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LET THE SPIN BEGIN!
The Twilight Criterium started in the
spring of 1980 and astonished the modest
crowd of onlookers that year with the sight
of grown men piloting high speed bicycles
through the streets of downtown Athens at
night.
Since then the Criterium has grown
through the years to become a three-day spec
tacle with food, music and events for the whole
family, and this year the Criterium spills over
into Athens' new Classic Center, which be
comes the focal point for the festival.
The main event is the Twilight Criterium
itself, a 60K bike race in which world class
professional and amateur cyclists compete for
$20,000 in prize money, making it the nation’s
richest criterium.
The weekend (see schedule) includes an
indoor sports show held throughout the week
end in the Classic Center, featuring in-line
skating demonstrations with Team
Rollerblade performing on an 18-foot ramp,
exhibits and demonstrations by Athens-area
sporting goods suppliers, a 20-foot climbing
wall and an indoor soccer arena for kids to
compete in double elimination contests: $2
admission covers everything.
Music, as usual, is an integral part of the
festival. Friday evening at 8 p.m. country star
Doug Stone performs at the Twilight’s first
indoor concert and the inaugural concert in
the Classic Center’s new theater. Athens’
beloved Star Room Boys open. Tickets are $ 18
and $20.
Also Friday and free on the Open Air
Music Stage at the Courthouse steps on
Washington Street, Steve Dancz’s piano/key
board will jazz things up beginning shortly
after 5 p.m., followed at 6:30 p.m. by the
bluesy sounds of Felix and the Cats with Sean
Costello; and then at 8:30 p.m., it’s the UGA
Jazz Band with Steve Dancz.
Saturday the Open Air Music Stage free
concert continues as the incredible League
of Decency’s 1940s Big Band music gets the
afternoon in motion, followed at 2 p.m. by
the lilting Irish tunes of the Buddy O’Reilly
Band and segueing at 3:30 p.m. into the jazz-
blues-spirituals-funk-Latin-organic sound of
Squat.
Children will have their own comer in
the Twilight Zone all day Saturday on the
terrace in front of the Classic Center with
face painters, story tellers, jugglers and other
entertainment, including refreshments
In addition to the 60K Criterium main
event Saturday evening at 8:30, the weekend
is filled with races and other athletic competi
tions. Men’s and women’s teams from around
the Southeast compete in the 21st Annual
Athens Soccer Invitational Tournament at the
Holland Sports Complex on Vincent Drive off
Newton Bridge Road and Jefferson River Road
on the north side of town.
Saturday a 5K run takes off at 8:30 a.m.
from downtown and hotfoots it down the
Oconee Greenway. At 10 a.m. participants
in the Gambler pedal off on a 50K ride,
through the surrounding countryside, a ride
that is spiced up by acquiring playing cards
along the way with prizes for the 20 best hands
at the end.
Saturday and Sunday also see mountain
bike racing for adults and kids at Hawks Creek
Farm east of Athens as well as a Kids
Criterium downtown at 11 a.m. and a Big
Wheel and Tricycle race at 1 p.m. downtown,
capped off by the Kids Criterium Parade on
the race course downtown at 6 p.m.
At 6 p.m. qualifiers from the morning race
compete downtown in the $1,000 Mile Run
at 6:05 followed closely by the Pro Women’s
Criterium downtown at 6:15 p.m. Also down
town at 7:15 p.m. comes the Fat Tire
Criterium for qualifiers from the morning’s
cross-country racing.
At 5:30 p.m. the USCF Amateur
Criterium, shorter than the main race, ped
als out in an all-out finals race.
Then comes a change of pace downtown
with the Women’s In-Line Skate Race at 7:30
p.m. and the Men’s In-Line Skate Race at 7:50
p.m., followed by the big enchilada, the 60K
Pro Criterium.
Registration for events takes place all day
Saturday, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the
Hancock Avenue entrance to the Classic
Center. For more information call 549-6632
or 1-800-GO-BIKE-l.
How To Watch The Race
It looks crazy. They fly around the streets
of downtown Athens on bicycles at speeds
close to 35 miles per hour. They ride in packs.
They block each other. Some pull away and
some are held back. It’s amazing to
watch, and it’s also a carefully
planned game of strategy. The win
ners don’t only ride fast — they ride
smart.
Watching the speed is easy, but
to understand the strategy, it
helps to know a few things.
Cycling is a team sport. There
are usually about six members on
a team. The goal of a team is to
control the race. They want to
create a situation where one of
their riders will win and ether
team members will place in the
top 10 positions.
