R.A.C.E. Events for Aug. 24th - Aug. 30th.................

A pretty light R.A.C.E. week this next week - the Chico Air Show will be going on Friday, Saturday & Sunday at the airport. No Friday night Criterium and no Sunday night Criterium. However, 2 NEW Events will be making an appearance next weekend - the very hilly BLOOM Circuit Race on Saturday morning, and the very flat Butte City Road Race on Sunday morning! And remember - the following week is the Nutcracker Omnium!!

Tuesday, Aug. 25th - Chico Airport Criterium - 6:00PM & 7:00PM (Part of the 2009 Chico Airport Criterium Series)

Wednesday, August 26th - Fast 50 - 6:00PM

Thursday, Aug. 27th - Meridian Road 10-Mile Time Trial - 6:00PM (Part of the 2009 Chico 10-Mile Time Trial Series)

Friday, Aug. 28th - No events planned tonight - the Air Show is going on at the Chico Airport.

Saturday, Aug. 29th - The BLOOM Circuit Race - 9:00AM (HUGE Point Event for the 2009 Chico Road R.A.C.E. Series) http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Bloom-Circuit-Race

Saturday, Aug. 29th - The "Kids Only" Humboldt Road Race - 1:00PM

Sunday, Aug. 30th - The Butte City Road Race - 9:00AM (Point Event for the 2009 Chico Road R.A.C.E. Series) http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/The-Really-Old-Butte-City-RR-Course

Tuesday, August 25th - Tuesday Night Airport Criterium - 6:00PM (As & Bs) & 7:00PM (Cs) - Registration normally opens at 5:45pm on Convair avenue at the Airport - with the event starting promptly at 6:00pm. For the time being, we'll be using our standard Tuesday Night course starting/finishing at Convair Avenue - http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Chico-Airport-Tuesday-Night-Crit-Course . Category "A" riders will go for 50 Minutes PLUS 3 laps, while Category "B" riders will go for 45 Minutes PLUS 3 laps - Women's Category picked separately. Lots of Point Primes offered in this one!! Must sign in and wear a helmet in order to compete. RAIN OR WET PAVEMENT WILL CANCEL THIS EVENT. (Part of the 2009 Chico Airport Criterium Series!)

**** One Note About This Tuesday Night's Airport Criterium - August 25th - 7:00PM - will also have a Category "C" race going off at 7:00PM. The "C" race will be 20 minutes + 3 laps. If you are intimidated by the Criterium and/or the speeds out there, this is the Category to get a feel for what's going on without the crazy speeds. No other Category races will be on the course - just Category "C" - so you can get used to the course, etc. The event MAY be mentored as well, depending upon whether ANY Category "A" or highly-ranked Category "B" riders(basically, any top 10 riders in the Current Standings in the "B" Category) are available to mentor. A mentor basically sits in with your group during the race, giving you basic pointers and helpful advice to keep you safe, skilled and sound during the event - and for future events. Mentors must meet with me prior to the event - so, if you would like to volunteer to be a Criterium Mentor, see me at the race on Tuesday Night or e-mail me prior to the Event - lorrod7@comcast.net . Also - If anyone would like to donate Prime Prizes for any of the events, please bring them out to the Criterium or e-mail me.

Wednesday, August 26th - FAST 50 - 6:00PM - The long-running independent "Fast 50" Wednesday night rides! The starting spot for this ride is in the parking lot of Rosedale Elementary School located at 100 Oak Street here in Chico. The ride leaves promptly at 6:00pm from the parking lot area. Many different levels of cyclists out there, so hook up with someone and enjoy the ride! A map of the course can be found here: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Fast-50255824 Rain does not cancel!

Thursday, August 27th - Meridian Road 10-Mile Time Trial - 6:00PM - A newer course to try out in the 10-Mile Time Trial Series. We'll be heading to Meridian Road, just north of Chico for this one. This is a straight 5-mile out, 5-mile back in Time Trial - the course has approximately 130 feet of total climbing....primarily on the way out. Registration will open at 5:40pm with the first rider going off at 6:01pm. We will be going in 1-Minute Intervals. You must sign in at the start! The Start/Finish Line is just past the left sweeper turn on Meridian Road......the turn-around is before you get to Lassen Road(this is the same section of Meridian used on the Paskenta Century). Riders will travel north for 5 miles, then back south for 5 miles. An approximate map of this course can be found here: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Meridian-Road-10-Mile-Time-Trial Look for me at the Starting location with the RACEmobile(the greenish Mitsubishi POS car) and the clipboard. (Part of the 2009 Chico 10-Mile Time Trial Series!)

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