Allison Jones Is Strong In Her Return At U.S. Paralympics Cycling Open presented by Toyota

When Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.) stepped away from cycling four years ago, she made a clean break with the sport.

“When I retired, I put the bike away,” Jones said. “I did not touch (road) bikes for a long time. I rode a lot of mountain bikes just to go have fun. 

“I got into CrossFit to get something social with people. I still enjoyed being active and being outdoors.”

She clearly had some unfinished business to address, because the now 37-year-old Jones  returned vigorously this weekend at the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Open presented by Toyota in Huntsville, Alabama, winning two events in her first competition back.

The eight-time Paralympian, who won that same number of Paralympic medals, won Sunday’s women’s C2 road race at Cummings Research Park, following up on Saturday’s time trial victory.

“The time trial was a good test of what was going on,” Jones said. “And then being in the road race is a reminder of how to solo ride … as the only competitor in the C2. It was good to be back.”

It wasn’t the only notable performance. When Alicia Dana (Putney, Vt.) won the women’s H3 road race on Sunday, it marked her third victory in as many days at the event. The three-time Paralympic medalist was part of the winning handcycle relay team on Friday evening and won her classification’s time trial yesterday.

Dana’s relay teammate Travis Gaertner (Burien, Wash.) matched her with firsts in that race, Saturday’s men’s H4 time trial, and that classification’s road race on Sunday.

“It was great,” said Gaertner of the road race. “It was nice to get out there today. Nice, big group of folks to get on the start line together. 

“I was just looking forward to working with other people and having a chance to kind of re-learn some tactics as it’s been about a year for me since I’ve competed internationally.”

Gaertner, who won two Paralympic gold medals in wheelchair basketball while competing for Canada, began handcycling in 2017 and has now competed at the world championships twice for Team USA. This was the first time his three kids have been able to watch him race, he said.

Clara Brown (Falmouth, Maine) was pleased to add a second first-place finish in the women’s C3 road race to the time trial win she claimed on Saturday.

“I thought it was a really strong performance,” said Brown, who made her Paralympic debut in Tokyo. “It was kind of a redemption for me just to come back and know that my legs are there.

“I felt like I had a really strong road race, and that’s indicative of being able to race with my field in the international realm and hopefully do well. It was a tough week, just a lot of intensity leading into these two races.”

The U.S. Paralympics Cycling Open is a key early-season competition for the top U.S. cyclists. This year’s event in America’s “Rocket City” carries added importance as 15 athletes will be selected from this weekend’s racing by U.S. Paralympics Cycling to take part in the season’s first two world cup races, which take place next month in Belgium and Germany.

FULL RESULTS AND LIVE STREAM

A livestream of the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Open’s time trials on Saturday and Sunday’s road races is available to view here: https://www.teamusa.org/USParaCycling/Events/Watch-Live

Full results from the event can be found here: https://www.teamusa.org/USParaCycling/Events/Results-and-Rankings

SOCIAL MEDIA

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Bob Reinert spent 17 years writing sports for The Boston Globe. He also served as a sports information director at Saint Anselm College and Phillips Exeter Academy. He is a contributor to USParaCycling.org on behalf ofRed Line Editorial, Inc.

Bob Reinert spent 17 years writing sports for The Boston Globe. He also served as a sports information director at Saint Anselm College and Phillips Exeter Academy. He is a contributor to USParaCycling.org on behalf ofRed Line Editorial, Inc.