Log In


Reset Password
Sports Youth Sports Professional Sports More Sports College Sports High School Sports

Something to Squawk about

Around the course, expect some traffic delays and the like this weekend for the annual Squawker Classic road race.

On the course, expect nothing of the kind.

Some of the best collegiate cyclists in the country – a.k.a. the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference – will blaze a trail through Durango in what has typically been a hugely competitive weekend of racing as cyclists start gearing up for the USA Cycling Collegiate Road Nationals in North Carolina in May.

A USA cycling category for locals and non-collegiate competitors also is scheduled.

Action is slated to begin at 8 a.m. Saturday with the Morehart Murphy Team Time Trial. Four-person collegiate teams and individual racers will start at the intersection of River Road and County Road 213 (La Posta) at one-minute intervals, finishing 13 miles later on La Posta just before Highway 550. An individual time trail will be offered to citizen racers. Those races will finish at about 10 a.m.

Then, the Durango Performance Center Criterium, with a new on-campus venue for 2015, starts at 11:30 a.m. The flat .7-mile course starts in front of Pine Hall on Skyhawk Avenue, turns right onto Rim Drive then right onto Eighth Avenue, and onto Talon Drive next to the Community Concert Hall, with a final right turn back onto Skyhawk to the finish.

Competitors in five collegiate and four “citizen” categories will speed around the course for varying amounts of time based on experience and ability. Racing concludes at 6 p.m.

The Squawker finishes Sunday with the grueling Coca-Cola Road Race starting at 8 a.m. on Rim Drive in front of the Education Business Hall at FLC. Travelling clockwise on Rim Drive, the course turns left on North Rim Drive (County Road 239), passing Hillcrest Golf Club, then right on North College, through the roundabout, down Goeglein Gulch Road (County Road 238), right on East Eighth Avenue and back to Rim Drive, completing the tough 5-mile circuit. The number of laps will be based on category, ranging from three to nine.

Volunteers will be accepted. Contact Dave Hagen at hagen_d@fortlewis.edu to help.

For the time trial Saturday from 8-10 a.m., there may be short delays on County Road 213 to allow riders to start; motorists are asked to use caution if traveling in that direction.

For the criterium Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Skyhawk Avenue between Talon and Rim Drive and Eighth Avenue between Rim Drive and Talon will be closed to traffic in both directions. Rim Drive between Skyhawk and Eighth Avenue will have alternating traffic and minor delays can be expected, according to race organizers.

Also, for the road race Sunday, the following roads will be closed to vehicles from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.:

Southbound Goeglein Gulch between the Fort Lewis Drive roundabout and Eighth Avenue.

Eighth Avenue between College Drive and the Rim Drive traffic signal.

North Rim Drive (County Road 239) from North College to Hillcrest Golf Club (both directions, except resident access).

Rim Drive from the Education Business Hall parking area to Eighth Avenue.

Also during this time, the only way off the Mesa is via North College to Florida Road then up Goeglein Gulch. Also, drivers who use North College and Geoglein to access south Durango are asked to use Florida Road to avoid getting turned around at the roundabout.

For more information, contact Dave Hagen at hagen_d@fortlewis.edu.

heraldsports@durangoherald.com



Reader Comments