First Friday Welcomes Classic Bike Race
This Friday evening, big-time bike racing comes to First Friday in the Warsaw Downtown Classic Criteriums.
<< See the Stacey Page Calendar for this event >>
If you’ve seen the Sunday races on the island in Winona Lake during the Fat & Skinny Bike Festival in May then you know what is in store. If you haven’t then be prepared to see the high speed thrills of close quarter bike racing from a front row seat. You’ll see elbow to elbow and wheel to wheel racing at speeds of 30 miles per hour. Lap times for the race should be about 1 minute and 20 seconds.
The races will be held on a one-half mile course on Center, Indiana, Main and Lake streets. The start finish line will be on Center Street near the Buffalo Street intersection.
There will be top-flight racers present from all over the Midwest. Some of the teams participating are Cleveland Clinic from Cleveland, Ohio; Texas Roadhouse from Louisville, Ky.; Lead Out from Grand Rapids, Mich., and of course our local heroes of the Racing for Riley Team.
The racing schedule is as follows:
Juniors will start at 5:45 p.m. with a 30 minute race. Category 4 & 5 will race at same time. There will be a kids race for local kids at 6:20 p.m. and this will be a one lap race.
Category 3 & 4 will race at 6:30 p.m. for 45 minutes.
At 7:45 p.m. the premier Category 1, 2 and 3 race will run for one hour. Racers will be competing for over $2,000 in prizes.
There will also be a display of vintage bicycles.
The family fun bike ride from Winona Lake to downtown Warsaw will leave at 5:30 PM, which is a bit earlier than usual because of the race schedule.
Finally, KCV Cycling Club will be providing free secure valet bike parking in an area on Buffalo Street just north of Center Street. Leave your bike for the evening and avoid the hassle of trying to find a place to park your car. If you live outside of town consider bringing your bike to an outlying parking lot and riding to downtown.