Downtown streets will be closed off and cyclists from around the Southeast will be zooming down Hamilton Street today, chasing after a win in the Dalton Grand Prix bicycling race.
The series of criterium races are part of the Georgia Cup (www.georgiacup.com) circuit of races throughout the state. Dalton is playing host to an event on the circuit for the first time.
The weekend of northwest Georgia racing will begin this morning in Adairsville with team trial racing. Racing in Dalton this afternoon will be divided into five classes, from intermediate to pro. The Class 5 (intermediate class) racing will begin at 4 p.m., with Class 4, Class 3, Masters classes and Pro 1/2 Class rounding out the slate of events. Jonathan Sierra, a research manager at J&J Invision, who will be racing in his second competitive race, and most other local riders will compete in the Class 5 race.
Criterium races are different from conventional cycling races like the Tour de Georgia, which has been run in Dalton before. Rather than long point-to-point racing, the Dalton Grand Prix will be run over a course around the county courthouse that is six-tenths of a mile in length.
Dalton Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Brett Huske predicts more than 500 cyclists for seven races and seven pro-am races, and upwards of 2,000 spectators, with crowds possibly magnified tonight as the Twilight Music Fest concert takes over after the racing. The Dalton leg of the Music Fest is the last stop of the year after appearances in Union City, Chattanooga, Gainesville and Rome.
The entertainment tonight after the racing will be Atlanta-based rock band Burn, Atlanta-based guitarist Nathan Sexton and the featured band, Dalton’s own The Herd.
“Anytime that you have a city like Dalton or Rome or Elberton or LaGrange, we are always excited,” said Georgia Cup Director James Lowe. “As we have grown, we get to pick and choose where we go, and Dalton is a place we have wanted to be in. We do 75 percent of all of the racing in Georgia. We would like to come back next year and do the entire weekend in Whitfield County.”
The event is free and open to the public with food vendors available for spectators and concert goers.
Traffic will be re-routed around downtown Dalton today for the bike race and Twilight Music Festival. Roads will be closed starting at 2 p.m. through 9 p.m.
Roads that will be affected by closures are:
• Pentz Street: Between the Waugh Street and Cuyler Street intersections
• Hamilton Street: Between the Waugh Street and Cuyler Street intersections
• Waugh Street: One eastbound lane closed between the Selvidge Street and Pentz Street intersections
• King Street: Between the Selvidge Street and Hamilton Street intersections
• Crawford Street: Between the Pentz Street and Hamilton Street intersections
• Gordon Street: Between the Pentz Street and Glenwood Avenue intersections
• Cuyler Street: Between the Pentz Street and Hamilton Street intersections
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