41 Para-cycling cyclists raced Friday at the Yucaipa Road Stage

By: Lauren Roos

March 15, 2019 (Yucaipa, CA) – Friday’s PossAbilities Para-cycle Yucaipa circuit road race stage got off to a great start with a bright sunny weather, cool morning air, and none of the wind that kicked up for the time trial on Wednesday. 43 competitors in 14 different categories lined up at the start line to complete as many laps as they could before the first competitor completed 15 laps of the 1.7mile course.

Then, they were off, climbing a gradual hill past Ridgeview Elementary. School children lined the sidewalks encouraging the cyclists along with high-fives and cheers of “LET’S GO, BIKERS!” It’s little wonder that this amazing cheering squad makes the Yucaipa course a favorite of world champion T2 competitor riding for Peace Cycling Performance, Jill Walsh. “I love this course because the schools are really supportive and all the children are out cheering,” she commented before the race started. It was easy to see what she meant!

Also featured on the course were a couple sharp right turns which served to make things challenging for the upright cyclists, especially the trikes who have a fixed axel on the back. Jill Walsh said this was an area on the course the trikes had to be especially cautious on in order to keep the rubber side of the trike down. She and all the trike competitors did just that.

Tavian Bryant of Lancaster, California, riding for Team PossAbilities in the H4 category was excited about the course as well, stating, “This course is a bit better for me: The grades aren’t as steep [as the time trial course], there’s still some climbing and endurance comes into play. It’s a fun course, challenging, but not too technical.”

For full results from all 14 categories, click on the link below.
http://redlandsclassic.com/para-cycle-results/

Racing continues today in downtown Redlands for two consecutive days of criteriums set to start Saturday afternoon at 12:45 p.m.

Para-cycle Photos: Lauren Roos