Cyclists stay up all night in Oroville to open eyes about sport
By EVAN
BURT - Staff Writer
Posted: 11/15/2009 09:47:42 PM PST
OROVILLE -- There's nothing like a spectacle to renew the public's interest in an old subject.
At least that's the way Lyle Wright thought when he helped organize this year's 24-hour
bike race.
The race, held at Loafer Creek campground from 10 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m.
Sunday, was a grueling one. Riders did laps around a nearly eight-mile, rugged course with numerous twists, inclines and rough
patches. Some put the pedal to the metal all day and night, forgoing sleep in favor of perspiration.
"You gotta go through a lotta demons," said Chicoan champion
rider Michael Castaldo. "There's a lot to conquer, just like in life, man."
Castaldo,
who won this year's solo category in the "24 hours of gold," said he raced through the night and didn't get a wink
of sleep.
It was just him, his fellow racers, and the illumination of his lights out
on the path.
The idea behind the race came out of a need to revive the Lake Oroville
Bicyclists' Organization, a nonprofit lagging in membership, Wright said.
The organization,
started in 1996, initially had about 150 members, but saw participation decline sharply over the years.
Wright,
who has a passion for biking, decided an outlandish competition would be a great way to get people into biking again.
The idea paid off, as evidenced by the huge crowd cheering the riders on as they came through
the finish line in the campground parking lot.
Jeanne Dugan, who came to watch her
husband, Sean, bike in the group category, said she had a really good time.
"It's
a nice family event," she said. "And the setting is amazing."
The competition
was restricted to 150 riders, all of whom were charged a $100 entry fee to help cover the cost of the event.
Cyclists rode in categories such as the men's solo, four-person team, and women's solo.
No cash prizes were awarded, but winners received ribbons and gear donated by local businesses
like Chico Sports Ltd. and Greenline Cycles.
Wright said one thing that really stood
out for him this year was just how stand-up the guys and gals were.
He pointed to
Castaldo, who was seen picking up trash from the campground minutes after doing 25 laps around the course.
Another rider ended up in a minor accident while attempting to pass a competitor, cutting his leg.
He took a shortcut back, got patched up and rode out for another eight hours before finally calling it quits.
Some pointed to 59-year-old rider Katie Boerner as the big story of the day. Boerner, a nurse
at Enloe Medical Center, did 11 laps around the course despite not fully training first.
"I
just do it because I love it," Boerner said. "And I wanna support the sport."
Asked
if the process was very demanding, she took the modest approach.
"I wanted to
do more, but it wasn't in me today," she said.
She found the last two-thirds
of the course extremely satisfying and would gladly do it again, with or without prizes, she said.
"For
me, when you come through that finish line and you hear people cheering ... that's why you do it."
