Danielson to Slipstream! The Clarkes to Toyota-United! Rasmussen to ... anyone?

Who cares?

What's really important is whom you will be riding for next year.

It's never too early to be thinking about 2008. Whether you'll be racing for the first time or you're finally trading in that Performance jersey for a team kit, now is the time to start inquiring about teams and finding the group that's a good fit for you. If you wait until May or June, it can be too late: Your team's uniform orders have likely come and gone, and your new teammates have already spent all winter and spring bonding with one another and may be too busy racing to get to know you properly.

Over the next few weeks I'll have more to say about the benefits (and costs) of joining a team and how to make the most of it. In the meantime, I've finally uploaded a directory of local racing teams. I still have a few listings I need to add, but if you don't see your team or spot any errors, please e-mail me the details.

Several team representatives have told me they're unsure of how to answer whether they have a women's or juniors program. I'm not quite sure myself. It's somewhat self-defining. Suffice to say, if you have only one or two women or juniors, you do not have a "program." Basically I'm looking to highlight teams that women and juniors can join and expect to find like-minded mentors and friends.

• » The first cyclocross flier is up, this one for Jackson Park on Sunday, Sept. 23. Just in time, Velonews has a series of cyclocross skills videos. (Owing to popular demand, I'll throw nearby cross races on the race calendar as soon as I have a free hour.)

• » Chicago Athlete is a must-read for cyclists this month. For one thing, all three athletes of the month are cyclists: Debbie Dust (Team Kenda Tire), Ed Amstutz (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) and "Kid Athlete of the Month" John Tomlinson (XXX Racing-AthletiCo). Then there are a few cyclocross stories: an introduction to the discipline and a look at juniors cross (including input from Tomlinson). Finally there's a remembrance of Beth Kobeszka, who was killed racing in June.

• » Kobeszka would have been among those competing in the Chicago Triathlon this weekend. In her memory, three friends entered Team Kobeszka in the relay category and came in 9th out of 168 teams, not to mention 4th co-ed and 5th in the bike leg.

• » Wisconsin cops to former Downers Grove national champion Brad Huff (Slipstream): Do your intervals, go to jail.

Photo by Luke Seemann

Like Evanston before it, Glencoe employed its North Shore clout to order up perfect weather for its inaugural criterium. And after all those long drives to races in Wisconsin or the western suburbs, it was a pleasure to get to Saturday's race in style: on my bicycle. Hooray for Glencoe!

The four-corner course featured fast turns in 1 and 3, a narrow turn in 2 and in Turn 4 the aptly named "Amen Corner," sponsored by a nearby church. Shift down, hold your line and say a prayer that everyone else holds theirs, too. A pastor was on-hand to give free lemonade and administer last rites to any dearly departed carbon fiber.

A strong wind out of the east played a role in the more crowded fields. Riders hoping to advance position in the homestretch faced a choice: Go up the left and be protected from the wind? Or go up the right side, which offered the safest line in Turn 1?

A huge field turned out for the masters 4/5's. Matt Smith (Big Shark) and Tim Keeley (ABD) had their latest throw for the line, but this time it was Smith getting by first, a reversal of the previous day's Sherman Park masters 4/5.

James Pradun (UIC) won the 4's race by overcoming a five-man break in the final homestretch. I don't know much about the University of Illinois-Chicago program, but I hope this is a sign of good things to come. What's especially impressive for Pradun is that the next four finishers are all familiar names to those who've followed the 4's results this year -- Ted Burger (Unattached), Ricardo Otero (South Chicago Wheelmen), Smith and Keeley -- names I expect we'll next see among the 3's results. (Ahem!)

Colavita put two on the podium in the 5's race, behind Mike Shklovski in 1st and Craig Scott in 3rd. In between was Scott Claiborne (Apache), whom we last saw unclipped at Downers Grove.

Speaking of the 3's, ours was a lively cap to the USCF season. Several attempted to go off the front in search of primes and/or glory, and with two to go, it was James Bird (IS Corp) with a dangerous gap. Unfortunately for Bird, two unidentified XXX Racing-AthletiCo riders exhausted themselves to bring him back in time for Jason Schisler (Vision Quest) to avoid the predictable last-lap mayhem and pick up the win. (Previously Bird had won the 15-18 juniors race, with Chazz Martin (Smart Cycling) winning the 10-14.)

The women's 1/2/3 race stayed together for the most part until Jen Greenberg launched a flier with two to go. After the pack hesitated to chase, she held them off for a clear victory.

In other racing, Elizabeth Engwis (Kenosha Velosport) won the women's 4's, and Andy Kerr (Village Cyclesport) won an exciting sprint in the 50+.

I couldn't stay for the finish of the P/1/2 race, but when I left a solid split had been created, with a future Toyota-United rider Johnny Clarke (Colavita) anchoring the lead group. (Unlike the last time Clarke raced a local crit, his brother Hilton (Navigators) was not there.) It was Rob White (PCW) who took the win, however, with Clarke settling for second. I'd love to read a report on how that came to be. (UPDATE: Frank Shapiro has this photo of Clarke and White off by themselves. He says they nearly lapped the field, or whatever was left of it.)

Just like Evanston, this was a fantastic debut race: well organized, generously prized. Some might have wished for the repaving to have been extended to South Avenue, but as someone who calls Hillsboro Roubaix a favorite and considers potholes "features" rather than "problems," I'm not complaining, and I hope the Glencoe Grand Prix returns to our calendar year after year.

Full results.

Race reports:
Newt Cole (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5): "Two laps left. Time to move. Flyin' single-file into Corner 2, big scary crash. I dodge two dudes by inches and another two unfortunates who hit them. I have no freakin idea how I got thru that."

Debbie Dust (Team Kenda Tire; W-P/1/2/3): "On the last lap I decided that I had to chase and in so doing, also decided that I had to straight up win the field sprint since it was obviously too late to catch Jen."

Tim Keeley (ABD; 30+ 4/5, 4): "With about 1 to go I took my final pull and got gapped, chased, latched on before Turn 4 and then witnessed the eventual race winner (a guy from UIC who had won an earlier prime) scream by for the win."

Matt Smith (Big Shark; 30+ 4/5, 4): "A Vision Quest rider made a cheeky move and jumped well before the last turn on the last lap. I thought it was a good move and that he might hold it. It's a long way from Turn 4 to the line, however."

Photos:
John Rowland
Frank Shapiro
The Editor

Lance Maylath (Project 5) reminds me that Comcast Sports Network is broadcasting an hourlong summary of the Tour of Elk Grove this week: Tuesday at 1 p.m. and again Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. A 30-minute recap of the national championships at Downers Grove will air Sunday, Sept. 2, at 4 p.m.

