Tonight's Airport Criterium Results.............

Hi Everyone!! So, we had a great turn-out tonight for the Tuesday Night Airport Criterium - 31 people showed up to take part in this one, with great temperatures and some cloudy skies. Thank you ALL for coming out to this one - and to our spectators out there too!!

We had two good groups tonight racing the As and the Bs. In the A group, a 3-person breakaway took off late in the race. After a few laps, this 3-person break - including David Albrecht, Mike Trowbridge and Mike Smith - had a 27-second lead as we were nearing the end of the race. But, with only a few laps left to go, Kevin Speacht and Paul Sajben got to the front of the chase pack and drilled it! It was a very close finish, but the 3-person break stayed away - with David Albrecht winning it, Mike Smith in 2nd, Mike Trowbridge 3rd and Mike Cordova in 4th(yes, we have a lot of Mikes out there!!).

The B race saw quite a few Primes being offered throughout the event, and the pace was very solid throughout. The race director was very mean in that he threw in back-to-back Primes, and then gave the 3-laps-to-go signal....which kept the pace a bit high towards the end of the Criterium. But, at the finish, it came down to a field sprint.....with Frank Marinello taking the win over David Weathers, BJ LaRossa and Dain Melton!

Finishing videos of both events can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicovelo/sets/72157615529509462/

Below are the results from Tonight's Criterium, followed by the current Overall Standings in the Airport Criterium Series. We'll be back out to the Airport Criterium next Tuesday night - March 24th(Registration opens at 5:40pm - Racing starts at 6pm) - and also on Saturday, March 28th at 8:00AM!

CATEGORY "B" RESULTS - MARCH 17TH:
1. Frank Marinello (7 points + 2 Prime Points + 1 = 10 points)
2. David Weathers (5 points + 1 Prime Point + 1 = 7 points)
3. BJ LaRossa (4 points + 1 = 5 points)
4. Dain Melton (3 points + 3 Prime Points + 1 = 7 points)
5. Shawn Hughes (2 points + 1 = 3 points)
6. Maggie Jones (1st Place Woman!!) (1 point + 1 = 2 points)
7. Greg Melton 1 point
8. Jeff Ochs 1 point
Pack:
Tracy Berman 1 point
Jeff Davis 1 point
Christopher Cook (1 Prime Point + 1 point = 2 points)
Caryn Jones 1 point
Tom Murphy 1 point
Mark Hendry 1 point
Kristen Schonauer 1 point
Joe Schlesinger (2 Prime Points + 1 point = 3 points)
John Wiesinger 1 point
David Klein 1 point
Gary Fowler 1 point
POWERBAR PRIME WINNER: Christopher Cook

CATEGORY "A" RESULTS - MARCH 17TH:
1. David Albrecht (7 points + 5 Prime Points + 1 = 13 points)
2. Mike Smith (5 points + 1 Prime Point + 1 = 7 points)
3. Mike Trowbridge (4 points + 2 Prime Points + 1 = 7 points)
4. Mike Cordova (3 points + 2 Prime Points + 1 = 6 points)
5. James Plummer (2 points + 1 = 3 points)
6. Anthony Ferretti (1 points + 3 Prime Points + 1 = 5 points)
7. Paul Sajben 1 point
8. Roy Steves 1 point
9. Brad Foster 1 point
Pack:
Kevin Speacht (1 Prime Point + 1 = 2 points)
Charlie Dawson 1 point
Kyle Hartelt (1 Prime Point + 1 = 2 points)
POWERBAR PRIME WINNER: Brad Foster

2009 AIRPORT CRITERIUM CURRENT OVERALL STANDINGS:

Category "A":

1. David Albrecht 21 points
2. Mike Trowbridge 12 points
3. Jeff Galland 11 points

4. Mike Smith 7 points

4. Michael Jasinski 7 points
6. Anthony Ferretti 6 points
6. Mike Cordova 6 points8. Kevin Speacht 5 points
8. Ryan Olson 5 points 10. James Plummer 3 points
10. Roy Steves 3 points
12. Kyle Hartelt 2 points
13. Charlie Dawson 1 point
14. Brad Foster 1 point
15. Paul Sajben 1 point

16. Geno Gruber 1 point

17. Tim Creswell 1 point

18. Ben Bryant 1 point

19. Jason Ziegenhirt 1 point

20. Janeen Thorpe 1 point

CATEGORY "B":

1. Dain Melton 14 points
2. Frank Marinello 10 points
3. Matt Itamura 8 points
4. Margaret Jones 7 points = 1st Place in Women's Category!

4. David Weathers 7 points

4. Denny McKenney 7 points

7. Joe Schlesinger 6 points
8. BJ LaRossa 5 points8. Jeff Ochs 5 points
10. Shawn Hughes 3 points
11. Tracy Berman 2 points = 2nd Place in Women's Category!

11. Christopher Cook 2 points
11. Jeff Davis 2 points

11. Mark Hendry 2 points

11. Caryn Jones 2 points

11. Lisa Martens 2 points = 2nd Place in Women's Category!
17. Gary Fowler 1 point
18. David Klein 1 point
19. John Wiesinger 1 point
20. Kristen Schonauer 1 point = 4th Place in Women's Category!
21. Tom Murphy 1 point
22. Greg Melton 1 point

23. Paul Begbie 1 point

24. Clay Johnson 1 point

AIRPORT 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............
R.A.C.E. - Rodney's Antagonizing Cycling Events
Chico, CA