All day Sunday, downtown Reno was transformed into a race course.
It may not be as well known as the Tour de France, but the Tour de Nez still holds its own.
The event brings in 300 cyclists from around the world participating in 13 different races, which can get pretty competitive.
"Cycling is a lot more than just around in circles," says Pat Cashell. "It's almost like a chess match. There's strategy and you want to be in a good position at the end of the race."
The Tour de Nez may be built around bicycle racing, but the one event tough to miss has to be the hand-cycling competition. Unlike the traditional bicycle, hand-cycling requires a lot of upper body strength.
The competitors tell us the 1.2-mile race track through downtown is difficult, to say the least.
"The course is really technical," says hand-cyclist Grant Berthiaume. "There's some good hairpin turns in there, so you have to be in the draft right away."
"It's not ever flat," says hand-cyclist Craig Cornwall. "You're either climbing, turning or going downhill fast. So, it's a good course."
The Tour de Nez was held in Lake Tahoe for some time, but organizers are happy it's held right in the heart of The Biggest Little City.
And, now in its 20th year, it could be expanding.
"Right now, we're trying to focus again on Reno and expanding to Nevada," says race director Tim Healion. "We've been working with the Department of Tourism about having it be a statewide race and they're really game."
The hand-cyclists we talked to were from all over the west coast. They compete in the Tour de Nez year after year, and say that trend will continue next summer.
"It's a good show," says Cornwall. "It's one of the better ones in the country."
Written by Adam Rasmussen
