Winter's chill isn't stopping fitness quest

CENTURY IN ZION: Also on Feb. 23 is the Zion Country Spring Century. The 100-mile bicycle ride from St. George to Springdale and back rolls out of Bloomington Park at 8 a.m. for several well-stocked rest areas along the route through Washington, Hurricane and to the southern entry to Zion National Park.

Several hundred cyclists will descend on the area as they seek warm weather and open roads for an ideal training ride. The Century, though, is not just a bike ride. Funds raised from registration will be donated to the Spina Bifida Association of Utah.

To register, visit bike2bike.biz for more information. Ride options range from a 50-mile round trip to the full 100 miles. But with so many cyclists in one place, hotel space can be scarce, and early reservations or doubling up is recommended.

MOAB SKINNY TIRE FESTIVAL: Moab isn't about to let St. George have all the cycling fun, though.

The Moab Skinny Tire Festival — a Lance Armstrong Foundation and Moab Cancer Treatment and Resource Center benefit series of rides — will be held March 1-4 with long rides — some more strenuous than others — scheduled.

Entering its eighth year, the festival will feature several rides of distances ranging from about 37 miles to more than 50 and have dinners, lunches and a variety of social activities.

Several cycling clubs use the Moab weekend as a training camp for the upcoming racing season and, like at St. George, there will be several hundred sets of wheels touring southeastern Utah's color county.

AMERICAN FORK ICE BREAKER: Just because it's a little chilly outside doesn't mean you can't get your triathlon fix. The Timp Tri Club is sponsoring its annual Ice Breaker Triathlon at the American Fork Recreation Center.

The swim, however, will be inside — saving athletes from frostbite as they finish the bike and run portions of the race.

On March 29, a few hundred eager triathletes will jump into the rec center pool for a 300-meter swim — snaking their way up and back for six laps — before hopping on their bikes for an 11.3-mile bike ride and a three-mile run.

Visit goldmedalracing.com for more information.

MARATHON SEASON ALREADY? Training for the upcoming Salt Lake City Marathon on April 19 — and the new Utah Valley Marathon a week earlier — is in full swing. Runners should be hitting treadmills, tracks or the roads for dozens of miles each week already. Comprehensive training plans can be found at saltlakecitymarathon.com.

Did we miss something? With athletes training for or competing in races across the state there are countless opportunities to get out and show your stuff. If there's a big race, charity event or competition you think we've missed, please let us know by sending in results or information for upcoming events to jeborn@desnews.com

---

E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com