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

Hi Everyone!! Well, it was a hot night out there for tonight's Chico Airport Criterium.......but even with the high temperatures, we had 23 riders take part in the event.....and a few spectators too!! Thank you ALL for coming out to this one!! I hope next week's Airport Criterium is a little bit cooler, in terms of air temperature!

We had a good race in both events - lots of 1-place Primes, and lots of points to be taken. The "A" Category saw the heat take a toll on the riders, but it was Jeff Galland just outsprinting Kevin Speacht and Alex Blease for the win! The "B" Category saw a good-working group stick together.......but in the end, it was Tom Embree taking the final sprint! We had a camera malfunction for the "B" race, so let me know if the results look odd!! Video of the Category "A" finish can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicovelo/

Below are tonight's Results by Category - and below that are the Current Overall Standings in the 2009 Chico Airport Criterium Series:

CATEGORY "A" RESULTS FROM APRIL 21st, 2009 AIRPORT CRITERIUM:
1. Jeff Galland (7 points + 5 Prime Points + 1 = 13 points)
2. Kevin Speacht (5 points + 3 Prime Points + 1 = 9 points)
3. Alex Blease (4 points + 1 = 5 points)
4. Greg Golet (3 points + 5 Prime Points + 1 = 9 points)
5. Mike Cordova (2 points + 1 = 3 points)
6. Mike Trowbridge (1 point + 14 Prime Points!! + 1 = 16 points)
7. Mike Castaldo (1 Prime Point + 1 = 2 points)
8. Brad Foster 1 point
9. Jeff Ochs 1 point
10. Margaret Jones 1 point
Pack Finish:
Michael Dufresne 1 point
Kyle Hartelt 1 point
Ben Bryant 1 point
Michael Jasinski 1 point
Ryan Olson 1 point

CATEGORY "B" RESULTS FROM APRIL 21st, 2009 AIRPORT CRITERIUM:
1. Tom Embree (7 points + 4 Prime Points + 1 = 12 points)
2. Matt Itamura (5 points + 6 Prime Points + 1 = 12 points)
3. David Weathers (4 points + 4 Prime Points + 1 = 9 points)
4. Shawn Hughes (3 points + 7 Prime Points + 1 = 11 points)
5.Charlie Pelton (2 points + 3 Prime Points + 1 = 6 points)
6. Tracy Berman (7 points + 1 = 8 points)(Women's Category Winner!)
Pack Finish:
Michael Crumm (1 point + 1 = 2 points)
John D'Ewart 1 point

2009 AIRPORT CRITERIUM SERIES CURRENT OVERALL STANDINGS:Category "A" OVERALL:

1. David Albrecht 89 points
2. Jeff Galland 87 points
3. Mike Trowbridge 69 points
4. Mike Smith 51 points
5. Alex Blease 31 points
6. Michael Jasinski 29 points
7. Mike Cordova 23 points
7. Roy Steves 23 points
9. Kevin Speacht 19 points
10. Margaret Jones 14 points (1st Place Woman in Category "A")
10. Tim Creswell 14 points
12. Greg Golet 13 points
12. James Plummer 13 points
14. Paul Sajben 12 points
15. Anthony Ferretti 9 points
15. Jeff Ochs 9 points
17. Kyle Hartelt 8 points
17. Ryan Olson 8 points
19. Josh Bullock 7 points
19. Rob Bishop 7 points
19. Dave Berman 7 points
22. Ben Bryant 6 points
22. Mike Painter 6 points
22. Evan Carroll 6 points
25. Weston Crumm 5 points
25. Greg Melton 5 points
27. Jesse Rushing 4 points
27. Charlie Dawson 4 points
29. Mike Castaldo 3 points
29. Brad Foster 3 points
29. Jason Ziegenhirt 3 points
29. Kenny Price 3 points
33. Geno Gruber 2 points
33. Janeen Thorpe 2 points
33. Michael Dufresne 2 points
36. Steve Vickery 1 point
37. Dain Melton 1 point
38. Dan Reymann 1 point
39. Kurt Haskins 1 point
40. Tom Embree 1 point

CATEGORY "B" OVERALL:
1. Shawn Hughes 70 points
2. Matt Itamura 51 points
3. Charlie Pelton 48 points
4. Frank Marinello 46 points
5. Mike Crumm 43 points
6. Tom Embree 31 points
7. David Klein 21 points
7. Michael Dufresne 21 points
9. David Weathers 16 points
9. Joe Schlesinger 16 points
11. Dain Melton 14 points
12. Colin Moakley 13 points
13. Denny McKenney 11 points
14. Rob Glatthaar 8 points
14. Ray Bransky 8 points
16. Adam Tischler 5 points
16. Samuel Bransky 5 points
16. BJ LaRossa 5 points
16. Jeff Ochs 5 points
20. Clay Johnson 4 points
20. Brian Strukan 4 points
22. James Gilchrist 3 points
22. Jeff Davis 3 points
24. Christopher Cook 2 points
24. Mark Hendry 2 points
26. John D'Ewart 1 point
27. Johnny Jones 1 point
28. Walt Schafer 1 point
29. Gary Fowler 1 point
30. John Wiesinger 1 point
31. Tom Murphy 1 point
32. Greg Melton 1 point
33. Paul Begbie 1 point

WOMEN'S CATEGORY OVERALL:
1. Lisa Martens 23 points
2. Tracy Berman 20 points
2. Janine Rood 20 points
4. Jenn Gruber 16 points
5. Christa Ritchey 7 points
5. Margaret Jones 7 points
7. Caryn Jones 5 points
8. Amy Dawson 1 point
9. Teresa Kludt 1 point
10. Kristen Schonauer 1 point
11. 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 Antiestablishmentarianistic Cycling Events
Chico, CA
www.ChicoBike.com