Photo by Ellen Wight

Photo by Luke Seemann

Photo by Ellen Wight

Things looked grim as the sun rose on Sherman Park Saturday. After a week of devastating storms, rain continued to sprinkle, and standing water encroached on the course at several points. But by the end of the morning's first race, the weather had turned for the better, and an XXX Racing-AthletiCo bucket brigade combined with more brooms than "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" had beaten back the flooding.

Speaking of sandbags, Matt Smith (Big Shark) has been involved in a lively sprinting discussion here at CBR. Smith proved he knows what he's talking about by sprinting to a win in the 3/4's race and to a 2nd in the masters 4/5's, narrowly losing to Tim Keeley (ABD).

The 3/4's race surprised me when no break got off. The pack was wary of letting any of the host team get too far away, and thanks to a stream of primes -- including suicide-prime Cubs tickets won by Jon Tenney (Team Get a Grip Cycles) -- the pace stayed hot the entire race.

Other than these two races, every race featured breaks and solo attacks.

The 5's race didn't take long to splinter. About 10 riders formed a lead group, and it was Peter Strittmatter (XXX Racing-AthletiCo), using the race as a warm-up for the next day's Chicago Triathlon, who won a handful of primes on his way to winning the race, his second in as many weekends.

Tamara Fraser (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) rode away from the women's 4's/masters race, spending the last several laps all by herself, gaining time on every pass, thanks in part to sound blocking from teammate Jeanette Schrand. One can't help but cluck, however, at Fraser's lack of a satisfying post-up. Not even a fist pump from the masters state road champion.

Perhaps she can get a post-up clinic from Emily Hutchins (Team Get a Grip Cycles). I've lost track of how many races Hutchins has won in this, her first season of racing. She won again Saturday by taking a three-up sprint in the women's P/1/2/3's, the inaugural Beth Kobeszka Memorial Race, a race that frustrated at least one observer for its excessive collegiality in the face of primes. C'mon, ladies: Vitamin Water, MOJO bars and Cubs tickets! Show us your sprint!

Thanks to Olin Kruetz-like blocking from Project 5 and XXX Racing-AthletiCo, two small groups slipped away from the modest masters 1/2/3 field, much to the dismay of the teams not represented. (Sorry, gentlemen.) It was Tim Henry (Project 5) winning a four-up sprint to take the win. Randy Warren (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) broke his chain in the first chase group, but limped across the line for 7th overall and 1st 40+.

Juniors fields were small as well, and it was John Tomlinson (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) lapping his 15-18 opponents and Konrad Witt (ABD) riding away from the 10-14 juniors.

Finally a five-person break got away less than halfway through from the day's last race, the 70-minute P/1/2/3: Julian Baumgartner (Team Clif Bar Midwest), Brian Rheude (MetCycling), and Andrew Rizzo and Brad Menna (Higher Gear) and Brian Zink (Proctor). With two to go the break lapped the field, and its members scrambled to organize with their teammates in time for the sprint. Team Clif Bar Midwest had it lined up for Baumgartner with one to go, and fellow breakaway artist Scott Pearson (Higher Gear) towed Rizzo and Menna forward, but it was Rheude, a 4 earlier this year, who crossed the line first in a photo finish.

Full results.

Race reports:
Julian Baumgartner (Team Clif Bar Midwest; 3, P/1/2/3): Hot video action!

Jay Corgiat (ABD; 40+ 4/5): "I continued my unabated winning streak in the Men’s 40-44, Unincorporated Wheaton, Full Time Job, Three Kids, Hairy Legs and a Beat Up Ridley Division, the only category that truly counts."

Tamara Fraser (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; W-4/35+): "Jeanette signaled again and I jumped. Hard. I just pounded it ... and I got away!"

Jeff Kao (XXX Racing-AthletiCo): "Sherman Park was completely terrific. I’d have to break another tibia to miss this race again."

Brian Morrissey (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5, 3/4): "My breath was coming in hoarse rasps as I futilely tried to stay in the draft. The fight just left me. I wasn't going to place and I knew I was done. But I was happy."

Matt Smith (Big Shark; 30+ 4/5, 3/4): "I was on the left. Everyone was waiting...waiting. I did not want to wait. I shot up on the left side of the road and hugged the edge of the pavement."

Ben Vancouvering (Team Pegasus; 5): "I like road racing more now that I’ve actually finished a road race."

Photos:
Jeff Kao
XXX Racing-AthletiCo

It's prime time. Rain or shine, Andrew Jackson will be at Sherman Park tomorrow ready to say, "Nice sprint!"

• » Like a kid counting down to Christmas, Jeff Kao (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) reminds us that there are only 30 days until cyclocross. To get ready, Jason and Kristen Meshberg (Flatlandia) are hosting cross practices Wednesdays at Spring Rock Park in Western Springs. Warm up at 5:30 p.m., race at 6. "It's practice and not a clinic," Jason says. "Everybody is there to get a crazy workout." Mind the rules: Knock over a barrier, do 10 push-ups. (I won't be covering the cross scene nearly as obsessively as road, but you can expect some updates.)

• » Action Images is starting to upload photos from Downers Grove.

• » Voytek Glinkowski (WDT) alerts me to construction on Sunday's Glencoe course. "Two-thirds of the width of Park Avenue, between Vernon Avenue and Grove Street, is under heavy construction. There is about a 4-inch drop on the street, surrounded by construction fence." Should make for an even more interesting course. UPDATE: Patrick McNally (MetCycling) tells me "the pavement is under construction because they are laying down NEW stuff for the race!" Even better! Race director Jon Knouse adds: "The village is owed a very healthy thank you for going the extra mile to assure the best pavement possible for our inaugural race." Thanks, Glencoe! Now if only Wilmette would follow and pave Sheridan Road ...

• » It is so not going to rain tomorrow, so don't even think about wussing out out of Sherman Park.

A couple of late race reports from Sunday's pro races that ought not to be missed:

First, Brooke Miller (Tibco) gives us an inspiring account of competitiveness and grace. The day after she was crashed out of a good shot at the national championship, she was back in Ohio giving herself a beating on the trainer, getting ready for the next race.

Second, Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) chronicles his one two three four crashes, the first of which sent him flying hard into a tree, separating his shoulder. How many of us would have the panache to jump back in after that? (Here's an NPR story on Bahati from this week.)

Along those lines, I don't think I mentioned how fun it was to watch Bahati's teammate, 2006 elite champion Kayle Leogrande. Several laps he was at the front drilling it over Summit Street, and I've seen few things in a race more heartbreaking and gritty than the expression on his face as he dragged himself to the wheel pit following his crash with five to go. He'd make it back in and then make up enough position to sit next to Emilie Abraham (Priority Health), who like Bahati was far enough forward to caught up in the Menzies pileup, but Leogrande apparently broke his chain with two to go.

