The best professional road cyclists in the world are competing for the maillot jeune on the rolling plains and brutal mountain passes of Europe right now, but this weekend, we've got our own battle for cycling supremacy going on right here in the Bay Area.
Today through Sunday, road cyclists from Pro down through Cat 5 and beyond can compete in the Cougar Mountain Classic on and around the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. As an added bonus, the Cougar is playing host to the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. That's the Nationals baby, right here, almost within sight of Mt. Tam, mountain biking's Hoboken.
The Bay Area has been no stranger to great road racing the last few years, with the now defunct Grand Prix of San Francisco and the first four stages of this year's inaugural Tour of California, but this is the first time a Bay-adjacent county has hosted the mountain bike Nationals. And it never would have happened if not for bad weather and dumb luck.
The Nationals are usually held in September every year, but USA Cycling moved them up to the third week of July this year to increase their relevance to the annual racing schedule. As the last official qualifying event before the Nationals, the Cougar was also moved up to July.
Photoshopped Cougar Mountain Classic racers from Tech-Fall.com.
