With races going on in multiple locations throughout Central Oregon, spectators will have plenty of options for watching some of the action in the USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships.

Race director Chad Sperry offers a few suggestions:

Today, time trial

Spectators will not have much access to the gently rolling time trial course that winds along the Crooked River and through the Crooked River canyon.

“The only place you can spectate is just basically the start/finish at Crooked River Park,” Sperry notes. “The road is closed that the course will be on.”

During the time trial, local residents who live along the highway will be able to receive police escorts to access their residences.

Thursday and Friday, road race

Savvy spectators should have plenty of opportunities to catch the action on these days. The start/finish area is located at Mt. Bachelor ski area and is the obvious option. One prime viewing spot that Sperry suggests is the pullout area where cyclists will take a right turn from Forest Service Road 45 onto FS 40. He adds that the Cascade Lakes Highway offers a number of vantage points for cycling enthusiasts who “get there early and pull out” and mentions the incline along Sparks Lake in particular.

“That’s going to be kind of the decisive location where any groups or packs of the riders coming into that will definitely start to split apart and splinter,” Sperry points out.

Sperry also notes that the roads will be open to traffic but closed around the pelotons, meaning that any vehicles not involved in the race will need to pull to the side of the road when cyclists are passing. It also means that spectators may be able to catch their favorite riders at a couple of points along the route.

“Always travel in reverse direction of the course, because … if you’re going with the course, it’s going to be very hard for you to pass or overtake the field,” Sperry says. “Whereas if you’re going head-on, and there’s maybe three different, distinct races out on the road, if you come across one, generally the delay’s only a couple minutes for the race to pass, and then you can resume on.”e_SClBSaturday, criterium

As in 2011, a number of the criterium races will take place in downtown Bend, but the course has a somewhat different look from the familiar rectangular circuit used a year ago for the masters nationals and each summer for the Cascade Cycling Classic. The start/finish line remains on Wall Street between Minnesota and Oregon avenues. But after the turn from Oregon Avenue onto Bond Street, instead of proceeding straight down Bond onto Idaho Avenue, riders will make a left turn onto Minnesota Avenue, a right onto Lava Road, and then a right onto Franklin Avenue before finishing the circuit with another right back onto Wall.

“This is the national criterium championships for the masters, so we need to have something that was a bit more technical, demanding,” says Sperry, explaining the adjusted course.

With their closed circuits, criteriums are by nature spectator-friendly races. But Sperry does point out one spot along the route: the curving stretch on Lava Road between Minnesota and Franklin avenues.

“I think that is a tight, technical section through there that’s pretty entertaining to watch,” he offers.

Sunday, criterium

The only course that remains exactly the same as in 2011 is the NorthWest Crossing criterium circuit in northwest Bend.

“The racers loved it, got a great number of spectators out,” Sperry says, referring to last year’s NorthWest Crossing crit. “Just a really pretty setting, so we’re looking forward to being out there again for the final day.”

Sperry says good viewing spots are located throughout the 1-kilometer route, but he points specifically to the short section that curves along the Compass Park roundabout, especially for those spectators with children.

“You want to have them (kids) kind of entertained but also watch the race,” Sperry notes, adding that the start/finish area is another good viewing possibility. The start/finish line is located on Northwest Crossing Drive between Fort Clatsop Drive and John Fremont Street.

—Amanda Miles