Race Across America?

Most of us consider 30-40 miles to be a nice long bike ride. Not so for cyclist Dex Tooke of Del Rio – he’s planning to ride across America, west coast to east coast, solo and with very little rest time. Now, Dex isn’t your average cyclist. For starters, he’s 60 and thus considered to be a senior citizen by cycling standards. But more importantly, he’s an accomplished ultra endurance athlete with an impressive resume of long distance events.

He’s completed 24 hour running events during which he runs over 100 miles, a solo 600 mile “workout” on the bike, and has ridden cross country from Del Rio to El Paso. During 2009, his total cycling mileage was over 20,000 miles, with 57 rides over 100 miles in length. Most of us don’t drive 20,000 miles per year in a car, much less ride a bicycle that far.

The event that he’s training for is Race Across America (RAAM). It starts on June 9th and is a non-stop transcontinental bicycle race of over 3000 miles starting in Oceanside, California, and ending in Annapolis, Maryland. Competitors in the solo division of RAAM will finish (if they finish) in 9-12 days covering 250-350 miles per day (read more).

The local duathlon season is just around the corner, with the Striders event scheduled for April 18 and the Spillway Hill Off-Road on May 2nd. Striders is a road event and will have two distances: 5K/40K/5K or 8K/74K/8k. The short course event is the 2010 Texas Short Course Duathlon Championships. The start/finish for Striders is near the front restroom in Middle Concho Park.   The Spillway event has traditionally been a 2.5 mile trail run, 10 mile mountain bike, and a final run in Middle Concho Park that follows the same route as run #1. Information regarding this year’s event has not been released, so the location, course distances, and start times are still TBA.

A cyclist was killed this past week while riding his bike on Knickerbocker Blvd. a few blocks north of Loop 306. This tragedy is a sad reminder that we all need to bike defensibly while riding, especially on roads with heavy traffic. Wear your helmet, use a flashing rear light after sunset, and think about using a route that stays off of main roads. Our condolences go out to his family.

The Trail Running Series concluded on February 20th with the 15K event in San Angelo State Park. Race #3 results and the Overall results are posted on the Road Lizards web site at http://www.roadlizards.org// (click on the Race Results tab on the upper menu bar).


Equipment for Sale

Giant OCR Limited: A beautful carbon fiber road bike, almost new, size should fit anyone between 5’2” and 5’8”, full carbon frame and fork, 10 speed Ultegra, triple crank, includes a set of carbon aero bars. Price $900, retailed for over twice that much. Contact Dean McKenzie at dpmck@juno.com, or (325) 896-2083.

Cannondale R1000: 53 cm compact geometry road bike, Ultegra components, Mavic Open pro wheels, double 53/39 crank set, should fit anyone who is around 5”7”. Price $400, contact Dean McKenzie at dpmck@juno.com, or (325) 896-2083.









Upcoming Events

March 6: Green River Run 5K and 1-mile run/walk, www.roadlizards.org/Upcoming%20Races/Green_River_Run_2010.pdf

April 10-11: Fort Davis Hammerfest cycling stage race, www.txbra.org/db/events/2010FortDavis.pdf

April 18: Striders Duathlon, Middle Concho Park, San Angelo, www.ironheadrp.com/striders/index.html

May 2:  Spillway Off Road Duathlon, details TBA