UA Criterium could be the last on campus

Posted on January 10th, 2012 by

This year’s University of Arizona Criterium could be the last.

Graduate student and UA cycling club member Melanie Meyers Colavito said after this year, the course will likely be unusable.

“It makes me sad that we probably can’t have it there again due to the street car,” Meyers Colavito said.

She said there isn’t another place on campus that would work.

“We have done a pretty thorough inspection of other potential spots on campus that would be suitable,” Meyers Colavito said. ”There is a lot of concrete on campus and that isn’t suitable for high speeds on a bicycle. Hopefully we can find a good course somewhere else in Tucson.”

An additional challenge for the future of the race is that many of the graduate students who have been race promoters in the past are set to graduate and will no longer be on the team.

Meyers Colavito is hopeful some of the newer members will step up to plan a race off-campus in the future.

This year’s race is scheduled for Jan. 21, which is early in the season. Meyers Colavito said the club worked with the university to find a date that was available.

Prizes and cash purses are being provided by Fairwheel Bikes.

Register for the race here.

Check out the photos from past UA Crit races:

Related posts:



Post a comment below or discuss in the Tucson Velo forums
Posted on January 10th, 2012 by
  • http://tibaal89.com/ Mike McC.

    damn… yet another cool thing falls to the streetcar.  :(

  • http://www.bicyclestockimages.com/ Martha Retallick

    Why not take this race Downtown?

    ISTR that last year’s Old Pueblo Criterium did quite well there. Likewise, El Tour. It starts and ends Downtown.

  • Psibley

    This is too bad. The marathon used to start and end downtown, too, as did the Rodeo Parade. Nowadays, the marathon keeps its “Tucson Marathon” name even though it never traverses the city limits. And don’t get me started about Tucson International Airport, which, as of today, has zero international flights. If I’m a visitor, I’m thinking this town is full of B.S.

  • Psibley

    God, I sound like Grandpa Simpson.

  • http://www.bicyclestockimages.com/ Martha Retallick

    If there are TIA flights to and from Mexico, then yes, TIA is an international airport.

  • Psibley

    Except there aren’t.

  • http://www.bicyclestockimages.com/ Martha Retallick

    There have been commercial flights to and from Mexico in the past, and I’m sure that there will be again. In the meantime, AFAIK, you can fly your Cessna from TIA down to Rocky Point and back.

  • Anonymous

    It doesn’t matter.  TIA has had a history of international flights.  Just because there aren’t any commercial flights, now, as a result of the economy, is not reason for TIA to change it’s name.  Moreover, there’s no reason for things that have in the past taken place in Tucson to change their names now because they now take place a few miles away.  It’s really a childish thing over which to get worked up.  Certainly it’s something that visitors are going to worry about or consider much, if any, at all.   Visitors come here for all sorts of reasons, none of which is to verify that names of facilities and events reflect exactly where they are or take place. 

  • Psibley

    Keep moving those goal posts. You may score yet!

  • Psibley

    “Certainly it’s something that visitors are going to worry about …”

    Doubt it. Too bad about the criterium, though.

  • Orvis

    “childish”  can I presume you mean that pejoratively? Your response like what you are responding to is just a subjective opinion.  

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