As a Race Promoter, it is my responsibility to provide safe quality races within the guidelines of USA Cycling.  One of the intriguing things about the Germantown Road Race is the 1-mile section of Anthony Road which is dirt and gravel.  This gives the race great character similar to that of Paris-Roubaix.  In good condition, this section can be very rough on bikes and riders as it contains many ruts and potholes that the riders must manage and/or avoid.  Those who are comfortable riding on this type of terrain would likely excel and find themselves off the front by the time they returned to normal pavement.  Those who are concerned for their equipment would quickly find themselves off the back and possibly DNF.  In between would mostly be a bunch of squirrels.

The winter that we had this year was great for putting on an impromptu fun race in the snow called Snowmaggedon, but all of that snow has melted and saturated the ground including the 1-mile section of Anthony Road.  When I drove the course a couple of weeks ago, this section was in horrendous shape with deep tire ruts from local traffic and ponds covering the entire road width and hiding many of the rim eating potholes.  I was concerned that my van was going to get stuck in some areas.  A cyclist rode the course earlier in the week and told me that it was ridable.  However, with the heavy rains we received last night, I expect that it has returned to the state in which I saw a few weeks ago.

With that said, I am making an official announcement that we will not be using the original route as planned, but will be using an alternate route that bypasses this section of Anthony Road.  This new route is slightly shorter and a lot smoother.  It does lose all of the character that the original route had to offer, but considering this is the first race of the series, I feel it will be a great course to get everyone back into the swing of competitive racing.

Here is the link to the official route for Sunday’s race:

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/OH/Germantown/317126505752594219

Here are the changes to the different categories:

Cat 1/2/3 and Cat 3 – 7 laps for 50.75 miles

Cat 4 – 6 laps for 43.5 miles

Cat 5 and all Women – 5 laps for 36.25 miles

I know that there are a handful of riders that were really looking forward to the original route, but I am sure there are much more that are glad for the change and am just thinking of what is best for the riders and their equipment.  I hope that everyone understands my decision in this matter and promise that there will be plenty of opportunities to make yourself miserable throughout the year not only from BigDaveSports but from all of the fine promoters we have in our region.

You can register for all 8 races in this year’s Ohio Spring Race Series in one easy transaction and save yourself 15% off the registration fee.  Sign up now and get back to training.  You won’t have to bother with it again.  This year’s series is building momentum and is looking to draw in huge fields.

Ladies, don’t forget that we have split the Women’s fields to give everyone a better chance this year.  This means that the Cat 4s only have to beat the Cat 3s and not the 2s and 1s.  There have been some incredible growth in the local women’s racing scene in the off season, so we are expecting to see some epic battles between several teams instead of just a couple of riders as in the past.

Bulk registration is available at: