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40 Years. Legends Every One. The Redlands Bicycle Classic Starts.
40 Years. Legends Every One. The Redlands Bicycle Classic Starts.
"Experience the power of GRATITUDE & COMMUNITY in our latest newsletter! 🌟"
Redlands Now
Apr 9, 2026
40 Years. Legends Every One. The Redlands Bicycle Classic Starts. |
Five days of world-class racing on our streets. Here's your complete guide to the biggest week in Redlands cycling history. |
From the Groves | ||
Why This Matters |
There’s a thing that happens in Redlands this time of year that I can’t fully explain to someone who hasn’t seen it. Professional cyclists from around the world show up at our local coffee shops.
And for a few minutes on a Saturday afternoon, Citrus Avenue looks like a scene out of the Tour de France. I’ve watched this race from the sidewalk.
I’ve watched it from my car.
And once, from the second-floor window of my office on Colton Avenue, I watched a pack of riders come through so fast it felt like the street itself was moving.
I moved to Redlands in 1979. I’ve seen this town grow into something real. And every April, the Bicycle Classic reminds me that the rest of the world knows it too.
The race starts today. Here’s your full guide to the week.
Enjoy the races, |
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🍊 GROVE STREET HEADLINES |
🍊 This Week
Grove Street Headlines
🏋 40th Annual
The Redlands Bicycle Classic Is Here — The 40th Edition Starts Today
This is the milestone year. Forty editions. Forty years of Redlands being the city where American cycling legends are born. The race runs Wednesday, April 8 through Sunday, April 12 — and every single day has something worth watching. Today, Thursday April 9: The Trek–Hangar 24 Circuit Race at Hangar 24 on Sessums Drive. Women go first at 9 AM, men at 11:15 AM. Free to watch from the sidelines. Friday, April 10: The Crafton Hills Circuit Race on Sand Canyon Road. Women at 8:20 AM, men at 10:40 AM. The climb sorts out who’s a contender and who’s just surviving. Saturday, April 11: The Legends’ Fondo starts at 8 AM from Citrus Avenue. The Vendor Village at 6th and Citrus opens at 8:30 AM with 150+ vendors, food trucks, breweries, live music, and a Kids Corner. Sunday, April 12: The grand finale criterium in downtown Redlands. Riders hitting 40 mph through a one-mile circuit in the heart of town. Note: Road closures Saturday and Sunday downtown. Plan ahead. Full race schedule at redlandsclassic.com →🎤 Arts
The Symphony Plays “Finding Tranquility” Saturday Night
Saturday, April 11, 7:30 PM at the University of Redlands Memorial Chapel. Guest conductor Damien Geter takes the podium for a program built around one idea: peace. The concert features Juan Pablo Contreras’ Angel Mestizo with guest harpist Justine Tiu, Britten’s Sinfonietta, and closes with Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite. In a week where downtown is full of fast bikes and loud crowds, the Symphony gives you a place to breathe. Tickets at redlandssymphony.com →🛠Community Hero
31 Years of Service: Redlands Fire Capt. Don Trujillo Hangs Up His Gear
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The Redlands Fire Deparment is recognized the retirement of Captain Don Trujillo after 31 years of service to this community. He showed up when people called 911 in the worstmoments of their lives — fires, accidents, medical emergencies — and he did it for three decades without flinching.
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🌳 AROUND THE GROVES |
🌳 Community
Around the Groves
🍽 Redlands Public Market Grand Opening Is This Month
The Redlands Public Market at 330 3rd St. — housed in a historic 1890 orange packing house — is approaching its official grand opening this April. More than 20 independently owned food and drink vendors: Cornerstone BBQ, Take Your Seat brunch, Nava Sausage Co., Nosy Neighbor Coffee & Donuts, and more. Plus a 7,000-square-foot outdoor plaza for live events. You’re already downtown for the Bicycle Classic this weekend — walk over and see it. 🌮 La Popular Is Coming to Redlands
The Mexico City-rooted restaurant known for elevated traditional dishes, house-made salsas and moles, and an agave-forward cocktail program is confirmed for 32 Al Harris Lane, right near the Redlands Public Market. I am really looking forward to this resteurant. I hvae always been a fan of Moles and its hard to find good moles. No opening date yet, but this is the kind of addition that puts Redlands on the regional dining map. Watch this space. 📚 Library Days Returns April 25 — Theme: “Find Your Joy”
A.K. Smiley Public Library hosts Library Days 2026 on Saturday, April 25, 10 AM to 2 PM in Smiley Park. Free In-N-Out truck. Free Lappert’s Ice Cream. Live music from the West Palm Avenue Band. Lawn games. Adoptable animals from the Redlands Animal Shelter. Put it on the calendar now. 🎶 Symphony Special Event: “Quartet for the End of Time” — April 19
A rare 360-degree performance of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time — written while he was held in a German POW camp during World War II. You sit on stage, encircling the musicians. Sunday, April 19, 3 PM at Memorial Chapel. This isn’t a concert. It’s an experience. Tickets at redlandssymphony.com. |
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📢 This Week’s Sponsor
The IRS Doesn’t Take Weeks Off. Neither Do We.
