This Saturday, commuters from Elizabethton to Roan Mountain can expect to see a hoard of cyclists fighting their way to the top of Roan Mountain for the 32nd Annual Nor-Well Roan Groan.
This year, the competition in the Pro 1/2 race is expected to be heated. Making an appearance during Saturday’s race will be professional rider Jonah Mead-Vancort, who will be racing for the Lupas Racing Team. In May, Vancort came in first during the 2016 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Criterium, while also taking fifth in the national road race. Vancort will be joined by teammates Winston David, Oliver Flautt, and Mike Stone. The Lupas Racing Team will be facing off with teams from Novo Nordisk and High County Devo.
“The competition was hot last year,” said race director Reneau Dubberley. “And it is expected to be even more heated this year.”
Riders in the Pro 1/2 category will be competing on a 80-mile course that will have cyclist starting at Cat Island Park in downtown Elizabethton and completing two 25-mile loops before taking off for the top of Roan Mountain, where a finish line will be waiting at Carver’s Gap.
From the bottom of Roan Mountain, riders will complete a climb of 2580 feet in roughly seven miles as they make their way to the finish. The Roan Groan is the only race in the eastern United States to feature a category 1 mountain top finish. All in all, the Pro 1/2 racers will do 6,846 feet of climbing.
Last year’s winner of the Pro 1/2 category was Ian Garrison, who narrowly edged out Nolan Tankersley.
This year, the Women Pro 1/2/3 will complete a 55-mile course that will have racers doing 5,443 feet of climbing. Instead of doing two 25-mile loops at the beginning like the Pro 1/2 race, riders in the Women Pro 1/2/3 will only complete one loop before making the long trek to Carver’s Gap. The Elite Masters will also complete the same 55-mile ride.
All other categories will do 30 miles and 4040 feet of climbing.
The Roan Groan is one race in a series of races that comprise the SweetWater IPA Omnium. The Omnium features races in Johnson City, Elizabethton, and Erwin and draws riders in from all over the world.
The Roan Groan will start at 9 a.m. Saturday morning at Cat Island Park.