Press Release
Joe Medley Column
May 5, 2006
I saw it happen at another career stop, and I'm seeing it here in Northeast Alabama. Local enthusiasts with organizational skills take a participatory sport and make it matter to their community.
It takes me back to Bowling Green, Ky., where a transplanted pediatrician and friends organized disc golfers. They got three courses built in three parks. Now, the town plays host to professional tournaments, drawing out-of-state players.
The doc and his pals gave commerce and tourism types a reason to like disc golfers.
There's a group like that here. Their ranks include a financial consultant, doctors, veterinarians, et al.
They've given us all a reason to like skin-tight cycling shorts, and they deserve pats on the back .. or at least a bottle of spring water as they peddle by.
They've turned a Sunday morning mountain ride into a weekend festival, complete with a Noble Street food court in conjunction with the high-speed, highly competitive criterium races on Saturday.
They've built an event that landed on Gov. Riley's top 10 list of Alabama tourism draws, the National Racing Calendar, the new USA Criteriums series and, as of this year, www.cycling.tv.
These folks have made cycling matter here, to the tune of 125 entries for Saturday's Sunny King Criteriums men's pro race in downtown Anniston and 450 pre-registered riders for Sunday's 102-mile Cheaha Challenge, which starts and finishes in Piedmont.
The criteriums' pro field nearly doubled from last year's field of 65. Organizers stopped taking entries a week ago.
The field will include elite teams here to capitalize on the Sunny King Criteriums' new status as a points race. That, thanks to recognition on the National Racing Calendar.
The pre-registered Cheaha Challenge field has almost doubled. As it stands, the race will draw riders from 20 states.
"With a pretty day on Sunday, we could have like 700 riders in the Cheaha Challenge," organizer Mike Poe said. "These are more recreational riders, but they'll all be in town with their families on Saturday enjoying all of the stuff, then staying overnight and then riding in the Cheaha Challenge on Sunday."
Local cycling enthusiasts have built their festival around geography, smart timing, vision, boldness and aggressiveness.
They've timed it all around the Tour de Georgia road race and Athens Criteriums, two long-standing, major events that draw cyclists to the Southeast this time of year.
For a long time, the Cheaha Challenge was a combination recreation race/warmup for elite teams prepping for the Tour de Georgia. Having Alabama's tallest point in our backyard didn't hurt; teams saw Mount Cheaha as ideal for preparation.
Then organizers saw a chance to make more of their weekend. They revived criteriums four years ago, joining in the spurt of criteriums popping up in Georgia and South Carolina.
Now, those "crits" fall under the USA Criteriums blanket, a scheme dreamed up by Athens organizer Gene Dixon and coined this year. He hopes to go national with it.
Local organizers got in on the ground floor. It's helped to draw more elite teams, recreational cyclists and their families here, and it's helped to draw international television coverage.
Steve Masters, global marketing director for cycling.tv, wants to bring an American flavor to what's viewed as a European sport. He boarded a plane in London on Thursday and flew to Atlanta, where Poe was to pick him up.
Masters will be here through Sunday.
In addition to covering the USA Criterium series - with Anniston's as the final race - Masters has offered to run a 30-minute video geared toward eco-tourism in the Anniston area. The video will emphasize cycling-related tourism, showcasing the Chief Ladiga Trail, Cheaha Challenge, Talladega National Forest, Coldwater Mountain and ountain-bike trails both blazed and planned.
How did Masters and local organizers hook up? Well, remember Ron Williams?
The cancer survivor, Paralympic silver medalist and national spokesman raced here last year. He received the key to the city.
Williams and Poe crossed paths at a March race. Williams mentioned cycling.tv to Poe, who never misses an opportunity.
That's why we shouldn't miss an opportunity to pat local organizers on the back.