While everyone else is watching bike races this weekend, somewhere in Redlands someone just opened an IRS envelope and felt the bottom drop out of their stomach. That’s the call we get on Monday. Carlos Samaniego, EA — The Tax Debt Detective™ Sponsored by Tax Debt Consultants LLC • Want your business here? Reply to this email.
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🍊 Live Music Events & Entertainment |
🎵 This Weekend
Live Music in Redlands
Thursday, April 9
Three Stags Irish Pub — 328 Orange St. | 8 PM | The weekly Thursday anchor. Good pint, good stage. Friday, April 10
Three Stags — 328 Orange St. | 8 PM Hangar 24 — 1710 Sessums Dr. | 7 PM | Race week energy at the brewery that sponsors a Classic stage. Ritual Brewery — 1315 W. Park Ave. | Check Instagram for performer Saturday, April 11
Bicycle Classic Vendor Village — 6th & Citrus | Live music all day, 8:30 AM–7 PM | Free Redlands Symphony: Finding Tranquility — U of R Memorial Chapel | 7:30 PM | Geter conducting, Tiu on harp Three Stags — 8 PM | Arrive early on Bicycle Classic weekend Ritual Brewery — 7–9 PM Sunday, April 12
Bicycle Classic Criterium + Vendor Village — Downtown Redlands | 8:30 AM–5 PM | The grand finale. Hangar 24 — 1710 Sessums Dr. | Noon | Sunday brunch session Three Stags — 4 PM | Sunday tradition |
🎯 YOUR REDLANDS WEEKEND |
🎯 Plan It Out
Your Weekend Battle Plan
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Three Things Worth Knowing | ||
Quick Reads |
⚡ Three Things Worth Knowing
Quick Reads
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The Redlands Bicycle Classic Has Launched Olympic Careers
The 1984 Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles. The following year, local organizers created the Redlands Bicycle Classic as a proving ground for American talent. In the 40 years since, the race has hosted future Olympians, Tour de France riders, and national champions — before most of them were household names. That’s not a footnote. That’s a legacy. When you watch a rider come through downtown this weekend, you’re watching history that started right here. 2
The Frugal Frigate Is a Redlands Treasure Worth Protecting
9 N. 6th St., downtown Redlands. One of the best used bookstores in the Inland Empire. Packed floor to ceiling with books you didn’t know you needed. If you’re going to be downtown for the Bicycle Classic Vendor Village this weekend, walk half a block and spend twenty minutes inside. You will not leave empty-handed. 3
Escape Craft Brewery Is Hiding on Nevada Street and Deserves More Foot Traffic
Before Batter & Butter opened next door, most people drove past Nevada Street without stopping. Escape Craft Brewery has been quietly pouring excellent beer in a relaxed, no-frills space for years. Live music on weekends. Indoor and outdoor seating. The kind of place locals take for granted until it’s gone. Don’t take it for granted. |
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GRATITUDE & COMMUNITY |
✨ Gratitude & Community
I want to go back to Captain Don Trujillo for a moment.
I went into the Army straight out of high school. After that, I spent 11 years in EMS. Mercy Ambulance. Inland Empire streets. The kind of calls you don't talk about at dinner. I know what it costs to do that work, the hours, the weight, what it does to you over time. Eventually I moved on. New chapter, new career, new calling. Captain Trujillo? He stayed. Thirty-one years with the Redlands Fire Department. Same city. Same calling. Same answer every time the bell rang. I did 11 years and I know how hard that was. I cannot fully imagine. Showing up for the worst moments of strangers' lives, decade after decade, in this city. This week our streets are full of athletes and visitors and all the noise of a city celebrating itself. And that's wonderful. But while all of that was happening, a man who gave three decades to the people who live here quietly walked out the door for the last time. That deserves to be said out loud. And remembered. Thank you, Captain Trujillo. Some of us did the work and eventually moved on. You gave it everything, for a lifetime. Redlands is better because you stayed. See you around the groves. Carlos Samaniego, EA Publisher | RedlandsNow.com | Calling Redlands home since 1979
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Contact us at info@redlandsnow.com to learn about sponsorship opportunities and tell us about your upcoming events, or next nominee for Inland Legend! That's all for this week! Thanks for reading, and we'll see you around the groves. Stay connected, stay local, The RedlandsNow.com Team |