Were it not for the high school football team on a 2-0 winning streak, today Mount Pleasant would feel a little like Mudville back when the Mighty Casey struck out.

Hometown cycling great, national masters champion and world championship hopeful, the Mighty Chris Harkey placed 19th in the race for the world title Sunday in St. Johann, Austria.

Readers of the Independent Tribune contributed nearly $6,000 to send Harkey and his Greenville, S.C., Fairway Saab teammate Pat McCallion to the world championships to race, and Jim O'Brien of Kannapolis' the Right Gear cycling shop to serve as technical director and mechanic for the cycling duo.

Harkey's eye was set on the road race, while McCallion gunned for the time trials.

McCallion's hopes were realized Wednesday when he added World Masters Time Trials Champion to his title of U.S. national champ.

Harkey's dream was dashed by cold weather, rain, a slippery track, his teammate's crash and an Italian race contingent nearly three-dozen strong.

Harkey, 30, is the son of Paul and Rose Harkey of Mount Pleasant.

The Harkeys were disappointed for their son, but justifiably proud for him to compete and represent the U.S., said Paul Harkey.

Today was the last training day before the big race. Weather was beautiful, like it has been all week. Pat and I thought we would take a ride back to our favorite town, called Going. Now that we know how to find it, it has become our favorite route to ride.

Judy and Jim did all the grocery shopping to prepare for the pre-race meal for tonight.

Jim is showing me a great new way to prepare chicken. Since I normally eat chicken just plain, we decided that cooking apples with the chicken is my solution. Believe it or not, this is actually pretty good and healthy.

After supper, we decided to go down to the Catholic Church in the middle of St. Johann for Saturday mass at 7 p.m. We knew everyone would be praying for our race and our safety during the event, but we figured we could always use the extra help.

And since I would be missing church on Sunday, I knew this would make my family very happy. After church we watched a little of the bike race -- a crit (criterium) that was held downtown that was not a championship. It was a small-scaled European crit race, but it was still hard to just watch and not race. There were a lot of spectators.

Tomorrow, we're hoping for great weather, so we can go out and finish the job we came here to do. I think everything's in place. The bikes are clean and fast, thanks to Jim. We have been eating the right foods and getting the proper rest we need to do our best.

It's show time. We thank you again for all your support and help. Keep us in your prayers and keep riding your bikes.

-- Chris Harkey

5:30 a.m. -- Wake up call from Jim & Judy. Pat and I get up and stumble our way to the kitchen. Jim has already gotten up 30 minutes early to prepare our breakfast. For breakfast we had eggs, toast, and raisin buns from the bakery.

As we were sitting at the breakfast table, Jim opens a window and says, "Listen, it's raining." Then he goes, "No, I mean it is really raining." Much to Pat's and my surprise, it was raining really hard.

So I look at Pat and say, "It's gonna be a long day." Oh well, that's bike racing. It was pretty all week and I guess our luck had to run out sometime. This still didn't change our race plan and most of all, our attitudes about winning the race.

Pat and I roll away from the house and meet Jim and Judy at the start line. We huddled underneath one of the many village shop awnings along the start/finish line to keep dry. We knew going into the race that the heavily favored Italians would be our toughest competition.

The Italians are well known for their strength in numbers; and out of 89 starters, approximately 36 were Italian. I think that anyone who has raced with me will tell you, I respect other racers. But, I've raced against plenty of Italians in the past three years and it's really hard for me to respect their race behavior. So after saying this, it was time to give it our best shot.

As the race began, the Italians did exactly what we thought they would: go really hard from the get-go. By sending one of the riders at a time and making the other teams chase, they were going for an early breakaway.

Believe me, this course was hard enough that Pat and I knew we didn't want to be a part of an early breakaway. Our plan was for Pat to keep the race together for the first half of the race. No matter what was going on, and how bad we felt, we would stick to this plan. This is exactly what we did.

Pat was the thorn in the Italians' side. Every time the Italians tried to go, Pat chased them down. I, who was sitting in, was amazed at how well Pat was doing his job. Thirty miles into the race, I knew it was time to move up. As I approached Pat at the front, he didn't have to say a word. I could see it in his face, that he had given me everything that he could -- and I wasn't going to let him down.

We began the longest descent for the second time, and Pat had found a second wind. This was critical. Pat had recovered and was ready for one more round with the Italians. As we approached the bottom of the descent, we had to make a very wet and slippery right turn.

At this point, it was raining so hard that it was stinging us like bees. Next thing I know, bikes are falling! I'm hitting the brakes but only going faster. I have no choice but to head straight for the crash. As I'm getting through, with only having to stop, I notice one of the riders down is Pat.

There was nothing I could do, the race was heading up the road. One thing bad about bike racing, they don't stop when you crash. I knew Pat wasn't hurt seriously. So I was able to continue knowing I had to give it my all for us both. (And everyone else back home.)

I would spend the next lap and a half chasing the Italians myself. No matter how hard I went, or how slow I went, no one was going to work with the Americans. A breakaway of four men went clear of about 30 seconds. With 10 miles to go. There was no question at this point, the rest would be racing for 5th place. As everyone back home knows, I am not a field sprinter.

I knew my only hope would be to wait and jump with one kilometer to go. I did just that. It was a beautiful move and I would have to say, on most days I would have held them off.

As I was sprinting for the line, I couldn't feel anything in my legs. The cold temperatures of 40 degrees Fahrenheit and rain the entire time had caught up with me. No matter how hard I tried, I was in slow motion. The field started passing me with only 150 meters from the line.

In about 3 seconds, I went from 5th to 19th.

I want each and every one of you back home to know I gave it 100 percent of everything I had. It just wasn't my day to win. There's no excuses and I'm sorry I couldn't bring back a championship.

We knew before we ever got on the plane to come here, that one out of the two championships we would win. Pat is the 2002 Masters World Time Trial Champion. For me personally, it has been an awesome experience.

Pat and I would have never had this opportunity if it weren't for all the help from all the people who wanted us to go there representing North Carolina and the U.S.A. I let them down this time. I promise you next year I won't.

See you on the road.