July 31: Upcoming running/walking/bicycling/tri events

Upcoming events

Running/walking:

• Saturday, Aug. 12: 9th annual Cape 5K. Races begin and end at Jaycee Park at the end of Beach Parkway in Cape Coral alongside the Caloosahatchee River. Registration 6:00 a.m., race starts 7:00 a.m. Jaycee Park, Cape Coral (3dracinginc.com) 
• Saturday, Aug. 26: North Collier Regional Rampage 5K, Collier County (eliteevents.org)
• Monday, Sept. 4: Labor Day 5K, Lowdermilk Park, Naples (gcrunners.org)
• Saturday, Sept. 16: Lee County Medical Society Foundation Fun Run 5K, Lakes Regional Park, Fort Myers (3dracinginc.com) 
• Saturday, Sept. 30: Walk Like MADD & 5K Dash, JetBlue Park, Fort Myers (active.com)
• For more running events visit gcrunner.org/calendar.html; ftmyerstrackclub.com/race-calendar; and 3dracinginc.com/.

Cycling:

• Saturday, August 5: SWFL Critical Mass ride and 4th year Anniversary Party. The August ride for the main SWFL CM ride will take place on Saturday August 5th instead of Friday the 4th.  Come and celebrate the SWFL Critical Mass 4 year anniversary!  Starts at 5 p.m., fun, eats, games and fun til 7:45, then we ride; and have more fun. Its a Pirate theme, so if you want to have fun with that, then get your character on! 5 p.m., Centennial Park, Fort Myers. (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL/events/241614306/ and (www.SWFLcriticalmass.com).
• Friday, Aug. 11: NE-Lee Critical Mass ride, gathers at 7:30 p.m. at the Winn-Dixie, 14600 Palm Beach Blvd. Lights required, helmets recommended. (meetup.com)
• Saturday, Aug. 12: Sanibel Critical Mass ride, gathers at 7:30 p.m. at Jerry’s Shopping Center, 1700 Periwinkle Way, on Sanibel. Lights required, helmets recommended. (meetup.com)
• Friday, Aug. 25: Cape Coral Critical Mass ride. Gather at 7:30 p.m. at 4706 SE 11th Place for a family-friendly ride through the Cape. Lights required, helmets recommended. (meetup.com)
• Saturday, Aug. 26: Saturday Slow Roll 9 a.m. meet-up at 2160 McGregor Blvd. Recommended for inexperienced/young riders. Distance is 6 miles, includes group ride instruction. (meetup.com)
• Ongoing: Join the Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club on one of their many weekly rides for members and potential members, with an array of paces and routes to choose from. Check them out online at www.caloosariders.org.
• For more Lee County cycling and tri events, visit Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club (caloosariders.org); Florida Mudcutters (mudcutters.org); and SW Florida Biking Meetup Group (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL). 
 

Triathlons:

• Saturday, Aug. 5: Tri Sarasota, sprint and international distances. This summer Sprint and International triathlon, duathlon and aquabike will take athletes on a fresh water swim.  The lake swim will be a fast one with little to no current. The bike course will go through Nathan Benderson Park and out into the lovely city of Sarasota. After completing the bike portion, runners will hit the park with a flat course. This is a summer event, so while the course may be flat, it will have its temperature challenges. Nathan Benderson Park, Sarasota (http://www.multirace.com/events/132#sthash.ETAwMmzd.dpuf).
• Sunday, Aug. 6: Tri at Siesta Key, sprint and super-sprint distances. Competitive Sprint triathlon. USAT Sanctioned. 6" finisher medals! Super Sprint Triathlon is not USAT sanctioned, so no extra fee. There are Age Group Awards and Hawaiian Lei for all athletes. Duathlon, Aquabike and Team entry options for the Sprint triathlon. Siesta Key Beach (http://www.trifind.com/re_379876/ATriathlonatSiestaKeyBeach.html).
  
• Saturday, Aug. 12: Naples Junior Triathlon. Ages 5-10 and 11-13, North Collier Regional Park (naplesjuniortriathlon.com)
• Saturday, Sept. 2: Venice YMCA Tri, sprint distance, Sharkey’s on the Pier, Venice (trifind.com).
• Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 9-10: Galloway Captiva Tri. Kids’ events Saturday, three age groups and varying distances. Adult sprint Sunday (www.captivatri.org).
• Saturday, Sept. 30: Siesta Key Triathlon, sprint distance, Siesta Key Public Beach (trifind.com)
• Check trifind.com to find more regional and state tris.

