RECLISTINGS events & classes DISABLED VETERANS WHEELCHAIR TENNIS CLINIC—Ten-time U.S. Open winner Randy Snow, the most accomplished wheelchair athlete in history, teaches participants the fundamentals of wheelchair tennis and gives a motivational presentation. The fee includes lunch, a T-shirt and free entry for the Paul Bruce Summer Classic Tennis Tournament. For more information, contact Greg Proctor, 208-870-6887 or e-mail info@idahowheelchairtennis.com. Wednesday, July 15, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., $25. Boise Racquet and Swim Club, 1116 N. Cole Road, Boise, 208-376-1052, www. boisetennis.com/content. IDAHO DIABETES YOUTH PROGRAMS TEAM TYPE 1 BIKE RIDE—Team Type 1 co-founder Phil Southerland is riding with local children during a fund-raiser bike ride. Wednesday, July 15, 6:30-8 p.m., FREE. Municipal Park, 500 S. Walnut St., Boise. INTERMOUNTAIN ORTHOPAEDICS IDAHO STATE CRITERIUM CHAMPIONSHIP—The
course is a flat, smooth 1K with eight corners that starts and finishes at Hidden Springs Community Village Green. Register by July 17 on www. new.sportsbaseonline.com or 30 minutes before the first race on the day of the event. Sunday, July 19, 9 a.m. $37.50/$17.50 before July 17; day of race $45/$20, www.lostrivercycling.org. Dry Creek Merchantile, 5892 W. Hidden Springs Road, Boise, 208-229-2001. NORDIC SKI RACING—Youth ages 13-19 are invited to train with the Bogus Basin Nordic Ski team. For more information, call Kevin Donohoe at 208-389-9553 or e-mail kgdonohoe@cableone.net. Wednesday, July 15, 7:30-9:30 a.m., FREE, bogusbasinnordicteam.com. PASTOR’S CHALLENGE 2009—The Pastor’s Challenge is a friendly race between local celebrities and pastors in modified wheel chairs. Participants who register for the event sponsored by Shu’s Idaho Running Company receive a $25 gift certificate to Shu’s, a free Wheel Chair Mission T-shirt and the winners in both
the men’s and women’s divisions are awarded with a pair of shoes from Shu’s. To sign up, call Chris Kulchak at 208-362-0084 or e-mail ckulchak@hotmail.com. Saturday, July 18, 10 a.m., 17th and State streets in the parking lot of The Marketplace. PAUL BRUCE SUMMER CLASSIC TENNIS TOURNAMENT—The tournament hosted by The Idaho Wheelchair Tennis Association is at Boise State. The USTA-sanctioned tennis tournament is for able-bodied and wheelchair tennis players at levels 2.5 through open. Online tournament registration is available at www.usta.com/ tournaments; paper entries may be mailed with payment to IWTA, P.O. Box 50513, Boise, ID 83705. Participants may enter two events but no two of the same. For more information, contact Tim Woods, tournament director at 208-602-4497. Friday, July 17, 6-10 p.m., and July 18-19, 8 a.m.-9 p.m., singles event fee $30/person, doubles and mixed doubles fee $24/ person, www.idahowheelchairtennis.com. Appleton Tennis Center, Boise State campus, Boise.
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BY DEANNA DARR
TWILIGHT TIME It’s time to put all the animosity between bicyclists and drivers aside and celebrate one of the best occasions for cars to hand over the road to their two-wheeled friends: the Twilight Criterium. Each summer, packs of some of the best Lycra-clad road racers from around the world descend on the City of Trees for one of the area’s signature events. Fans jam the sidewalks just to watch the competitors whiz by at break-neck speeds, turning corners at angles that make us non-racers a little queasy just watching. Best of all, this is Boise’s event. Not some transplant from elsewhere. It started back in 1987 as a way to get more people interested in the sport of road biking—and, of course, to bring more people to downtown Boise. Back then, downtown wasn’t what it is now. In the mid-1980s, downtown Boise was a ghost town after 5 p.m. There was simply no reason to stay after work. But the criterium, although small at first, gave people a reason to stand in the sometimes-sweltering heat of a July day in Boise. Now, more than 100 world-class cyclists will come to ride around in a circle in pursuit of the event’s $20,000 purse in what has become one of the most well-regarded criteriums in the country. Organizers expect that more than 20,000 fans will line the route on Saturday, July 18. For its 23rd year, the Twilight Criterium will host riders from top-ranked cycling teams, including Bissell Pro Cycling, Colavita-Sutter Home Presented by Cooking Light and Team Type 1. The course begins and ends in front of the Wells Fargo building on the corner of Ninth and Main streets, and riders will cruise south on Ninth Street, west on Grove, north on 10th Street and east on Bannock. Road closures in downtown will begin phasing in at 11 a.m. in preparation for warmups beginning at 2:30 p.m. The first event of the day is the Ride with Kristin Armstrong Kids Event. Sign-up is at 2 p.m. and the Olympic gold medalist will be on hand for autographs. The ride, for kids age 5-10, begins at 3 p.m., and registration is required. It should be done in advance online at boisetwilightcriterium.com. The ride is followed by the Junior Criterium at 3:45 p.m. Men’s category 2-5 and masters races will run from 4-6 p.m., with the official opening ceremonies beginning at 7 p.m. Then, the big names hit the road, with the women’s pro category starting at 7:10 p.m. and the men’s pro category at 8:30 p.m. The criterium is a timed event, with preliminary races lasting between 30 and 45 minutes, plus one lap, and the main even going on for one hour, plus five laps. It all wraps up with the awards ceremony at 10 p.m. And while the victors will walk away with fame and glory, it’s really the fans who come out ahead in the end. It isn’t often that this many athletes of the highest caliber come to your doorstep, all bringing their A games. Besides, holding your breath as the racers navigate every tight corner is a bit of a workout in itself.
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