• » Veloist is giving a $100 gift card for the picture of the best bad tan.

• » It was originally scheduled for this weekend, but the ABR masters road race championship is now on for Saturday, Sept. 22, near Rockford, on the same course as the Fall Fling's road race two weeks later. Stay tuned to the ABR calendar for an eventual flier. (Thanks, Scott.)

• » Chicago's "Lawyer Jim" Freeman breaks down the new "3 foot" law.

• » Grayslake results from Aug. 4 were posted this week, but I still haven't seen anything from that weekend's race in Elgin.
  

Photo by some neighborhood kid I lent my camera to

We're all a bit gassed and maybe even burned out from a run of intense racing that started back with Superweek, but there's still some great racing to do this summer. In fact, consider this weekend's races a nice low-key antidote to the big-money, big-hype racing of the past two weeks. Sherman Park will have the history. Glencoe Grand Prix will have bigger prizes. Do both!

Saturday's Sherman Park Criterium takes place in one of Chicago's great parks, a hidden treasure of the South Side with a gymnasium designed by Daniel Burnham. The famous Olmsted brothers had bicycle races in mind when they designed the park. Apparently technical crits were not in vogue in 1905 as there's not a single hard corner on the course. This makes it a perfect, manageable course for beginning cyclists, men and women alike. (Men should know that there's a 50-rider limit in the Cat 5 race, and there currently are no provisions for a second field.)

Sight lines are limited, so it's not unusual for breaks to get away. Otherwise it's essentially flat. Did I mention that there are no hard corners?

Primes have improved over last year. In fact, I have it on good authority that a certain cycling Web site is donating cash primes for the lower categories.

The neighborhood around Sherman Park, well, let's concede it's not the North Shore. It's still a safe, beautiful venue. Residents may not be accustomed to bicycle racing, but most are curious and accommodating. Just don't be surprised if some need reminders not stroll down the course. (XXX Racing-AthletiCo will be throwing all available resources toward marshaling, but keep your head up and be alert.)

Your second race is $5 cheaper. Masters riders could potentially get in 90 minutes of racing for about the same price as the 20 minutes they got at Downers or Elk Grove.

And don't miss the children's races at 1 p.m. Watch as kids tear off from the start line not quite realizing how far a mile is. Ten minutes later they will limp across the finish, coughing up lungs and collapsing in the grass. Good times!

Note also that the women's 1/2/3 race will include a special dedication for XXX Racing-AthletiCo's teammate Beth Kobeszka, who lost her life racing in July.

Sunday brings us the inaugural Glencoe Grand Prix. This will be a nifty opportunity to race close to the roads where many of us train. Cat 5's and juniors will use a slightly less technical version of the course than the rest of us. It's great to have another race so close to home, and I hope a large turnout helps make it a success.

Farther away there's the Indiana Stage Race, which includes a road race, time trial and criterium near Indianapolis.

As many of you know, I race for XXX Racing-AthletiCo, so I do not pretend to make an unbiased recommendation. However, allow me to make a personal pitch for Sherman Park.

I've appreciated all the people who have e-mailed or introduced themselves at races and said how grateful they are for this site. Many have offered to help. Others have hooked me up with potential advertisers. But here's the best way you can thank me: Come race Saturday. Come show that you think bike racing in Chicago is important. Come show you support what I'm trying to do here. Come show how much you love what you do.

And of course, come to say hi. I'll be helping out all day and racing the 3's, masters 1/2/3's and elite 1/2/3's. This will be fun!

Saturday
Sherman Park Criterium
USCF criterium
Chicago, Ill.
Distance from Chicago: 0 hours

Ft. Ben Road Race
ABR road race
Indianapolis, Ind.
Distance from Chicago: 3 hours

Sunday
Glencoe Grand Prix
USCF criterium
Glencoe, Ill.
Distance from Chicago: .5 hours

Indiana State Fairgrounds Criterium
ABR criterium
Indianapolis, Ind.
Distance from Chicago: 3 hours

Photo by Luke Seemann

Final thoughts on Downers Grove:

• » Graham Fisk has some good pictures from the USPRO race, including a shot catching Karl Menzies (Health Net) yelling "Go! Go! Go!" into his radio, moments before a grisly pileup on the backstretch. It's hard to tell what happens next. Is Brad Huff (Slipstream) the first to hit Menzies? It appears he and Alejandro Borrajo (Rite Aid) would have had enough room to get by, but anything could have happened on these roads. In fact, it almost looks like Borrajo is starting to lose control here. I'm hoping Huff updates his blog soon to give us the skinny.

• » Have you ever seen four guys so unhappy to have come in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place? Even new national champion Kirk O'Bee (Health Net) was mirthless. No doubt about it: These guys were in it to win it and resented having to settle for less.

• » I had fun hanging onto the coattails of freelance photographer Kurt Jambretz this weekend. You may recognize him as the dude with the knee pads and the lenses as long as your arm. He was very nice to this pretend photojournalist, and I think it's admirable that despite the rain he spent the entire weekend shooting the amateur races. It wasn't entirely out of altruism, of course: He sells prints at Action Images. But given that he lost some valuable equipment when a flailing masters rider clipped him on Saturday, consider getting something nice for your trophy wall.

• » As unsatisfying as our short races may have been, I still say it's pretty cool we get to race on the same course as the national championships. Do people ever get to play two-hand touch the morning of the Super Bowl?

• » Did anyone crash in the 5's? Could it be that these were the safest races of the weekend?

• » Matt Smith (Big Shark) and O'Bee go way back. (I had not realized O'Bee once rode for ABD.)

• » Speaking of ABD, Geneva's Ben Raby (Kodak Gallery), a former member of the ABD elite team, dodged the homestretch pileup to come across the line in 6th.

Saturday race reports:
Ron Cook (ABD; 3): "I'm already rethinking my August '08 schedule. I'll probably skip the Elk Grove and Downers races."

Ryan Cooper (ABD; 3/4): "When people would soft-pedal down the hill catching their breath, I was still hard charging, sprinting out of every turn."

Jonathan Dugas (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5): "I glanced quickly at the bunch, saw everyone sitting there, and knew that was it: That was my chance and even though it was unplanned, I just had to hammer it 110% and see what happened."

Nick Frey (HART; P/1/2): "Everyone was aggressive but knew how to ride, and the field was single-file the entire time. That is my kind of racing!"

Will Frischkorn (Slipstream; P): "Other than dodging the occasional local dude coming backwards like an advertisement for why the race shouldn't have local riders taking part, things became a bit safer."

Chris Gould (Racing Union; 3/4, 30+ 4/5): "During the last two laps, I decided it was 'now or never.'"