July 24: Upcoming running/walking/bicycling/tri events

Upcoming events

Running/walking:

• Saturday, July 29: Eagle Lakes 5K. The second event in the Elite Events Summer 5k Series takes place at Eagle Lakes Community Park. Runners will race on closed paths throughout the park. Post race festivities include the latest popular music, refreshments, and a variety of snacks. Start 7 a.m., Eagle Lakes Community Park, Naples (eliteevents.org)
• Saturday, Aug. 12: 9th annual Cape 5K, Jaycee Park, Cape Coral (3dracinginc.com) 
• Saturday, Aug. 26: North Collier Regional Rampage 5K, Collier County (eliteevents.org)
• Monday, Sept. 4: Labor Day 5K, Lowdermilk Park, Naples (gcrunners.org)
• Saturday, Sept. 16: Lee County Medical Society Foundation Fun Run 5K, Lakes Regional Park, Fort Myers (3dracinginc.com) 
• Saturday, Sept. 30: Walk Like MADD & 5K Dash, JetBlue Park, Fort Myers (active.com)
• For more running events visit gcrunner.org/calendar.html; ftmyerstrackclub.com/race-calendar; and 3dracinginc.com/.

Cycling:

• Friday, July 28: Cape Coral Critical Mass ride. Gather at 7:30 p.m. at 4706 SE 11th Place for a family-friendly ride through the Cape. Lights required, helmets recommended. (www.meetup.com/Biking-SWFL/events/)
• Saturday, July 29: Saturday Slow Roll. 9 a.m. meet-up at 2160 McGregor Blvd. Recommended for inexperienced/young riders. Distance is 6 miles, includes group ride instruction. (www.meetup.com/Biking-SWFL/events/)
• Saturday, August 5: SWFL Critical Mass ride and 4th year Anniversary Party. The August ride for the main SWFL CM ride will take place on Saturday August 5th instead of Friday the 4th.  Come and celebrate the SWFL Critical Mass 4 year anniversary!  Starts at 5 p.m., fun, eats, games and fun til 7:45, then we ride; and have more fun. Its a Pirate theme, so if you want to have fun with that, then get your character on! 5 p.m., Centennial Park, Fort Myers. (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL/events/241614306/ and (www.SWFLcriticalmass.com).
• Friday, Aug. 11: NE-Lee Critical Mass ride, gathers at 7:30 p.m. at the Winn-Dixie, 14600 Palm Beach Blvd. Lights required, helmets recommended. (meetup.com)
• Saturday, Aug. 12: Sanibel Critical Mass ride, gathers at 7:30 p.m. at Jerry’s Shopping Center, 1700 Periwinkle Way, on Sanibel. Lights required, helmets recommended. (meetup.com)
• Friday, Aug. 25: Cape Coral Critical Mass ride. Gather at 7:30 p.m. at 4706 SE 11th Place for a family-friendly ride through the Cape. Lights required, helmets recommended. (meetup.com)
• Saturday, Aug. 26: Saturday Slow Roll 9 a.m. meet-up at 2160 McGregor Blvd. Recommended for inexperienced/young riders. Distance is 6 miles, includes group ride instruction. (meetup.com)
• Ongoing: Join the Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club on one of their many weekly rides for members and potential members, with an array of paces and routes to choose from. Check them out online at www.caloosariders.org.
• For more Lee County cycling and tri events, visit Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club (caloosariders.org); Florida Mudcutters (mudcutters.org); and SW Florida Biking Meetup Group (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL). 
 

Triathlons:

• Saturday, Aug. 5: Tri Sarasota, sprint and international distances. This summer Sprint and International triathlon, duathlon and aquabike will take athletes on a fresh water swim.  The lake swim will be a fast one with little to no current. The bike course will go through Nathan Benderson Park and out into the lovely city of Sarasota. After completing the bike portion, runners will hit the park with a flat course. This is a summer event, so while the course may be flat, it will have its temperature challenges. Nathan Benderson Park, Sarasota (http://www.multirace.com/events/132#sthash.ETAwMmzd.dpuf).
• Sunday, Aug. 6: Tri at Siesta Key, sprint and super-sprint distances. Competitive Sprint triathlon. USAT Sanctioned. 6" finisher medals! Super Sprint Triathlon is not USAT sanctioned, so no extra fee. There are Age Group Awards and Hawaiian Lei for all athletes. Duathlon, Aquabike and Team entry options for the Sprint triathlon. Siesta Key Beach (http://www.trifind.com/re_379876/ATriathlonatSiestaKeyBeach.html).
  
