It's the NRC schedule that creates the early season problem. There need to be a few races before March. Besides, the Eagles would never ever move Cherry Pie off the Washington's Birthday weekend. Not after 34 years.

i like it!

then cross could start a month later too and we could skip the hot dusty month in race in more mud!

Why not shift our whole season by one month? Start the early birds in February and then end our season in October instead of September. This way we maximize the good weather.

If we race through the end of September we don't have enough rest before training for XC-skiing! And Fall MTB riding and hiking before it snows...

:)

If you want to race in cold, wet weather, then try cyclocross. Some CX racers feel cheated if the race conditons aren't "winter" enough.

In the average year the weather in Chico in Sept is going to be much nicer for racing than in Feb in just about any other part of CA

The normal weather conditions in Fresno in Feb are.

Average high 61
Average low 44
mean temp 55
average rainfall 1.8 in

The normal weather conditions in Chico in Sept are
Average high 88
average low 54
mean temp 71
average rain fall .6 in

As others have said why do we have such a fascination with racing in the winter when the weather can truly stink and then everyone is to tired to race in the fall when we have much nicer weather? There use to be a time where we didn't have any real racing until mid march ( and even those races were considered early season) and we have a hill climb season that went through Oct and even into Nov some times. It wasn't until the 84 Olympics and the national team coming to central CA that we saw large participation in the Feb/early Mar racing around here.

You have all had very appreciated responses and suggestions. The 'earlier date' subject has been a frequent conversation amongst the crew. We will have a contingent at the scheduling meeting pushing for an earlier date on the schedule. Also, as Casey mentioned, it will be coupled with another event (or two) to make it more attractive.

The team and the town has really enjoyed putting the event on. We are looking forward to establishing a long running tradition of great racing with these events.

Please keep your suggestions coming, they are all considered.

For the rest of the world's racers the Tour of CA is ideal in February. At that time of year, CA's weather is pretty much the best option available and the race is not too hard so it's good training for that time of year.

Asking riders to postpone the start of their season so they can maybe hang on for a race in late September... tough sell. Chico's race is established well enough that they should get the field sizes they deserve, not the end of season left-overs.

peterpen wrote:I'm going to swim upstream against the "hold it earlier" theme.

There's plenty of racing earlier in the year but some of our best weather in NorCal comes mid-September. Personally, I wish there were races into October. 8)

Keep it where it is on the calendar, especially with Henleyville the day before as a warm-up.

Not that I have much of a say, since I haven't made it up to Chico the last 2 years (I'll try to make it next year), but I agree with Peter. I think it's sad that our racing ends just as we're having our best weather.

On a similar note, I've always thought that the tour of CA should take place in October since our weather is much better than it is in February, and then they could add some real sierra mountains to the race without having to worry about snow.

Not sure how much interest there is in this but I just posted a scan of the race program for the 1984 Chico stage race. http://idisk.mac.com/casey_k-Public?view=web warning is is a 16 MB file so probably something you might not want to get if you are still on dial-up.

Chico is going to do better if it is paired with another race in the chico area ( like currently with the RR on the day before). This means that really you need an open weekend not just a single day. While I'm sure some people would travel to Chico for a single race I'm sure they will get more people who would make the trip if there were two races to do.

there's so many good races early in the season that it is hard to wait!

there were some days open for crits this year (june 7 and 27) due to cancellations.

i'd suggest we let chico have one of those dates and if the other races want to be held next year, let them have the later, less desirable dates

or put it up against sea otter--lots of us roadies like to avoid that--put it with a rr or a tt and i bet you'll get some interest in june

Elis wrote:I have wanted to do this event for two years now, and both years I have been 100% done by the time it rolls around. Then again, I'm one of those people who starts in February.

If it were a little earlier in the season (even one week, which this year would have had a conflict with the Twilight) I would have been there. My best intentions have so far been thwarted by my body throwing in the towel.

If you really want to do Chico and it keeps the same date on the calendar I guess you could always start your season a little later. :) The problem with moving Chico to an earlier date is the conflicts with other races. Will going up against another race earlier in the year help or hurt more than keeping the current date.

