Tuesday Night Chico Airport Criterium Series starts March 10th.............

TUESDAY NIGHT CHICO AIRPORT CRITERIUM SERIES:

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!

10. Below this e-mail is the e-mail sent out about the Final Standings from last year's Tuesday Night Airport Criteriums, just to see some familiar names!

Hope to see you out there!!

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


The old e-mail from September 2008:
And so, the 2008 Tuesday Night Airport Criteriums come to an end - and good timing too.....it's getting darker earlier now, and we had some rain clouds out there tonight! But we also had some great racing - and LOTS of riders turning out for this final Airport Criterium of the season!! In all, we had 48 riders show up tonight to race........and another dozen people out there to watch the racing action. Thank you all for coming out to this one - and for coming to these Airport Criteriums all season long!! A HUGE thank you goes out to Coach Mike Trowbridge for starting these up earlier in the season - they really caught on! And, yes, we will definitely be back next season to do these again - bigger and better than ever.

So, tonight's event counted for Double Points in the Season-Long Points Standings......this included the Prime Points as well. And, being the monster I can be at times, I decided to throw in a few extra Primes tonight!! Sorry about that - it's the devil in me that does it to y'all.

Anyway, 24 riders were in the "A" Category race, and another 24 riders were in the "B" Category race. The pace of both packs....combined with the high humidity tonight and the Primes.....took its toll, as we had a few riders drop out. The "A" race saw a 3-person breakaway get away, with another 3-person breakaway bridging up to them. Towards the end of the race, this 6-person break(including David Albrecht, Randy Moon, CJ Humphries, Tyler Honeyman, Jeff Seyfried and Lindsay Myers) was able to work efficiently together....and they ended up staying away from the chase pack to the very end. It came down to a final sprint between the 6, with David Albrecht taking the sprint over Randy Moon.

The "B" group was able to stay together for the most part during the race, and the group saw some great racing out there. In the end, it was a field sprint that would decide the winner - and it was Greg Golet taking the victory over Kyle Hartelt and Matt Itamura!

And finally - we have some Champion Trophies to award to the victors of this Season-Long Criterium Series. Here are the Series Winners for 2008:

Category "A" Men - David Albrecht
Category "A" Women - Lindsay Myers
Category "B" Men - Tom Embree
Category "B" Women - A TIE - Lisa Martens and Jenn Gruber
Mens Masters 45+ Category - Randy Moon

And below are tonight's results.......followed by the Season-Long Point Standings. Thanks again to all of you for making these Criteriums so much fun - y'all ROCK!!!

Category "A":
1. David Albrecht (14 points + 12 Prime Points = 26 points)
2. Randy Moon (10 points + 14 Prime Points = 24 points)
3. CJ Humphries (8 points + 10 Prime Points = 18 points)
4. Tyler Honeyman (6 points + 10 Prime Points = 16 points)
5. Jeff Seyfried (4 points + 6 Prime Points = 10 points)
6. Lindsay Myers (2 points + 8 Prime Points = 10 points)
7. Kevin Speacht (8 Prime Points)
8. David Kyle (2 Prime Points)
9. Mike Smith
10. Paul Sajben (4 Prime Points)
11. Michael Jasinski (3 Prime Points)
12. Jeff Galland (6 Prime Points)
13. Mike Trowbridge (12 Prime Points)
14. Mike Thorpe (6 Prime Points)
15. Tim Creswell (4 Prime Points)
16. Jason Ziegenhirt
17. Janeen Thorpe
18. Jim Roberts
19. Rob Bishop
DNP: James Plummer, Brad Foster, Paul Begbie, Ben Bryant, Ryan Olson
Other Prime Winners: Ryan Olson (2 Prime Points)

Category "B":
1. Greg Golet (14 points + 8 Prime Points = 22 points)
2. Kyle Hartelt (10 points + 12 Prime Points = 22 points)
3. Matt Itamura (8 points)
4. Joe Schlesinger (6 points + 10 Prime Points = 16 points)
5. Barry DeWitt (4 points + 4 Prime Points = 8 points)
6. Jeff Ochs (2 points + 2 Prime Points = 4 points)
7. Dave Steindorf
8. Shawn Hughes
9. John Wiesinger (2 Prime Points)
10. Dain Melton
11. Greg Melton
12. Bill Travers
13. Mike Crumm
14. John Deer
15. Brooke Henderson (4 Prime Points)
16. Jenn Gruber (2 Prime Points)
17. Chico State Dude
18. Caryn Jones
19. Maggie Jones
DNP: Mikey Dufresne, Denny McKenney, David Klein, Rob Glatthaar, John Myers
Other Prime Winners: Chico State Dude (4 Prime Points)

And the FINAL Season-Long Points Standings:

Category "A" Riders:

David Albrecht 119 points (1st Place in the Mens Category A)
Kevin Speacht 75 points
Jeff Galland 60 points
Tim Creswell 53 points
James Plummer 31 points
Randy Moon 30 points (1st Place in the Mens Masters 45+ Category)
Paul Sajben 28 points
Jeff Seyfried 26 points
CJ Humphries 22 points
Tyler Honeyman 19 points
Mike Trowbridge 18 points
Mike Smith 18 points
Lindsay Myers 13 points (1st Place in the Womens Category A)
Rob Bishop 12 points
Roy Steves 10 points
Colby Elliot 10 points
Mike Castaldo 9 points
Geno Gruber 9 points
David Kyle 7 points
Mike Thorpe 7 points
Ryan Olson 7 points
Ben Bryant 7 points
Raymond Cagigas 7 points
Michael Jasinski 6 points
Alex Blease 6 points
Steve Vickery 5 points
Jason Ziegenhirt 4 points
Michelle Beltran 4 points
Mike Cordova 3 points
Rich Thurman 2 points
Kris Blee 1 point
Sean Molina 1 point
Paul McIntyre 1 point
Rich Quintero 1 point
Anthony Ferretti 1 point
Jeff Anderson 1 point

Category "B" Riders:

Tom Embree 74 points (1st Place in the Mens Category B)
Kyle Hartelt 55 points
Joe Schlesinger 46 points
Jeff Ochs 28 points
Greg Golet 22 points
Lisa Martens 20 points (1st Place in the Womens Category B - TIE)
Jenn Gruber 20 points (1st Place in the Womens Category B - TIE)
Barry DeWitt 16 points
Christa Ritchey 16 points
Denny McKenney 16 points
Frank Marinello 16 points
Matt Itamura 15 points
Phil Weintraub 15 points
Linda Zorn 14 points
Brooke Henderson 12 points
Caryn Jones 12 points
Janine Rood 10 points
Jim Mensching 9 points
Dan Reymann 7 points
Mikey Dufresne 7 points
Clay Johnson 7 points
Christine Bergman 7 points
John Wiesinger 6 points
BJ LaRossa 6 points
Stefanie Marshall 5 points
Shawn Hughes 4 points
Chico State Dude 4 points
Morgan Bonar 4 points
Aimee Shipley 4 points
Bill Travers 3 points
Greg Hollis 2 points
Derek DeMarco 2 points
Andy Tautges 2 points
Evan LeVang 2 points
Dain Melton 1 point
Maggie Jones 1 point
David Welch 1 point
Dave Steindorf 1 point
Henry Naas 1 point
Nathan Coy 1 point