Tim Keeley (ABD; 3/4, 30+ 4/5): "It was nice to have someone with the stones to throw his finish chances in the trash for the sake of bringing the field back."

Brooke Miller (Tibco; W-P/1/2): "Once I am wet, I want the rain to come down hard and make life miserable for my competitors! The kid in me still comes out and gets giddy with a good storm."

Shelley Olds (Proman/Paradigm; W-P/1/2): "I couldn't stand to miss the race and so I waited until the last rider passed and jumped on the course ahead of the follow vehicle."

Christine Roettger (X Plane Team Revolution; W-3/4): "On the last lap, Kristen Meshberg of Flatlandia took a good pull and I attacked her just BEFORE the last turn. It worked! Until I freaked out about my speed heading into the corner."

Chris Sherpitis (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5): "I have no interest in racing for second place while somebody from another team gets the glory of a solo victory. So it is with wolf grin and pure satisfaction that I drill the pace in pursuit of this guy."

Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe's; P/1/2): "By the end there were only about thirty of us in the main field with four of the original break staying clear by just two seconds. Maybe Colavita should have accepted my help after all."

Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe's; P/1/2): "Over 225 starters. Mixing that many amateurs with the pros and adding some rain and cash means you are going to have some spectacular crashes."

Matt Smith (Big Shark; 3/4, 30+ 4/5): "I was scared of cornering in the fresh rain and gapped myself every corner and had to sprint to catch up, slowly working my way to the back."

Steve Tilford (VW/Trek; P/1/2): "I pretty much lost my bike handling confidence towards the end."

Toyota-United (P/1/2): "'This was one of the craziest races I have been in.'"

Lou Waugaman (All9Yards; P/1/2): "It is pretty humbling lining up amidst all of the who's who of professionals."

Bob Willems (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5): "A couple of guys lost either confidence, wheel traction or both going into Turn 7."

The Editor (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 3/4): "'Pulling out! Pulling out! Pulling out!'"

Saturday photos:
Action Images
Team Clif Bar Midwest
The Editor

Sunday race reports:
Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing; P): "My shoulder was in so much pain that I could barely grab the bars, but I was so determined to give it everything. My bike was in pieces, too. "

Debbie Dust (Team Kenda Tire; W-P/1/2): "When I finally managed to get free of the spokes I realized that the spectators in the corner had taken my bike away and over the crowd control fence so that I couldn't get back on to chase. Now THAT PISSED ME OFF. I had come this far and wanted so badly to at least finish."

Nick Frey (HART; 1): "The race Sunday was harder because it was not as easy to carry speed through turns: one could not count on the guys around him to hold their lines or even stay upright."

Will Frischkorn (Slipstream; P): "Good racing all day until about 10 to go when people decided it was time to kill one another."

Chad Hartley (BMC; P): "First place ... in the 'I suck' competition. I won’t speculate on who won second and third."

Daniel Holloway (VMG; 1): "I don't exactly remember what all happened but I do know it felt amazing."

Brad Huff (Slipstream; P): "I only remember a few fleeting moments where the pack was not in one long strung out paceline."

Brooke Miller (Tibco; W-P/1/2): "Filled with furry and frustration, I chased and I chased hard. They were only 200 meters or so up the road, and I was actually convincing myself that I would pull a Robbie McEwen."

Tommy Nankervis (Jittery Joe's; P): "Some crazy guy decided to crash in front of me with seven to go! I went straight over the hangers, onto my back, and landed in the gutter hard enough to skip up it, too."

Shelley Olds (Proman/Paradigm; W-P/1/2): "It began raining again right around the same time I started cramping and it became very hard to see. It was really coming down hard and the race changed pace drastically as you could sense the fear in many of the other riders."

Jake Rytlewski (Rite Aid; P): "I was looking and trying to hold Alejandro Borrajo's wheel towards the end, but that guy moves through the peloton in ways that nobody could follow. Not even a snake. "

Dan Schmatz (BMC; P): "My quick-release was wrapped in his shorts and I was almost dragging him down the road as the field went by. Once I realized what was happening and it was too late and the bunch was by."

Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe's; P): "The last ten laps were full of crashes but luckily I was able to avoid hitting the deck."

Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe's; P): "The race was a bit safer today, but there were still guys doing dumb shit of course and stacking it up in the corners."

Steve Tilford (VW/Trek; 1): "I pretty much lost the race on my own. I wasn’t too upset. The VMG 'kid' Daniel Holloway (VMG) rode an almost perfect race."

Toyota-United (P): "'Guys were hitting the deck, so I kept moving up and moving up. I think I was one more crash away from being top five.'"

Sunday pictures
Action Images: Elite men, W-P/1/2, USPRO
CyclingNews
Darcy Cycling
Graham Fisk
The Editor

Orthopedists and mechanics should be busy this week.

Sports psychologists could expect a few calls, too. Looking through my photos from Sunday, I see few happy riders. Instead, most bear the stressed, drained expression of one who asks, "What am I doing here?" And as the crackle of carbon fiber and crushed components came to punctuate what seemed like every single lap, it became difficult just to watch this carnage.

The rain was even harder on Sunday than it had been Saturday, but with so much more on the line, racers doubled the intensity and halved the caution. Nothing stayed off all day, and sloppy conditions caused no end of violent crashes. I don't know if any of the four races ended with half as many riders as they started with.

I overslept and missed the men's Cat 2 race, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there were a lot of crashes and the top five riders heading into Turn 5 were also the top five riders across the finish line. This much I know: Mark Olson (Priority Health) took the victory, and it isn't until lucky 13th that one finds the top local finisher, compliments of St. Charles' Ara Oggoian (Bicycle Heaven).

As for the races I did see ...

Photos by Luke Seemann

Several riders were already in slings and street shoes by the time the rain started in earnest a little more than halfway through this 50K sufferfest.

Only a few riders tried getting off the front, but the field, led by four-time champion Tina Pic's Colavita squad, wasn't letting anything get very far away.

As the pace quickened in the final laps, Turn 8 became especially treacherous. Two riders slid out with three to go, but an even bigger pileup with two to go started about 10 riders back and cascaded to take out a half-dozen well-positioned women, local Debbie Dust (Team Kenda Tire) among them. Star sprinters Brooke Miller (Tibco) or Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) soon limped past, Miller having tumbled over behind a crash on the climb, and neither would not be able to take part in the sprint. (Miller would fight hard in an unsuccessful bid to catch the group, sprinting her way past every last straggler, well after first place had been decided.)

Thanks largely to Allison Powers (Colavita), who led her away from danger the last few laps, Pic entered the final turn in third place but turned on the jets to close a gap and overcome Anna Lang (Karl Strauss) and Jen McRae (Advil-Chapstick). She'd be followed by teenager Samantha Schneider (Mesa Cycles) and last year's champion Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci).

