Oak Ridge Today

Olympians competing in USA Cycling races

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

Olympic athletes will be among the competitors in USA Cycling races in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

The Olympians expected to race Thursday include Lawson Craddock, Chloé Dygert, Amber Neben, and Lily Williams, according to Explore Oak Ridge, the city’s tourism organization.

Williams is scheduled to start at 10:07 a.m. Thursday. Dygert is scheduled to start at 10:35, and Neben is scheduled to start at 10:39.

The races are the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships Time Trials. The riders will be racing against the clock to see who can complete the course along Melton Lake the fastest.

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In June: USA Cycling Individual Time Trial Professional & Para National Championships

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The USA Cycling National Pro Road, Crit, Time Trial, and Para-Cycling Championships will be held in Knoxville and Oak Ridge June 27-30. This will be the second time all U.S. national champions in professional road cycling will be crowned the same week under the organizational umbrella of one host community, a press release said.

“All are invited to join for an exciting, fast-paced national championship event held in your backyard!” the press release said.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said the city “is pleased to welcome back the officials and participants of USA Cycling’s National Championships for a second year. The new route will take you through a challenging course in our neighborhoods as well as the speeding segments along Melton Hill Lake. We know you will enjoy the spectacle of world-class cycling within Oak Ridge and will learn about the unique sport that it is!”

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

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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…]

Oak Ridge: Tennessee Paracycling Open is final event for Rio Paralympic hopefuls

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Tennessee Para Cycling Open in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Saturday, May 16, 2015

The Tennessee Para Cycling Open in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Saturday, May 16, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The Tennessee Paracycling Open being held in Oak Ridge this weekend is a three-race event for disabled cyclists. It’s June 25-26, and there is a learn-to-race class on June 24 for new riders.

This year’s registration list includes many national champions and U.S. National Team members, who are using the event to prepare for the July 2 Rio Paralympic Trials, a press release said.

The athletes, many of whom are disabled veterans, compete in several classes, on handcycles (for those with amputations or paralysis), tandem bicycles (with visually impaired stokers on the back, and sighted pilots on the front, and both powering the bike), and upright bicycles, for those with amputations of one or more limbs, neurological deficits, or other disabilities.

TPO is one of six events in the USA Paralympic Cycling series. It is the final event in the series before the Paralympic Trial selection race in Charlotte on July 2, so it’s final preparation for many Rio Paralympics hopefuls, the press release said.

The events are: [Read more…]

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

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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…]