Cyclists hit Sisters

The 30th annual Cascade Cycling Classic, a multistage professional bike race which includes Lance Armstrong as one of its past winners, sweeps through Sisters on Wednesday, July 22, during Stage 2 of the multi-day race.

The CCC, sponsored by Bend Memorial Clinic, is a national/world-class event, so getting a chance to be a front- row spectator is a rare and exciting experience.

The race runs July 21-26. The 79.7-mile Stage 2 will begin at Summit High School and head toward Redmond and on to Terrebonne before coming toward Sisters via Lower Bridge Road and Holmes Road. The racers will enter Sisters via Camp Polk Road, swing over to Barclay Drive and on to Elm Street for the finish, up Three Creeks Road at the Sno-Park.

The men are scheduled to start from Bend at 10 a.m, followed by the women at 10:10 a.m. which means that cyclists should pass through town sometime around noon.

Professional teams and individuals from throughout the U.S. and abroad make this the largest field of riders ever, according to race officials. The CCC is also the longest-lasting race of it's kind in America.

Amateur races are scheduled to take place concurrently with the professional events. Armstrong, who is riding in the Tour de France in an effort to win a record eighth time, won the CCC in 1998, but he is not the only world-class rider to have raced here in Central Oregon. Others include Chris Horner, Levi Liepheimer and Tyler Hamilton.

This year's race includes rising star Taylor Phinney, a 19-year-old who many predict to be the next great American rider. He is riding for U23 Livestrong Team, owned by Lance Armstrong.

Also in the field is Floyd Landis, who won the 2006 Tour de France, but was later disqualified for using performance-enhancing drugs. He is racing this year in a comeback after a two-year ban from the sport.

Top riders in the women's contest include Alison Powers, along with New Zealand Olympians Joanne Kiesanowski and Catherine Cheatley. Four other 2008 Olympians are also in the field, along with local favorite Chrissy Ruiter, who lives in Bend.

Like the Tour de France, the race crowns individual winners, but it definitely takes a team effort to produce the winners. For the most part, cyclists in a road race like the one passing through Sisters ride in a large group called a peloton. Within the peloton, teams ride close together and strategically move in ways that will enhance their lead rider's chances, mainly through drafting. Drafting allows a cyclist to expend as much as 30 percent less energy than riders at the front of a pack, who are breaking the wind.

Teams also aid their lead rider by protecting them in the pack and aiding them in the event of a crash. The winner is the rider who has the fastest cumulative time of the six stages, so it is possible to claim victory without ever winning a single stage.

For a complete run-down of the CCC's six stages visit http://www.cascade-classic.org .