Results from Tonight's Chico Airport Criterium.................

Hi Everyone!! Well, we had a GREAT night out there at the Tuesday Night Airport Criterium, with good temperatures, little wind and some very good racing action! In all, we had 30 riders take part in this one - and quite a few spectators too!! Thank you ALL for coming out to this event - it was AWESOME having you all out there!!

Okay, in the Category "A" race tonight, we had 15 riders take part. The event started off quite quickly, with Tim Creswell driving the pace for the first few laps. Nearing the half-way point of the race, Alex Blease took off on a solo flyer.......but was soon joined by Kevin Speacht and David Albrecht. These three riders worked very well together, and quickly built up a 30-second lead over the chase pack. In time, the 3 breakaway riders lapped the field! After that, the pack stayed together for the sprint finish - where it was Alex Blease taking the win over David Albrecht, with Tim Creswell coming in 3rd!

In the Category "B" event, there were also 15 riders that took part. The pack stayed together the entire race - working well together, keeping things smooth and focused. After quite a few Prime laps in the event, it came down to a sprint finish at the end. Taking the win was Michael Dufresne, just beating out Mike Crumm, Shawn Hughes and Lisa Martens!

For some photos and videos of tonight's event, please visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicovelo/

Here are the Results from the Category "A" and Category "B" events from tonight.......and below that are the Current Overall Standings in the 2009 Chico Airport Criterium Series:

CATEGORY "A" RESULTS:
1. Alex Blease (7 points + 4 Prime Points + 1 = 12 points)
2. David Albrecht (5 points + 6 Prime Points + 1 = 12 points)
3. Tim Creswell (4 points + 3 Prime Points + 1 = 8 points)
4. Michael Jasinski (3 points + 3 Prime Points + 1 = 7 points)
5. Greg Golet (2 points + 1 = 3 points)
6. Mike Trowbridge (1 point + 2 Prime Points + 1 = 4 points)
7. Dain Melton 1 point
Pack Finish:
Mike Cordova (2 Prime Points + 1 = 3 points)
Kevin Speacht (3 Prime Points + 1 = 4 points)
Maggie Jones 1 point
Jeff Ochs (1 Prime Point + 1 = 2 points)
Charlie Dawson 1 point
Jason Ziegenhirt 1 point
Dan Reymann 1 point
Kyle Hartelt (2 Prime Points + 1 = 3 points)

CATEGORY "B" RESULTS:
1. Michael Dufresne (7 points + 2 Prime Points + 1 = 10 points)
2. Mike Crumm (5 points + 2 Prime Points + 1 = 8 points)
3. Shawn Hughes (4 points + 1 = 5 points)
4. Lisa Martens (3 points + 1 Prime Point + 1 = 5 points)
5. Charlie Pelton (2 points + 1 Prime Point + 1 = 4 points)
6. Tom Embree (1 point + 5 Prime Points + 1 = 7 points)
7. Walt Schafer 1 point
8. Adam Tischler (1 Prime Point + 1 = 2 points)
9. Colin Moakley (1 Prime Point + 1 = 2 points)
10. Jeff Davis 1 point
Pack Finish:
David Klein 1 point
Teresa Kludt 1 point
Rob Glatthaar 1 point
Jenn Gruber 1 point
Shirley Huffman 1 point


2009 AIRPORT CRITERIUM SERIES CURRENT OVERALL STANDINGS:

Category "A" OVERALL:
1. David Albrecht 42 points
2. Jeff Galland 37 points
3. Mike Trowbridge 23 points
4. Mike Smith 22 points
5. Michael Jasinski 20 points
6. Mike Cordova 19 points
7. James Plummer 13 points
8. Alex Blease 12 points
9. Tim Creswell 10 points
9. Kevin Speacht 10 points
11. Anthony Ferretti 9 points
12. Kyle Hartelt 7 points
12. Ryan Olson 7 points
14. Evan Carroll 6 points
15. Roy Steves 5 points
16. Ben Bryant 4 points
17. Jason Ziegenhirt 3 points
17. Charlie Dawson 3 points
17. Greg Golet 3 points
17. Jeff Ochs 3 points
17. Kenny Price 3 points
22. Geno Gruber 2 points
22. Janeen Thorpe 2 points
22. Brad Foster 2 points
25. Dain Melton 1 point
26. Dan Reymann 1 point
27. Margaret Jones 1 point
28. Kurt Haskins 1 point
29. Jesse Rushing 1 point
30. Mike Castaldo 1 point
31. Tom Embree 1 point
32. Paul Sajben 1 point

CATEGORY "B" OVERALL:
1. Matt Itamura 28 points
2. Michael Dufresne 21 points
3. Frank Marinello 20 points
4. Shawn Hughes 15 points
5. Mike Crumm 14 points
5. Charlie Pelton 14 points
5. Dain Melton 14 points
8. Lisa Martens 11 points = 1st Place in Women's Category!
8. Colin Moakley 11 points
8. Denny McKenney 11 points
11. David Klein 10 points
12. Tom Embree 7 points
12. Margaret Jones 7 points = 2nd Place in Women's Category!
12. David Weathers 7 points
15. Joe Schlesinger 6 points
16. BJ LaRossa 5 points
16. Jeff Ochs 5 points
18. Clay Johnson 4 points
18. Brian Strukan 4 points
20. Jeff Davis 3 points
20. Tracy Berman 3 points = 3rd Place in Women's Category!
22. Adam Tischler 2 points
22. Christopher Cook 2 points
22. Mark Hendry 2 points
22. Caryn Jones 2 points
26. Walt Schafer 1 point
27. Teresa Kludt 1 point
28. Rob Glatthaar 1 point
29. Jenn Gruber 1 point
30. Christa Ritchey 1 point
31. Gary Fowler 1 point
32. John Wiesinger 1 point
33. Kristen Schonauer 1 point
34. Tom Murphy 1 point
35. Greg Melton 1 point
36. Paul Begbie 1 point
37. Shirley Huffman 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 50-60 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!

7. Last year, we had just two categories during the races - Category A and Category B. However, the Series itself has even more Trophy 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 Agonizing Cycling Events
Chico, CA
www.ChicoBike.com