Semiannual Costa Mesa Grand Prix finds its footing in a bike-friendly city

A semiannual cycling competition on Sunday drew hundreds of professional athletes and cycling fans to Costa Mesa, a city where bikeability and active transportation are taking a turn in the civic spotlight.

The Costa Mesa Grand Prix, which debuted in March, returned to a 1.1-mile closed circuit course north of the 405 Freeway and took riders along Harbor Boulevard and Sunflower, Cadillac and Scenic avenues in a series of races that offered riders a chance to increase their ranking and win cash prizes.

Organizer Alfie Sanchez, owner of Upland-based event planner Majestic Cycling, said the area is a perfect venue for racing and said, with time, the grand prix could become a premier event that attracts world-class cyclists not only to compete but to stay and visit Costa Mesa and Orange County.

Costa Mesa City Council Mayor John Stephens, third from left, Councilwoman Andrea Marr and and Councilwoman Arlis Reynolds pose Sunday with organizers of the Costa Mesa Grand Prix.

(Courtesy of Majestic Cycling)

“Pro teams do a circuit, and they travel, so the goal is to drive them to Costa Mesa,” Sanchez said Wednesday, adding that most major road races take place on the East Coast. “People are going to come in, they’re going to eat, they’re going to sleep here — it’s a destination.”

That’s a concept city officials can get behind. Mayor John Stephens and council members Andrea Marr and Arlis Reynolds attended Sunday’s races, which featured a 5K walk/run, food trucks and vendors and was broadcast online.

“It was terrific — you’ve got real competitors, serious cyclists, riding in a peloton in this rectangle track at Harbor Gateway, right by SoCo and Scenic Avenue,” Stephens said. “It’s a perfect location.”

Among riders in the Men Pro 1-3 race, 35-year-old professional cyclist Cory Lockwood, riding for Miami Blazers, scored a first-place win, followed by teammate Dante Young, 28,of Los Angeles, in second and 30-year-old Julian Ballestas, from team Deus Velox placing third.

Winners of the Costa Mesa Grand Prix’s Men Pro 1-3 race, Dante Young, second from left, Cory Lockwood and Julian Ballestas.

(Courtesy of Majestic Cycling)

In the Women Pro 1-3 race, 35-year-old Colleen Gulick, with the cycling club Team Skyline, crossed the finish line first. A resident of Long Beach, Gulick recently qualified to represent Team USA in the Olympic Long Team in Paris.

Priscilla Savord, 39, of Orange, took second place for her team Mamis presented by Incycle and Bakersfield’s Thialor Mize, 28, secured a third-place win for Team Monarch.

Stephens said the Grand Prix is a perfect kind of event for Costa Mesa, which has been focusing on infrastructure that promotes bikeability, and one he would like to help grow.

“We’ve had a real focus on biking and active transportation, getting people out of their cars, and this is really on brand with that,” he said Wednesday.

“We need to put our money where our mouth is and grow this event to have it be one of the premier grand prix [events] in California. It’s still in its infancy, but the potential is off the charts.”

Riders compete in the Costa Mesa Grand Prix Sunday, a semiannual road racing event that debuted in March.

(Logical Photo)