From the very first lap the men's elite race strung itself out across several city blocks. That wouldn't last long, however, not because the pace let up but because crash after crash dwindled the pack to a sliver of its original size.

Abercrombie & Fitch in particular had a trying day. It would start with with by far the largest teams present, but only two would survive to the end of the day. When its riders weren't crashing, however, they were attacking and animating the front of the race.

As was the case all weekend, the front was the safest place to be, and that's where the eventual top five could be found nearly the entire race: attacking, covering and doing whatever necessary to defend their positions.

Kirk Albers (Texas Roadhouse) said he had intended to start a leadout for national elite road champion Paul Martin when he sped over Summit Street, but when he found himself with a gap, he had no choice but to go for it. The pack, led by downstate Illinois' Josh Carter (ABD), would catch Albers in time to follow his wheel out of Turn 8, but then it was young Dan Holloway (VMG) who outsprinted Carter for the jersey.

Third- and fourth-place finishers Steve Tilford (HRRC/Trek Stores) and Tom Saladay (Kelly Benefit Strategies) both reported late mishaps. Saladay crashed with six to go, barely in time for a free lap and leaving him unsure about his bike. "I had to bend a few things back." Then Tilford fishtailed in the final corners and hit the curb, but he kept it up. As for all the crashes, the 47-year-old veteran told CyclingNews: "It wasn't really slick. People were falling from making stupid moves."

Despite the mayhem, this may have been the most exciting race on the day. "Not so bad for a bunch of working guys," as Albers put it from the podium.

It's 4 a.m., and I don't pretend to be able to match the reporting of the USPRO race done by VeloNews and CyclingNews. But a few quick notes:

• » Congratulations to local product Reid Mumford (Kelly Benefit Strategies) for being part of the six-man leadout that propelled Martin Gilbert to victory. The train made the last 10 laps look like a team time trial, and it no doubt will be talked about for years. It was a predictable strategy from team director Jonas Carney, but after 50 laps only Kelly Benefit Strategies still had the firepower in the race to pull it off. A good plan, well executed, and beautiful to watch.

• » Also amazing was the fact that Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) and Tony Cruz (Discovery) were caught up in a crash just before they were shown five to go. Unsure of whether they were eligible for a free lap, they chased back on and despite the dangerously fast pace set by Kelly Benefit Strategies and Health Net were able to get 4th and 5th respecively.

• » Last year's elite champion Kayle Leogrande (Rock Racing) went down hard in the same crash. There was some initial confusion, but since he had not yet seen the five-to-go mark, he and his banged-up shifters were given a free lap. Three laps later, however, it appears his chain came undone on the finishing stretch, thus ending his day, as captured by Matt Smith (Big Shark) from the sidelines.

• » Emilie Abraham (Priority Health), who joined us at the track this week (as did elite champ Holloway), won the day's sprint challenge but was among the dozen or so who got caught up in the homestretch pileup. (Defending champion Brad Huff (Slipstream) went down in this as well.) In order to win the $1,000 prize he had to finish the race, so he did -- walking.

That's all for now. As always, I'll soon have blog and photo links galore.

Full results.

What a messy, messy day.

The first drops of rain fell just as the first race got under way and continued all day, with the juniors and women's P/1/2's getting the worst of it. The rain ceased occasionally but there was only about an hour where the roads approached being dry. Thus many people's goals on the day shifted from "winning" to "staying upright," and the pros in particular seemed to be taking it easy ahead of tomorrow's action. But despite the weather -- which I'll also note was about 30 degrees cooler than last weekend; armwarmers, already?!? -- some excellent, exciting racing transpired.

Photo by Ed Amstutz

Women's 3/4: Teammates Jennifer Greenberg and Val Brostrom (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) each took a dig off the front, but this one came down to a sprint with Kristen Meshberg muscling past Christine Roettger (X Plane Team Revolution), a reversal of last week's outcome at the Tour of Elk Grove. What will be the tie-breaker?

Photo by Luke Seemann

Men's 3/4: Remember when I said Thursday that this race would be extended to a whopping 30 minutes? Apparently the promoters neglected to tell the officials, so we were back to 20 minutes on this one, despite the field's protestations and attempts to stall in order to sort things out. "Don't you believe what you read in the bible?" one wag yelled out.

Remember also how I said that a 30-minute race would be more safe and interesting? This race was neither, although I blame most of that on the rain.

The field was strung out most of the way, not necessarily because of speed but because of nervous cornering. But by the time you got a handle on the turns, one racer told me, the race was nearly over. Crashes were all too common: Matt O'Keefe (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) took it the hardest, breaking a collarbone about halfway through with a crash in Turn 1.

Young Adam Leibovitz (MOB Squad), who placed 2nd in the 15-16 time trial at junior nationals, stayed off for more than half the race -- an entire 12 minutes! A hard chase came close but would have needed about 10 more meters of contested road to catch him.

Chicago riders Jeffrey Whiteman (Northbrook/Garner) and James Holton (Team Get a Grip Cycles) gapped the rest of the field but had to settle for second and third, respectively.

Photo by Luke Seemann

Juniors 15-18: This was one of the more competitive juniors races I've seen around here. A group of nine came together after a few laps, with two out-of-staters getting a huge gap by the time they came around Turn 8 for the last time. Chris Brinkman (Saturn of Toledo) won ahead of Minnesotan Jens Brabbit (Bianchi/Grand Performance). Brandon Feehery (South Chicago Wheelmen) was the top local finisher with third.

Photo by Luke Seemann

Men's 5: We may as well call the Cat 5 races at Downers Grove the Sandbagger's Delight. You end up with guys who've been training hard all summer, but who haven't quite raced enough to cat up, racing against curious cyclists turning pedals in anger for the very first time. Guys with Zipp wheels and Powertaps going against guys with down-tube shifters and vintage jerseys. Because of Downers Grove's technicalities, the new guys don't stand a chance, and I'm not sure either group has as much fun as they'd like.

But so it goes. Fortunately there's an elegant solution: Race more! The slow people will get faster, and the fast people will become the 4's problem.

But this is not to say the winners here don't deserve kudos.

In Heat 1, Peter Strittmatter (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) and Mike Halsey (Unattached) rode the rest of the field off their wheels early in the race, but it was Strittmatter coming around in the sprint.

In Heat 2, Rob Ehrman (Vision Quest) was part of a six-man break that formed early. You may remember Ehrman from his CBR interview after winning the Spring Prairie Road Race. With the help of a teammate, Ehrman attacked with one to go and held a sizable gap the rest of the way. (Scott Claiborne (Apache) got a scare when he unclipped coming out of Turn 8, but he recovered nicely.)

