300 cyclists compete in Dade City

Racers participate in the Dade Battle of Brilliance three weeks after Hurricane Gordon postponed the event.

By MATTHEW WAITE

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 9, 2000

[Times photo: Dan McDuffie] Cyclists lean into a corner as they race on the half-mile course.

DADE CITY -- Cheryl and Ron Adams were ready to come here from Lakeland last month to watch their son compete in the Dade Battle of Brilliance bicycle races when Hurricane Gordon postponed the event.

On Sunday the races finally went off, and the couple waited along Seventh Avenue to watch their son Vance Jones fly by on a bicycle on one of the most pleasant days since the summer ended.

"You can't predict the weather," Cheryl Adams said.

The first Dade Battle of Brilliance, high-speed bike racing around Dade City's historic courthouse square, started with a few expected glitches and a few unexpected ones Sunday morning. The races, which included top professional racers, were as promised: fast, competitive and dotted with wrecks to give you goose bumps.

But Gordon's last laugh was keeping some racers who had planned to come Sept. 17 from arriving for the postponement date.

"The hurricane definitely hurt the number of racers," said David Heavia, one of the race organizers. He said cycling is a summer sport, and Gordon delayed it a month over the season's typical end. "A lot of people have put it up for the year."

Still, Heavia said that 300 riders took part in the various races, ranging from young children to top professionals.

And he estimated that 2,500 people had come and gone throughout the day. However, at any one time along the start/finish line, about 100 spectators gathered to watch on one side, and as many more riders gathered on the other.

Just having the race will help in the future, Heavia said. Organizers now know what to expect, from promoting the race to knowing that there is an oak tree outside the courthouse that drops acorns onto the course. And the riders who were here -- some national and world champions -- will tell others and by word of mouth the race will grow.

"We're definitely going to be big," Heavia said.

Ellen Kast, from the cyling team Team American Classic, said Hurricane Gordon affected race attendance, but it still went well.

"The groundwork is here, the people are here, the spirit is here," she said. "The cycling community is thrilled with this weekend."

Kast said the Dade City event could become one of the biggest in Florida.

"We're trying to make it happen for next year," she said.

For Ron and Cheryl Adams, having a big race near home would be nice. They said they try to make it to their son's races when they are close, and travel to places like Athens, Ga., and Miami for big races. This year, they went with their son to Jackson, Miss., for the Olympic trials.

But, they said, the differences between big races and Sunday's Battle of Brilliance aren't that substantial. The events are quiet and laid-back -- until race time -- and people mill about and relax along the course, waiting to cheer on the riders.

"There's just usually more people," Ron Adams said.

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