rather ride at a slower pace," Gaby interjected as she dropped back to ride beside him.

"I sure hope yer right!" he gasped again.

"We've never been up here before, Gaby!" Diane put in.

"It might not be for long … you can bet the pros'll keep trying to lose us," Gaby shot back.

“I agree,” Diane offered as she kept her position on the other side of Gaby. “Any ideas?”

“Work our way back up there an' mix with this bunch ... that's the only way we stand a chance of staying with them if they try to break again,” Gaby replied.

"Gab … remember what Frank told you … if it comes down to the crunch and you have a chance … take it! … We'll follow along," Diane prompted. "If we can hold on for the remainder of the race … we've got a real good chance of finishing higher than we've ever done before …and having one of us cross before the rest of us won't hurt us none.” Seeing Gaby still looked unconvinced, Diane added, “Look … I know this area, Gabs … the next fifteen miles or so is all downhill … except for two small climbs … so that'll help,”

“Listen to her … she has family in these here parts!” Rob urged. “We'll be ok!”

As Erin glanced back, she joked, “Ok … enough resting you guys … get back up here!”

As they rejoined Erin, Gaby decided to glance around and see who was left in the lead group. Besides seeing amateur teams sponsored with the likes of Jeep, Schwinn and Trek there were a few individuals in ‘club' strips. She also noted that Ronnie and some of her teammates from the University of California were still shadowing the Express. Gaby thought it was interesting that the pro teams she'd seen at the start, Gerolsteiner, CSC, T-Mobile and US Postal, were still around but all seemed to be missing a teammate or two. The other thing she noticed was that two individuals close to the frontrunners, both women, were wearing a strangely familiar strip.

“Hey Gabs … you realise we're riding with Lance Armstrong?” a recovered Aidan mentioned as he rode beside her.

“Where?”

“Up ahead … see the USP strips? … Second one back … I think the first one is George Hincapie,” Aidan offered.

“Mum won't believe this when I tell her!” Gaby beamed.

As they started the long steep descent, Gaby was thankful the wide-open road was mainly straight with few sweeping turns. While many of the group free-wheeled down the slope, the more fearless powered down just to keep up with the leaders. Gaby found herself and her friends easily topping 120kph on the steepest part of the descent, only slowing their momentum as they took a sweeping right onto the long ramp leading west to Route 6.

Riding along Route 6, Gaby had imagined it much like her mum had encountered in the Italian Alps, a mix of ascents and descents with hardly a flat stretch between them. If anything, it had dropped the average speed to a more manageable 44-45kph which allowed the weaker riders to catch their breath . It had also taken a toll on the break-away to the point were they were now reduced to a total of twenty-seven riders. Through sheer determination, six of those were from the Grottoes Express.

With a seven minute gap from the closest chase group, Gaby realised the approaching ‘feed' at the forty mile mark could possibly be a problem. After more than an hour's riding, she knew its value, but she'd also seen enough pro races to realise that the leaders could easily take advantage of any reduction in speed at the ‘feed', for those following. Gaby took the opportunity for a quick glance around, at her teammates and knew she had to think of something. The ever-present helicopter gave her the germ of an idea.

"Erin? … You still got your pen?” Gaby asked."

"Uh?"

"You had one when we were waiting to push off,” Gaby pressed.

"What fer?"

"You'll see … have you?" Gaby asked with increased urgency.

"S'pose you want paper too?" she mumbled while fishing about in her pocket.

"Nope … neat!” Gaby enthused as Erin passed her the pen. Erin and Gaby had fallen back behind the rest of the team while the pen exchange took place. "Tell the others to stay alert at the feed."

"Think they'll make a move?" Erin wondered.

"I've seen enough races to think they might … but I've got an idea that might mess up their plans … if it works,” Gaby replied.

"Ok … you go do your thing … I'll make sure the others know,” Erin assured.

At the feed, Don and Derek were at the side of the road, amongst the other support crews, waiting for their teammates to snatch the musettes from them. Hooch and Patty were stationed further down the road, ready to collect the discarded bags. Erin moved off up the right curb and headed for Derek while Gaby concentrated on the pro's and went for the more direct middle line.

Gaby soon joined the familiar pale yellow strip of the two Team Apollinaris riders, she spotted earlier.

"Gooten tag," Gaby casually offered in her fledgling German.

"Tag." Tina looked over to her side and did a perfect cartoon double-take. "Gabi! ... Your Mu-vatter said you were riding today … but how you get up here?”

"My bike … hi, Maria!" Gaby playfully replied. "How come you're here?"

“Der team vas invited,” Tina revealed.

“Where are they?” Gaby excitedly inquired.

“I think we lost them on those early climbs,” Maria admitted and then added as she nodded to the other pro teams, "You are in good company here."

