Pro men racers make their way along the course during the Twilight Criterium at the 2019 Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend.

Bart Bowen was dramatically changing a Bend tradition since 1980, and some were questioning him.

But he saw his vision come to fruition over five days of bike racing in Central Oregon last week, and by most accounts the revamped Cascade Cycling Classic was a success.

After a year hiatus in 2018 as the event transitioned to new management, the 2019 CCC included earlier dates, all new stages, gravel sections, and a completely different Twilight Criterium, its signature stage. The criterium, held June 1, was moved from its longtime location of downtown Bend to southwest Bend to make room for a day-long festival.

“That was probably the scariest stage in terms of what’s gonna happen,” Bowen, the new CCC race director, said this week. “Everybody knows the downtown crit and it has been a CCC icon — and I was changing it. And everybody was questioning that. I had my vision, and I was overwhelmed that it kind of came true. We wanted a festival crit, and we couldn’t do it downtown. It was all in my head, and I think it was hard for a lot of people to envision it until it happened.”

Bowen said he was confident that the Cascade would return for its 40th edition next year, adding that he and his team would start approaching potential sponsors as early as next week.

“Right now we have momentum, a lot of enthusiasm, and a lot of energy,” Bowen said. “We are going to bat. I think it will be well-received after what we did. People want the Cascade Cycling Classic to happen, and now that they’re confident that it can happen in a way that’s really positive for the community, people want to be a part of that. We’re going after sponsors optimistically, thinking that this will happen again in 2020.”

Securing a title sponsor is the most crucial element for a bike race to continue. Bend’s Worthy Brewing served as the title sponsor for last week’s race, and Worthy owner Roger Worthington was visible throughout the week. He shared public address duties during some of the stages, including the criterium. He even had the Floyd’s Pro Cycling Team — whose rider Travis McCabe won the pro men’s overall title — stay with him at his house in Bend.

“I think it was an amazing effort by a lot of motivated sponsors, organizers and volunteers to do something new and different,” Worthington said. “Given the year hiatus and the fact that this event was spearheaded by so-called rookies, we put on a beautiful show. There is a lot of optimism among sponsors and bike racers and fans and organizers to do this again with some improvements.”

Worthington would not say whether or not Worthy would serve as title sponsor for the 2020 CCC, but he did say that he and Bowen would “definitely huddle up.”

“I think we’re going to let the dust settle, and kind of see where we are on the business end of it,” Worthington said. “And take care of all liabilities and costs, make sure all invoices get paid, and then see where we are at the end of the day. But I can’t be more proud of Bart and all the volunteers.”

Worthington called the 2019 CCC an “ambitious project,” especially with the addition of gravel/dirt roads in two of the stages.

The first stage, the Tumalo Circuit Race, included 4 miles of dirt/gravel roads along the 15.5-mile circuit. Most racers had no issues with those sections. But the 2-mile gravel section in the third stage, the Cascade Lakes Road Race, did cause some problems. Many pro men’s racers got flat tires along the stretch of road, which degraded throughout the day as amateur and women’s riders raced the course before them.

Bowen said that the feedback he received from riders about the CCC was mostly positive, but he did note that the gravel section on the third stage was an issue.

“We didn’t expect the hot temperatures to make the soil dry out and come apart,” Bowen said. “It’s one of those things you don’t know until you try. That was probably the bummer of the whole week for us, to have so many flat tires and have some riders’ outcomes change that way. But we’re definitely going to keep looking at courses that challenge the riders.”

McCabe, 30 and from Prescott, Arizona, has raced in the CCC many times. He said he enjoyed the new version of the race, but his one complaint was the gravel section on the third stage.

“There’s some work that needs to be done with some of the gravel sections, but it’s a learning curve,” McCabe said. “I think Bart put on a great race. I think the crit was fantastic and Sunday’s stage (Awbrey Butte Circuit Race) was awesome.”

Worthington said that additional improvements could include a more consolidated criterium festival, in which the live music, food booths and beer garden are closer to the start/finish line and some of the racing action. He also mentioned bringing back a time trial for the pro categories, which would help create more separation in the overall standings.

Bowen said the calendar dates for the 2020 CCC might change by a week or two, but would remain sometime in late spring around late May and early June. The Cascade had previously been staged in mid-July.

“We’re not going to move back to the July date because of the logistics with traffic and everything,” Bowen said. “This is really a good time of year. We’re talking with USA Cycling. It won’t move very far if it does.”

McCabe called the Cascade “a great race.”

“Bart put on a great event for the budget that he had and the sponsors that he had,” McCabe said. “Hopefully it will continue to grow and get bigger and become one of America’s greatest stage races like it used to be.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0318,

mmorical@bendbulletin.com