Squawk 'n' roll

Don’t forget to look both ways before stepping into the street his weekend. The Squawker Classic returns this Saturday and Sunday, bringing legions of flying spandex blurs to local thoroughfares. Collegiate cyclists from the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference will descend upon Durango for one of the toughest weekends of racing before USA Collegiate Road Nationals in Grand Junction on April 27- 30. This will be the sixth RMCCC race of the spring, offering up a team trial, criterium and circuit race. In addition to featuring FLC rivals CU-Boulder, CSU, Colorado Mesa University and the rest of the RMCCC, the race is also a USA Cycling Collegiate Regional Championship, drawing schools from throughout the Southwest and Inter-Mountain West. There will also be USA Cycling categories for the post-grads.

The fun gets rolling at 8 a.m. Saturday with the Morehart Murphy Team Time Trial, which starts from the intersection of River and La Posta roads and takes racers on a 19-mile course to Bondad, Highway 550 and back to CR 214, north of Farmington Hill.

Next up is the “Zia Taqueria Neighborhood Criterium,” which encompasses the prime viewing areas of 4th-6th avenues between 7th-10th streets. Racing goes from 11:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.

On Sunday, it’s hot laps on the college mesa in the grueling Carver Brewing Co. Road Race, starting at 8 a.m. on Rim Drive in front of the Education Business Hall. Racers will ride the 5-mile loop clockwise on Rim Drive, past Hillcrest Golf Course and down Goeglein Gulch Road before completing the circle up E. 8th Avenue and back to Rim Drive.

For everyone’s safety, all affected roads will be closed during the races.

Get close to the action by volunteering as a course marshal: email Dave Hagen at hagen_d@fortlewis.edu. To keep up with the action virtually, check out FLC Cycling’s Facebook page.