Athletes aged 45 and older compete in the Maine Senior Games cycling event in Brunswick on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. Cooper Sullivan photo

BRUNSWICK — Winning the Maine Senior Games’ cycling race may not compare to the prestige of a Tour de France victory, but that hardly mattered for the athletes who competed Sunday.

This was the fourth straight year the 20-kilometer race was held at Brunswick Landing. It was also one of the largest fields, with 45 cyclists from across Maine and New Hampshire competing.

The 10k time trials and 20k road race attracted cyclists aged 45 and older. Maine and New Hampshire collaborate on the Senior Games cycling race and host one event. The 2023 event featured a field in the low 30s, organizers said.

Gary Prince of Stratham, N.H., said Sunday he was trying to earn a trip to the 2025 national Senior Games, held next July and August in Des Moines, Iowa. The top-three finishers in each age division qualify for the national competition.

Prince, 82, has been cycling for over 30 years and won competitions up and down the East Coast. He and his wife Lorraine center their vacations around where the next road race is. Once Gary signs up, they pack their car with a makeshift mechanic station in the trunk and make a trip of it.

“His legs are aching, and I ask him ‘Why keep doing it?’ Lorraine said about her husband in between Sunday’s races. “He wants to do it. He never gives up.”

“It’s a good way to meet people and to bike at the same time,” Gary added.

Race results were not available Monday at press time.

For other athletes, like Kathleen Judice of Dayton, the Senior Games are the best opportunity to challenge themselves and compete against a field of one.

“I don’t have the foggiest idea,” Judice, 54, said prior to her first official bike race since the 1990s. “I’m just going to push myself and see what I can do.”

Judice, 54, and her husband Stephen, 53, signed up for the Brunswick 10-kilometer time trial less than 24 hours earlier, after the masters track and field meet they were participating in Augusta that Saturday finished at a reasonable hour.

Athletes aged 45 and older compete in the Maine Senior Games cycling event in Brunswick on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. Cooper Sullivan photo

Even as a lifelong athlete and current track and field coach, Judice is a Senior Games rookie. She hopes to qualify for 2025 Nationals in one of the triathlon sports. She also wants keep signing up for other events, like buoy toss or cornhole just because they look like fun.

“The community is so friendly, welcoming and helpful,” Judice said. “I didn’t have the right size shotput at a track and field event and someone said ‘Here, just borrow mine.’”

The community aspect is one of the reasons Suzanne LaCroix of Standish stays involved as a Maine Senior Games volunteer. Since starting in 2017, LaCroix tries to help out at as many events as she can.

On Sunday, she and 12-15 other volunteers were tasked with standing along the 2.1-mile-long loop around Southern Maine Community College, the Brunswick Rec Center and the Naval Aviation Museum to direct traffic- both cars and cyclists. Although it wasn’t an official task, LaCroix would cheer on every athlete with the same enthusiasm as the last.

“Everyone that participates encourages each other,” she said. “People are now friends and they have their own support groups.”

LaCroix wasn’t the only cheerleader, as a crowd of about 20 stood by the finish line. Signs saying “Chafe Ur Dreams” and “Use Yer Legs” were waved during each lap.

Volunteers are crucial to the operations of Maine Senior Games. As Karen Reardon, the organization’s lead coordinator, explained to the athletes beforehand, safety concerns have seen the number of cycling races around the country go down.

Reardon did not hear of any course safety issues on Sunday and considered it overall to be a “good day,” a testament to the volunteer team after early morning car trouble and technical issues with the timing system almost put a damper on the event.

“There’s a bigger cycling community that wants to keep everything rolling,” Reardon said. “They love their sport, they have a passion for their sport, so they’re here to try to do their thing. We’re here to try to make that happen.”

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