J.J. Clark powers through Palmer Park's rugged single track. (Photo by Rob "UltraRob" Lucas)

UPDATED: Sand Creek Sports race director Andy Bohlmann was forced to make some big changes to his plans for Sunday's ProCycling Palmer Park 50 after Wednesday's heavy rains.

Bohlmann announced late Friday that the start time for the ProCycling Palmer Park 50 has been moved to 9 a.m. The course will also see dramatic changes.

"Our concern is for the park," Bohlmann said. "Some of the technical portions are absolutely not rideable. We're going to have to make some big changes, but we're going to have a great course. This (making last-minute changes) is what we do best. I'm really getting into it."

Sand Creek Sports is still taking entries, but you need to e-mail Bohlmann (andy@sandcreeksports.com) ASAP and let him know your name, category, age, and the distance you would like to race - 25 or 50 miles.

Also, Bohlmann will take walk-up registrations from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Lazy Land Pavillion area. He asked cyclists who register on Saturday to please ride to Lazy Land (which is reserved by another party) and look for the U-Haul truck. Anyone driving is asked to park outside of Lazy Land and walk in.

The following is an official statement from Sand Creek Sports:

In coordination with Colorado Springs Parks and Recreation, we have evaluated our proposed Pro Cycling Palmer Park 50 course and have determined that some sections of several trails are in extremely poor condition due to the unprecedented rain this past week.  We have a new course of approximately 5 miles in length that we will evaluate early Saturday morning.  We may mark this course in the late afternoon on Saturday depending upon the weather.  At this point we believe that we can make a reasonable course with minimal environmental impacts to the Park with the forecast as it stands now.  The new start time will be at 9 AM to account for additional set up on Sunday morning.

In the unlikely event that a reasonable course can’t be found due to weather, our intent is to go forward with the Pig Roast and refund a portion of the entry fee (exact amount TBD).  All future updates will be posted on www.sandcreeksports.com as available.

We appreciate your patience as we work on an acceptable solution that puts Palmer Park first.

Andy Bohlmann stared over his coffee cup at breakfast and divulged a secret about his new ProCycling Palmer Park 50 mountain bike race.

"It all started with the pig," he said.

Bohlmann has produced bike races in the Pikes Peak Region for more than 20 years. But this year he lost two from his schedule. Thin sponsorship support forced him to cancel his UCI mountain bike race. And his Tour of Colorado Senior Road Championshiops event was booted from the Air Force Academy because of security concerns.

"I needed to do something, so I though of having a pig roast," Bohlmann said. "Then I thought, well I can do a mountain bike race, too, that's easy."

The racing begins at 9 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, at the Lazy Land Pavillion in Palmer Park. There will be 50- and 25-mile options. And there will be racing for team's of two.

Click the links at the bottom of this page to download entry and release forms. Enter soon. Bohlmann said he needs all entries by Wednesday, Sept. 14. Mail to Sand Creek Sports, 1315 Atoka, Colorado Springs, CO. 80915.

For detailed information, check the Sand Creek Sports website.

"I think a lot of people were a little nervous about going 50 miles, so we added the 25-mile race and opened it up to teams," Bohlmann said. "I think it's a good idea."

Racers will make multiple laps of an 8.9-mile course, negotiating the park's famous single track, including much of the same route that will be used in the 24-Hours of Colorado Springs - a USA Cycling national championship race - on Oct. 1.

Several of the area's top riders, including 24-Hour national single speed champion Cam Chambers, have entered the Palmer Park 50.

See video of Cam Chambers discussing 24-Hours of Colorado Springs a...

"It's awesome that this all came together like this," Chambers said. "It's going to be a great event. As a chance to pre-ride the (24-hour) course and get yourself familiar with it, and do a good, hard effort on the course two weeks before the nationals, that's huge."

The Palmer Park 50 has also attracted endurance rider Ricky McDonald, one of only men who have completed all 18 of the grueling Leadville 100 races.

The roast pig barbecue is included in the entry fee and will be served after the race.