Happy training for the week of 4/8.

USAT Honors for 2012: Congratulations to Sean Molina and Greg Watkins for earning USA Triathlon All American honors for 2012, indicating a ranking in the top 5% of the age group nationally.  Congratulations also to Justin Waller for earning USA Triathlon Honorable Mention honors for 2012, indicating a ranking in the next 5%.  For those that may not be aware, USA Triathlon complies rankings for every member at every sanctioned race.  You must do a minimum of three sanctioned races in a year to be eligible for the final rankings.  Final rankings for 2012 can be viewed here.  Please let me know of any omissions.

New Club Track Guru: CTC member David Bruhn has agreed to take on the role of "Track Guru" for the club.  David was an elite runner in high school and college and has extensive experience as a high school track and cross country coach.  He will be out at the Thursday night track workouts offering tips and guidance to whomever may be interested.  He is also happy to answer any running related questions and can be reached at trackcoach@chicotriathlonclub.com.

Ice Breaker:  Joe Flagg braved the cold water at Saturday's Ice Breaker, the first local triathlon of the season.  Joe's results have been posted to the Results page of the website.

Chico Stage Race this Weekend: The Chico Stage Race is still in need of volunteers for Sunday's downtown criterium.  There will be a volunteer training meeting Tuesday April 9th at Mountain Mike’s Pizza on Hwy 32 and 5th St at 6pm with free pizza for volunteers.  Email chicostagerace@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out.

Pictures: Pictures from the Chico Kidney Biathlon, the March General Meeting, and the recent bike clinic have been posted to the Gallery page of the website.  Thanks to Laura for taking them.

Happy training for the week of 4/1.

Thursday Night Time Trial: This Thursday is the first Thursday of the month, meaning that instead of the track workout at PV, we'll be at Rodney's River Road 10-Mile Time Trial.  The course is five miles out and back, starting where W. 5th Street turns into River Road southwest of downtown.  Registration begins at 5:30pm with the first rider going off at 6:01pm.  All levels are welcome for this individual race against the clock.  So wear your CTC colors and come out for this great event.  Additional details can be found here.

Proposed Open Water Swim Program: Justin Waller has been working with Chico Masters to coordinate an open water swim program for club members.  The proposed program would include:

• Open water/tri focused workouts at In Motion on Monday and Wednesday (both at Noon and 7:00pm)
• Open water swim practices twice each month
• Focus on working toward an open water swim race with multiple distance options
• If you are not a member of the Masters Swimming group, there would be an annual fee (to cover insurance etc) and monthly or punch card options.

The program is still being finalized, so please contact Justin (jcwaller900 at yahoo dot com) if you are interested in participating.

Black Butte Triathlon Discount: The organizers of the Black Butte Triathlons have generously offered a 15% discount on registration to current CTC members.  This is our first club triathlon of the year, and it place June 8 and 9 at Black Butte Lake.  Events include sprint and olympic mountain bike triathlons on Saturday and sprint and olympic road bike triathlons on Sunday.  Contact president@chicotriathlonclub.com to request the discount code.

The Mountainbike Triathlon:  Kirk and Alec Chambers represented CTC at Saturday's Mountain Bike Triathlon put on by TBF racing.  Their results have been posted to the Results page of the website.

Chico Kidney Biathlon:  An oversight from last week's update:  Maya English also competed in the Chico Kidney Biathlon which took place March 23, 2013.

Happy training for the week of 3/25.

Chico Kidney Biathlon:  CTC was well represented at the first annual Chico Kidney Biathlon which took place on Saturday.  Participants included Manny Mejia, Sean Molina, Nathan Brosius, Greg Watkins, Christine Roberts, Jeriamee Leeman, Tammie Watkins, Daren Otten, Karen English, Laura Van Dervoort, and Tony English (hope I didn't miss anybody).  Results for CTC members have been posted to the Results page of the website.

Chico Stage Race and Downtown Mile:  On April 13th and 14th, the Chico Corsa cycling club is putting on the Chico Stage Race, a two day bike race held in and around Chico.  The Paskenta Hills Road Race takes place on Saturday, while Sunday's events include a time trial on River Road and the Downtown Chico Criterium.  All of the events require volunteers, but it takes over 100 volunteers to properly monitor the downtown criterium course.  CTC is asking its membership to volunteer and support this event.  Being a course monitor is a great way to catch some exciting bike racing, and if you need another reason to be downtown that day, Fleet Feet is putting on the Downtown Mile, a free running race which takes place at noon.  You can sign up to volunteer at www.chicostagerace.com/volunteers.html.

Black Butte Training Plans:  For those who may have been unable to attend the recent general meeting, the sprint and olympic distance training plans presented at the meeting have been posted to the Training page of the website.  The plans are tailored for our first club triathlon of the year, the Black Butte Triathlons, which take place June 8 and 9 at Black Butte Lake.  Events include sprint and olympic mountain bike triathlons on Saturday and sprint and olympic road bike triathlons on Sunday.

Donner Lake Triathlons:  While not an official club race, several CTC members will be racing the Donner Lake Triathlon July 28th near Truckee.  The event offers sprint, olympic, and half iron distance races.  There is also a plan for a group ride on a portion of the Ironman Lake Tahoe bike course the following day.  The reason for the reminder is that entry fees for the event increase after March 31st.