Local cyclists face a hectic weekend with back-to-back events beginning this morning around the inner circuit of the National Park.
Today’s event, an 11-race card, sponsored by the Hand-In-Hand Mutual Fire and Life Insurance Company gets underway at 9am.
This is the seventh year that the insurance company will be sponsoring this event and the cream of the country’s top cyclists are expected to be in action including Warren `40’ Mc Kay who is back from Trinidad, Walter Grant-Stuart, Alonzo Greaves, Geron Williams, Christopher Holder, Daren Allen, Robin Persaud, Leer Nunes, Raymond Newton, Ian Jackson, Enzo Matthews, Christopher Persaud and Junior Niles.
Greaves, the defending champion in the 35-lap event, is expected to face a stern test from Mc Kay, his main rival, although the other cyclists are not to be discounted especially Grant-Stuart who stormed to an upset win at the Everest Cricket Club ground in a track meet last Sunday.
A representative of the insurance company is expected to be on hand to participate in the presentation ceremony.
Meanwhile the cyclists will be back in their saddles tomorrow at the Continental Cycle Club’s third annual Maxie Pereira/Marlis Archer Memorial event around the outer circuit of the National Park.
The Alliance for Change sponsored event has a number of attractive prizes at stake and it is anticipated that the meet will be keenly contested.
There will be races for the juniors, veterans, BMX and senior cyclists.
President of the Continental Cycle Club and acting president of the Guyana Cycling Federation Cheryl Thompson told Stabroek Sport that some 11 events are scheduled for the day.
“We hope to start at 9m. It’s actually sponsored by the AFC (Alliance For Change). We hope to have 11 events – categories 1, 2, 3, 4, juniors, veterans, BMX and an Open 10-lap race.”
Thompson also praised the late Pereira.
“He was a former president of the GCF and the CCC. He was also the architect for the present design for the GOA (Guyana Olympic Association) new building they hope to put up soon on the East Coast.
“He was a very disciplined person and was very, very instrumental in Warren Mc Kay’s rise to prominence and subsequent success,” Thompson said.
