Cycling

This year’s Noble Street Festival includes a bike rodeo, which begins at 3 p.m. in the parking lot and drive-thru area of Wachovia Bank in downtown Anniston. The event is set up for all riders age 9-19 and is free to all participants. Those who attend are required to wear helmets and will receive prizes.

Last year, the Cheaha Challenge had 528 participants from 23 states. Now, in its 14th year, “The Challenge” has become a true Top 10 Event in the state of Alabama. Scheduled for Sunday, May 7, the event is hosted by the Northeast Alabama Bicycle Club.

When all the pieces of the Noble Street Festival puzzle come together, you better watch out.

What goes better with bikes than kids? Let’s face it, when someone mentions a bicycle, our minds think first of young, scraped legs pedaling through the neighborhood, not the shaved, lean stems of professional riders.

It is said that in spring thoughts turn to love. For athletes, this love often includes two wheels, handlebars, sore rear ends, helmets and speed.

In honor of Black History month, I’m proud to introduce a few cyclists of the past and present who paved the way for future cyclists.

In 2005, the Cheaha Challenge in Piedmont attracted 28 cyclists, a record number for the event in its 13-year history. Most of these cyclists brought at least one other traveling companion.

Of the 528 cyclists, 207 traveled to Calhoun County from other states — 22 states to be exact.

If your approach to staying in shape through the winter months is hibernating until spring, you must be the kind of person that will jump from a hot tub and into an ice pool. WHEW!

On Nov. 13, Anniston’s own Marty Mitchell traveled to Atlanta, Ga., to participate in his first ever cyclocross race.

The course was approximately 1.8 miles with three dismount areas that included two 14-inch high barriers, a 5-foot deep drainage ditch and a short steep hill.

Call it the “Lance Factor,” but more people are racing bikes now in the U.S. than at any time in the past.

And now there is a new trend. Mountain biking.