Chainbuster Racing’s Rose City Rampage in Thomasville, GA was a totally magical weekend of racing dirt roads, hanging the greater cycling family, exploring this beautiful historic gem in the middle of the woods that is Thomasville, and partying and listening to live music with the locals two nights in a row. This really is an amazing town. On my warmup ride I found an art exhibit of large guitars being installed on every street light, front and back for two blocks.
Race day was a chilly 48 at the start that warmed back up to mid-70s by the end of the six hour race. Jason said he thought that I would like the hard packed red clay, because that’s what I told him Chilton County has. This was hard packed red clay all right, but had twice as much sand in the mix. When this stuff dries, it leaves textured humps like nature’s cobblestones. Chilton county has less sand, and drains incredibly fast, leaving a smooth surface that could be ridden on road bikes. No sir, not like Chilton County.
I kept up with some fast folks for the first 12 miles, and looked down and noticed I was averaging 19mph. That’s where I dialed it back to my happy pace. I flipped the screen to the map for the rest of the race, ignoring the numbers and focused on keeping a good line, a good gear and good breathing.
I had hung with Scott and Levi before dialing it down, and found Levi later. That has never happened before. I got to have him hang on my wheel for a good while. At some point I saw him falling off, but my legs were fresh, and I decided to see what I could do. I didn’t expect to finish in under 4 hours.
The high point of my race was coming back into town after the finish and having Levi’s little sister Mercy snap a picture of me with her little pink camera. When I started to ride off, she said Wait! And printed the picture out of the side of the camera. That’s my favorite souvenir from the trip.
The scene in Thomasville really made the event magical. It’s a remote town that’s been there for a long time, so after the race, Derek and I decided to do a little historical investigation. We rode around town taking pics of old architecture, and wondered when it was founded, so we went and found the cornerstone of city hall. See the photo, top line on the cornerstone reads “1847 ANNEX 1918”. Anyone know what that date format on a cornerstone means? Was it built in 1847 of 1918?
As always, thanks to Jason and Dawn, the Hogans, all the rest of the Chainbuster family, Hubs and Hops, and the hospitality of the town of Thomasville. What a great gravel destination.