Swim, Bike, Run & Smile

Sponsors:

This month we want to highlight our sponsor.

Under the Sun Events has been managing and timing the very best races in Northern California, Southern Oregon and Western Nevada since 2007.

Jeff and Jenni Merrell are avid runners with a passion for the sport and a drive to keep Under the Sun Events growing and moving forward. Prior to taking over the company in 2020 they had been participants in many races that UTSE managed.  they saw what Under the Sun provided to the running community and did not want to see that go away when Julie and Nikki decided they wanted to pursue other passions.  They were excited to continue providing the best management options and timing services for race directors, while bringing their own ideas for taking UTSE to the next level.

Jeff is a long-time runner who brings his project management skills to this new arena.  Jenni is a duathlete who brings her skills as a CPA.  Both are passionate about the sport and love seeing the joy and determination on the faces of the participants as they cross the finish line.

Nikki and Julie built UTSE as a place where you knew you would find experts who treated your race like their own. You will discover that they are carrying on their legacy. They are known for being friendly, responsive, and fully dedicated to making your event an amazing experience for everyone.

Jeff is a Certified Race Director with the Road Runners Club of America, a Racejoy Certified Timer, a RaceDay Certified Timer and is also certified by RunSignUp, a key partner in all their events.

Here is a link to their current calendar: https://www.underthesunevents.org/calendar/

Strava Competition/Athlete of the Month:

We will be holding a monthly contest for members only. We will utilize the Strava data in helping to pick the Athlete of the Month. The time frame will be from the 1^st day of the month until midnight of the last day of the month. You will have to send in your completed training log to https://www.strava.com/clubs/ChicoTriClub by the 2^nd of the next month.

May’s winner is CORI DENNHARDT congratulations!

June’s winner is DAN SPENCER congratulations!

Training:

Swims: One Mile open water swim has returned. Friday morning swim workout at One Mile/Sycamore pool.....meet between 6:30-7 am and swim for an hour or for as long or short as you want. Don't forgot to not leave any valuables unattended.

In Motion pool is open.

The River Road TTs:   

This is a no-cost no-prize barely-organized race series, put on by the one and only Dr. Eric Ayars truly in memory of Rodney, who is apparently dead or something because nobody's seen him at a bike event for years now. 😏 They will be held on the first Thursday of the month until October or so.

The course is a nearly-flat out-and-back beginning where 5th Street becomes River Road as it leaves town heading west. Sign-ups begin at 5:30 PM (ish) and riders will be started at 1-minute intervals beginning at 6:01 PM.

The rules:

(1) Helmet required. The road is open to traffic; assume all the drivers are homicidal maniacs talking on cellphones.

(2) No drafting, as defined by USAT rules: If you come within three bike-lengths of someone, pass them on the left within 25 seconds. If you get passed, drop back to more than 3 bike lengths behind them before attempting to re-pass them. Nobody is enforcing this rule, though: it just comes down to this being a race between you and the clock so keep other people out of it.

(3) Attempting to bribe the timer by bringing a dog treat for Suki is allowed.

(4) Times will be posted on the Chico Triathlon Club website when he gets around to it.

Thank you, Eric Ayars, for hosting the TTs.

Rides:

The Friday Rides:

Email Shawn Hughes at amigohughes@gmail.com if you are interested in receiving notices of ride date and times.

Runs: 

The Saturday Beginner LSD is at 9:00 A.M. It is a slower paced beginner run going for up to 60 minutes. Meet at the 5-Mile Recreation Area near the bathrooms. There is also an LSD run on Saturday’s meeting at the 5-mile bathrooms at 8:00 AM. The Monday Night Run meets at Wildwood Park near the bathrooms at 6:00 P.M. bring headlamps. The run is posted on Facebook weekly.

CTC Track Workout:

Every Thursday except for the TT Thursday we will meet at a track (to be decided). We will meet at 5:45 PM. Updates to the track location and any other info are made on the Facebook page.

Uniform/kits:

The store has closed.

Black Butte Tri/DU:

Race date is September 18, 2021. Registration is open NOW!!! Please note we will limit the number of participants this year and it appears that we are going to sale out any day now.

Race Results:

This is a shout out to anybody who has participated in a recent race. We would love to hear from you. Please send me any information on a race you have participated in.

This could be as simple as your name and the name of the event, your results or a race report outlining your personal experience.

Hope to see you soon,  

Shawn Hughes   CTC President

Tammie and I were planning a summer road trip to Salt Lake City to visit our son, and I naturally consulted TriFind to see if we might choose a weekend that included a local race. July 10^th and the Echo Triathlon fit the bill. The race offered Olympic and Sprint distances and was USAT sanctioned; we both signed up for the Olympic.

The race venue is Echo Lake which is about 45 minutes east of Salt Lake and sits at an elevation of 5500 feet. It was put on by TriUtah and was very well organized. The elevation meant it would be cooler, which was welcome news in the middle of this western heat wave. It also meant racing at altitude, which I normally tolerate pretty well.

