3 R.A.C.E. Events this weekend!!

Hi Everyone!! Just a reminder that we are having 3 R.A.C.E. events this weekend - but NO Criteriums on Friday night or Sunday night(the Chico Air Show will be going on at the airport this weekend!). Been getting lots of questions about Saturday's BLOOM Circuit Race - There is parking at the Vista Lookout point at Hwy. 70......also the location of the Start/Finish Line. This is quite the course - very beautiful........but does have 4600 feet of climbing in 25.5 miles! Even if ya want to do just 1 lap, that's okay too!!

Saturday, August 29th - The BLOOM Circuit Race - 9:00AM - A NEW Circuit Race in the 2009 Chico Road R.A.C.E. Series!! This event is named after our very own Mark Bloom - Mark told me about this Circuit and thought it might make a good R.A.C.E. Event - and man, he wasn't kidding!! This course has a little bit of everything - and it is quite beautiful too!! This Circuit Race will be 5 laps of a 5.1 mile long circuit off of Hwy. 70........for a total of 25.5 miles. However, the total elevation gain for this event will be approximately 4,600 feet.......that's more than double the Table Mountain Road Race climbing in the same distance. So......bring your climbing legs and climbing gears! There is a parking area at the Vista sight right on the course on Hwy. 70 - right at the Intersection with Lunt Road. Registration will open in the Vista Area at 8:30am.........with the Category "A" event starting at 9:00AM.........and the Category "B" event starting at 9:02AM. Women's Category will be scored separately. The race starts with a descent off of Hwy. 70, down Lunt Road - over to Nelson Bar Road - to Concow Road - and back to Hwy. 70. Each lap includes 920 feet of total climbing - with some good pitches in there for good measure! This is also a HUGE POINT Event for the 2009 Chico Road R.A.C.E. Series, with 35 points going to the winner, 30 to 2nd, 28 to 3rd and so on and so forth. I will be there early, and will also bring a supply of water bottles for hand-ups during the race. For a map of this course, please visit: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Bloom-Circuit-Race (HUGE Point Event for the 2009 Chico Road R.A.C.E. Series)

Saturday, August 29th - The "Kids ONLY" Humboldt Road Race - 1:00PM - From the bottom of the climb up to the main Power Lines (it's about half-way up Humboldt = 2 miles up, 400 feet of total climbing!) - For the kids under the Age of 16 who have been showing up to the Chico Airport Criteriums - now's your chance to experience a ROAD RACE!! Well.....at least a little one!! Registration will open at the bottom of the hill (near the intersection of Humboldt Road & Stilson Canyon Road) at 12:40pm. The RACE will start at 1:00pm. This one is 2 miles long and climbs approximately 400 feet - so bring your climbing legs!! I will have water at the Start & Finish - and probably watermelon at the top too. We're going just up to the Power Lines - not all the way up to the top. MENTORS are STRONGLY encouraged to attend - to keep an eye on our riders, help them out and encourage them up the hill. I will also be there with the SAG Vehicle, if needed. ***One Note - If enough older kids show, we may do a race up to the top of Humboldt too, depending upon help & logistics. For a map of the "Kids Only" course, please visit: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/The-Humboldt-Kids-Road-Race . HELMETS ARE MANDATORY! Rain cancels!

Sunday, August 30th - Butte City Road Race (Bringing back the old classic!!!) - 9:00AM - A 36-Mile Flat Road Race!! - The Chico Velo Cycling Club did this as a United States Cycling Federation Road Race back in.....what.....1982 or 1983. In fact, yours truly actually won the Junior race, believe it or not. Anyway, we decided to bring it back again, just to give it a test! This course is approximately 36 miles in length and includes a whopping 189 feet of total climbing! We'll be doing 1-lap only. We will have a Category "A" and a Category "B" group - Women's Category will be scored separately. The Start/Finish of this one is at the Ord Bend Park(the last Rest Stop of this year's Wildflower Century). Registration will open at 8:30am - with the Category "A" race going off at 9:00AM - the Category "B" race going off at 9:03am. The course follows a Clockwise direction - east on Ord Ferry Road, south on 7-Mile Lane, west on Hwy. 162, north on Hwy. 45.....then finishing up back on Ord Ferry Road at the Ord Bend Park. Route Arrows will mark the course - and there are bathrooms and plenty of parking at Ord Bend Park! I will be following the groups in a SAG Vehicle in case you have a problem out there - but will have to get back to the Finish Area at some point to score the event. A map of this course can be found here: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/The-Really-Old-Butte-City-RR-Course Hope you can come out to give this one a shot!! (Point Event for the 2009 Chico Road R.A.C.E. Series)

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