Photo by Luke Seemann

Masters 1/2/3: Abercrombie and Fitch looked to be in control in the final laps of this fast one, but a group of three slipped away on the final turns, with victory going to Superweek champ Michael Heagney (PYOC), inches ahead of Pete Hanna (Bianchi/Grand Performance) and masters national champion Jason Snow (Cycle Science).

Photo by Luke Seemann

Masters 4/5: Jon Dugas (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) put in a valiant flier with three laps to go, but he would get caught in the final few turns. The burden of chasing was spread out, but it paid off most for ABD, which put Tim Keeley on the podium in first place ahead of Voytek Glinkowski (WDT) and Texan Jason Danvir (Sugar Cycles).

Photo by Luke Seemann

Women's P/1/2/3: I went to get a sandwich and when I returned, a break of four was off, including Brooke Miller (Tibco), whom you read about last week. Miller and Alison Power (Colavita) had gone off the front after an early prime and had been joined then joined by Katharine Carroll (Aaron's) and Laura Bowles (Team Advil).

With 20 minutes left to race, the break had more than a minute on the field and was gaining seconds every lap, but suddenly the foursome became a threesome when Carroll took a spill in Turn 7. Losing Carroll would have been costly for the break, not just for her own strength but for the excellent work her teammates were doing to keep the chase in control. Fortunately for the break, Carroll was able to make it to the pit, make her repairs and re-enter the break with no harm done.

Power, formerly an elite skier, attacked with half a lap to go but wasn't able to get away. Miller followed her wheel out of Turn 8 and came around for the win.

I asked Miller whether she had saved anything for Sunday. "You bet," she said. "This is just warming the legs up."

Photo by Luke Seemann

Most of the major pros either sat this one out or bowed out after a few warm-up laps. I don't think Rahsaan Bahati stayed long enough to slip out of his rain shell, and Tour of Elk Grove stage winner Ivan Dominguez was seen wearing a kilt.

There was still plenty of firepower left, and again a group formed early with representatives from Slipstream, Navigators, Kodak Gallery, Kelly Benefits, Nerac and BMC. They never got much more than 30 seconds and appeared destined to be caught. Colavita was the most interested in bringing them back, sending nearly all its riders to the fore.

With about 10 to go, chaos interrupted when a crash on the backside split the field in two. Suddenly about 50 riders showed up at the wheel pit. It was like the emergency room after a nuclear bomb. I believe that normally only riders who have crashed or have mechanical problems are allowed to take a free lap, but officials were too overwhelmed to sort things out. In fits and starts the fractured peloton helped itself back into the race, causing no end of confusion to both the break and the chasers.

Ever closer the pursuers came to the break, but never quite close enough. As Nerac and Kelly Benefit Strategies pulled up the uphill homestretch with one to go, the break dangled no more than 30 meters away from the chase. It appeared Darren Lill (Navigators) attacked on the backstretch: When the lead group came around Turn 5 with half a lap to go, they were without Nerac and Kelly Benefit Strategies and held a mere 7-second gap.

That was enough, however, and Ken Hanson (BMC) led the foursome over the tape with virtually no gap separating fourth place from the field, certainly the most exciting finish I've seen in any race at Downers Grove, and a most exciting cap to an otherwise dreary day.

Tomorrow should be even more exciting. Let's just hope we have a chance to see what these men and women can do when it's dry.

Full results.

Photo by Luke Seemann

As I was leaving today's races in Downers Grove, I passed Antonio Cruz (Discovery), who won 1999's edition and placed third here last year while racing for Toyota-United. I hadn't heard anything about his racing this year until VeloNews' Friday preview. (This week Cruz announced he had signed with BMC for 2008 and 2009.)

Cruz was cooling down after Saturday's P/1/2 race. I was turning onto I-88. And here I present CBR's very first rolling interview, and an exclusive at that.

You racing tomorrow, Tony?
Yeah.

Good luck!

• » UPDATE: VeloNews now has a preview. It mentions that sprinter Tony Cruz (Discovery) is a possible late entry. It also quotes Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) on the final corner: "You either crash and injure yourself or you win the race." Dominguez says he wishes the finish line were elsewhere on the course, but I'm not sure where it could be positioned to allow for a bigger run-up. Between Turns 2 and 3? Closer to Turn 1?

• » We all loved seeing Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) at the Tour of Elk Grove last week. Cyclingnews' Mark Zalewski wrote a profile that looks at Horner's hopes for next year and expands on Horner's disappointment with Lance Armstrong: "Because Lance wants to get out of the sport he is going to unemploy half of his team. Personal opinion again, but that has to be the biggest bullshit story I have ever read!"

• » Kurt Jambretz of Action Images has hundreds of great pictures from Elk Grove, both amateur and pro.

• » Ed White (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) took some nice pictures at the track last night, where Adam Bergman (Colavita), Emile Abraham (Priority Health) and Todd Yezefski (Nerac) put on quite a show. (The former USPRO champ I was promised was a no-show.)

• » Fliers for the Fall Fling are out. Looks like another great series. Men's 3's will race with the 1/2's but will have separate payouts.

• » For those who need a program to tell the players apart, here's Sunday's start list for Downers Grove. Also, the race bible has a breakdown of the men's USPRO sprint contest. Points will be awarded with 45, 40 and 35 to go: 7,5,3,2 and 1 for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Winner gets a grand. Also, Cyclingnews has a preview, citing a "possible leg problem" with last year's elite champ, Kayle Leogrande (Rock Racing).

• » Eddie Van Guyse and the other announcers do a great job at Downers Grove, but when referring to the national championship jersey, they tend to call it the "stars and bars," which is very different from the "stars and stripes." So I propose a little game. Every time they do this, let's all call back in unison, "I think you mean 'stars and stripes!'"
  

Great news! The men's 3/4's race has been extended to 30 minutes plus 1.

It's still no Superweek, but at least this won't feel as abbreviated as a one-inning baseball game.

Our most compelling arguments for a longer race are that it will be safer and, given more time for things to develop, much more interesting. So, let's prove ourselves right by keeping the paramedics bored and by putting on a really good show. This will be fun!

Speaking of fun, Tim Hayes (Grumpy's) tells me to expect fireworks at the Northbrook Velodrome tonight. Pros getting in their pre-Downers kicks may include Adam Bergman (Colavita), who won the Evanston Grand Prix in July and demolished the field in Kenosha on Tuesday, and possibly a former USPRO champion. Tonight's 1/2/3 75-lap scratch race is the state championship and a qualifier for nationals.

I was going to get a much-needed haircut tonight, but this settles it: I'm heading to Northbrook!

