Crit cyclers pedal at much different pace

About nine years have passed since I last rode a bike. Sure, sometimes I use the stationary ones at the gym, and I've certainly entertained returning to my transit roots each time gas prices skyrocket another 50 cents. But ever since I got my driver's license, pedaling the journey to see my friends kind of lost its appeal.

Yet, now that my 24th birthday is just around the corner, the phrase "healthy living" is beginning to take on a new meaning. That's why I saw Tuesday's Beaufort Memorial Cycling Classic as a place to get tips on how to broaden my exercise options.

Within the first five laps, that somewhat changed.

I get that it's a race, so of course reaching top speed is ideal. And judging by the physiques of the participants, intense cycling is the anti-potbelly.

But all I kept thinking during the nailbiting men's and women's races was, how could something so healthy seem so dangerous?

Three summers ago I'd been formally introduced to criteriums when I covered one in Richmond, Va. The short-course, city-limit conditions certainly weren't inviting back then, either. But for some reason, I don't remember getting the same you-won't-catch-me-doing-this vibe.

This time around, there was a Porsche Boxster vrooming through the flat, 0.6-mile path as the pace car, often inching awfully close to those in jeopardy of being lapped.

Even closer were the thin wheels of the cyclists, who pedaled within smelling distance of a congested field that confined itself to one strip of the rugged pavement.

And then there were those four sharp-left turns at the corners, beginning with the treacherous curve at the intersection of Bay and Scott streets, about 200 meters from the start/finish line.

The bend at Newcastle and Bay streets also caused some problems. One woman cracked her helmet in a one-person crash, and three men took a spill after a rider lost control of his front wheel and nearly flipped over before two others slammed into him.

Granted, all this talk is coming from a guy who initially was afraid to raise off his seat while biking up steep hills as a kid. But in my defense, even the participants found themselves carefully adjusting to the blistering conditions.

"This is an amazingly fast and technical course," said Kyle Wamsley, who missed first place by one-hundreth of a second in the 80-lap men's race.

"It's real short, so the turns come up quick. That first one kind of surprised me a little bit, but I got used to it after a while."

Statements like that gave me an even greater respect for bike racers.

You don't just get used to taking a 10-foot-wide curve at 25 miles per hour without having some rare form of athleticism.

Think about it. These riders' legs either felt like steel or a pack of Gummy Bears after pedaling non-stop for over an hour, but that didn't stop them from making an all-out sprint in the final 200 meters.

Or from alluding to their subsequent pain.

"Nooo, it was just cozy in that last stretch," said a sarcastic Hilton Clarke after winning the men's event. "I felt like I was on my beach cruiser."

Yet even after hearing the jokes and witnessing the hazards, I'm still motivated to take advantage of the Beaufort landscape and tackle a recreational sport like biking.

No, you won't see me in next year's Cycling Classic. But in a microwave era where exercise and nutrition often go by the wayside, pedaling a few miles each week is the least I can do to help myself out while I still can.

And saving on gas doesn't hurt, either.