Cyclists To Converge on Greenwood

April 13, 2007

GREENWOOD, SC - Uptown Greenwood, SC streets will be filled with some of the top amateur and professional bicycle racers in the world when the fifth annual Uptown Greenwood Pro Cycling Challenge returns to Greenwood Thursday May 3, 2007.

“It’s a quieter version of NASCAR,” is how race organizer Gene Dixon likes to describe it in the simplest of terms. “It’s world class athletes going really fast on finely tuned machines.” The Greenwood race is a part of a much larger eight race USA CRITS Cycling Series scheduled in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama from April 28th thru May 6th.

The eight races will not only define the best criterium cyclists over several fast-paced days of competition, but also qualify top finishers for the Las Vegas World Criterium Championships in September.

The 2007 USA CRITS schedule is as follows:

Criterium races are held on short courses (1/2 to 1 mile) allowing for up close viewing of team strategies and individual performance every minute. Professional commentating and lap award primes (pronounced “premes”) provide non-stop race action and updates for the veteran fan or the new spectator.

A purse of $10,000 will be up for grabs in Greenwood when Olympians, Tour de France veterans and Champions from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand compete in the 50-mile, multi-lap criterium event Thursday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. in Uptown Greenwood.

“You’ll never see a better group of athletes in the world,” said Dixon of Swagger, which is the USA CRITS event manager and technical supplier. “It’s like watching the top end of any sport. It’s not often that you can say you can see the top athletes of a sport.”

New this year in Greenwood is the addition of a women’s professional race.  The women’s race will run 40 kilometers and will start at 5:30 PM. 

In criteriums, the riders maintain a speed as high as 25-35 miles per hour on aerodynamic bicycles made of a variety of different metals that cost in the thousands of dollars.

“They are going to be going up to as high as 40 miles per hour and the winner is going to average around 30,” Jim Cox of the Greenwood Cycling Club recently explained. “If you’re going 30 miles per hour in a car, it’s slow. But on a bicycle, 30 miles per hour is flying.

“It is going to require explosive speed that has to be maintained for an hour-and-a-half. There is no opportunity to rest,” Cox continued. “This is roughly an hour-and-a-half of all-out effort.”

As Dixon puts it, “They are going 30-40 (mph) on a bike three inches away from somebody else. It’s crazy. They are on the edge.”

In addition, Uptown Greenwood will host children’s activities prior to the main race. Children are invited to participate in a bicycle rodeo, a safety clinic and a free helmet giveaway starting at 5:30 p.m. Children’s bicycle races will be held at 6:30 p.m. on the same course the pros will use.  

Children’s activities will take place in the fountain parking lot. Helmets and other items will be given while supplies last. Children wishing to enter youth races must have a helmet and have a parent present to sign a waiver form. 

State Farm Insurance Agent Frank Coyle, Greenwood Safe Kids Coalition, and Performance Cycle, Inc are sponsoring the children’s events.

Additional sponsors include the City of Greenwood, County of Greenwood, Uptown Greenwood Development Corporation, Ballentine Toyota, McCallum Orthodontics, and the Inn on the Square.

Uptown Greenwood streets will be blocked off to traffic. Vendors will be set up along the race route, selling barbecue, hot dogs, drinks, ice cream, etc., and restaurants will be open. The race will go on as scheduled rain or shine. Among the events planned include a Live After Five concert beginning at 5 p.m. at the Countybank Plaza featuring Augusta, GA’s Sabo and the Scorchers.

For additional information, visit www.uptowngreenwood.com or call (864) 942-8448.