Like most lakes these days, the water level was much lower than normal, maybe 20 feet down from the last time the race happened in 2019. This made for a long-ish trail run up to T1 but also made for something much more challenging: Mud. I’ve seen a lot in 33 years of racing but never have experienced a swim like this one. From the rolling start arch to the edge of the water was maybe 30 feet of ankle deep, squishy mud. But that was just the appetizer. From there you had to “run” all the way out to the first buoy before the water was deep enough to start swimming. The mud under the water was much softer so instead of ankle deep it was more like mid-calf deep. The aerobic toll from this was dramatic and I quickly felt the altitude and was nearly hyperventilating. After finally reaching water deep enough to swim, I had to just relax and slow my stroke down and take it easy for a while to get my breathing under control. It was a two-loop swim and while you didn’t have to fully exit the water between loops, there was another long section of mud-running before being able to swim the second loop. On the way back in the water was about knee to thigh deep for quite a while and I kept trying to swim but my hands just kept dragging through the mud. Then I finally got the idea to try backstroke and it actually worked great since you need much less water. I couldn’t sight but there were a couple of people behind me “running” in and I just watched their faces and was able to navigate straight in to the swim finish. My time for the swim was 26:07 (Strava says 1:28 per 100 yards) which was first in my age group and 16^th in a field of 155.

With that adventure complete it was on to the bike which was thankfully uneventful. The course was out and back and mostly climbed at maybe 1 to 2% to the turnaround which meant a fast return. It was pretty scenic and paralleled I-80. But I never look at scenery during a race so it didn’t really matter to me. I had to keep the effort down to keep my breathing under control but my legs felt great the entire ride. I finished in 1:09:20 (21.6 mph), first in my age group and 20^th overall.

I felt pretty good starting the run which was on a mostly gravel rail-trail and was remarkably flat considering we were in the mountains. It was out and back and climbed very gently up to the turnaround. I stayed pretty steady the entire time and finished in 46:52 (7:33 per mile), first in my age group and 33^rd overall. There were only nine ancient fossils in my age group and I was pleased to win the category by about 8 minutes. Tammie had some stiff competition and finished 4^th in her age group. The event was professionally produced, well organized, and I would definitely do a TriUtah race again given the opportunity.

Swim, Bike, Run & Smile

Sponsors:

This month we want to highlight our sponsor Butte Premier Physical Therapy. We focus on eliminating the source of your dysfunction rather than simply relieving the symptoms. We are dedicated to doing our best for you so that you can get back to the life you want as soon as possible. Anything less just isn’t enough.

– Leigh Langerwerf, PT, DPT. Owner / Founder of BPPT.

I can personally attest that BPPT goes above and beyond in the care their patients.

Strava Competition/Athlete of the Month:

We will be holding a monthly contest for members only. We will utilize the Strava data in helping to pick the Athlete of the Month. The time frame will be from the 1^st day of the month until midnight of the last day of the month. You will have to send in your completed training log to https://www.strava.com/clubs/ChicoTriClub by the 2^nd of the next month.

April’s winner is Greg Watkins. Congratulations on accomplishing USAT Distinguished Athlete for 2020.

Training:

Swims: One Mile open water swim has returned. Friday morning swim workout at One Mile/Sycamore pool.....meet between 6:30-7 am and swim for an hour or for as long or short as you want. Don't forgot to not leave any valuables unattended.

In Motion is open and the pool is open.

The River Road TTs:   

This is a no-cost no-prize barely-organized race series, put on by Eric Ayars in memory of Rodney, who is apparently dead or something because nobody's seen him at a bike event for years now. They will be held on the first Thursday of the month until October or so.

The course is a nearly-flat out-and-back beginning where 5th Street becomes River Road as it leaves town heading west. Sign-ups begin at 5:30 PM (ish) and riders will be started at 1-minute intervals beginning at 6:01 PM.

The rules:

(1) Helmet required. The road is open to traffic; assume all the drivers are homicidal maniacs talking on cellphones.

(2) No drafting, as defined by USAT rules: If you come within three bike-lengths of someone, pass them on the left within 25 seconds. If you get passed, drop back to more than 3 bike lengths behind them before attempting to re-pass them. Nobody is enforcing this rule, though: it just comes down to this being a race between you and the clock so keep other people out of it.

(3) Attempting to bribe the timer by bringing a dog treat for Suki is allowed.

(4) Times will be posted on the Chico Triathlon Club website when I get around to it.

 Thank you, Eric Ayars, for hosting the TTs.

Rides:

The Sunday ride is run by Jenni Merrell. Location, route, and distance vary from week to week. Email Jenni to get the weekly details (treasurer@chicotriathlonclub.com). Also keep an eye on the Facebook page, she will usually post details there as well. Rain typically cancels. There is also a community Sunday 9:00 a.m. LSD (Long Steady Distance) ride that meets at One Mile. Pace is typically 18-19 mph and there are many options for early turns back into town during the ride.

The Friday Rides:

Email Shawn Hughes at amigohughes@gmail.com if you are interested in receiving notices of ride date and times.

Runs: 

The Saturday Beginner LSD is at 9:00 A.M. It is a slower paced beginner run going for up to 60 minutes. Meet at the 5-Mile Recreation Area near the bathrooms. There is also an LSD run on Saturday’s meeting at the 5-mile bathrooms at 8:00 AM. The Monday Night Run meets at Wildwood Park near the bathrooms at 6:00 P.M. bring headlamps. The run is posted on Facebook weekly.

CTC Track Workout:

Every Thursday except for the TT Thursday we will meet at a track (to be decided). We will meet at 5:45 PM. Updates to the which track and any other info are made on the Facebook page.

Uniform/kits:

Keep your eyes open we will be opening the uniform store soon for a brief period.

Black Butte Tri/DU:

Race date is September 18, 2021. Registration is open NOW!!! Please note we will limit the number of participants this year and it appears that we are going to sell out any day now.

Race Results:

This is a shout out to anybody who has participated in a recent race. We would love to hear from you. Please send me any information on a race you have participated in.

This could be as simple as your name and the name of the event, your results or a race report outlining your personal experience.

Hope to see you soon,  

Shawn Hughes   CTC President