Long Ride Attracting Big Crowd
The field for the Orange County Wheelmen’s Amtrak Century bicycle ride is nearly full and anyone interested in registering should sign up as soon as possible, Wheelman President Jeff Rich said Wednesday.
The Sept. 11 ride is from Irvine to San Diego with a return ride on a chartered train. As of Wednesday evening 838 had signed up; the club usually cuts off applications at 850 or so. Entries can be made on the Web at https://www.ocw.org. The cost is $65.
“We’re still accepting applications,” Rich said, “but they’ll probably shut off the entry form in the next couple of days.”
The Amtrak Century, in its 25th year, is considered a good ride for a someone biking 100 miles for the first time.
FINISH LINE
Kirk Matkin of Dana Point was the first Orange County finisher at the Ironman USA Lake Placid Triathlon on Sunday in New York, narrowly defeating Scott Keil of Seal Beach for that distinction.
Matkin, 41, finished 404th among the 1,380 who completed the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride and 26.2-mile run. His time was 11 hours 40 minutes 39 seconds. Keil, 28, was 58 seconds further back in 409th place.
Other Orange County finishers: Craig Julien of Costa Mesa (914th, 13:19:24), Frank Chen of Capistrano Beach (1,080th, 13:59:05), Troy Drake of Fountain Valley (650th, 12:21:27), James Price of La Habra (795th, 12:49:52), Bob Crawford of Laguna Niguel (827th, 12:54:21) and Sally Crawford of Laguna Niguel (868th, 13:05:15).
RACE TO ENTER
California’s first official ironman triathlon, the Ironman California on May 20 at Camp Pendleton, plans to hold a lottery for the final spots in its field. The first 1,000 first-come-first-served entries were snapped up in three weeks, but since then only 40 people have signed up for the lottery. There are 500 spots to fill. For more details: https://ironmancalifornia.com or (905) 945-6216.
JUMPING AHEAD
No horse broke the state record of 7 feet 2 inches for high jumping at the GTE Summer Classic Sunday at Huntington Beach Central Park, and therefore no one took home the bonus of $100,000 for the owner or the $85,000 sports car for the rider. Incento, ridden by Sarah Baldwin, won the $5,000 first prize for clearing 6-5.
Richard Spooner, riding Southshore, won the Grand Prix show jumping event and $7,500.