On Thursday, Team State Farm (PBP’s Jim Coll and Lance Ware, Butch Eavenson and Todd Dixon) traveled to the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in north Georgia to proudly represent their home state in a 36-mile organized ride and cheer Team Discovery Channel to victory in the Tour de Georgia.

The team arrived in Hiwassee, Ga., on Thursday evening with two hours of daylight remaining, enough to fit in a quick training ride while at the same time allowing Ware the opportunity to gain a large measure of redemption on the infamous Owls Creek climb, a ¾-mile stretch that averages more than 20 percent grade. A year ago, Lance twice was forced off his bike twice only to complete the climb on foot. This year, however, he charged forward completing the climb with energy to spare.

Following the training ride, the team head to a local Italian restaurant to, as Keith Barrett says, "carbo-load" for the event the next morning. While there a delusional fan, perhaps mistaking Dixon for George Hincapie, approached the team and not realizing his compliment, suggested he was happy to know that some other "big guys" would be riding in the morning. The fan and his friend concurred that the skinner riders would go down the next day as the "Fat Boy Express" would blow past them on the faster descents.

The next morning, the team was greeted with 30 degree temperatures, and once again was thankful for the extra pounds they were carrying as well as their custom State Farm water bottles. As the skinny guys shivered through the early stages of the 36-mile event, Team State Farm cruised through the first 10 or so miles to the base of Owls Creek. Once again, the team completed the climb successfully, passing a large portion of the riders who were now off their bikes and walking. As Eavenson pedaled forward with a steady cadence he offered words of encouragement to the "bigger" riders, while Coll shouted insults at anyone under 140 pounds and walking.

With Owl Creek conquered, the team continued its way through the field on a course that featured 40-50 mph descents and several long climbs that while they failed to match the grade of Owls Creek but significantly exceeded it in distance.

After completing the ride, posing for a few photographs and getting a small snack, the team headed back to its plush accommodations near the Tour de Georgia route to prepare for the professionals to pass through. As they left the parking lot, however, they approached a pack of a dozen or so skinner riders still completing the ride. Perhaps sensing a business opportunity, Ware encouraged Eavenson, who was driving the team car, to scare the riders off the road while the local State Farm representative shouted for the riders to be more careful as he fired a stack of business cards out the window.

While the team celebrated with a BBQ lunch and reminisced on their outstanding performance that morning, the best performance of the day was reserved for young Brittany Ware, star of the team’s running arm, which was competing on the Gulf Coast that morning. The Oak Grove High School freshman and PBP, dressed in her yellow and black running gear with State Farm red shoes, set a PR for the 3,200 meters and qualified for the South State Meet this week. With a similar performance at South State, she is expected to qualify for the State Meet in two weeks.

For the Tour de Georgia, the team decided to set up shop at the midpoint of a lengthy climb some 2 miles from the finish of the 106-mile stage. There, they cheered on Discovery’s Levi Leipheimer, who passed the team in fifth place some 30-45 seconds behind the leader, but amazingly made up that ground and more to win the stage. Perhaps hearing about Ware’s exploits earlier that day, Discovery rider and eventual tour winner Janezi Brajkovic stopped as he reached Team State Farm and offered to exchange a Discovery team water bottle for a now-famous State Farm bottle. Undeterred, and perhaps inspired that the State Farm bottle contained a little extra kick than the sports beverage he had been drinking, Brajkovic worked his way back through the other riders and managed to maintain his overall lead.

With the trip already sure to be a success, the team decided a stop at P.F. Chang’s in Birmingham was the proper way to ensure they did not drop weight after the trip’s challenging rides. Ordering five entrees for the four team members, the team once again celebrated their conquest of the thinner riders. Perhaps the only down note to the trip was when the team, which contained two Southern Miss and two Ole Miss grads, discovered that a lengthy traffic jam just north of Tuscaloosa was due to the thousands of inappropriately excited Alabama football fans making their way to the Alabama spring game.
© Jim Coll