A
nniston is growing a love and re-
spect for mountain biking and
road biking, as the sport continues
to grow in popularity in the greater Cal-
houn County area. The county is already
home to major rides such as the Cheaha
Challenge, which served this year as the
only UCI Gran Fondo World Championship
Qualifier in the United States.
Patrick “Wig” Wigley, of Wig’s Wheels, predicts
that in a few years you’ll see bikes all over the
city, “Kinda like a ski town where everyone
has skis on their cars. The same thing is going
to happen around here with cycling.”
“There’s a movement going around the
country right now because cycling is becom-
ing a known economic stimulus for a lot of
towns trying to find their way economically,”
explains Wig. He says, “The perfect storm is if
they get the Amtrack train station extended
so that people can roll in here on the train
and take their bikes straight to Coldwater or
the Ladiga Trail.”
Brooke Nelson, Cheaha Challenge director,
agrees that cycling is an “economic engine
for our area”. She says, “tourism numbers are
way up” and she credits a lot of that to cy-
cling. At the 25th Cheaha Challenge on May
20, hundreds of riders traveled from all over
the world to participate in the ride. Those
riders and their families spent the weekend
eating and shopping in Calhoun County.
says, “It’s absolutely thrilling to me to invite
riders from all over to visit our area. Alabama
is beautiful.” She adds that cyclists in Calhoun
County enjoy a special luxury, multiple plat-
forms on which to train and ride. “I have a lot
of athlete friends in Birmingham, and they
are so jealous of what we have here.”
When you consider the Chief Ladiga Trail
(the longest continuous paved rail trail in the
U.S.), the Coldwater Mountain Bike Trails (38
miles of trails), the BMX track in Weaver, and
access to the highest point in the state on Mt.
Cheaha you can see that Anniston and the
surrounding areas are a cyclists dream.
Wig says plans for a new trailhead in Annis-
ton are brewing, which he hopes to open in
the fall of 2018. The Anniston Trailhead will
be suited for a national caliber type event,
complete with flushing toilets, pavilions, and
pump tracks.
Anniston Mayor, Jack Draper, plans to show
his support for cycling by participating in a
Mayor’s Ride or a “slow-roll”. Plans for that
ride are developing now.
More and more school-aged cyclists are pop-
ping up as the Alabama Interscholastic Cy-
cling League continues to grow. The league,
Similarly, teams of racing cyclists and indi-
vidual racers visit Anniston every year for the
Sunny King Criterium and McClellan Road
Race. These major cycling events provide an
economic boost for our area.
As the director of Cheaha Challenge, Nelson
INSIGHT
June 2017 37