Husband-and-wife pro cyclists Brent Bookwalter, 29, near left, of Comstock Park, MI, and Jamie Dinkins Bookwalter, 27, of Powell, Tenn., prepare to ride Friday at the Volkswagen manufacturing plant Friday.This weekend is almost like a homecoming for Jamie and Brent Bookwalter.
The husband-and-wife professional cyclists arrived in Chattanooga on Thursday night to compete in the USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships this weekend. They were busy Friday familiarizing themselves with the time trial course at the Volkswagen plant in preparation for today’s national race.
BMC Racing’s Brent Bookwalter will be one of the favorites to win the men’s time trial competition after finishing third last year.
He and his wife already are very familiar with the Scenic City, having lived here just a few years ago while Jamie was finishing her undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
“It’s so exciting to be able to showcase Chattanooga,” Jamie Dinkins Bookwalter said recently from the couple’s home in Asheville, N.C. “I think that Chattanooga is really a hidden gem. People out West think that their Boulder [Colo.] is the best, but we have a cheaper Boulder that people can enjoy right here.”