The background is a blur as a racer flies up Bates Street in Lewiston during the second annual Auburn-Lewiston Rotary Club Criterium in Kennedy Park on Sunday.
LEWISTON — A cool breeze and nearly cloudless sky made perfect weather conditions for the second annual Auburn-Lewiston Rotary Club Criterium Sunday at Kennedy Park.
Criterium-, or “Crit”-style racing takes place on a short course that highlights fitness and bike-handling ability. Racers stay in a tight pack, just inches apart, trying to benefit from less wind resistance.
The one-kilometer course was described as a fast, technical loop in the heart of the city. The number of laps was dependent on the speed of the cyclists and the length of the race, which ranged from 15 to 60 minutes each.
Almost 120 bicyclists were registered to compete across eight divisions, with the first race starting at 9 a.m.
The day wrapped up with the hourlong Men’s Pro 1/2/3 at 2:20 p.m., with 26 riders. They set a pace of one lap every 90 seconds, ending up with 40 laps for their race.
Ethan Call of Jefferson, New Hampshire, took the top prize Sunday, finishing the Men’s Pro 1/2/3 with a bike’s length lead at the sprint finish.
“(The race) was good, fun,” Call said. “It was interesting.”
It was a spaced-out field, ability-wise,” he said. “A group of seven broke away and lapped the other racers.”
By the halfway point, he said, they were back in a big group.
Call attends Dartmouth University in New Hampshire, and this is his third season racing.
“We have a pretty good club team there,” he said.
Racers who placed in the top eight in their division received a $600 prize, and the first-place winners of Men’s Pro and Women’s Pro also won a pair of custom-made shoes of their choice from Rancourt & Co., valued at up to $300.
John Grenier from Rainbow Bicycles was again the event promoter, and raced in the Men’s Pro 1/2/3 division.
Chris Morin of Lewiston raced in the Men’s 4/5 Sunday while his wife, Taryn, and kids, Easton and Cameron, raced in their own divisions.
“It’s in the DNA,” he said.
Morin and his family like to run road races, but they’ve never done a bike race, he said.
“What better way to spend a summer day in Maine?” he said.
He said that while he loved to bike, this is probably his first and last time racing competitively. He and his family like to race the long charity races, like the Dempsey Challenge.
“I got a taste, but it’s not my thing,” he said.
“Some of these guys are legit — we’re just hacks having fun,” he said. “We had a slice of humble pie today.”
In a bike race, he said, if you aren’t fast enough, you get pulled from the race.
Morin said he usually rides about 160 miles a week on his bike, “purely for fun and fitness.” He said they also ran in the Beach to Beacon on Saturday.
Taryn, who raced in the Women’s 3/4/5, said it was “nice to be in our own backyard.”
“We saw people we knew who just came out to see it, not to race,” he said.
Cameron, 9, raced in the Juniors 9-14 division and said he would like to compete in more bike races.
“I just like it,” he said. “My favorite part was the competitiveness.”
Easton, 6, raced in the kid’s 8 and under division.
“I think he just did it for the cupcake at the end,” Taryn joked.
Some of the divisions Sunday didn’t have enough riders registered, and the races had to be combined, but awards were still given out for each one.
Proceeds from this year’s race went to the SeniorsPlus Meals on Wheels program.
In a press release, President and CEO of SeniorsPlus Betsy Sawyer-Manter said, “We are delighted that the proceeds from this year’s race will benefit SeniorsPlus Meals on Wheels program and are grateful to the Lewiston-Auburn Rotary and the participants in this year’s race.”
Ethan Call, #268, center, from Jefferson, New Hampshire, looks to the outside where he would eventually pass the field on Maple Street Hill to take over the lead and win Sunday’s Lewiston Auburn Criterium.
Sephia Graham, 8 of Lewiston signals to her parents as she waits for the start of one of the childrens race Sunday morning at the Lewiston Auburn Criterium. Visit sunjournal.com for a video from above, below and on board racers.
Juniors 9-14
• First: Aiden Simmons of Brunswick
• Second: George Theall of Portland
• Third: Spinnaker Ford of Candia, N.H.
Juniors 15-18
• First: Thokel Gomez of Lawrence, Mass.
Men’s 4/5
• First: Christopher Devine of Malden, Mass.
• Second: Robert Raymond of Dover, Mass.
• Third: Jack Green of Easton, N.H.
Master Men 50+
• First: Eric Weinrich of Yarmouth
• Second: David Potter of Tiverton, R.I.
• Third: George Theall of Portland
Master Men 35+
• First: Eliot Pitney of Yarmouth
• Second: Dominic Giampolo of Lewiston
• Third: Peter Morrison of Portland
Women’s Pro 3/4/5
• First: Martha Fanning of Cape Elizabeth
• Second: Ashley Stanton Niehoi of Portland
• Third: Alanna Doughty of Sebago
Women’s Pro 1/2/3
• First: Kathryn Aman of Hanover, N.H.
Men’s Pro 1/2/3
• First: Ethan Call of Jefferson, N.H.
• Second: Chris Coguen of Franklin, Mass.
• Third: Connor Jennings of Portsmouth, N.H.
Sephia Graham, 8, of Lewiston signals to her parents as she waits for the start of one of the children’s races at the second annual Auburn-Lewiston Rotary Club Criterium in Kennedy Park on Sunday. Visit sunjournal.com for a video showing footage from above the track and the ground and from a racer’s perspective.
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