May 24, 2006 – Future Olympians might be found racing at this weekend’s Times Colonist Cycling Festival road race and criterium on Saturday and Sunday, but as many as 150 boys and girls will be there to spin their wheels too on the Bastion Square Criterium course.

The Tim Hortons Timbit Challenge will give kids from ages five to 10 the opportunity to test their pedal mettle on Sunday, May 28 at 11:05 a.m before the elite mens and womens races at Bastion Square. Timbit challengers ride 1 lap alongside PacificSport national team riders on the closed-to-traffic 900-metre crit course around Bastion Square.

“The focus for the Timbit Challenge is on fun and enjoying physical activity, but you never know if a young rider gets the cycling bug, he or she may pick up cycling and become the next Alison Sydor or Roland Green,” says Adam Lawrence, Times Colonist Cycling Festival director.

All Participants will receive a medal, waterbottle, snack pack of Timbits, a cycling handbook, and a T-Shirt. Check in is at 10:00 a.m. at the corner of Fort Street and Langley Street.

There is no registration fee, but participation will be limited to the first 150 registered. All riders will need a bicycle and properly fitting helment.

Pre-register by completing and faxing in a registration form (available online or at local Tim Hortons) to (250) 744-3542 or drop off at PacificSport at 100-4636 Elk Lake Drive, Victoria at the Saanich Commonwealth Place.

For more information about the Timbit Challenge and other events during the Times Colonist Cycling Festival, see www.victoriacyclingfestival.com or phone (250) 384-TCCF (8223).

Members of the media are invited to the pre-event media conference with PacificSport National Cycling Centre riders and event organizers on Thursday, May 25 at 10:30 a.m. at “Crash Corner” at Yates and Wharf Street.