Bicycle race raises money to build homes - 2/24/2006 Bicycle race raises money to build homes The two-day event with its new sponsor brings wheels and hammer-wielding volunteers to Dade City. By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer Published February 20, 2006 Bicycle race raises money to build homes - 2/24/2006 Bicycle race raises money to build homes The two-day event with its new sponsor brings wheels and hammer-wielding volunteers to Dade City. By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer Published February 20, 2006 Bicycle race raises money to build homes The two-day event with its new sponsor brings wheels and hammer-wielding volunteers to Dade City. By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer Published February 20, 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DADE CITY - Ivan Stevic's fists reached for the sky as his bicycle hurtled down Seventh Street, the 26-year-old Serb capturing first place in Sunday's Race for Humanity pro Criterium event. The second-year pro cyclist from Belgrade earned a gold medal, a $250 check and a titanium Festina watch valued at $400. But Percy Austin's got him beat. Austin got a new home on Sunday. Or at least the wooden frame. East Pasco Habitat for Humanity volunteers spent five hours assembling the skeleton of the Austin family's 1,100-square-foot home inside the Dade City race course. They erected the stud walls, nailed plywood to the sides and assembled the trusses on Pasco Avenue. Then they took it down that afternoon and transported the sections to the home's lot on nearby Lowell Harris Way. It'll be permanently erected this morning on the home's foundation, then finished. There are more than 2,500 families in east Pasco that live in substandard housing, according to Habitat for Humanity. Now one less family will have to do so after this weekend's two-day charity bike race. "It makes me feel good watching them put it up," said Austin, 50. The Dade Battle of Brilliance is no more. The annual race has been renamed the Race for Humanity in its seventh season under new sponsor East Pasco Habitat for Humanity, which has also given the event a new purpose. That's why downtown regulars were treated to the unusual sight of a home being built between the Historic Pasco County Courthouse and the abandoned Western Auto. "It's a symbol of what we do," said East Pasco Habitat for Humanity executive director John Finnerty, "and it's also there to draw attention to the plight of the folks living in our county who have to live in substandard housing." Organizers think they have reached their goal of raising $20,000. The old race was always a charity race, it just didn't have a charity. Which is what made it so difficult for sponsor Kiefer Village Jewels to stay out front, a for-profit business running an Olympic-style benefit race. So in December East Pasco Habitat for Humanity took over the name and race operations. It started for all levels and ages Saturday with the new road race in San Antonio and ended Sunday with the 0.6-mile Criterium races in downtown Dade City. According to race officials, 716 riders raced for more than $6,000 in prizes over the two-day event. That's more riders than any drawn to any Florida event last season, including the state championships. Not bad for a race that often struggled to attract funding, community support and competitors. "It's not an experiment anymore, it's a total success," said Kiefer Village Jewels owner David Hevia. It was an event not without controversy. Contact on the second turn of the last lap of Sunday's pro race resulted in one rider taking a spill and left some riders complaining afterward. A more serious accident Saturday left a rider hospitalized. According to race officials, a female rider fell out of the road race's safety escort. When that happens, a rider has to follow the rules of the road, but officials said the injured rider didn't. Race officials said she saw a police car on the race course and mistakenly thought traffic had been shut down. She ran a stop sign at the intersection of Ramsey and St. Joe roads, according to race officials, turning into the path of an oncoming pickup truck. She was struck, and flown to a Tampa hospital with chest injuries. The rider was doing well Saturday, race officials said. Sunday's race also heralded the return of San Antonio resident and former U.S. national team member Josh Thornton to competitive cycling. He placed third in the pro Criterium of his hometown race, officially ending the 27-year-old pro cyclist's "retirement." And to think he has been training again only for a few months. "I've been retired from competitive racing since 2001," he said. "I had a unique opportunity to get back into cycling. I'm in a different position in life; I'm more able to do more racing more comfortably."