Bikes, beers, bands and burgers. You couldn’t go wrong at last night’s Twilight Criterium at the South Park Blocks in downtown Portland. The racing was all-out and the scene was massive. Thousands of bike-lovers from all over the city converged on the event. They were treated to a great event that featured the best athletes and bike racers in the country.
[Check out all my photos. Also see Shane Young’s photo gallery.]
And when the sun went down, the racing got even crazier. Imagine flying on your bike at 35+ mph, elbow-to-elbow with your competition, then diving into sharp, dark turns full of screaming crowds and live music flowing through the air! The vibe was electric.
The Community Cycling Center was on hand parking bikes. River City Bicycles owner Dave Guettler was jammin’ with his “Six Fingers” band, the OBRA crew were on top of the action, and Widmer brewing couldn’t pour beer fast enough.
It was an amazing night for Portland bike racing and I think this event is destined to become a classic on the racing calendar for years to come. Big props to the promoters and everyone involved. I’m looking forward to next year!
(make sure to see the great photo of local racer and coach, Michael Manning on the front page of today’s Oregonian Sports section)
Great race. Too bad there was not more than just a picture. I was at the finish line area the whole race and did not hear about the crash. Splinter did a geat job. But the race needs moniters to show more of the coarse. Too much happening on the back side to really get an idea of the whole race.
[…] Long time BikePortland.org readers might remember hearing about him last April when I reported on his epic victory at the Sea Otter Classic race down in California. You also might have seen him at the Twilight Criterium which took place downtown last August. […]
[…] Good Sport Promotion, the folks behind Reach the Beach, the downtown Twilight Criterium, Mt. Bike Oregon and other local bike events have announced their new Hottest Day of the Year Ride for August 6th. The ride follows in the footsteps of the successful Worst Day of the Year Ride which was held last February and had over 1500 participants. […]
[…] The South Park Blocks will be taken over by super-fast cyclists tomorrow night at the fifth annual Health Net Portland Twilight Criterium. I went last year and had a great time. […]