Cyclists look at bikes and equipment at Finley Stadium during Friday’s expo and packet pick-up for Saturday’s 3-State, 3-Mountain Challenge bike ride.
Cyclists George Hincapie, left, and Lance Armstrong on the podium after the fourth stage of the Tour de France race in Arras, France, in 2005. Hincapie is in Chattanooga this weekend to ride in the 3-State, 3-Mountain Challenge.
Former professional cyclist George Hincapie, left, meets with fans at Finley Stadium during Friday’s expo and packet pick-up for Saturday’s 3-State, 3-Mountain Challenge bike ride.3-STATE, 3-MOUNTAIN GETS A BOOSTAfter rain and several accidents — including one fatality — marred last year’s 3-State, 3-Mountain Challenge, ride director Dawn Salyer said Friday that she’s been pleased with a late surge in registration for today’s ride.”We’ve had a bump [in registration],” Salyer said Friday during the packet pickup and expo at Finley Stadium. “As the weather warmed and people got out training, they got the bug. We’re up to a little over 1,200, and more people are still registering.”The weather is always a factor and this is going to be a rebuilding year for us. After last year, I expected to go down, but now the word will get out about how great it was … and it will build again.”Salyer said that she’s gotten positive feedback about route changes that will now bring riders down Nickajack Road off Lookout Mountain instead of Ochs Highway and detours around the congested St. Elmo area.”Safety is always first, so we’ve worked with Sgt. [Austin] Garrett with the police department,” she said. “We found a way to get around safely … and we’ll have plenty of coverage at the intersections.”We’re here to give everyone what they want [from the ride]. We’re just hoping for fewer runs to the hospital this year.”
For years, George Hincapie helped Lance Armstrong win bicycle races, including seven Tour de France victories from 1999 to 2005.
He also helped keep some of Armstrong’s darkest secrets — secrets about performance-enhancing drugs that were pervasive in cycling during the 1990s and 2000s.
Hincapie saw first hand, and participated in the use of PEDs during his time as Armstrong’s teammate on the U.S. Postal and Discovery pro cycling teams in a doping program that eventually drew the attention of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
“I was thrown into the fire, so to speak, and of course I had choices and I made the mistake of crossing the line,” Hincapie said Friday at a reception at Finley Stadium. “But then, I feel like I’ve played a part in changing the sport, and I saw a change in the sport, a culture change long before any of the USADA stuff happened.”