Airport Criterium tomorrow.............

Hi Everyone! Just a reminder that tomorrow night - as long as it is not raining and the pavement is NOT wet - we will be holding the Airport Criterium:

Tuesday, March 17th - Tuesday Night Chico Airport Criterium Series - Registration normally opens at 5:40pm on Convair avenue at the Airport - with the event starting at 6:00pm. For the time being, we'll be using our standard Tuesday Night course starting/finishing at Convair Avenue - http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Chico-Airport-Tuesday-Night-Crit-Course . Must sign in and wear a helmet in order to compete!!

2009 AIRPORT CRITERIUM CURRENT OVERALL STANDINGS:Category "A":1. Jeff Galland 11 points2. David Albrecht 8 points3. Michael Jasinski 7 points4. Ryan Olson 5 points 5. Mike Trowbridge 5 points
6. Kevin Speacht 3 points7. Roy Steves 2 points8. Geno Gruber 1 point9. Tim Creswell 1 point10. Ben Bryant 1 point11. Jason Ziegenhirt 1 point12. Anthony Ferretti 1 point13. Janeen Thorpe 1 pointCATEGORY "B":1. Matt Itamura 8 points2. Denny McKenney 7 points3. Dain Melton 7 points4. Margaret Jones 5 points = 1st Place in Women's Category!5. Jeff Ochs 4 points6. Joe Schlesinger 3 points7. Lisa Martens 2 points = 2nd Place in Women's Category!8. Paul Begbie 1 point9. Clay Johnson 1 point10. Jeff Davis 1 point11. Tracy Berman 1 point = 3rd Place in Women's Category!12. Mark Hendry 1 point13. Caryn Jones 1 pointAIRPORT CRITERIUM SERIES INFORMATION:

After the great turn-out at last year's Tuesday Night Chico Airport Criterium Series, we're going to be doing them again for 2009......but starting up a bit earlier this year. For those curious, the definition of "Criterium" is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterium

This Series starts up next Tuesday, March 10th and will go through September 15th, 2009......just before our Chico Downtown Criterium on September 20th! Registration normally starts at 5:40pm - with the event starting at 6:00pm.

How does it work???

Okay, here are a few notes for this year's Airport "Crit" Series:

1. We will be using more than 1 course for the Crits this year......including throwing in some lefty-turn Crits to get a feel for those - and some Weekend Criteriums as well. For the time being, we'll be using our standard Tuesday Night righty-turn course starting/finishing at Convair Avenue - http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Chico-Airport-Tuesday-Night-Crit-Course

2. ALL riders must sign in this year - There will be a small table on the sidewalk at the Start/Finish location on Convair Avenue - just sign in at the table and you are good to go! Sign-ins start at 5:40pm - the racing action starts at 6:00pm. We usually end the event by 7pm, at the latest - many times earlier than that - to get home before it gets too dark outside. RAIN AND WET PAVEMENT WILL ALWAYS CANCEL THE CRITERIUMS! In addition, last year we had some tremendous smoke from the Humboldt Fire in this area......which, in turn, would also cancel the Criteriums due to hazardous air quality.

3. The Category "B" races normally go for 45 minutes PLUS 3 laps.........while the Category "A" races go for 55 minutes PLUS 3 laps. There can be anywhere from 1 to 15+ Primes in the Airport Criteriums......just depends on the mood of the Dictator.....er......I mean, Director. ;)

4. Helmets are MANDATORY! So, please....please.....wear your helmet! Please!!

5. All are welcome - you don't have to do the Series - just come on out and give this Criterium training/riding a shot! It's amazing what kind of workout you can get in during a 45 to 60 minute practice event.

6. Points are used to calculate the Overall Standings in the Series. The point breakdown is as follows: 7-5-4-3-2-1, with an additional 1 point being given to each participant at each event. So, 7 points goes to the winner, 5 points goes to 2nd place, 4 points goes to 3rd place and so on.........in addition to 1 more point just for doing the event. The rider with the MOST points at the end of the Series wins the Overall Title - and the Chico Airport Series Championship Trophy, plus whatever goodies we can give you. Also, Prime points will be given out during each of the Crits - these are just lap prizes......but in this case, the prizes are points. We will also be having some product Primes out there this year! If you are a Men's Category 5 racer, or a Women's Category 4 racer, talk to me at the events about your upgrade points for these events.

7. Last year, we had just two categories during the races - Category A and Category B. However, the Series itself has even more Categories, including:

Category "A" Men
Women's Category
Women's Masters 40+ Category
Category "B" Men
Men's Masters 40+ Category
Men's Masters 50+ Category

These are the Categories which all qualify for a Series Championship Trophy. If nobody - or very few folks are in one category, we may eliminate it and add an additional category where the numbers allow it. As usual, sandbaggers are strongly discouraged ( A Sandbagger would be a Category "A" rider entering a Category "B" event).

8. Although donations to put on these events are always very appreciated and accepted, this Series is FREE - so come on out and take advantage of some, or all, of these Criteriums in 2009!

9. Finally, remember - these Criterium events are essentially for practice and exercise - we have fun out there and get a great little workout in, and we get to work on some quality cycling skills. But, overall, they're no big whoop....no World Championship/Olympic medals or million dollar contracts on the line. So, with that in mind, just treat 'em as such - a good training event to try some new things, gain some good fitness.....and maybe even get into a "real" sanctioned Criterium at some point in time. Or not. Just have fun with it!! We'll have trophies and hopefully some prizes for the Series winners - and definitely loads of fun....and pain and suffering. ;) But remember - it's all in good fun!

Hope to see you out there!!

Rodney............
Team Chico & R.A.C.E. - Rodney's Amateur Cycling Events
Chico, CA