Rogers to host cycling festival

Racing against a train is not an event in most cycling festivals, but it's one of the ways the Rogers Cycling Festival stands out.

The festival, which starts Friday in Rogers, is unique in other ways. It includes a number of mountain-biking elements for riders who prefer soft surfaces and more daunting twists and turns. The festival also includes a three-person time trial, a USA Cycling-sanctioned event.

Rogers Cycling Festival Schedule

Friday

Bike Rodeo, 4 p.m.

Frisco 5 Poker Run, 6:30 p.m.

Cruiser Sprints, 7 p.m.

Bike Trials demo at Railyard Bike Park

Saturday

Race for the Spike, 7:30 a.m.

Wheel Sucker Team time trial, 9:30 a.m.

Hot and Hilly MTB Relay, 9:30 a.m.

Sunday

Walnut Valley Road Race, 7 a.m.

RATS Kids MTB race, 8 a.m.

For more information: www.rogerscyclingfe…

Matt Crafton, one of the festival organizers, said the event is designed to offer a variety of cycling elements.

"We want this to be an event for any type of biker and any type of skill level," Crafton said. "It is unique to have something for everyone, and that is the goal."

A bike rodeo will kick off the festival Friday night with the Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks hosting the event. Adults can participate although it is primarily designed for kids, he said. The rodeo will teach participants about bike safety, like how to handle a bicycle and how to signal a turn. The rodeo is free.

The competitive cycling begins Saturday morning with the Race for the Spike, where competitors will race to beat the train in downtown Rogers. The cyclists will start from downtown, riding 11 miles to Avoca and back. Custom jerseys will be awarded to the top male and female winners, but the cyclists who beat the train back to downtown will be awarded an engraved railroad spike.

"This is kind of our signature event," Crafton said. "We have both a road bike and a mountain-bike element to it."

The mountain bikers will race at Lake Atalanta over a six-mile soft surface course, and they will also try to beat the train back to downtown to receive the spike. Racing begins at 7:30 a.m. for both road and mountain bikers.

Two more racing events Saturday include a road-cycling race where three-person teams try for the best time over a 10-mile course from downtown to Avoca and back.

"This is a very unique event that you don't see very often in the United States," Crafton said, "You have three people, and what you do is try to maximize your aerodynamics in a time trial. You're just racing against the clock."

The three-person team will start in a tight line with the lead racer in front and the other two closely behind drafting off the lead racer. Crafton said there are a handful of teams registered, but he anticipates a large number of teams by Saturday. The time trial is a USA Cycling sanctioned event.

At the same time, the mountain bikers will compete in the Hot and Hilly relay at Lake Atalanta. This event is a two-person relay covering five miles. The start and finish of the race will be at The Railyard bike park.

The festival concludes Sunday with more racing. A USA Cycling road race in the Walnut Valley area will feature top road racers pedaling around a six-mile loop. Various categories of racers include a "citizens" division for cyclists who have never competed in a road race, but would like to give it a try, Crafton said.

A mountain bike race at Lake Atalanta starts at 8 a.m. for the younger cyclists ages 5-10.

"This was something we got feedback on from last year," Crafton said. "They wanted something competitive for the kids, so that is something that we've added this year."

Greg Lindley, who is also one of the festival organizers, said there aren't a lot of changes this year.

"The turnout last year was good, so we wanted to stay pretty much with the same schedule," Lindley said. "We did simplify the mountain bike course to make it faster, but we wanted to make sure that this festival attracts all kinds of bikers."

The festival is hosted by the NWA Emerging Leaders, a program of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.

Sports on 07/20/2016

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