After watching all 200+ competitors swim the 1,500 meter open water course during last week’s Wool Capitol Triathlon, I may ju
st have to take swimming lessons. Of course, I could just talk my youngest grand daughter Stephanie into teaching me – she competed in the Colorado Summer Club state swim meet last week and won the 200 meter Freestyle for her age group. As with most competitive swimmers, she routinely does workouts that involve longer distances than those of most sprint and Olympic distance triathlons.Have you ever thought about what type of background the cyclists, runners, and multisports folks that you ride and run with have? I started thinking about this last week after I interviewed the Overall Female winner of the 2009 Wool Capitol triathlon (Natasha Van Der Merwe). She was a professional tennis player until a year ago, when she decided to give triathlon a try.
Unlike some other countries, we don’t really have a wide spread club system here in the US where we identify and “grow” talented kids into top level cyclists or triathletes. Instead, the majority of our young athletes participate in public school and collegiate sports such as basketball, football, track, soccer, swimming, and volleyball, and then some of them take up endurance sports later in life. Makes you wonder how good some of these people would be if they had been introduced to competitive cycling or multisport at a young age …
Natasha Van Der Merwe and Brady O’Bryan topped a large field of over 200 triathletes to win the Wool Capitol event and earn USAT Regional Champion titles for 2009. The championship event, directed by Ironhead Race Productions, took on Sunday, August 9th and attracted competitors from multiple states. The race course was Olympic distance, consisting of a 1,500 meter open water swim, 40 kilometer bike, and a 10K run.
Masters (40+) and Grandmasters titles were also awarded during the event. Sharon Sander of San Antonio was crowned the Female Masters Champion, with Roger Whacker of Houston winning the Men’s Masters title. Ann Wacker (Houston) and David Sing (Austin) topped the respective Grand Masters fields.
Awards were also
handed out to winners in age group and team relay categories. San Angelo athletes who placed in their age groups included Ashley Gay, 2nd Female 25-29, Ruthie Kreuzer, 3rd Female 25-29, Tamra Deckers, 2nd Female 30-34, Kevin Hawkins, 1st Male Clydsdale 20-24, and Shane Plymel, 2nd Male 40-44. In the team division, the trio of Nick Mathers, John Gilliland, and Ben Passons took overall honors with a time of 2 hrs 24 min 56 sec. Full age group results are posted at www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=3410.
handed out to winners in age group and team relay categories. San Angelo athletes who placed in their age groups included Ashley Gay, 2nd Female 25-29, Ruthie Kreuzer, 3rd Female 25-29, Tamra Deckers, 2nd Female 30-34, Kevin Hawkins, 1st Male Clydsdale 20-24, and Shane Plymel, 2nd Male 40-44. In the team division, the trio of Nick Mathers, John Gilliland, and Ben Passons took overall honors with a time of 2 hrs 24 min 56 sec. Full age group results are posted at www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=3410.
My wife, who is German, asked me recently if a German had ever won the Tour de France. After doing some research, I discovered that a German team completely dominated the 1940 TDF event. The picture on the right tells the story ...
Ever wanted to browse a foreign bike catalog to see what the folks in Europe ride and wear? If so, check out this link: http://www.rose.de/. Rose is a German company that has a catalog the size of a phone book.
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 12: Comanche Warrior Triathlon, Big Spring, http://www.comanchewarriortriathlon.com/
September 19: Home Run for Humanity 5K, http://www.roadlizards.org/Upcoming%20Races/Habitat.2009.pdf
September 19-20: Fort Davis Cyclefest, http://www.pbbatx.com/Documents/2009%20Tour%20Flyer.pdf
October 3: Shannon Pink Ribbon Run, 10K/5K, http://www.roadlizards.org/Upcoming%20Races/Shannon.pdf
October 10-11: Texas Road Cycling Championships, Copperas Cove, http://www.txbra.org/db/events/2009FortHoodClassicV4.pdf
October 18: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Concho Bike (San Angelo), http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887
November 1: West Texas Series mountain bike race, Abilene, http://www.wtcycling.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=2887
Dec. 10-13: Cyclocross National Championships, Bend, OR, http://www.visitbend.com/Bend_Oregon_Activities_Recreation/National-Championships/Cyclo-cross/default.aspx
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