From what I have heard, the Carroll County road race is a very well run race and a lot of fun. The people I talked to said it was fun even though it was a sufferfest. This year, the hills come much earlier at about mile 26, since the start is in Chadwick, so the groups will probably break up earlier, but might allow for larger riders to catch back on. If you want to check out a course profile check out this link:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2651126

I have no idea if I will do well or not, but I know it will be a great training ride no matter what. Climbers should enjoy this race.

Speaking of climbers, Fox River Grove also has a heck of a hill. This race will challenge your climbing and descending skills. From what I saw last year (watched, did not ride), the race was won on the descent, not the climb. If you can do both, you will do well. I have not seen a flyer online for this race, but this race organizer posts his flyers to TrueSport.com and here:

http://www.usacycling.org/events/index.php?state=IL

For Grafton, here is a link to a webpage that has a link to the flyer as well as a link for registration:

http://www.wicycling.org/WisconsinCup/roadSchedule.htm

For the MAJORS series races, don't forget about the 40+ first timers race for those that have raced 15x or fewer. Good place for beginning Masters over 40 to get their feet wet.

1st - Great job on the site, good stuff for a hungry community.

2nd Carroll county is a good race. Well supported and safe. I did it as a 4 unattached rider last year, there was only about 15 people in the 4's, but I would expect the field to get bigger this year. I heard at least 10-15 people at Wheaton talking about plans to go out there.

I'm going this year.

I had a number of questions regarding the Carroll County race that I had answered that I thought others might be interested in:

- What about spare wheels? There will be a vehicle carrying riders' spare wheels. This vehicle will stay with the largest contingent of riders for each wave. If you get dropped, you may be out of luck.

- Can you have a fanny pack (for a spare tube and CO2)? Yes.

- Is Cat 4 going off in the same wave as 30+ and 40+? No. This is a mistake on the website.

- What liquid options are being handed out by volunteers? This is an improvement over last year. They will be handing out Smart Water in sport bottles. These bottles will fit in your bottle cages. Much better than the screw tops they had last year. Also, the Smart Water has some electrolytes in it that certainly can't hurt with the heat.

- There is a dinner directly after the race which is included in the cost of the race. Entertainment will be provided. Pretty cool.

Hope that helps.