Cycling team hosts first collegiate road race

    The Murray State cycling team will host the first road race of the season this weekend.
    James Combs, senior from Murray and president of the cycling team, organized and planned the event.
    “Putting this together was really difficult,” Combs said. “I had to talk to Kentucky Transportation, the sheriffs of Marshall and Calloway counties and some of the (Murray State) faculty to get this organized.”
    Murray State’s cycling team has hosted mountain bike races in the past, but this is its first time hosting a road race.
    “Most of the team is more mountain-bike oriented; we only went to two road races last year, and this year we have a total of five,” Combs said. “We host a mountain bike event every summer at Lake Barkley State park. Our run then is about nine miles which the team has to go clear every summer.”
    The upcoming road race will have contestants from seven different states competing alongside Murray State’s own.      The first race on Saturday is a 16-mile loop beginning in Kirksey, Ky.
    The races start with the men’s introduction at 8:30 a.m. and the women’s introduction at 8:35 a.m. All races should conclude by 3 p.m. and is open to everyone.
    The Criterium, a shorter more technical course with many turns, starts at 8 a.m. on Sunday start behind the Science Complex and will run through various parking lots on campus.
 Registration starts one hour before the race and will close 15 minutes before start time.
    Race fees are $13 with an annual license.
    “It should be really exciting and a lot of fun,” Combs said. “Everyone’s just out there having a good time and rooting everyone on, and thanks to the Murray Ham Radio Club, viewers will be able to see exactly where the racers are on the course. People think cycling is hard, but once you start, everyone can do it and be good at it.”
    Ashlee Cobb can be reached at ashlee.cobb@ murraystate.edu.