St. John’s Antigua- Antigua & Barbuda Cycling Association (ABCA) will welcome on Sunday an additional race on its events calendar as the newly formed Terminex Cycling Club hosts the first of what will be the annual Terminex Folly Hill Road Race.

The event will feature the country’s top riders who will tackle one of the toughest uphill courses on island.

President of Terminex Cycling Club, Daniel Rogerson, said the event is all about giving back to the riders who work hard on a daily basis.

“It’s really more a situation that we are giving back to the riders because we are giving back cash prises and some Terminix giveaways for the day. Sometimes these riders put in a lot of effort and they are riding four, five, six times per week, training; and like I said, this is a very tough race. So it’s a case that we want to give back and at least reward them a little bit for all the effort they put in,” Rogerson said.

Asked why Terminex decided to get involved with the planning and executing of events, Rogerson said it is their way of assisting the national association in bridging the gap and also showing other clubs that they can get involved at that level.

“Well, it was actually our plan to have a road race this year. I think the president of the association is actually trying for the clubs to get more involved with putting on some of the races and sponsoring to ease some of the pressure off the association. So yeah, it was something that was put towards us as to whether we wanted to take on this race and we were very happy to at the time, so we are very excited by it. It is one of the most challenging races of the calendar so it’s very exciting,” he concluded.

The event, which commences at 9:30 am in front of Police Recreation Grounds (PRG), will take the riders onto Sir George Walter Highway; along Old Parham Road, Friars Hill Road, and Marble Hill Road; through Cedar Grove, and Hodges Bay; back unto Sir George Walter Highway, before heading to the eastern parts of the island via Sir Sydney Walling Highway.

The race continues through Pares Village, Collins, Bethesda, and Red Hill to Nelson’s Dockyard, where the riders will turn and head through Falmouth, Liberta, Swetes to meet the title challenge of the race, the Folly Hill Climb.

The cyclists will turn around in the village and return through Swetes, All Saints, Jonas Road, and Sir Sydney Walling Highway before finishing back at PRG.

Over 40 cyclists are expected to participate in five different categories.

The Terminex Folly Hill 48-mile Road Race will be the final race to select the national training squad to prepare for the 2012 Caribbean Cycling Championships to be held in Antigua from October 20 to 21.