Maine Outdoor Journal

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Richard Marchessault leads a group of Maine Cycling Club members on Riverside Drive in Lewiston on a Sept. 13 pre-ride of the Dempsey Challenge race course.

Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

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Several of the riders arrive at mile 30 of the Dempsey Challenge course during the pre-ride. Mile 30 is the cut-off point for people riding the Oct. 4 charity event who are unlikely to finish the entire 100 miles.

Deirdre Fleming/Staff Writer

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Todd Belaire passes Parker Pond in Casco.

Deirdre Fleming/Staff Writer

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Mike Kearney rides past Long Lake in Naples on Sept. 13.

Deirdre Fleming/Staff Writer

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Ray Marchessault, Richard’s brother, rides by a farm in Raymond on Sept. 13 on his way to the 30-mile stop.

Deirdre Fleming/Staff Writer

SLIDESHOW: See Deirdre's pre-ride photos from the 100-mile route

PRO RIDERS

SEVERAL PROFESSIONAL RIDERS are participating in

the Dempsey Challenge century and other rides to support The Patrick

Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing. Others may join. Those

who planned to ride as of Thursday were:

• GEORGE HINCAPIE is a five-time Olympian who has won the Tour de

France seven times. His company, Hincapie Sportswear, created the

challenge's cycling jerseys, which will help raise funds for The

Dempsey Center.

• STEPHEN ROCHE is an Irish legend who won the

Tour de France in 1987. He retired in 1993 after becoming one of only

two riders to ever win cycling's Triple Crown, which is to win the Tour

de France, the Giro d'Italia and the World Cycling Championship in one

year.

• DAVID ZABRISKIE holds the record for the fastest time trial in

Tour de France history. Zabriskie was selected as one of five riders

for the U.S. Olympic road race team in the Beijing Games. After

colliding with a car on a training ride, he started his nonprofit Yield

For Life to help spread awareness that bikes deserve space on roads.

• TED KING is originally from Brentwood, N.H., and went pro four

years ago. An alumni of Middlebury College, King rides for the Cervelo

TestTeam in Europe. He rode for the USA U-23 team in 2005.

DEMPSEY

CHALLENGE AND FESTIVITIES

THE CHALLENGE has reached its cap of 3,500 riders, but spectators can

watch the rides that begin and end at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in

Lewiston. A free festival will run all day in the park, directions to

which may be found online at www.dempseychallenge.org.

THE FESTIVAL will run 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 4 and will include a health and

wellness expo, live music by the Sofa Kings, children's events and an

art workshop.

MANY OF THE booths and vendors specialize in wellness and health.

Central Maine Medical Center will be conducting screenings for early

detection of cancer.

LOOK FOR MORE information about the Dempsey Center or Dempsey Challenge at these Web sites:

www.dempseycenter.org

www.dempseychallenge.org

RAYMOND — It was dubbed "Puke Hill" by the guy who designed the course before the first Dempsey Challenge charity century even started. But don't let the buzz around mile 22 of the gritty 100-mile ride that will feature pro cyclists mess with you too much.

On a pre-ride of the century by nine local riders, course designer Richard Marchessault dubbed another hill not far down the farm road "Puke Jr."

The Dempsey Challenge bike course, with its 10-, 25-, 50- and particularly 100-mile loops, will live up to the charity event's name on Oct. 4.

"It's just a good representation of Maine road riding. It looks shorter than it really is; it looks easier than it probably is; and it's satisfying to get over the top of it," said local rider and elite racer Chris Green of the century's steepest hill.

The Dempsey Challenge was created by actor Patrick Dempsey, a cycling enthusiast and Maine native, as a fundraiser for the center Dempsey created at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston after his mother battled cancer. The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing provides education, support and wellness services to cancer patients and their families.

Dempsey hired Medalist Sports of Atlanta, which runs Lance Armstrong's charity rides, to stage the event. Event director Wendy Tardif said Marchessault, a former president of the Maine Cycle Club, was chosen to create a challenging course because of his knowledge of the local riding routes.

The Dempsey Challenge was capped after quickly drawing 3,500 riders and runners from 32 states and three Canadian provinces, as well as three pro riders and a cycling legend. George Hincapie, David Zabriskie, Ted King and Ireland's Stephen Roche are all riding to support Dempsey's inaugural charity ride.

Dempsey is scheduled to do the 50-mile ride with Hincapie. But half of the 1,900 cyclists registered will be doing the century. And what started as a 100-mile ride created to entice professional riders has become a century worth finishing, locals said.

The course has 6,000 feet of climbing with 2,000 feet of vertical coming in the first 25 miles.

"If people don't make the time cut by the 30-mile mark, they have to go (a way that) cuts off 30 miles," Marchessault said. "They have to average 10 miles an hour to make the cut, so that's pretty slow."

Nine Maine cyclists joined Marchessault to ride the century course on a pre-ride on Sept. 13, including five who will ride the full 100 as support on Oct. 4.

Talk at the end was mostly about Raymond Hill.

"I think there will be a lot of people walking that," Marchessault said.

In truth, part of the hill's mystique is the lead up to it. Even before mile 22, the vertical nature of the course works you, specifically at mile 18 and 20. The wooded, lightly driven roads around Range Pond State Park and Poland Springs are cool and pleasant, and almost lull a rider into forgetting the 80 miles that awaits.

But after some effort in the first 20 miles, "Puke Hill" hits the unsuspecting like a punch.

"It is a very steep incline, but short. If you pace yourself over the top, you won't feel like you might throw up," said Will Flint of Poland, who lives near the hill. "But, from here out, it starts climbing again."

One first-timer up Raymond Hill actually enjoyed it but then again, he's the guy who races in the pro category.

"The sadistic part of me thinks probably (Raymond) is the best bit," Green said. "Even if they do throw up on it and still finish the 100, that's a pretty good day."

Rest assured, the century course offers more, including quintessential Maine views of camps along 12 lakes and ponds, a lumberyard, horse farms, cornfields and grange halls.

"It's scenic. And I think it's a quality century," said Rod Nadeau of North Yarmouth after the pre-ride. "They say Loon-Echo is the toughest century in Maine. Now that this one is on the books, this could be the toughest."

The 100-mile loop also is nicely divided by the town of Harrison on Long Lake. Its quaint stores and cool lakefront park make a perfect rest stop.

But right after the little lakeside town, another long hill calls (or yells, as it were). And after a stretch of quiet roads and horse farms, mile 68, as Marchessault put it, "just grinds along for about a mile."

All told, a century rider in this charity event has about 15 miles of easy travel. But that comes only after you've ridden three quarters of the course.

"After 75 miles, all these hills start to get to you. But I think those people coming from 32 states, those people have done centuries. They look for charity rides. So I think they'll be prepared, and they'll appreciate it," Marchessault said.

The course even finishes with (you guessed it), five miles of hills. However, the riders who rode on Sept. 13 loved it.

All agreed it is a fitting finish for an event meant to symbolize a hard battle. The views of Lewiston's basilica and the Androscoggin River, not to mention the spectators, will greet the riders at the bottom of a steep downhill.

"Coming over that hill is perfect. It's quite a view," said local rider Mike Kearney.

Green said the century will represent to many a struggle they willingly endure so that others can win an even tougher fight.

"Everyone knows someone who knows someone who died of cancer or is battling cancer. To go out and push yourself a little further than you normally would, be that 50 miles or a full century, I think that's great," Green said.

"It will be hard for anyone."

Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:

dfleming@pressherald.com