Chico's 10-Mile Time Trial Series Information...........

YES! R.A.C.E. is putting on a 10-Mile Time Trial Series starting with this Thursday's River Road 10-Mile Time Trial. The Series will start now and end in late September 2009. See details below for this Thursday's event, and the Series Information below it. Again, thank you ALL for coming out to these little events - your participation is amazing, and it is great seeing so many riders out there!!

Thursday, April 2nd - River Road 10-Mile Time Trial - Registration opens at 5:40pm, with the first rider going off at 6:01pm. We will go in 1-minute intervals for this 5-miles out, 5-miles back, all-flat Time Trial. This classic Chico Time Trial course has been used for the last 29+ years. Come on out after work and give this one a shot! An extremely rough draft of this course can be found here - http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/River-Road-10-Mile-TT-Course (yes, the course is really 10 miles, not 9.9). And if you look at the Elevation Profile......it might tell you why coming back always seems a bit tougher than going out! (Race #1 in the 2009 Chico 10-Mile Time Trial Series!)

INFORMATION REGARDING THE 2009 CHICO 10-MILE TIME TRIAL SERIES:

1. There will be more than 1 course used for this year's 10-Mile Time Trial Series. The courses will be scattered around the Chico area - Chico River Road, River Road, Aguas Frias Road, 7-Mile Lane, Lassen Road, Meridian Road and others to be announced as the weeks go on. The idea is to get a feel for the various 10-Mile TT routes around the area.....and just to challenge yourself a bit! Many of these Time Trials will be on Thursday evenings at 6:00PM - however, there may be a few that are thrown in on a different weeknight - or on the weekend. ALL of these Time Trials will be flat to fairly flat. Most of the Thursday Night 10-Mile Time Trials WILL count towards the Series Overall Standings. (There will be a 25-Mile TT Series, as well as a 6-Mile TT Series, announced soon).

2. ALL riders must sign in this year - Like all the events so far this year, you just need to sign in at the start in order to enter the event. And, as usual in these Time Trials, we will be going in 1-minute Intervals. Again, donations are always accepted and appreciated - but all of the events are FREE!

3. Rain and Wind will not cancel the Time Trials, unless specified by the Race Director. However, crudy air conditions(ex. - last year's Humboldt Fire) will cancel them.

4. Helmets are MANDATORY! So, please....please.....wear your helmet! Please!! AND - Yes, Aero Equipment is allowed!! So.....wear an aero helmet!! Or just a regular one!!

5. All are welcome - you don't have to do the Series - just come on out and give one or two of these events a shot! It's amazing what kind of workout you can get in during a 20 to 45 minute 10-Mile Time Trial! And it's just you against the clock!!

6. Points are used to calculate the Overall Standings in this particular Series(makes it easier for the promoter - sorry!). The point breakdown is as follows: 10-8-6-4-2-1-1-1-1, with an additional 2 points being given to each participant who completes each event. So, 10 points goes to the winner, 8 points goes to 2nd place, 6 points goes to 3rd place and so on.........everyone who finishes 6th or beyond gets 1-point for completing the event. The rider with the MOST points at the end of the Series wins the Overall Title - and the Chico 10-MIle Time Trial Series Championship Trophy, plus whatever goodies we can give you. Points will be broken down by Category. Once you enter and finish an event, you are entered in the Series.

7. The following Categories are eligible for a Series Championship Trophy:

Category "A" Men
Women's Category
Women's Masters 45+ Category
Category "B" Men
Men's Masters 45+ Category
Men's Masters 55+ 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). And, as usual, the Series Organizer reserves the right to re-classify you at any time(within reason and with plenty of notice though.....this isn't the UCI!!!)

8. Finally, remember - these Time Trial 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. 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 race 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!

9. Some articles on 10-Mile Time Trial Training & History:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_time_trial

http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/timetrials/training-for-a-10-mile-time-trial/

http://www.addiscombe.org/time_trial/time_trial.htm

http://www.bike-tt.clanwest.com/history.htm

http://www.flammerouge.je/content/3_factsheets/constant/ttstrat.htm

Hope to see you out there!!

Rodney............
Team Chico & R.A.C.E. - Rodney's Agonizing Cycling Events
Chico, CA
www.ChicoBike.com