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Americans' high-tech bike highlights start of track program

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The first time Chloe Dygert stepped aboard the track bike she will be using along with her women's pursuit teammates, she completely missed what caught everybody else's attention.

The drive train is on the left side.

Yes, just about every bike you've ever seen has the crank on the right, from the high-tech bikes in the Olympic road race to the inexpensive bikes in sporting-goods stores to the itsy-bitsy bikes with training wheels for toddlers just learning to ride.

"Then it hit me," Dygert said, "like, 'Oh, yeah! That's different.'"

USA Cycling, bike manufacturer Felt and several component partners spent more than two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars — if not millions — to build the cutting-edge track bike.