The USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships will gather cyclists from all around the country this week. Participants from at least 42 states and Washington, D.C., were registered as of last week. It’s hard to keep tabs on 1,000 or so competitors, a number of whom have stellar cycling credentials. But here are a few worth watching out for, including a couple of locals:

• Brenna Lopez-Otero, of Bend: Lopez-Otero was one of just four Central Oregonians to earn a title at the masters nationals in 2011, when she took the women’s 40-44 criterium. (The other three were Bend’s Tim Jones and T.J. Paskewich, who won the men’s tandem 70+ time trial and road race, and Dagmar Eriksson, who prevailed in the women’s 65-69 time trial.) Lopez-Otero is scheduled to attempt a title defense in the women’s 40-44 criterium and also contest the road race this year.

• Eric Martin, of Bend: Perhaps this will be the year for Martin, who just missed earning his first masters national title in cycling when he took third in a deep men’s 45-49 criterium race in 2011. A winner of multiple masters national championships in cross-country skiing, Martin is expected to ride in the time trial today and the road race on Thursday in addition to Saturday’s criterium.

• Kevin Metcalfe, of Pleasant Hill, Calif.: No single rider swept all three races in his or her division last year, but Metcalfe came almost as close as possible. The Californian won the time trial and the road race in the men’s 50-54 division and finished second — just a second behind — to criterium victor Bubba Melcher, of Reno, Nev., who also returns in 2012. Metcalfe, who was third in the 1996 Olympic trials in the team pursuit and won three masters national championships on the track in 2008, will again contest all three races in 2012.

• David Zimbelman, of The Dalles: Zimbelman is back to defend the men’s 55-59 road race and time trial titles he won a year ago. A rider with a long list of credentials on his resume, Zimbelman won the road race in his age division at the 2011 UCI World Cycling Tour in Belgium just a few weeks after his masters championships in Bend last summer.

• John and Linda Elgart, of Sacramento, Calif.: This husband-and-wife duo enjoyed a successful stint in Bend in 2011. John Elgart took first place in the men’s 65-69 criterium and road race, and he teamed with Jan Elsbach, of Davis, Calif., to win the men’s 110+ tandem road race and time trial. Not to be outdone, Linda Elgart added a title of her own in the women’s 55-59 criterium, and she was also second in the road race and fourth in the time trial. Both riders also boast masters national titles in cyclocross and track cycling, and John Elgart was second in his age group in the 2012 UCI Masters Cyclocross World Championships. He is scheduled to compete in the road race and criterium, as well as the men’s 110+ tandem time trial and road race. Linda Elgart will be racing in the time trial and the criterium, and in the mixed 110+ tandem road race as well.

• Rebecca Rusch, of Ketchum, Idaho: Rusch brings standout mountain biking credentials to this year’s masters road nationals. Among her results are several world titles, including a win in the UCI Mountain Bike Masters World Championships women’s 35-44 division in 2010. She also won USAC single speed and 24-hour team (four riders) titles in 2011. Rusch has registered for the women’s 40-44 time trial and road race.

—Amanda Miles