Circling the downtown streets at 30 miles per hour while riding only inches apart, riders in the criterium presented the excitement of competition and the spectacle of human endeavor, as they battled their own limits as well as the competition.
The event consisted of eight races for different classes of youths, and adult men and women, amateur and professional; in addition, there were Kids’ races for 4- to 6-year-olds and 7- to 9’s, plus a variety of children’s activities, as well as local businesses offering food and drink.
The criterium is half of the first annual Chain of Lakes Cycling Classic, organized by Cycling Classics Inc.; the other half was the Alturas Road Race, a day of competition on rural roads in the town of Fort Meade.
The two-day event attracted as many as seven hundred cyclists ranging in age from ten to over fifty-five; teams from all across Central Florida turned out to compete.
All proceeds from both races will be donated to the Humane Society of Polk County.
