FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



FORT COLLINS, CO....May 7th, 2009...The Rams Cycling Team at Colorado State University is hosting the 2009 Collegiate Road Cycling National Championships May 8-10, 2009. The Championships are promoted by the Fort Collins Cycling Festival in co-operation with USA Cycling. Over 500 of the nations best student-athletes from over 50 schools return to Fort Collins for three days of epic bike racing!

For families, kids and those who want an adrenaline rush, the day to come out and watch is Saturday morning. Racing is in Old Town Fort Collins (start/finish at Key Bank building) all day long on a course with great viewing, a beer garden, bleachers, expo area, live play by play commentary and the nation's top cyclists speeding around the course at over 30mph. There is a viewing area set-aside especially for our disabled guests. Located next to the race course is the staging area for the CSU GSSE Community Bicycle Tour. This is a great ride for casual cyclists to join in the fun and registration is available day of. 

Racing begins on Friday, May 8th with a road race on a loop course West of Fort Collins. There is a big spectator BBQ area in Masonville complete with coffee from Mugs and food from Cheba Hut. The start/finish just south of CSU Hughes Stadium will also be a great place to see the race winners. On Sunday, May 10, the weekend concludes with the teams battling it out for the team time trial. Spectators will be able to watch the start and finish north of Fort Collins.

Saturday night is time to celebrate and the public is invited to see National Champions crowned! The dinner banquet will feature professional cyclist and National Champion Mara Abbott as the guest speaker along with a slide show and video recap of the racing. Tickets for the entire evening are available at the door for $20.

Racers and spectators are encouraged to use Twitter throughout so that those who cannot attend are able to follow the excitement. Collegiate National Championships are using the hashtag #fccf and people are encouraged to follow the Tweets here http://tr.im/twfccf. Follow the action on Facebook too http://tr.im/CollegiateNats09. The public will also be able to watch the racing broadcast live online by following this link: http://tr.im/CollegiateNatsLive.   
    
Background: The Fort Collins Cycling Festival (FCCF), established in 2008, is promoting five cycling event weekends in 2009 that include four road races, six mountain bike races, three bike tours & three cycling related events. These events will draw over 2,500 racers from over 40 states and five countries with over 10,000 spectators. For the past two years FCCF has, in collaboration with Rams Cycling, hosted Collegiate National Road Championships. Many of the FCCF promoted events benefit local community organizations, such as Child Safe and Colorado State University's GSSE Program. All FCCF events are able to minimize waste thanks to a partnership with Zero Hero.