Chico had the honors of hosting the close of another season of road racing. Our race is a downtown event that requires over 100 volunteers, many political hoops to jump through and thousands of dollars to bring to fruition. The two weeks leading up to the event I was anxious to get it over with, there are a lot of details that consume me as race day approaches and rest is the price I pay. Now that the race date has a huge red "X" through it I am already looking forward to our next event. I must be crazy...

Meetings: The next Corsa Club Meeting will be at Woodstocks Pizza on Friday, October 2nd at 6 pm.

Announcements:
Corsa needs bikes and bike parts to build loaners for our future juniors. If you have old equipment that is still serviceable e-mail me and we will make sure it gets put to good use...

The Honey Run cleanup will be taking place Saturday, October 3rd. Meet at the Honey Run Covered Bridge at 9:00am for this annual clean-up of our area jewel! Bring gloves and work boots. We'll be concentrating on picking up trash along the roadway and off the side of the road. All the really cool people will be there so you won't want to miss it...

The annual Jack & Jill Team Time Trial will be on Sunday, October 4th. Registration opens at 7:15 am and the first team goes off at 8:01am. Teams consist of one man, one woman and two bicycles. This is a Chico classic so partner up and contact the Race Director; Charles Geshekter if you have any questions.

Chico Corsa members are now eligible for an Enloe Flight Care Membership at a discounted group rate. For $25.00 a year the FlightCare Membership Plan covers reasonable and medically appropriate use of the Enloe Air Ambulance or that of a reciprocating program. It's a good deal for those of us who have trouble keeping the rubber side down. Contact Tom Embree for more information.

The LSD (Long Steady Distance) rides will be starting up again on Sunday October 11th. These rides will go all winter and are intended for riders of all abilities. The goal of the ride is to get base miles while improving paceline skills. The ride will meet at one mile at 8:00 am and all riders will start off together but the ride will fork at several points so those who are getting tired can turn back. Distances will vary but gradually increase throughout the year. The ride will be mostly flat with an average speed somewhere around 18 to 20 mph. Experienced riders will be on hand to coach and mentor new riders and assist in developing paceline riding skills. Those who wish to ride harder are encouraged to start off with the group and peel off when beginning their structured training or use their strength to assist in pacing riders on who have suffered mechanical problems or other delays.

The 2nd annual Chico Corsa Skills Clinic will be happening again October 24th and 25th. More information to come...

Race Results:
From now on race results will be posted to the Chico Corsa Website in the race team section. (You will need a login and password to post your results)

Breaking News:
Cross season is upon us and Weston Crumm is already moving up the ranks in then A's with a 20th place against some stiff competition in Prunedale.

R.A.C.E. Calendar:
Chico Cyclist

NCNCA Road Racing Calendar:
NCNCA Road Calendar

NORBA Calendar:
NORBA Racing
TBF Challenge MTB Races
MTB Calendar - California

Chico Velo Calendar:
Chico Velo Western States Ride Calendar:
Ride Calendar

Rising Stars:
Anthony Ferretti finished of his Junior season with a bang taking a first and a third at our very own Downtown Criterium and it looks like the mantle of new junior extraordinaire will be going to Dallas Thorpe who is showing some real talent.

Also new to the senior ranks is Ian Boswell who will be riding for the Cervelo Test Team next year. Yeah... that Cervelo Test Team.

Kudos to all the Corsa riders who raced the Downtown Criterium, I saw a lot of good teamwork out there and a lot of smart riding. I also saw some tactical mistakes and in the interest of having an even better showing next year I am going to use this as a catalyst for a long overdue introduction to race tactics.

We have a lot of riders with a desire to help their team succeed. That is a surprisingly often overlooked aspect of our sport and a good teammate will think as much about how their decisions affect the team as they do about winning themselves. Corsa is excellent in this regard and with a little fine tuning of your tactical decision making we can amplify the collective power of the team to make winning a lot easier.

One of the riders I respected most when I was racing was Nathan Dahlberg. Nathan was one of the best riders New Zealand ever produced but instead of staying home and dominating the Australian / New Zealand racing circuit he opted for the big leagues of Europe. He started racing for a small team in Belgium and he learned the sport the Belgian way. Get up early, train and race hard and go to bed exhausted... In Belgium your legs do the talking and they either have something to say or they don't. There is nowhere to hide and no room for ego when you are in the gutter, chasing for all you are worth, covered in mud and facing another two hours of driving rain after your third puncture of the day. You either love the sport enough to suffer through, or you don't.

Last year I volunteered at the Chico Downtown Criterium and acted as a Course Marshall. It was fun and exciting, but this year I saw a whole new level of the prep work for race day and the substantial involvement of the next generation.

Friday night I found myself bagging parking meters in downtown Chico. (This is a task which must be done at least 24 hours in advance of the race, all along the course and surrounding streets.) It is a relatively mundane task in many regards; you place the bag with the race day/time information over the meter and secure it with a zip tie, then you move to the next meter. All of the adults meandered along doing just that. The kids? They raced along, this was the "bagging the meters" event in their minds and the job was to get to the meters as quickly as possible, up and down the streets. They were having a glorious time and it seemed like every time I turned a corner I found the kids had beaten me to more meters. This task, turned race, added to the festive feel of the event making it more like a "preparation party" than a city requirement.

For most of us the racing season is now over, except maybe for those that are doing Cycle-cross. Winter (and winter training) is just around the corner so that means it is time to start thinking about next year's goals and training plans. As you prepare for winter training one of the first things that you should do is look over this past years' training log. Remember: The best way to improve or change your future is to understand your past.