The Snake Alley Criterium is a criterium cycling race that takes place annually on Memorial Day weekend in Burlington, Iowa. The bike race is most famous for riding up Snake Alley, which was named by Ripley's Believe It Or Not as the crookedest alley in the world. The Snake Alley portion of the race includes a ascent on the alley and includes five major turns.
This race has been said to be one of the most challenging bicycle races in the Midwest. A national cycling magazine has named the Snake Alley Criterium to be the fifth best criterium in the nation. The race spans over two days, and many of the downtown streets are closed to traffic. The course spans over 15 city blocks. Throughout the course the elevation ranges between and .
Competitors may include anyone from the age of ten to senior citizens. These age groups however, do not all race in the same event. The Criterium is open to men and women both of which compete in separate races. Prizes vary between $50 for Juniors to $10,000 for the Pro's. Each race has a maximum number of competitors; the smallest group being 50, the largest being 150. The Junior group rides the fewest laps (four), and the Pro group rides the most laps which is a total of twenty-five. The entry fees are different for each group. The Juniors pay the least amount of money, fifteen dollars, and the Pros pay the most with forty-five. As with any credible bike race, proper safety equipment must be worn at all times.
Winners Men Year Winner Second Third 1983 Jeff Bradley 1984 Eon D'Ornellas 1985 Mike King 1986 Robert Mathias 1987 Robert Mionsk 1988 Hajo Drees 1989 Hajo Drees 1990 Chris Washkevich 1991 Troy Miller 1992 Tommy Matush 1993 John Peters 1994 Timm Peddie 1995 John Durso 1996 Steve Tilford 1997 Todd Littlehales 1998 Matthew Kelly 1999 Marc Kebbekus 2000 Steven Cate 2001. Jason McCartney John Lieswyn Steve Tilford 2002. John Lieswyn Steven Cate Doug Swanson 2003. Jason McCartney John Lieswyn Steven Cate 2004. Jason McCartney Adam Bergman 2005 Steve Tilford Brian Jensen Ben Raby 2006. Chris Wherry 2007. Adam Bergman Brian Jensen Brian Dziewa 2008 Duane Dickey Brian Jensen Bryce Mead 2009 Adam Bergman Paul Martin Frank Dierking 2010. Volodymyr Starchyk Eric Marcotte 2011 Chad Burdzilauskas Eric Marcotte Juan Pablo Dotti 2012. Paul Martin Ryan Aitcheson Alex Vanias 2013. Adam Leibovitz Colton Barrett Daniel Holt 2014. Daniel Holloway Toms Skujinš Alexander Ray 2015. Chris Uberti Chris Winn Logan Owen 2016. Matthew Zimmer Chris Winn Joshua Johnson 2017. Ryan Aitcheson Thomas Brown Peter Olejniczak 2018. Daniel Summerhill Sam Fritz Peter Olejniczak 2019. Daniel Summerhill Kyle Perry Samuel Janisch Cancelled 2022 Andrew Dillman Cade Bickmore Conor White
Élites Femmes Year Winner Second Third 1988 Liz Heller 1989 Sonja Stilp 1990 Liz Heller 1991 Tracey Lamers 1992 Sue Swenson 1993 Deirdre Demet 1994 Karen Dunne 1995 Elaine Nekritz 1996 Cynthia Mommsen 1997 Bonnie Breeze 1998 Debre Pilger 1999 Andrea Bowman 2000 Cynthia Mommsen 2001 Catherine Walberg Christine Miller Cynthia Mommsen 2002 Magen Long Kerry Soraci Christine Miller 2003 Magen Long Tania Duff-Miller Jo Kiesanowski 2004 Magen Long Rebecca Much Elizabeth Morse 2005 Sarah Tillotson 2006 Kristin Wentworth Molly Vetter-Smith Katie Weber 2007 Kristin Wentworth Mindi Martin Anne Grabowski 2008 Samantha Schneider 2009 Amanda Miller 2010 Amanda Miller Lisa Vetterlein Ashley James 2011 Amanda Miller 2012 Kaitlin Antonneau Jeannie Kuhajek Emma Bast 2013 Kim Eppen Mia Manganello Katherine Shields 2014 Lisa Vetterlein Abby Ruess Amber Markey 2015 Chloé Dygert Mary Penta Gwen Inglis 2016 Abby Ruess Gwen Inglis Leah Kleager 2017 Lily Williams Jeannie Kuhajek Amanda Miller 2018 Faith Montreuil Carlyn Jackson Cassidy Hickey 2019 Gwen Inglis Carlyn Jackson Kaitlyn Agnew Cancelled 2022 Maddy Ward Peta Mullens Rylee McMullen
References
External links http://www.snakealley.com/history.html http://www.traveliowa.com/attractiondetails.aspx?cat=7&id=&destid=449207 http://www.snakealleycriterium.com/SAC%20flyer.html