I remember when the Chico stage race happened on Mothers day weekend. Back then we had fewer races so it didn't conflict with anything. I remember the time there was some kids of end of school year riot over the race weekend. Luckily it didn't affect the race. I think if Chico stays where it is it can develop to be the end of the season for a lot of riders and maybe the race can work on developing a kind of end of season party type atmosphere.

I have wanted to do this event for two years now, and both years I have been 100% done by the time it rolls around. Then again, I'm one of those people who starts in February.

If it were a little earlier in the season (even one week, which this year would have had a conflict with the Twilight) I would have been there. My best intentions have so far been thwarted by my body throwing in the towel.

The Corsa Criterium is a fun course to race. It is an organized downtown event, highly spirited volunteers, with Michael Hernandez whooping it up for everyone. Yes it is toward the end of the season, and a long drive for some racers; but the purse is fair and the course is exceptionally fun and technical, and with a podium.

I like the time of year it is held; it is fun to drive up highway 5 and pass all those tomato trucks; a glimpse of the harvest season ending. And by the way the weather was perfect.

As a female racer, I thought the 10:30 slot was perfect. A nice morning race, not influenced by weather, and enough time to get home and run some errands before the day ends.

How about this idea? Throw in a time trial, so this way some of us who could only commit to one day of racing and have to do the drive could get some use of their year end fitness. This could encourage more racers to attend and benefit the racers who only could race one race in the criterium. Possibly an Omnium (Henleyville, Crit, ITT)?

The racing was fun, thank you,
Laurie Fenech
Team Walthour

I'm going to swim upstream against the "hold it earlier" theme.

There's plenty of racing earlier in the year but some of our best weather in NorCal comes mid-September. Personally, I wish there were races into October. 8)

Keep it where it is on the calendar, especially with Henleyville the day before as a warm-up.

The women 123 had to get up early to travel that far and then wait around a long time if their husband/BF was racing in the 35+ 123 and/or P123, and vice versa.

But that's just the effect on those groups, not the rest.

Maybe bringing back the Rob Ward First Lap Skoal Prime (presented by Bobby Seals) would help (those around in the 90s might remember that). Kidding. ;)

Perhaps a date that was earlier, and not in the middle of summer. Take advantage of the students still in town near the end of the school year. The more people you get downtown - especially those who spend money - will certainly make the Downtown Chico Business Association happier. Perhaps also trying to avoid a conflict with another large event in town like the World Music Festival would help as well (though I don't know if that had a major impact on things - just thinking out loud here).

Even though there weren't a lot of businesses that were open directly on the course, the disruption of traffic flow downtown and the loss of parking spaces does create an understandable concern for the businesses in downtown in general.

Maybe spread out the kids events to two different times at distinctly different parts of the day to keep those families around, rather than just have them show up in one surge and then disappear. You could maybe run a bike safety type of fair on the closed portion of 4th or 5th Streets (the parts right next to the Downtown Plaza) might also help bring folks out/keep them around. Plus, this could get the police and/or fire department folks involved.

The other recommendation would be to bump the Women's P/1/2/3 race to a bit later in the day. Seemed kinda weird to have them race so early - and don't know if that annoyed them that they had to get up that much earlier to get ready for their race. Guess I'm just used to seeing things the way they are at a good percentage of the races that I've attended over the years. Don't know how the women feel about that, though.

I agree on the late date. Two or three times as many riders would be there if it was earlier.

i would love to see this well-run race a little earlier in the season--too many of us are done racing by the middle of september

Move Chico closer to the Bay Area?
:lol:

Seriously - great event, great course, great (cash) prizes. One of my favorite races this year.

great job!

-Peter Nicholson
wholeathlete.com

Alden & the rest of the racers who came the distance:

Chico Corsa is extremely grateful to all the racers who showed up the race in our annual Downtown Criterium. Anyone involved in putting one of these on knows it takes a lot of hard work and careful negotiation of the merchants. But it is more rewarding than words can express to pull off a successful event with happy racers.

In an effort to make a better, more successful event we are already making changes for next year. We need advice, opinions, thoughts and ideas as to how to better improve the race. Please post them here or contact me by email at jamesplummer at sbcglobal dot net.

Thanks again for a great weekend. See you next year!

James Plummer
VP Chico Corsa