If you live near our headquarters in Louisville, Colorado, you may know about our summer passion project. If you haven’t yet, you’ll want to get in the mix on and off the bike.

Three years ago (thanks covid) Make that four years ago, we wanted to have a community-driven race event. There are typically many barriers to organized races. Having to buy this license and that license and registration (hopefully your category isn’t full, if you’ve earned your category ranking by racing a lot already) and, and, and. So we wanted to break the mold. Maybe smash it?

That’s where Tuesday Night Thunder (TNT) was born. A small group of employees devised a plan to start a weekly crit series in the business park surrounding our building in the summer. There is a roughly 1-kilometer street loop just outside our front door. Being off the major traffic ways and with most businesses closing down around the typical 5pm hour, we were in a good spot to pull racing off.

The main aspect of TNT is how easy it is to race. The fewer the barriers to entry, the more riders in the community can participate and create energy for the sport. Most racing events have what seems like dozens of categories that, outside of the entry-level categories, have to be earned through racing a lot. We don’t need that division going on! So, we have three self-designated categories. A, B, and C.

A races will be the fastest of riders. C races will be for those just getting into racing or those just looking to have a great time at their own pace. The B races are for anyone in between. You pick your race. The entry fee is $10. No licenses to get from several different organizations.

That’s it. 10 bucks, you decide which of the three races you’re going to go ride, pin on your number, and here we go!

Occasionally we’ll give a prize for a race winner but it’s more of a party, some might say how cyclocross used to be. Heckling is encouraged, lawn chairs are nice but there’s grass, fistbump primes are required, and you might even score a slice of pizza and a brew.

We think this is the best way to get more people amped on racing bikes. And for a fun way to hang out with fellow riders. Because that’s what it’s really about. Making it fun even if you’re breathing through your eyeballs trying to chase down a breakaway rider.

So if you’re interested in throwing down (or just pushing pedals in a costume) on a Tuesday night during the summer, grab your flock of flamingos and come on over to HQ and sign up at 5:30pm. Do a warm-up lap or two and let’s get racin’.

The C race starts at 6pm and goes for 20 minutes. The B race starts at 6:30 for 30 min and the A race finale at 7:10 until the light fades away.

Because, if the lightning doesn’t get you, the thunder will.