Northwest racing took a turn to the lighter side in June with the inaugural Marymoor Little 100. This event, modeled after the long-running Little 500 at Indiana University, featured teams of four riders sharing a single bike. The bike, which teams could rent or purchase, had only one speed and coaster brakes. Each team member was required to ride at least one lap of the Velodrome at Marymoor Park in this relay event, but could otherwise exchange as many times as they wanted.

Three categories of racers competed. The Men’s Categories 4 and 5 were on the track at the same time as the combined Women and Juniors Categories for a 60-lap race. Mens Categories 1/2/3 raced 100 laps.

Billed as a “fun” event, many participants came dressed in a fashion you wouldn’t expect for a bike race. Team uniforms included frilly skirts, paper crowns, underwearworn as outerwear and the baby blue cocktail dressesworn by the Wines of Washington Cat 4 Men. You can dress them up, but you can’t take them out of the competition. Neither patent leather nor Hawaiian shirts, crinoline nor camouflage, however, could hide the competitive spirit of these athletes.

The Women and Juniors event was won by the “Podium Girls Gone Bad” team of Renee Duprel, Gina Kavesh, Anne-Marie Kessler and Leslie Mittendorf. Bob Acteson, Guy Browne, Jon Ryan and Greg Valentin made up the Second Ascent Choppers team that captured the Men’s 4/5 race. The Benaroya Research Institute team fielded the winning combination for the 1/2/3 race with Steve Higgins, Chad Nicholz, Todd Schroeder and Russell Stevenson.

Ask The Coach

By Ryan Miller

Ryan Miller is a former professional cyclist and 20-time U.S. National Champion. He is Head Cycling Coach at SportsLab, a coaching and training facility that works with athletes around the Northwest, and he also coaches Gregg’s Greenlake Junior Cycling Team.Send your questions about bicycle racing or training to RMillerTraining@aol.com.

What are the road racing categories?

Racing categories are divided by age and ability. For age group racing, we broadly have Juniors (18 and under), Masters (30 and over) and Seniors. Senior Men are arranged into categories 1–5 based on experience and ability. Category 5 is the beginner category, whereas Category 1 is reserved for elite riders with national caliber experience. Similarly, Senior Women compete in 4 categories, with beginners starting as Category 4 racers.

For most Washington State racing, the Junior categories are further divided into A (age 17-18), B (age 15-16), C (13-14) and D (12 and under).

Master Category A is for riders aged 30 and older. Category B is also for racers over age 30 if their Senior category is 3, or for riders 45+ if they are category 1 or 2. Master C is for Category 4 or 5 racers over age 30, or Category 3 athletes over 45, and racers over 50 compete in Category D.