The only things more tired than high schoolers after their first week back to school are the bicycles hitting city streets this weekend.
The Gold Rush Omnium is an elite, multi-day bicycle racing series taking place across three Colorado cities: Lafayette, Louisville and Longmont. Lafayette’s leg concluded Thursday while Louisville’s kicks off Friday. The final race — also the Colorado Criterium State Championship — begins in Longmont on Sunday morning.
It’s not exactly the Tour de France…
But, it’s still a prestigious race. It’s a USA Cycling-sanctioned event with a $20,000 prize purse up for grabs.
The competition is an omnium, which means it’s made up of multiple races.
This omnium has riders racing in three criterium, or “crit,” races. Crit races are short, closed-course road races where riders do repeated laps at very high speeds.
How Longmont fits in:
According to the event website, “high-speed turns are the order of the day.”
The race is centered at Thompson Park and features a 6 corner course, and each lap is 0.8 miles.
Races begin at 9 a.m. with junior divisions and continue throughout the day with other amateur divisions.
The pro divisions begin at 3:30 p.m. The women will race for roughly an hour, and the men will begin at 4:30 p.m.
Thompson Park will be home to many race day festivities including food trucks and a beer garden. Local restaurants are getting in on the fun, too. Martini’s Bistro is offering reservations for “front row seats” on its patio and lawn to watch the race as it zips by. Check out the course map:
Courtesy: Sanitas Sports