Area Athletes Target Upcoming Events

The hot mid-summer weather isn't slowing down area residents as they train through the heat to prepare for upcoming events that will take place between now and early fall. Those events include the new San Angelo Triathlon, the Hotter'N Hell Hundred cycling tour, and the 2014-2015 cyclocross race season that will kick off in October.

San Angelo Triathlon
Regional triathletes are putting the final polish on their swim, bike, and run fitness as they prepare to race  the new San Angelo Triathlon on August 10 in San Angelo's Spring Creek Park. This new event replaces the Wool Capitol Triathlon which was a mainstay on the Texas triathlon circuit for many years. The triathlon will include both the classic Olympic distance event (1,500 meter swim, 40K bike, 10K run) and a shorter sprint distance race with a 500 meter swim, 20K bike and a final 5K run. Race categories will include both individual age group and team relays in both the Olympic and sprint distance events.

The San Angelo Triathlon will also take place in a new venue at the marina in Spring Creek Park. The swim course will be in Lake Nasworthy near the marina with the bike leg being an out-and-back through the park to Spillway Road, then over the equalization channel onto Knickerbocker Road to the turn-around point. Racers will finish off the triathlon by completing a final run that goes from the marina through Spring Creek Park to the turn point, back around the point on Camper Road and then to the finish line near the marina. Full information on the San Angelo Triathlon and a registration link is posted on-line at www.permianbasinevents.com/san-angelo-tri.html.

Hotter'N Hell Hundred

Many area cyclists will be headed north to Wichita Falls on August 22-24 for the 33rd annual Hotter’N Hell Hundred cycling event.  Although the capstone event of this three-day festival is the 100 mile cycling tour, the 12,000 or more cyclists who participate in the event will also be able to take part in road races sanctioned by USA Cycling, race their mountain bikes on the WeeChiTah Trail, run a 10K or half marathon trail race, or test themselves in the Triple Threat competition by completing the mountain bike race, the 100 mile bike tour, and the half marathon trail run. San Angelo's Marlon Miller will one of the individuals taking on the Triple Threat challenge so let's cheer him on. Visit http://www.hh100.org for full information on the Hotter’N Hell Hundred.

Cyclocross University

Although the cyclocross season in Texas doesn't start until October, a group of area cyclists will start building their race fitness and honing cyclocross skills during the weekly 6:30 pm Wednesday evening cyclocross workouts that begin on August 6 in San Angelo's Middle Concho Park. These facilitated workouts, jokingly referred to as 'Cyclocross University', are open to anyone who wants to learn or improve their off-road cycling skills and learn about cyclocross events. All ability levels are welcome from beginners to experienced cyclists, and each participant will need a mountain or cyclocross bike, helmet, and either mountain bike shoes or flat pedals with running shoes.

If you are not familiar with cyclocross (CX), it is a form of off-road bicycle racing where riders complete multiple laps of a short 1-2 mile course for 30-60 minutes per race.  Each lap of a race will include one or more 'dismount-and run-with-your-bike' obstacles and the courses may include dirt, grass, pavement, sand, mud, and even snow/ice since the race season starts in the fall and goes through the winter. The local CX race series and the state-wide Texas Cup series will both start in October, and the 2015 National Championships will take place in Austin in January of 2015. For more information on the Wednesday evening cyclocross workouts visit San Angelo Cyclocross on Facebook or email bcullins@suddenlink.net.

Remember - the hot summer weather isn't slowing down area athletes.




Upcoming Events

Aug 2: Southland Shuffle, roadlizards.org
Aug 6: Cyclocross group workouts, 6:30 pm, Middle Concho Park
Aug 7: Road bike time trial, angelobike.org
Aug 10: San Angelo Olympic and sprint distance triathlon, permianbasinevents.com/our-events.html
Aug 13: Run to Remember, roadlizards.org
Aug 21: Mountain bike time trial, angelobike.org
Aug 22-24: Hotter'N Hell Hundred, hh100.org
Sept 13: Run to Remember, roadlizards.org
Sept 27: Mason Lions Club 5/10K Run,
masontxcoc.com