Don’t Miss It! Providence’s KMC Cyclo-cross Festival Registration Begins at
Noon on August 19
The KMC Cyclo-cross Festival in Providence, RI October 3-5, 2014 is the cyclo-cross event no one will want to miss. The gates will open at noon on Tuesday, August 19 to register for your race and book a spot in the Expo Space on BikeReg.com. The festival’s sixth year promises to be the biggest yet.
Thousands of spectators will visit Roger Williams Park, a former US National Championships venue, to see elite international fields battle during the races Saturday and Sunday. One of only 9 races awarded the Category 1 distinction by cycling’s highest governing body, the UCI, this race draws the highest levels of racers from countries around the globe, including the top cyclo-cross racers from the United States. Both days feature two of just seven UCI junior men’s races on the 2014 calendar. Providence will be the first battleground for the nation’s most promising racers to gain points to qualify for the USA team at the World Championships.
The KMC Cyclo-cross Festival will also deviate from the traditional New England schedule of races. “We put a lot of emphasis on providing our amateur categories with the highest quality racing experience possible,” said Patrick Goguen, competition director. “We listened to all of our athletes last year. Aside from some age-graded scoring of races, every amateur class will have the course pretty much to themselves.”
“With the growth of women’s cyclo-cross we felt those amateur women deserved to be on the circuit alone, without the younger juniors,” said Richard Fries, event director. “And our elite master men will not have to deal with junior traffic any more.”
Fans will not only be treated to plenty of thrilling racing, but they’ll enjoy a cycling expo featuring top cycling and fitness brands, as well as plenty of food trucks and the always delicious Harpoon Beer Garden, the Greater Providence YMCA kidzone and kids’ race will keep the youngest the fans entertained.
A true cycling festival, this year’s event features singlespeed races and a team madison race on Friday. That evening, the New England Builders’ Ball in downtown Providence features the finest handcrafted bicycles from New England, famously a hotbed of creativity and craftsmanship in framebuilding.
The grand finale of New England’s Holy Week of Cyclo-cross, Providence’s KMC Cyclo-cross Festival was selected by Cyclocross Magazine’s readers as their favorite race course in the US in 2014. Don’t miss the fun; visit BikeReg to register and check out KMCcrossfest.com for more!
ABOUT THE KMC CYCLO-CROSS FESTIVAL:
Formerly known as the Providence Cyclo-cross Festival, the event was selected as the best of American cyclo-cross byOutside Magazine and as the 2013 domestic event of the year by the editors ofCyclocross Magazine. The event will be held October 3-5 2014 in historic Roger Williams Park. The event hosts one of just nine UCI Category 1 cyclo-cross events in America. Family-friendly attractions include the a consumer expo, food courts, the Harpoon Beer Garden, the New England Builders’ Ball, and the Gran Fondo New England. For more information visit www.KMCcrossfest.com.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
In the summer of 2005, the partners of GSD Event Productions were on the hook to promote the national cyclo-cross championships. Three venues had been rejected. Lyle Fulkerson brazenly asked Providence officials to hold the event on the grounds of the Rhode Island State House.After flatly rejecting that proposal, officials directed him to Roger Williams Park, just three miles south. Each of the three partners toured the park separately; each were stunned. The amenities, the topography, and the beauty of the park sang out. They had found a Valhalla of American cyclo-cross.
• Three days of UCI racing, Oct. 4-6, 2013• Infield industry trade show and exposition, October 5-6• Racers will be in attendance from throughout America, Canada and Europe• More than 8,000 spectators, participants and exhibitors are expected each day.
ABOUT ROGER WILLIAMS PARK
The park is not simply named for Williams; this park is the last parcel of the land granted to him by Canonicus, chief of the Narragansett nation, when he arrived in 1638. Williams’ great-great-great granddaughter Betsey Williams bequeathed the land to the people of Providence in 1871.
The city commissioned landscape architect Horace Cleveland, to design the park. After 18 years of work, Cleveland finished “The Jewel of Providence” in 1896.
The award-winning 427-acre park attracts more than 2 million visitors per year and has been cited by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of America’s premier historic urban parks. The park has undergone several expansions and modifications. In 1904 the city hired the Olmsted Brothers to do some of the landscape design. This firm included the son and nephew of the famous Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect of Central Park and Boston’s Emerald Necklace, who had died by then.
The centerpiece of the race venue is the Temple to Music. Made of Vermont marble, the Temple was dedicated in 1924 and was a gift from a local olive oil merchant.
Currently the park contains the nation’s third oldest zoo, the Roger Williams Park Zoo, described as the finest zoo in New England by The Boston Globe. Also in the park visitors can see the Roger Williams Park Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, the newly opened Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, the Japanese Gardens, the Victorian Rose Gardens, the Providence Police Department’s Mounted Command center, the Dalrymple Boathouse and boat rentals, historical tours, a Carousel Village for children that includes the “Hasbro Boundless Playground” which is accessible for handicapped children, and the Roger Williams Park Casino.
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