The Crit Brings the Streets of Spartanburg to Life
Celebrating my first year attending the Crit, and highlighting how important this event is.
This year was my very first year getting to attend the Spartanburg Criterium, which is often dubbed the “fastest night in the upstate.” A considerable portion of downtown is closed off for a series of bike races — which include kids races, amateur races, and professional races. The event was started in 2005 as a part of PAL’s Bike Town Spartanburg initiative. This initiative eventually led to Spartanburg earning bicycle-friendly status from the League of American Bicyclists. Spartanburg would become the first designation of this kind within the state of South Carolina. If you are interested in how we did as a state in the League of American Bicyclist’s 2022 Annual Report, you can see South Carolina report card here.
The Crit continues to function as a fundraiser for PAL and a great opportunity to experience the Spartanburg community. With this being my very first Crit, I decided to throw myself right into the deep end. By this, I mean that I signed up to volunteer for PAL for the first half of the race. I volunteered from 3 until 6 PM, making sure that our sponsors had all the beer, water, and ice that their hearts could possibly desire.
I enjoyed getting to work with the folks at PAL. I got to interact with people who work at PAL — such as Ned Barrett and Dave Theiss and Emi Bautista and Sophi Schwartzbauer. I also got to meet people who served as perennial Crit volunteers. In conversations with both groups, it was obvious how excited everyone was for this event. Lots of work behind the scenes on behalf of the folks at PAL, the City of Spartanburg, and others went into this. I am glad that I got to play a very small part in this event.
After my shift was over, I got to grab some food and drink in the PAL tent before exploring the Crit on my own. I knew of a few organizations and friends that had tents (Sevi for Senate, Kathryn for Congress, Jed Dearybury, and Spartanburg Methodist College), so I spent my time bouncing between those tents and say hi to those folks. While doing so, I ran into so many people I had not seen in ages. The Crit really serves as a great event that brings the community together. I swear just about everybody in Spartanburg was downtown for the Crit.
While under Jed’s tent, he told me that the Crit was his favorite Spartanburg event because it really made downtown come to life. I cannot agree more. As someone who is very passionate about exploring our city and being active in it, this was surely the most active I have ever experienced Spartanburg.
I am very thankful for everyone who help to make this happen every year. This may have been my first year, but it surely will not be my last. I am quite excited to attend future Crits, and to hopefully continue to volunteer.
If you attended the Crit, feel free to share your experiences and photos! Have a great rest of your week and be a force for good in your community.
Until next time,
Liv.
I volunteered at Sevi's booth. Glad sevi alvarez and kathryn harvy are running.