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Cycling

Midwest storm spoils USAT national competition

By JESSICA FISH
Published August 17, 2005

Dangerous thunderstorms forced USA Triathlon officials to cancel last Saturday's USAT Age-Group National Championships in Kansas City, Mo.

Some 1,250 athletes hoped to qualify for Team USA, which which will compete in ITU World Age-Group Championships on Oct. 9 in Honolulu, Hawaii. St. Petersburg's Dr. Don Ardell was among the returning U.S. champions who planned to use the Kansas City event as training for the defense of his title this season.

Ardell, 66, a fitness consultant and former Tampa mayoral candidate, is among the most successful Grandmaster triathletes. He has captured numerous national and world triathlon and duathlon titles. Ardell won the USAT National Duathlon Championships in Mason, Ohio, on June 12. Last week, before flying to Kansas City, he told his fellow St. Pete Mad Dog training partners that he was "ready to win the double this year." "We stood around at Smithville Lake outside KC in a drownpour waiting for the 6:50 a.m. start," Ardell wrote in his newsletter. "We were shivering in our Speedo and goggles, dodging lightning bolts. "Then the swim was canceled, and after that the race. They said, "Go home, everybody.' Easier said than done. People had parked in a huge field, row after row, and it was a quagmire." Other returning triathletes said on www.slowtwitch.com that the local farmers offered their tractors to pull out hundreds of rental cars stuck in the mud. "There were sparks in the clouds, and most people wouldn't want to be life-guarding in that," said Naples' Joe Bonness, who is an Ironman in the 65-69 division, the 2001 and '03 Great Floridian Triathlon winner and a bike course record-holder.

"After they made their decision to cancel, the parking lot was like a war zone," Bonness said. "A lot of time and money wasted. But that's just how it goes. Besides, nobody beat me."

There are 18 slots for each age class in the ITU World Championships. Some Florida athletes qualified at an event in Shreveport, La., including John Reback of North Palm Beach, Palm Harbor's Sharon Beltrandelrio, Tampa's Myrna Haag, St. Augustine's Susan Briers and Jacksonville's Dottie Dorion. NEW DIRECTOR: St. Anthony's Triathlon has named Philip Lahaye as the race director for the St. Petersburg event. Lahaye, of Palm Harbor, who has more than 18 years in the triathlon industry, replaces Steve Meckfessel, who left in June. Meckfessel, of Land O'Lakes, now works for World Triathlon Corporation. The next St. Anthony's Triathlon is scheduled for April 30, 2006. The competition is recognized among the world's premier multisport events for novice and professionals. Last year, online registrations closed in a record eight hours. Watch for entry information this fall on www.satriathlon.com

PUBLIX/COCA COLA TRIATHLON: Exclusive Sports Marketing Team members will play host to this weekend's multisport events at Fort DeSoto Park in St. Petersburg. Executive director Steve Tebon of Boca Raton has invited Ironman champions Dave Scott, Scott Molina and Scott Tinley to the triathlon, including the Clinic Of Champions on Friday at 8 a.m. Saturday is set for the competition - an open-water swim, a duathlon and kids sprint triathlon. There will be a 5 p.m. awards party at Columbia Restaurant at the St. Petersburg Pier. A 5K run and inline skating will take place 7 a.m. Sunday at the park. For information, contact carusone@exclusivesports.com

VACATIONS: St. Petersburg triathlete Enee Abelman and her daughter, Halle, spent a week in Winter Park, Colo., for the Womens Quest program. Activities at the Womens Quest, founded by retired world champion triathlete Colleen Cannon, include cycling, hiking, yoga and trail running in the Rocky Mountains. Abelman rode with Jacqueline Stanford, who raced in the first women's Tour de France in the mid 1980s.

Adventure racer Barbara Bennett of Largo surprised her husband, Lewis, with his 60th birthday gift: a week of following Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France, accompanied by busloads of fellow Team Trek Travel cyclists. "The Trek Travel trip was an opportunity of a lifetime," said Lewis Bennett, the Team In Training triathlon coach for Tampa Bay. "We rode a Category-3 climb, which was Stage 18, to the town of Mende. We took photos of the King Of The Mountain banner. Sunday, we rode the Champs Elysees as the crews were installing the barricades. Though there were 500,000 people, we had a perfect viewing location."

[Last modified August 17, 2005, 01:09:16]