Historic Off-road Cycling Race Spotlights Athletes with Disabilities

on 08-22-2006 20:30

U.S. HANDCYCLING FEDERATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ian L. Lawless, USHF

Phone: 303-459-4159

cell: 303.910.9851

Web: http://www.ushf.org

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Historic Off-road Cycling Race Spotlights Athletes with Disabilities
Mt. Crested Butte, CO - August 22, 2006 — Crested Butte, Colorado has long been known as a Mecca for Mountain Biking, even housing the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. It's no surprise that the town and neighboring resort of Mount Crested Butte will host the first-ever Off-road Handcycling World Championships, August 26-27. The event will feature athletes with disabilities [wheelchair athletes] competing on specially-designed handcycles outfitted for off-road riding.Handcycling competition on the road is a bona fide international phenomenon and is one of the hottest sports in the Paralympic Games, featured for the first-time in Athens Greece in 2004. As in the "able-bodied" world however, off-road handcycling is still catching-on, and the race in Crested Butte will be the first of its kind. Sponsored by One Off Handcycles - one of only two off-road handcycle manufacturers - the event will feature three races in two days and includes a 3-mile hill climb, 5-mile cross-country race, and a trials exhibition. According to One Off founder, Mike Augspurger (also a founder of Merlin Metal Works), "this will be the first true off-road Handcycle race....in which every competitor will tackle climbs, fire road, single track, and descents completely unassisted. Unlike the four-wheeled 'gravity machines' introduced a few years ago, off road handcycles have a single-wheeled drive train in the back [similar to a two-wheeled mountain bike], with two wheels in the front for stability. " said Augspurger.
Competing in the event are mostly American riders, including Steve Ackerman of Fort Collins, CO who recently conquered the difficult White Rim Trail in Utah - unassisted - on his One Off handcycle. Seth Arseneau of Albuquerque, NM - who raced on the road at the Athens Paralympics — declined an invitation to this year's road World Championships in Switzerland to stay home and compete in this historic off-road event. Women's [road] World Champion, Monica Bascio of Evergreen, CO is going to Switzerland and is stopping by Crested Butte on her way to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. "There is no official women's division, but I'm going to show-up just to let the men know that women aren't slow off-road either!" said Bascio. Also competing will be Paralympian Nick Catanzarite of Frasier, CO who accompanied Bascio as part of the 2006 Winter Paralympic team and competed in Torino, Italy. Catanzarite competed in alpine skiing while Bascio competed in Cross Country and Biathlon.
According to Christopher Hensley, Executive Director of the Adaptive Sports Center of Crested Butte — the event host, and widely recognized as the nation's leading program for off-road handcycling — this event will set the bar for the sport: "The U.S. hosted the first-ever road handcycling World Championship in 1998, and the sport is now huge. Therefore, it only makes sense that we host the first-ever Off-road Championships in the U.S. as well…it's a perfect fit for our program niche, right here in Crested Butte!" said Hensley.

For information: http://www.ushf.org or
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Phone: USHF, 303-459-4159 — or –

The Adaptive Sports Center of Crested Butte: 970-349-5075