As in other team sports, ev
ery member of a cycling team has a job to
do. They might block, attack, force the
pace, sprint, breakaway, chase, etc., de
pending on the strategy the team has de
vised to win. Which rider gets which as
signment in a race depends on a number
of factors: the course, the weather, the up
coming race schedule, the strengths and
weaknesses of the other teams in the race
and the amount of prize money at stake.
Riders get paid in three ways: finishing
in one of the place positions at the end of
the race, winning a prime lap during the
race or winning some other prize related
to the race, such as a prize for the first lo
cal rider to cross the finish line.
Even though riders have numbers on
their backs, they go by so fast it’s hard to
photo by D.H. Smith
follow an individual. It’s easier to watch a
team. The jerseys of a team all have the
same design and colors. As the riders of the
team race the course, you can watch vari
ous members block, attack, sprint or em
ploy other tactics to win the race. Watch
ing a team as a whole makes apparent the
skill, intensity and competitiveness of cy
cling.
At the start of the race, the announcer
introduces the hottest teams and riders to
the crowd. This is a good time to be at the
start/finish line if you don’t already have a
favorite team.
During the race, you can walk the
course getting a feel for the pace and ac
tion and how they change along the course,
or you can settle in one spot and watch
the seemingly endless spectacle
as the whirring wheels fly by.
Riders reach their fastest
speeds along Clayton. This
means that the first turn, at the
Georgia Theatre, is a tricky, high
speed maneuver. The back-
stretch along Washington is the
scene of the most action, getting
ready for the breakaway at the
end of Washington onto Thomas
■PSi and the fourth turn onto Clayton
” ^ for the high speed chase back
toward the first turn.
Remember safety: riders are
flying by at high speeds. Careless
action could hurt somebody.
While a race is underway, careful
crossing the street,
nated corners where
the okay. Course guai
to signal the appro:
warning to stay out
And remember;
cohol are
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histles
TWILIGHT
SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, APRIL 26
FOOD
Race: Classic Center Courtyard
Time: 5-10 pm.
SPORT SHOW
Place: Classic Center • Time: 5-9 pm
OPEN AIR MUSIC STAGE
Place: Courthouse Steps
Time: 5:15 p.m. Steve Dancz: 630 p m. Felix & The
Cats with Sean Costello; 8:30 p.m UGA Jazz Band
with Steve Dancz
STAR ROOM BOYS/DOUG STONE
Place: Classic Center Theater • Tine: 8 p.m.
SATURDAY, APRIL 27
REGISTRATION
Place: Classic Center/Hancock Ave. side
Time: 6:30 am-8 p.m
SOCCER
Place: Holland Sports Complex - Vincent Dr.
Time: 8 am.-6 p.m
5K RUN
Place: Washington St & Thomas St
Time: 8:30 am
SPORTS SHOW
Place: Classic Center • Tine: 9 am-9 pm
KIDS ZONE
Place: Classic Center Terrace
Tme:9am-9p.m
GAMBLER
Place: Classic Center • Tine: 10 am
MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE TIME TRIAL
Place: Hawks Creek Farm • Time: 10 am.
FOOD
Place: Classic Center Courtyard
Time: 11 am.-10p.rn.
KIDS CRITERIUM
Place: College Ave. & Clayton St. • Time: 11 am.
OPEN AIR MUSiC STAGE
Place: Courthouse Steps
Time: 12:30 p.m. League of Decency, 2 p.m. Buddy
O'Reilly Band; 3:30 pm. Squat
BIG WHEEL AND TRICYCLE RACES
Place: College Ave. & Clayton St • Time: 1 pm.
USCF AMATEUR FINALS RACE
Race: Downtown* Tme: 5:30 p.m.
KIDS CRITERIUM PARADE
Place: Downtown • Time: 6 p.m.
$1,000 MILE RUN
Race: Downtown • Time: 605 pm
PRO WOMEN’S CRITERIUM
Race: Downtown • Time. 6:15 pm
FAT TIRE CRITERIUM
Place: Downtown • Time: 7:15 p.m.
WOMEN’S IN-LINE SKATE RACE
Place: Downtown • Tme: 7:30 pm
MEN’S IN-LINE SKATE RACE
Place: Downtown • Tme: 7:50 pm
60K PRO CRITERIUM - THE MAIN
EVENT
Place: Dcwntown • Tme: 8:30 p.m
SUNDAY. APRIL 28
EVENT: MOUNTAIN I
Place: Harts Creek Farm • Tme: 10 am
EVENT SPORTS SHOW
Race: Classic Center • Tme: 1-5 pm
EVENT KIDS MOUNTAIN BIKE RACES
Place: Hawks Creek Farm • Tme: 3 pm
APRIL 24, 1996
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