• » Time trials are normally outside my purview, but this is exciting: Steve Hansen (North Branch) is trying to get a time-trial series off the ground. The effort kicks off with the state time trial championships (USCF) on Saturday, Sept. 1. Hansen could use your help for 2008, so contact him if you or your team can contribute. An organizational meeting is planned for Oct. 13.

• » Chicago messenger Ryan Boudreau was killed by a truck Monday. It's another terrible reminder to ride -- and drive -- safely out there. A memorial ride is planned for this Friday, Aug. 17, at 6:30 p.m. at Skylark (2149 S. Halsted St.).

• » In happier messenger news, Andrew Nordyke and Jennifer Greenberg, both of XXX Racing-AthletiCo, recently competed in the Cycle Messenger World Championships in Dublin, Ireland. Nordyke finished 25th in the main event, and Greenberg won the goldsprints competition. Greenberg was a founder of 4 Star Courier Collective, and I believe Nordyke has been delivering for Jimmy John's. Freaking fast indeed.

• » Don't forget: This weekend is the Bicycle Film Festival.

• » For those not going to Downers Grove, remember that Friday through Sunday is the annual Stay the Hell off the Lakefront Weekend. Also, some planes will be going by overhead.

• » I stumbled upon The Steve Dahl Show while I drove to Matteson yesterday. He was in the middle of an anti-cyclist rant. Among other inanities, Dahl said that when he drives through the suburbs and sees cyclists he likes to "get as close as I can to scare them." I know he's joking, but there you go: Steve Dahl, advocate of car-on-bike violence.
  

And now the race that many of us have been preparing all year for.

The money's not as good as Elk Grove and the races are still short, but Downers Grove remains the most prestigious on the calendar, more so even than the state championships. Even though a national championship isn't on the line for the lower categories, people will long remember who wins this Saturday. (For a few months, at any rate.)

Just like at Elk Grove, expect the races to be fast, wild and woolly on this figure-8 course. The 3/4's race is capped at a hundred riders, so in theory it should be less congested, but with the added technicality, it will be especially important to be up front and out of danger. One can get through these turns without braking if you're up front where it's single-file, but if you're in the bunch it can be a mess.

For God's sake, do not bomb these corners, people. That hole you see on the inside is not really there.

Because of the turns and climbs, I expect the 5's races will break up even more than at Elk Grove. If the lead groups are bigger than 15 riders I'll eat my chamois. So, keep an eye on the gaps and always be ready to jump forward. And if you fall off the pace, don't be surprised if officials pull you from the course.

If you haven't seen it already, find a way this week to watch "Race Day," a training video shot from within the 2005 masters race. It's oh so very Robbie Ventura (Vision Quest), but it's an unbeatable way to preview the course.

A few notes about the course:

Turn 1: The best way to do well is to get to the front and stay there. This means sprinting for the first corner like it was the end of the race and not the beginning. Fortunately you've been practicing your clip-in.

Between Turns 2 and 3: Here's a long, shallow climb. If there's room, it's a good spot to make up some ground. Keep an eye out for people moving up the sides and grab them for a free ride. I'm told this section was paved this week. That will make for a very slick ride if it gets wet. "If it rains," my source tells me, "bring Band-Aids."

Between Turns 3 and 5: At Turn 4 there's a short, steep kicker. If you're going to attack, do it here. My admonitions against riding the inside notwithstanding, it's sometimes safe to squeeze by there since the pack isn't taking the corner at speed. Better, however, is to take it outside and come around everyone. You can advance a lot of positions on the wide, fast descent, but the trick is going to be getting back inside the pack by the time you get to Turn 5, an obtuse angle that can be taken super fast. You don't want to have to create your own line and risk running out of room. If you see you can't slide behind someone's wheel by Turn 5, go ahead and eat the wind by going all the way to the front so you have the entire road at your disposal.

Turn 5: On the last lap and on any big prime laps, the pack may bunch up ahead of this turn. Nobody wants to be in the wind too early, and some will still be recovering from the climb. You can exploit this hesitation by jumping hard. Don't even look back to see if you're clear. Ride it like you stole it and there's a chance you'll stay away. Not a good chance, but a chance, and even if you fail, this can be a good way to create opportunities for your team's sprinter.

Between Turns 7 and 8: Turn 7 is slightly less than 90 degrees, and I recall there being some dodgy pavement on the far side of Curtiss Street, so don't take Turn 7 too wide. Depending on the wind, you'll probably want to ride up the right side, however, so you can get the right apex at Turn 8 and to prevent people from charging up that side.

Turn 8: From the last corner it's 150 meters to the finish line. Good luck! There's a climb through the start/finish area, so be sure not to be overgeared coming out of Turn 8. If it's the last lap, you're going to want to be first or second coming into the turn. Keep in mind that you'll be going faster on the last lap, so you might not be able to take the same line as on other laps. Even the pros will wipe out here, as Ventura demonstrated in spectacular fashion on the last lap of the 2004 national championship.

And that's how I read the course. As always, your mileage may vary. Have fun, ride safe and enjoy all the weekend's races.

Saturday and Sunday
Downers Grove National Criterium Championships
USCF criteriums
Downers Grove, Ill.
Distance from Chicago: .5 hours

Final thoughts on the Tour of Elk Grove:

• » It was strange to see the rider in a CSC jersey and realize he wasn't just a Fred. It turned out not to be Christian Vandevelde, however, and I'm not sure why. Instead it was one Kasper Klostergaard, a developmental rider from Denmark.

• » Someone get Mayor Craig Johnson to run for governor. I don't even know his party affiliation. I just know the man has his priorities in order.

• » Water was uncomfortably scarce in the heat, but the chicken sausage supply was more than adequate, thanks to the Goose Island booth. I enjoyed three over the weekend, and the apple gouda was especially good.

• » Someone please buy a few years' worth of advertising so I can afford proper camera gear. Standing near the pro shooters with their lenses always makes me feel like a 3-year-old on his first trip to a public locker room. "Daddy, theirs are so big!"

• » "I am not sure why," Scott Scott Van Maldegiam (Spin Doctor Cyclewerks) writes me, "but everyone seemed extra friendly yesterday. It might have been due to the long break we had and/or the fact that everyone wanted to know what happened to the guy who crashed." Aside from the usual frantic shrieks of "Hold your line!" in the turn, I sensed this, too.

• » I already posted about them once, but Chris Horner's remarks on Lance Armstrong and Discovery are noteworthy enough to repeat: "Either he's an idiot, which I don't think he is, or he's afraid to fail, which is the most obvious to me. Or, he's tired of cycling and wants to take the easiest way out, which I don't believe is the case because he's a businessman and wants to make money." Cheers to Amie Shak of the Herald for extracting this interesting quote.