"That reminds me … catch you later!" Gaby mentioned as she started to break off and make her way over to the UPS boys.

" Tschüss !” both Maria and Tina chorused.

Gaby eased away from them and took a swig from her bottle. Deciding to chance it, she emptied its contents then lobbed it ‘Tdf style' onto the side of the road. “If this works I won't need it … if it doesn't… I can scrape by.”

"Umm … excuse me … Mr. Armstrong?" Gaby timidly ventured as she approached one of her cycling heroes.

"Huh?" Lance uttered as he turned in surprise and watched as Gaby pulled up to him, matching his cadence.

"Dang! … It's a girl, Lance!" George exclaimed.

"Mum'll never believe this!" Gaby gushed.

"Where'd you come from?" Lance asked.

“Back there … with the rest of my team,” Gaby coyly answered.

"And what team is that? … And for that matter … who's your ma?" Lance wondered.

"Grottoes Express … an' my mum's Jenny Bond,” Gaby admitted then added with a small squeal, “Oh this is just so kewel!"

An amused Lance seemed to focus most of his attention onto Gaby now. As the feed station came closer and the helicopter was off to her left, she couldn't help but think she might be able to pull it off.

"Hey Lance … cradle snatching now?" jokingly voiced another of Lance's teammates.

"Just checking things out for you," he grinned back at his teammate.

"Umm … could I get your autograph?" Gaby sweetly asked.

"You mean now?" Lance queried.

"I have a pen," Gaby stated almost apologetically as she offered Lance the pen.

"Well … okay I guess … seeing as you rode all this way to get it,” Lance cheerfully agreed. “What's your name?”

"Gaby"

"Okay Gaby … where do I sign?" a bemused Lance inquired.

"Hey Lance … didn't Jenny Bond win the Fem last year? … Rides for some German team … Apollinaris … I think," George ventured.

"Think so … that your ma Gaby?" Lance asked.

"Uh huh … here … on my number,” Gaby replied while offering up said participant number.

As he signed, Gaby noticed they went right through the feed, her distraction keeping Lance amused. But of course she knew her ruse was only a temporary respite for the Express.

"Thanks Mr. Armstrong!" Gaby enthused.

"Give your mom my regards," Lance stated.

"I will ... Thanks again!" As she dropped back, Levi took her place and offered a mussette to Lance.

“You realise you missed the feed?” Levi commented to his team captain.

Catching up to Gaby, a grinning Erin handed a mussette to her.

“Mind tellin' me what that was all about … besides having the gall to ask Lance Armstrong for an autograph in the middle of a race?” Erin questioned as Gaby began stowing the contents of her mussette.

“We're still here!” Gaby answered while trying to tear the wrapper off an energy bar.

“What?”

“I figured Lance an' the others might decide to take off once they got through the feed … leaving us as we slowed to get our stuff,” Gaby explained

“Sooo … you distracted him? … I doubt your mum taught you that,” Erin replied with a fake pout.

“It worked didn't it?” Gaby tried to plead her case after she made quick work of her snack.

“Ohhh … that it did!” Erin cheerfully agreed. “Anyways … almost half ways there … and because of you … we've already done better in this here race than we've ever done in the six years we've been coming here!”

“Like you said … it's not over yet!” Gaby shot back.

Gaby knew that there would come a point where the pros would make another attempt to rid themselves of the ‘locals' and it came at the halfway marker when they came out of a short descent into a shallow valley.

Using the momentum from their powered descent, some of the pros let loose upon hitting the flats. At the time, Gaby and Erin were drafting behind Tina and Maria. When the pace kicked up a few notches in a sudden and dramatic fashion, Gaby acted upon pure reflex, dropping a couple of gears and once again rising out of her saddle, headed for anyone's wheel. After a while, the pace slowed and Erin was able to re-join her. At the same time, Gaby was able to literally catch her breath and slow her breathing to something approaching ‘normal'.

As the pair looked at each other and smiled, their mental self-congratulations was interrupted by Lance's voice, "Heyyyy … well-done Gaby!"

"Oh wow! … Uhhh … thanks … uhhh," breathed Gaby, still somewhat in awe that she actually was able to remain with the leaders.

"Just like her mama." Maria's proudly stated as she put a hand on Gaby's back.

"Thu … thu … thanks…" Gaby managed to gasp as she turned and smiled at her mum's team mate.

Glancing around, Gaby saw things had really changed. She and Erin were now the only amateurs in with a handful of the world's elite – Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Erik Zabel, Jens Voigt, Tina Porsche and Maria Pinger. “Please … don't let me bow out … not in front of these guys…”

"Here … take this Gabi!" Maria offered a bidon. "I told your mama Tina und I would look out for you … she has enough to worry about … we'll get you to the finish … ja?"