• Saturday, Aug. 12: Naples Junior Triathlon. Ages 5-10 and 11-13, North Collier Regional Park (naplesjuniortriathlon.com)
• Saturday, Sept. 2: Venice YMCA Tri, sprint distance, Sharkey’s on the Pier, Venice (trifind.com).
• Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 9-10: Galloway Captiva Tri. Kids’ events Saturday, three age groups and varying distances. Adult sprint Sunday (www.captivatri.org).
• Saturday, Sept. 30: Siesta Key Triathlon, sprint distance, Siesta Key Public Beach (trifind.com)
• Check trifind.com to find more regional and state tris.

It’s still steamy, but enjoy biking, running competitions

Florida Weekly 'Outdoors' column, 7/19/17
danMOSER
bikepedmoser@gmail.com

Southwest Florida offers many opportunities to participate, train and compete in bike events, road and trail races and triathlons (although you’ll have to travel to compete in an Ironman qualifier).

The Caloosa Riders (caloosariders.org) lead rides every day except Mondays and Fridays. Area bike shops also facilitate rides. Dates and times change with the season but those confirmed at press time included Trek Bicycle Stores (trekbikestoreusa.com) in Fort Myers and Estero; Fort Myers Schwinn (schwinncyclery.com) in Old Fort Myers; Coastline Cyclery (coastlinecyclery.com) in southeast Fort Myers; Bike Bistro (thebikebistro.com) in the Iona area; EA Bicycles (eabicycles.com/) also in the Iona area (they organize mountain bike rides locally and out of town); JRA Bikes (find on Facebook) in North Fort Myers; and Paradise/Go Girl Cycling (gogirlcycling.com) in Fort Myers.

The Captiva Tri grows each year in popularity
as a local competition.

To take a first step into triathlons or to continue training, a local tri that’s upcoming is the Galloway Captiva Triathlon (captivatri.org), a two-day event that includes three different kids’ distances on Saturday, Sept. 9, and the adult sprint distance (1/4-mile swim, 10-mile bike ride and 5K run) on Sunday, Sept. 10. To get ready for that event there are a number of organized group rides taking place regularly throughout the area as well as group runs and 5K races happening between now and early September. Visit swimflorida.com for swim training opportunities.

The Captiva Tri grows each year in popularity as a local competition. The Captiva Tri grows each year in popularity as a local competition. Even in summer running remains popular, although the distance running race season doesn’t get into high gear until the fall. But a few 5K races and summer fun runs (usually 2-milers) are happening, as are group runs. The final Fort Myers Track Club Summer 2-Mile Fun Run Series happens on Tuesday evening, July 26, from Run Florida (McGregor Boulevard, Fort Myers) and 3D Racing’s Cape 5K takes place on Saturday,

Aug. 12, Jaycee Park, Cape Coral (3dracinginc.com).

One not to be missed comes next: Fort Myers Track Club’s annual Membership Run 5K on Saturday, Aug. 19. Instead of trophies each participant receives a one-year membership to FMTC and a club singlet shirt for registering. It takes place in and around Century Link Sports Complex (Twins & Miracle stadium) and also includes tickets to a Miracle game. Go to ftmyerstrackclub.com for all the details and to register. Also, check bikewalklee.blogspot.com for a more comprehensive listing of running, walking, biking, and tri events that are happening in and around Southwest Florida.

For more Lee County cycling and tri events visit Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club (caloosariders.org); Florida Mudc utters (mudcutters.org); and SW Florida Biking Meetup Group (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL) The Florida Bicycle Association (floridabicycle.org) is your source for statewide happenings. BikeWalkLee’s blog site bikewalklee.blogspot.com has information to stay abreast of advocacy efforts in Southwest Florida as well as statewide and nationally. ¦

- Dan Moser is a long-time bicycle/pedestrian advocate and traffic safety professional who cycles, runs and walks regularly for transportation, recreation and fitness. Contact him at bikepedmoser@gmail.com and 334-6417.