A race was at the forefront for many people in Gainesville this weekend.
The Freewheel Project held its inaugural Crit-Cross race Sunday evening on the giant, backyard, half-asphalt, half-pavement track of the Freewheel Project at 618 S. Main St.
The races served as a draw for the open house that aimed to raise funds for the Freewheel Project and allow for potential partners of the Freewheel Project to showcase themselves.
There was a general uneasy feeling about the condition of the race track among riders who thought the dirt on parts of the track was too loose. However, the last-minute influx of participants pushed the number of riders up to about 15.
There were four categories a rider could enter based on skill and type of bike being used for the race: master, fixed, open and female.
The cyclists started with a warm-up lap, and the timer began immediately after a rider hit the starting line beginning their second lap.
It stopped after the racers completed the lap.
The fastest time in each category would be declared the winner.
The open category had the most sign-ups, and therefore, the most money to be won.
The winner of the open group, Micah Hedgecock, won by fractions of a second with a time of 32.35 seconds. He beat out two close competitors (also in the 32-second range) for the $50 prize.
Hedgecock made it no secret to his competitors that he wasn’t in top form
due to a nagging injury, but had he been, he said, “the race would have been much more lopsided.”
Hedgecock’s narrow victory, however, was far from the only highlight of the evening.
Joe Ergle, the announcer and a member of the board for the Freewheel Project, kicked off the fun by leaving his post as color commentator, running inside the Freewheel Project building and emerging with a small carriage in tow.
Executive Director Ryan Aulton later topped him by completing his own lap in a freight bicycle that held an additional person.
Aulton is supported by his three board members: his wife, Ergle and Patrick Dodds, who holds a law degree and practices real estate law in Gainesville.
“There are unused baseball diamonds all over this city and zero cycling infrastructure. It’s a shame,” said Dodds. “One of our long-term goals is to build a velodrome here in Gainesville.”
Many of the event-goers found out about the open house from liking the Freewheel Project Facebook page and receiving updates via their news feed.
Aulton and his board members are all in agreement that they intend to hold more events similar to this one in the near future.
“This is the start of something positive,” Aulton said.
