Oak Ridge Today

USA Cycling Championships in Oak Ridge, Knoxville next week

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Two years ago, the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships opened Thursday, June 27, 2019, on Melton Lake Drive with the Individual Time Trial events. (File photo by Julio Culiat)

The USA Cycling National Pro Road, Criterium, and Time Trial Championships will be in Oak Ridge and Knoxville next week, June 17-20.

Oak Ridge will host the ITT (Individual Time Trial) National Championships for the third time in partnership with Visit Knoxville, a press release said.

The National Championships are scheduled just before the 2021 Olympics in Japan, where several Olympic athletes are expected to compete.

“This is an exciting time for Oak Ridge as we continue to show our natural assets and city to competitors from all over the world”, Hannah Fatheree, event manager for Explore Oak Ridge said in the press release. “We are grateful to the residents and visitors of Oak Ridge for their patience with traffic impacts and hope everyone comes out to watch the time trials.”

[Read more…]

USA Cycling has Time Trial championship race in Oak Ridge in June

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Image by USA Cycling

Image by USA Cycling

 

The USA Cycling Pro Road, Time Trial, and Criterium National Championships will be in Oak Ridge and Knoxville in June, and the first of those races, the Time Trial races, will be in Oak Ridge on Thursday, June 21.

The Oak Ridge races will kick off the championships, according to Explore Oak Ridge and Adventure Anderson County.

The Time Trial championships will be hosted by Visit Knoxville and the City of Oak Ridge, the two tourism organizations said.

They said the Time Trial course is a seven-mile section of roadway that will include part of Melton Lake Drive, which is along the Oak Ridge waterfront, and Union Valley Road. The professional and elite women will complete two laps for a total distance of 14.1 miles. The professional and elite men will complete three laps for a total distance of 21.25 miles.

The course allows spectators to see athletes pass multiple times from one viewing location, Explore Oak Ridge and Adventure Anderson County said. [Read more…]

About 200 bike riders competing in Oak Ridge Velo Classic this weekend

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Velo Classic

Professional and top amateur males race in a previous Oak Ridge Velo Classic. (Photo submitted by Lou Rabinowitz)

About 200 bicycle racers will compete this weekend in the sixth annual Oak Ridge Velo Classic.

The competitions include road races that start at 8 a.m. Saturday at the former K-25 site, now renamed East Tennessee Technology Park, and time trials that start at 4 p.m., also at ETTP.

Starting at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, riders will compete in a criterium, which is like “NASCAR on bikes,” said Lou Rabinowitz, one of the organizers. The criterium races will be on a closed loop at the Horizon Center business park in west Oak Ridge. Competitors can ride very close to each other and could reach top speeds of up to 30 mph or more. Rabinowitz said it’s the best competition for spectators to watch. [Read more…]