Five ascents up Paris Mountain near Greenville, South Carolina, rendered, splintered and obliterated the peloton at the US Cycling Professional Championships on Sunday. It's where hometown boy George Hincapie established his winning form.
What is Paris Mountain and where can you make the climb?
I've posted a map below that shows the Paris Mountain portion of the ride. It's a ridge about 4 miles north of Greenville. The Paris Mountain State Park is criss-crossed with hiking and biking paths running throughout its old-growth hardwood forest. Mountain bikers like the Old Firetower Bicycle Trail.
But the route taken in Sunday's road race comes at the mountain from the western side, up SSR 13 from Greenville to the steep ascent up SSR 16.
The USA Cycling Pro Championship website has a complete map of the road race course, plus video of the ascent and descent of Paris Mountain. The elevation profile shows about 1,000-foot elevation gain in about 2 1/2 miles.
A tip sheet for another bike ride that includes an ascent of Paris Mountain is posted online at Bicycling Magazine's "5 Great Cycling Routes from 5 Top Pro Racers." Paris Mountain is described in Hincapie's training ride.
