Cheaha Challenge Time Trial
Added To Racing Weekend
By Kelsey Wilhoite
Professional and amateur
cyclists from all over the
world return to Calhoun
County for the 27th annual
Cheaha Challenge Gran Fondo.
This year, the weekend of world class racing
expands to two days, May 18-19, with the
addition of the new Cheaha Challenge Time
Trial, a 12-mile “straight shot” course on the
rails-to-trail Chief Ladiga Trail. The time trial
features a podium ramp that will launch
riders onto the paved course.
The Cheaha Challenge Time Trial is the
qualifier for the UCI Time Trial World
Championship in Poznan (Poland). Cheaha
Challenge Century Ride will also serve as
a qualifier for the UCI Gran Fondo World
Championship, an honor our local ride has
enjoyed for three years.
18
The Cheaha Challenge Century, ULTRA,
Cruise, and now Time Trial Weekend has
grown into an event riders can’t miss. The
course, which scales the iconic Cheaha
Mountain, presents an irresistible test of
grit and guts. Those daring enough to
tackle the ULTRA course will face 126.35
miles with 13,492 feet of climbing.
Cheaha Challenge registration is online
only until registration closes on Friday, May
17 at midnight. Walk-up paper registrations
will be accepted Saturday, May 18 through
Sunday, May 19 pre-ride at ride venue,
Pete Mathews Coliseum, Jacksonville, AL;
however, Time Trial registration is online
only. There will no day-of registration for
the time trial.
Learn more about the rides, the amenities,
the rules, and the fun at Cheaha Challenge
by visiting cheahachallenge.com.
May 2019
INSIGHT