This weekend: FBCC

From the Citizen-Times this AM:

http://livingwell.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090716/OUTDOORS/907160304/1324

Chris Ernst loves a good challenge. Even one he knows is going to hurt. A lot.

That's why the 34-year-old elite amateur bicycle racer is looking forward to this weekend's French Broad Cycling Classic, which runs Friday through Sunday.

“I've done the course for the road race,” said Ernst, of Fairview, who has competed in the Cycling Classic at least seven times in its 12-year history. “It's extremely challenging. I've never seen any course like it in all my years of racing.”

Hosted by the Asheville Bicycle Racing Club, the three-day race is Western North Carolina's mini version of the Tour de France, with all the excitement of the “big” Tour, including talented cyclists, spectacular scenery and punishing mountain terrain.

The race's perfect timing — in mid-July, during the Tour de France — helps generate excitement and keeps the riders coming back each year, said race organizer Richard Dunn.

“I think having Lance coming back into the Tour helps the sport,” said Dunn of seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong's return to the race after a three-year absence. “I know he will be in the Top 10. Lance coming back this year, and the Tour going on at the same time as the Cycling Classic really helps the general public see what we're doing here locally with bike racing.”

Three days of racing

This year, the race kicks off Friday with the Cane Creek Time Trial, a race against the clock with riders going off on a set distance in timed intervals. The 40-mile Liberty Bicycles Road Race is on Saturday, and the mini Tour ends Sunday with the City of Asheville Criterium, an enclosed course where riders race a loop in set times based on their class.

Riders get points based on their performance at each race. The overall points leader after three days of racing wins what is known as the omnium.

The race's format and venues change from year to year, said Dunn, but it always kicks off with the time trial Friday night in Marshall. While last year there was no road race, this year there will be a 40-mile road race on Saturday in Marshall, a brutal event in which riders climb more than 6,000 cumulative feet in 40 miles.

“A lot of people will not be happy, because it's very difficult,” said Ernst, an ABRC member who races with Team United Healthcare. “But a lot of people will be happy to see the mountains. People come to race here to get a piece of what it's like to race in the mountains, and what the scenery is like. Even though it doesn't favor a rider like me — I'm 175 pounds — I'm very supportive of bringing people into the community.”

Dunn said each year the French Broad Cycling Classic draws 350-400 riders from across the Southeast and some professional and elite amateurs from around the country, lured in part by the $6,000 cash purse as well as the true mountain cycling experience.

Gearing up

The action begins Friday at 5 p.m. in Marshall, with a time trial on N.C. 251 along the French Broad River. Riders start off in one-minute intervals, riding 10K (6.2 miles) out and 10K back.

On Saturday is the much anticipated/dreaded Liberty Bicycles Road Race through Madison County.

“We wanted to have an event that really represents the region we're from,” Dunn said. “We feel this road race will be a very sought-after race.”

It begins at 8 a.m. with the Pro Cat 1, 2 riders in downtown Marshall and ends on a mountain top, at the top of Walnut Creek Road.

For those riders who still have legs on Sunday, the City of Asheville Criterium will round out the omnium with a brand new course in Arden. Riders go around a rectangular, 1.1-mile course for a certain amount of time based on their class.

For example, juniors ride as many loops as they can in 35 minutes, while the pro men ride for 70 minutes.

“I think it will really add to the racing aspect,” Dunn said of the new course.

“I think the riders will love this course. It has a gradual gradient all the way to the finish, so it will be a very exciting finish.”