September Wraps up AZ 2009 Road-Race Schedule

The final four races of the 2009 road-racing season take place on the next four Sundays. Two of the races are flat time trials, and two are hill climbs.

This Sunday, September 6, the third and final race in the Picacho Time Trial series takes place. Registration opens at 5:30 a.m. at Picacho, near exit 219 of I-10 south of Casa Grande. The first rider starts at 7 a.m. Tucson residents can pre-register the night before the race at Lerua's Mexican Restaurant, 2005 E. Broadway Boulevard in Tucson. The rest of us need to register at the race site no later than 6:30 a.m. There are 20- and 40-kilometer versions of the race. The race course is out and back on the freeway frontage road. Registration is only two bucks for juniors and a moderate $15 for the rest of us. To access the race series Web page, click here.

The following Sunday, September 13, the Arizona Individual Time Trial Championship races will be held on the same course as the Picacho series. Riders must register online no later than September 10 at BikeReg.com, which can be accessed by clicking here. The cost is $10 for juniors and $30 for the rest of us. Juniors, women 55 years of age and older, and men 65 years of age and older will race 20 kilometers. Other classes will race 40 kilometers. Winners of each category will receive an Arizona State Champion jersey. To access the race's Website, click here.

The annual Kitt Peak hill climb takes place on Sunday, September 20. The race is held in the form of a time trial with riders departing at 30-second intervals. The course is 11.6 miles with an elevation gain of roughly 3400 feet. Registrations is $2 for juniors and $15 for others from 6 to 7 a.m. at the race site. Preregistration will take place the evening before the race at Lerua's Mexican Restaurant in Tucson. The first rider starts at 7:30. To access the race Website, click here.

Finally, the Arizona Hill Climb Championship race will be held up Mount Graham on Sunday 27. This is a mass start race, meaning that all riders in all categories start together. The race distance is 10 or 20 miles depending on the racer's category. The winner of each category will receive an Arizona State Hill Climb Championship jersey. Registration can be mailed in, done online, or taken care of in person at the race site. Registration is $10 for juniors and $40 for others with a $5 late fee after September 13. To access the race Website, click here.

Upcoming Tourist Rides in Arizona

The Wilcox Magic Circle Ride takes place on September 5 in Wilcox. There are 33-mile and 66-mile ride options. Both options are out-and-back rides with different turn-around points. The ride costs $25. For more information on the ride, click here.

Beginning on September 13, GABA will begin a series of Sunday training rides in Tucson to prepare its members for the Tour de Tucson. Rides will start from two locations, Udall Park on Tanque Verde for the East Side riders and from Arthur Pack Regional Park for the Westside people. There will be long, short, and novice versions of the ride to help cyclists train for the 65, 80, and 109-mile versions of the Tour. For more information, click here.

GABA Tucson will present its annual Blue Loop Tour this weekend. This is a great rural route with sections where hours can go by without a car passing. The three-day ride starts on Saturday September 3 in Clifton and features lots and lots of climbing. The first day's ride is only 62 miles, but it includes 4800 feet of elevation gain. Prepaid riders will be fed at the end of the ride. The second day is 58 miles with 5346 feet of climbing. Breakfast will be served buffet style five miles into the ride. The final day is Alpine to Clifton.  The cost of the ride is $105 with an unspecified discount for GABA, PMBC, and ABC members. (PMBC and ABC members must mail in an application to receive the discount; GABA members can receive the discount online.) For more information, click here.    

Pro Racing on TV & the Web

The Vuelta ciclista a España is underway through September 20. Universalsports.com is streaming live video and audio coverage of each stage over the Internet and also archives the Webcasts for later viewing. Anyone with an international Spanish-language programming package that includes TV Española Internacional (TVEI) can watch the final two hours of each stage on TV, with Spanish commentary, of course. The broadcast generally runs from 7 to 9 a.m. Arizona time, but longer broadcasts of planned of some stages. Today is a rest day, as the race is transported from Belgium to Spain. Hopefully that will give the riders time to recover from yesterday's massive, high-speed crash that took down about half the peloton just short of three kilometers from the finish line.