Triathlon Expects Record Field but May Have Lot to Be Desired

The Pacific Coast Triathlon, taking a step up in status by serving as the national sprint distance age-group championship, is bracing for a record number of competitors and spectators Sunday.

Organizers are urging people to carpool and scrambling to arrange parking and shuttle transportation to the site at Crystal Cove State Park.

“We should be in pretty good shape, I think,” race director Bill Leach said.

Leach said he hopes to find out today whether the 300- to 400-space parking lot at El Morro School will be available as it has been in years past. Construction at the school might make the lot unavailable.

The hope of organizers is that those attending or competing will arrive early and come with at least two friends. The race starts at 7 a.m. and the Reef Point, Los Trancos and Pelican Point parking lots are expected to be full by 5:15 a.m. Car pools of three or more will be able to waive the $6 state park parking fee.

There is also parking on the street in Corona del Mar (which would require a two-mile bike ride to the start) or a free shuttle from the Coldwell Banker complex at Pacific Coast Highway and Avocado. The shuttle will run every 15 minutes from 4:30 to 6:30 a.m. Return shuttles will start at 10 a.m.

As of Wednesday about 1,200 had entered the race--a half-mile swim, 12-mile bike ride and three-mile run--pushing the 1,300 limit set by organizers. There will be no day-of-the-race registration and participants are urged to pick up their race packets Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the race expo in the Los Trancos parking lot.

The race features an elite pro field that includes defending women’s champion Michellie Jones, the top-ranked triathlete in the world, who will represent Australia in the Sydney Olympics.

Jones, who lives in Carlsbad, finished second overall last year, nearly defeating men’s winner Emilio DeSoto of San Diego.

DeSoto will be back but will have a tough time winning for a third consecutive time. Chris McCormack, an alternate on the Australian men’s Olympic team currently ranked fifth in the world, and England’s Spencer Smith, a two-time world champion, are expected to compete.

For more information: (949) 675-3498 or https://www.pacificcoasttriathlon.com

SKIMMING ALONG

The world’s best skimboarders will be at Aliso Beach in Laguna Saturday and Sunday for the Victoria Skimboard World Championships.

More than 120 skimboarders--who take a running start from the beach, jump on their boards and ride them into oncoming waves--will compete in 10 divisions. Professionals will vie for a $9,400 purse, the largest in skimboarding history.

Laguna Beach’s Bill Bryan, who has won seven titles, is the favorite. Last year, he narrowly beat another Laguna resident, Chris Henderson.

The event, in its 24th year, is going up against a strong surf industry challenger, the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ Bluetorch Pro, which wraps up Sunday in Huntington Beach.

“Is there another contest?” joked Tex Haines, owner of Victoria Skimboards. “We pick our dates based on tides and they must also. We’re only 25 years behind them. We’re trying to reel them in.”

LAST RIDE

The Rosarito-Ensenada 50-Mile Fun Bicycle Ride will bow out with “The Last Ride” Sept. 30, organizer Dave Dickson said.

Dickson, a San Diego man who created the semiannual ride in 1980, said he is packing it in because of continuing disputes with the Mexican federal highway patrol, which no longer will allow the race to set up a checkpoint midway through the race to make sure riders have paid the $21 entry fee.

The dispute forced Dickson to cancel last September’s ride, and several hours into the race in April, the highway patrol demanded the checkpoint be disbanded.

“They said if we hadn’t taken it down when they came back in 10 minutes they would put everyone working there in jail,” Dickson said. “So of course we all left.”

Dickson said he believes another organization will step in to take over the ride. He expects about 10,000 riders on Sept. 30. For information go to https://www.rosaritoensenada.com.