Jack Zakrajsek
Collegiate racers speed by during the Mavericks Classic Women s Criterium at Central Mesa University in late March.
The Pueblo Classic bicycle race this weekend is expected to draw some 600 collegiate and pro competitors. The long-distance Steel City Road Race is on Saturday just outside of town. On Sunday, competitors will zoom around the historic Union Avenue district during the Pueblo Chilly Criterium.
Race organizer and emcee Steve Liebel said they can hit speeds above 35 miles per hour.
“You can feel the wind coming off of them. It s NASCAR on bicycles. They re drafting off of each other, inches away from each other in this huge group,” he said. “It s just exhilarating to watch them really turn it over.”
Downtown Pueblo will turn into a high-speed bicycle race track April 25 when the Pueblo Classic bicycle event brings professional, amateur and collegiate racers to town.
“Racers turning themselves inside out at 30 miles per hour in a tight group is really something to see,” said Steve Liebel, a Colorado State University political science professor and avid racer who will be master of ceremonies for the event.
The Pueblo Chilly Criterium yes, it’s a play on chile “is 100 percent a spectator friendly event a lot of fun,” Liebel said. “A criterium is a lot like NASCAR racing, but on bicycles.
A 0.7-mile loop is going to go down Union, cut across over onto Victoria and then it is going to go back up over the Riverwalk by the El Pueblo History Museum and then back down Union again,” Liebel explained.