"Thanks Maria." Gaby gratefully acknowledged Maria's offer. Her breathing had returned to her normal rate. “Ahhhhh … just what the doctor ordered!”

To Gaby, the top half of the course seemed to be all uphill even though she knew there must've been a few descents thrown in and somehow, both she and Erin managed to stay with their fellow cyclists. Oddly enough, the chase group – the group that resulted from the split of the lead group just after the feed, always managed to keep pace with the leaders, but failed to close the twenty-two second gap.

Diane and Aidan were struggling a bit but Rob and Frank were driving the dozen or so riders in the chase group. Since the winning team was determined by the first team that had five members cross the finish line, it was important to keep everyone together.

Feeling the pain as she was, Erin had expected to pick up a dropped Gaby somewhere on the course, but as they passed the 70mi. marker, she shook her head in amazement. Watching Erin as she was clearly thinking about Gaby, Maria pulled up along side of her.

“She's amazing … is she not?”

"When we first asked her to join us … I thought she'd try … she's got that competitive edge … but I never really imagined she'd make it this far … not on this course … and certainly not up here in the company of world-class cyclists like yourself,” Erin thoughtfully admitted. “By the way …I'm Erin…”

“Maria … und that's Tina,” Maria offered while nodding in Tina's direction.

As they passed through North Decatur, Erin and Gaby were relieved to see that they passed under the ten-mile marker. They almost made it, but two more climbs remained. The first one was only about fifty feet, followed by a welcomed hundred foot descent and the final one was only eighty-feet in elevation at Druid Hills, but at a steep 15% gradient. After that, Gaby knew it was a comparatively short run home.

On the final descent of the race, Tina dropped back a bike length, meeting Erin and Gaby as they re-joined the small band along with Levi.

“Gabi? … bitte … your mama asks … if we are finish together … to stay from the sprint … it is very dangerous."

"Okay … I'll stay out of the sprint ….not like I'd have the energy,” Gaby intoned.

"Sehr gut!" Tina replied with a sense of relief.

By now, the small group was content on working together, riding piano and maintaining their lead on the chase group. As they rode along East Rock Springs Road, the tall office towers of Atlanta came into sight, looming larger the closer they got. Once they turned onto Piedmont Avenue and headed towards 14th Street, a renewed sense of urgency and accomplishment ran through the group. Despite the race being held on city and urban streets, the topography of the course proved challenging, even to the pros.

As they made the turn onto Piedmont Avenue, Erin looked across to where they had been and saw the chase group and a little further back, the main peloton.

“Gaby? … Looky yonder!” Erin urged while quickly showing her where to look.

The small group was now racing along 14th St within sight of the main peloton. However, with a fifteen second gap, the chase group let alone the main peloton stood very little chance of overtaking the lead cyclists. Only a single left-hand turn remained before the nine cyclists would be on a straight two-mile stretch to the finish.

Less than one hundred metres left and despite Tina's promise to Jenny, Gaby found she couldn't resist the urge to attempt a break from the others. It wasn't in her nature to just sit back and watch them cross first. She carefully watched them and then chose her moment before she dropped two gears. Rising from her saddle, she danced on the pedals as she made a break towards the opposite side of the road. Unfortunately her plan to catch Lance and the others off balance didn't figure on their quick responses. She made it to the other side of the road but barely managed to draw level with the leaders before she was spotted and a full-fledged sprint resulted.

Lance and George were the first to cross, followed by Erik Zabel and Jens Voigt. As they crossed the finish line, Maria and Tina coasted to a stop. When Maria glanced back at her team mate, she noticed Tina had stopped well back of her and was straddling the cross-bar of her bike, catching her breath. She also noticed Gaby had just crossed the line, almost tied with Levi, while Erin had missed the sprint and still had a few metres to go.

“Tina! … Hinter Ihnen! … Ergreifen Sie ihr Fahrrad!” Maria frantically shouted, as Gaby's bike erratically coasted up beside Tina.

As Tina snapped her head around to look, she saw Gaby was starting to slump forward on the bike and she appeared disoriented. When Gaby's bike was within reach, Tina snatched the cross-bar and prevented Gaby's bike from side-swiping her own. The sudden stop made Gaby lose whatever balance she still had and she collapsed against Tina.

“Gabi! … Gabi! … MARIA!” Tina now had a hold of Gaby's bike, plus a precarious hold of Gaby herself and could safely release neither. However, before Maria could react to Tina's cries, a race official had seen her problem and had run over to lift the unconscious girl off of her.

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Atlanta Winter Classic 2004:

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ga/atlanta/377503700

Click on “display elevation” to see the course profile. Warning: site may be slow to reload.

(to be continued)

PB 22.06.08 © 2008
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