End of road season.......

.........So, here we are, just a couple of weeks away from the end of the road racing season here in northern California. We have a few road races left - the Mt. Tam Hill Climb, the Henleyville Road Race, the Chico Criterium and the Everest Challenge. I know that many riders are looking forward to riding Cyclocross this CX season, and I could not be more stoked about that action! Some riders though are looking to take a very well-deserved break from the bike.....maybe enjoy some other physical activities instead for the next couple of months. As for me.......well.......I'm looking to spend some time doing what Dave's doing in the picture above.......just cruising on my bike. It's been a hectic month, what with Chico Criterium race planning, Nutcracker Omnium scoring, time trial events planning and the day-to-day bike stuff that goes on in the office. I feed off of the riders - their excitement, appreciation, enjoyment of the events is what makes me want to do more and more for them - it's what makes my job satisfying. But it can drain your cycling life a bit too. And, unfortunately, I've allowed my hours on the bike to diminish each week as the summer has gone on. I eat, sleep, breath cycling - but that, in itself, can cause a strange sort of end-of-season burn-out. For me.......I don't want to get off the bike and take a rest.......I wanna ride.....and ride.......and ride.......and ride! Just get that inner-connection thing going again with my bicycles.

Anyway, just another rambling on a Thursday afternoon! Will write more soon. And hey, come to the races on the 22nd and 23rd - we just got these guys as one of our sponsors for the Criterium! And if you've never eaten there, been to the gift shop, or toured the Brewery.....oy........it's awesome!!

Yeah, I think I'll get.......

.......this DVD.

So, does it.......

......really matter? Only you can decide.

Another year.......another Nutcracker.......

.......So, we finished up today with the Annual Nutcracker Omnium - a local Chico cycling event where riders do 4 stages over the course of 5 days. 1st Stage is the Wednesday Fast 50....a flat local group ride with 3 intermediate sprints for "Stop Ahead" signs, and then the final sprint on West Sacramento Avenue. We got video of the first stage - see HERE. Stage 2 was the Thursday River Road 10-mile Time Trial.......Stage 3 was the Saturday Honey Run Road Race.......and Sunday's stage was the 4th and final stage - the Cohasset Uphill Time Trial. Here are the results for today's Cohasset Uphill Time Trial:

1. Aren Timmel 19:36 (New Course Record!)
2. Kevin Speacht 20:30
3. Rich Thurman 20:40
4. Mike Ricks 20:43
5. David Albrecht 20:50
6. Jim Roberts 21:19
7. Steve Smead 21:30(On a fixed gear!)
8. Mark Reimer 21:45 (On a leaking tire!)
9. Walter Lohse 22:00
10. David Kyle 22:28
11. Tim Creswell 22:42
12. Mark Bloom 23:13
13. Jim Walker 23:23
14. Rob Bishop 23:57
15. Bryan Slinkard 24:20
16. Geno Gruber 24:20
17. Jeff Smith 24:30
18. Joe Shelburne 24:38
19. Jim Greenlee 24:42
20. Greg Watkins 25:00
21. Eric Saxman 25:19
22. Jeff Seyfried 25:24
23. Kim Agur 25:47 (1st Place Woman!!)
24. Bret DeWitt 25:57
25. Bob Aranguren 26:06
26. Mike Trowbridge 26:14
27. Paul Begbie 26:52
28. Elizabeth Brent 27:17 (2nd Place Woman!!)
29. Jeff Ochs 28:31 (Jeff took almost 7 minutes OFF his time from the March '07 TT!)
30. Barry DeWitt 28:37
31. Jim Mensching 28:55
32. Daniel Henning 28:59
33. Gary Fowler 29:11
34. Kellie Grandstaff 29:25 (3rd Place Woman!!)
35. Sue Kamrar 29:26
36. Christine Roberts 29:38
37. Janine Rood 29:39
38. Gino Zahnd 29:51
39. Tammie Watkins 30:47
40. Grace Twedt 31:08
41. Jenn Gruber 32:12 (Jenn knocked 7:01 off her time from March!)
42. Laurie Gallagher 33:30
43. Skip Lees 38:45
44. Kelly Spitz 42:29
45. Wendy DeWitt 46:02
46. Lauren DeWitt 47:24

And Tony Rocha got some awesome photographs of the Time Trial HERE!

And the Final Results from the September 2007 Nutcracker Omnium:

1. Aren Timmel = 113 points(Now holds the Nutcracker Trophy & the Paskenta Trophy!)
2. Mike Ricks = 105 points
3. Rich Thurman = 101 points
4. Kevin Speacht = 87 points
5. Tim Creswell = 72 points
6. David Kyle = 65 points
7. Geno Gruber = 41 points
8. Jim Greenlee = 40 points
9. Mike Trowbridge = 31 points
10. Paul Begbie = 26 points

I want to thank all of you for taking part in this little event - we'll do the Omnium again next spring!

Upcoming Chico Events:

Unknown Coast Weekend on Sept. 15th & 16th
Henleyville Road Race on Sept. 22nd
The Chico Downtown Criterium on Sept. 23rd
Forest Ranch Time Trial on Sept. 30th
Jack & Jill Team Time Trial on October 7th
Quincy Weekend on October 13th & 14th
Chico State Mountain Bike Races on October 20th & 21st
and the Centerville Halloween Time Trial on October 27th!