Hundreds of cyclists whizzed around on a racecourse in downtown Athens on Saturday as thousands watched from sidewalk cafes during the city’s 37th annual Twilight Criterium bicycle races.
The race gets its name from the final main event of the day, an 80-kilometer professional men’s race beginning at 8:30 p.m. in downtown Athens at dusk, right after a women’s professional race of 40 kilometers on the same course. But those were only two of the races during the mellow day.
Hundreds of kids ran in foot races and rode in bicycle races Saturday morning, and dozens more showed off their trick riding skills during the Trans Jam BMX contest, including the Tyler brothers of Oglethorpe County.
• View more photos from the Twilight events over the weekend.
Kaleb, 4, Kerry, 6, and Timmy, 8, have practiced tricks for about as long as they can remember, thanks to older brother and teacher Trevor Cavanaugh, 19, who took up BMX riding a few years ago, in addition to running cross-country, playing soccer and wrestling for Oglethorpe County High School.
The boys are home-schooled, mother Liz Tyler said.
“This is what they do for recess,” she added.
“I would ride forever,” said Kaleb, who was competing for the first time.
“I always want to practice for BMX,” said older brother Timmy.
“If only one of us places, I hope it’s Kaleb,” Timmy said, but as it turned out, all three were guaranteed a place in the top three — they were the only ones registered for flat riding in their age group.
Riders are mainly from Georgia, but many came from other states and even other countries for Twilight, which has been a rider favorite for years because of the appreciative crowds it draws, unlike many other races where fan attendance is sparse.
The race was founded in 1980 by former Athens bicycle shop owner Gene Dixon. It was the first night race in the United States in more than 60 years and now attracts some 150 riders for the main race and hundreds more for the other races.
“There’s lots of people and the people love cycling,” said Alisher Vokhobov, 19, of Uzbekistan.
It’s also good training, said Vokhobov, who is with Team Novo Nordisk out of Alpharetta.
Former national track racing champion Kelli Rogan, now a coach, came with about 25 young racers, ages 9 to 18, who train in the Frazier Cycling coaching program out of Suwanee. Six of the riders finished high enough in their age races to qualify for the all-ages final late Saturday afternoon, Rogan said.
Though crowds packed downtown sidewalks and sidewalk cafes, a Twilight Saturday doesn’t quite match the scale of football crowds downtown, and though plenty of beer flowed, police usually don’t see much trouble during the Criterium races, Athens-Clarke police Lt. Richard Odum said.
The event is professionally run now and lacks some of the races of the very early days, such as a bartender’s race, when some of the competitors may have had too much of their product.
The Criterium course is different now, too, moved a block away from Broad Street last year because of downtown construction. The new course seems to have opened up the spectator area more, and downtown merchants seem to like it, Odum said.
More racing is on tap today, as well as trail riding and cross-country cycling at Hawkes Creek Farm near Winterville off Hargrove Lake Road.