Senior Cyclists Hit the Course in Long Beach for Pasadena-Run Games

Cyclists age 50 and older will race a 10K time trial and a 20K road race Wednesday at El Dorado East Regional Park in Long Beach, in an annual competition produced by the Pasadena Senior Center.

The races, part of the 2026 Pasadena Senior Games, are open to riders 50 and older, with no qualification required. Medals will be awarded in five-year age categories from 50-54 through 90-plus for both men and women. Race organizers SoCalCycling.com and the Pasadena Senior Center describe road-cycling events for senior athletes as rare nationally.

The cycling competition is one of six California state qualifying events at the 2026 Pasadena Senior Games for the National Senior Games, which take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2027, according to the Pasadena Weekly. The other qualifying sports are 5K/10K run road race, swimming, archery, table tennis, and track and field.

Timing and officiating will be handled by SoCal Cyclocross, headed by Dorothy Wong, according to a release published by SoCalCycling.com. The course is closed and runs away from street traffic, the organizers said.

The Pasadena Senior Games is now in its 33rd year. It was founded in 1993 by Cynthia Rosedale, longtime director of events for the Pasadena Senior Center. The Games run from April through July each year, with more than 1,000 athletes participating across all sports.

“We have just made it our mission to engage, enrich and empower older adults, and this annual event is really one of the cornerstones of that mission,” Charmaine Nelson, the Pasadena Senior Center’s director of marketing and communications, said earlier this year.

The Pasadena Senior Center says it is the only senior center in the country that hosts an event of this type.

“To be the organization that brought it to Southern California over 30 years ago in the first place also makes us feel like we have a really special legacy, having 80-year-old pole vaulters and blind swimmers, people who are that dedicated to their sport, knowing that they’re going to be supported and acknowledged with the official results and times that we publish every year,” Nelson said.

The Pasadena Senior Center, headquartered at 85 E. Holly Street in Pasadena, is a private, nonprofit community organization that hosts the Games as part of its programming for older adults.

Event details

Registration is $45 plus $20 per event. Online registration closed June 13; race-day registration will be available. The venue is El Dorado East Regional Park, 7550 East Spring St., Long Beach. The event listing provided to the newsroom indicates a 9 a.m. start. For information, contact the Pasadena Senior Games at 626-685-6755 or Charmaine Nelson at 626-344-4325. More information is available at pasadenaseniorcenter.org/activities-events/senior-games.