• » I presume appearance fees were employed to attract Horner and teammate Fred Rodriguez. It would have been easy for them to soft-pedal their way through the weekend or even to quit early, rather than risk their careers in dodgy domestic crits. On the contrary, both of them were in it to win it and electrified both races. Hooray for Predictor-Lotto! I know where I will turn next time I need an in-home pregancy test.

• » Expect racing at Matteson and the tracks this week to be especially hot as some pros and other elites pop in for midweek workouts.

• » Special thanks to Fred Newton of Special Events Management for hooking me up with media credentials for the day. SEM doesn't do cycling full-time but has been accommodating for this guy who does.

Saturday race reports:
Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing; P): "Frankie Andreu wanted me to be a work horse. He wanted me to covers moves and ride like a mad man, which I did."

Carrie Cash (X Plane Team Revolution; W-3/4): "I catch a glimpse of turqoise/red and also a rider in red. Could it be? Yes it was!"

Ron Cook (ABD; 30+ 1/2/3): "The only difference between me and my family was that I paid $28 to watch this race."

Tim Keeley (ABD; 3/4): "OUCH!"

Bryan McVey (Vision Quest; 3/4): "I guess I don’t feel as bad for being an idiot since there were a good 20 people around me that didn’t have a clue the race was over as well. "

Brian Morrissey (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 5): "Not really sure what happened after this point except that it got pretty fast."

Christine Roettger (X Plane Team Revolution; W-3/4): "I was looking for the 200 m sign and was surprised to see the 150. An alarm went off and I jumped with whatever I had left."

Matt Smith (Big Shark; 3/4): "It was fast, some people went crazy for primes, we sprinted and stuff for the finish."

Mark Swartzendruber (Delta Faucet; 1/2): "Steven Howard of the Priority Health elite team won $4,000 for taking first place. That's a fairly decent hourly wage."

Saturday photos:
Action Images
Cyclingnews
Graham Fisk
Sheesh photo

Sunday race reports:
Carrie Cash (X Plane Team Revolution; W-P/1/2): "Let me tell you, women are really very logical when they are on the bike, but you push the FF button and things get really messed up."

Debbie Dust (Team Kenda Tire; W-P/1/2): "Every woman on the line was capable of winning today and the racing proved to be fast and aggressive with lots of breaks for the entire 60K."

Laurel Green (Team Mack; W-P/1/2): "It felt weird to have the field all mixed up and not really racing with leadouts all over the place."

Hub Racing (W-P/1/2): "The tables got turned for Dale Tye. Hub Racing led her out instead of the other way
around."

Brooke Miller (Tibco; W-P/1/2): "It was the Cheerwine show, since they had LVG and a full squad and all the other NRC teams only had a handful of riders. We were all marked, so no break that we were in would stick whereas local riders would ride off the front all day."

Brian Morrissey (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5): "Gone was the 'Oh [shoot]' feeling as I came around each corner, overgeared then undergeared, riding at redline to catch on to the back of the pack."

Matt Smith (Big Shark; 3): "Huffing and puffing, I got back in the front and got myself good position."

Mark Swartzendruber (Delta Faucet; 30+ 1/2/3): "I'd lay odds of a break successfully staying away for more than three laps on the Elk Grove course at roughly equal to those of a certain sMACK rider remaining upright through the course of an entire cycling season. In other words, pretty slim."

Toyota-United (P): "Dominguez said he honed in on the wheel of Fred Rodriguez with about 20 laps to go."

Bob Willems (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5): "I'm now just going to be up front and if I have to burn a few matches to stay there rather than getting stuck in the messy buldge 12 riders back, I'm fine with that."

Sunday photos:
Action Images
Cyclingnews
Lee Sam
Spin Doctor Cyclewerks
The Editor

Photos by Luke Seemann

I'll lead with the news: It was announced at today's race that the Tour of Elk Grove will return next year, and that it will include a road race on a 15-mile loop. At first glance this is fantastic. I hope to talk to the race director soon about what he has in mind, how it will affect amateur racers and whether we might have longer criteriums to look forward to.

The Daily Herald reports on the announcement. Also dig this story on the racing, including Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) taking it to Lance Armstrong for allowing Discovery to dissolve: "Either he's an idiot, which I don't think he is, or he's afraid to fail, which is the most obvious to me. Or, he's tired of cycling and wants to take the easiest way out, which I don't believe is the case because he's a businessman and wants to make money."

Lance Armstrong: Afraid to fail. Who knew!?

On to the races: It was a hot, humid day in Elk Grove. Spectators found shade where they could find it and were thankful when the pro pelotons would race by and fan a draft of cool breeze their way.

Masters 4/5: A bad crash neutralized things early, but to the organizers' credit, the race was allowed to resume to its full length. This proved profitable for Ricardo Otero (South Chicago Wheelmen) and Matt Smith (Big Shark), who hogged all four $100 primes (one for Otero, three for Smith).

XXX Racing-AthletiCo got a train together and strung things out with half a lap to go, but when the train ran out of cars, the pack bunched itself into an impenetrable wall. Californian James Miller (Helen's) emerged from the fray to take the $600 pay day in a photo finish.

Masters 1/2/3: About halfway through the 40-minute race, a three-man group of Scott Pearson (Higher Gear), Jamie Kimberley (Turin) and Dave Stone (Delta Faucet) slipped away. Their effort was aided by an apparent truce in the face of multiple $200 primes, with the three gliding through the start/finish each time. Whatever deal they struck, it worked. Any internecine hostility would have killed the break, but the three stayed off. It was Kimberley who had the most gas at the end, finishing well ahead of Stone in 2nd and Pearson in 3rd.

Women's P/1/2: Oh, the joys of teamwork. Cheerwine enjoyed a dominant presence in this race. Sarah Bamberger performed admirable work in spending time off the front, with each effort forcing chase duties upon other teams, most of them having only one or two riders.

With three to go, Catherine Cheatley (Cheerwine) and Dale Tye (Hub Racing) escaped, but Cheatley was able to ride away on the last lap for the clear win. It was then her teammates Laura Van Gilder and Superweek champion Kelly Benjamin who came in 2nd and 3rd to give Cheerwine a sweep of the podium and a total of $11,000 in primes and prize money.

Brooke Miller (Tibco), subject of Friday's CBR interview, finished 5th after narrowly losing to Van Gilder in the halfway prime for $1,000.

Men's pros: And then the really big show. The really big, hot, humid show.

With only 10 seconds separating the top 15 riders, the race for the overall would be likely be decided by time bonuses, either for the final sprint (bonuses of 20, 12 and 8 seconds) or via the day's sprint challenge (bonuses of 15, 10 and 5 seconds).

Slipstream started the day with the first two riders behind first-place Nathan O'Neill (Health Net), so it had the most to lose but also a lot to gain and two ways to do it. Eyes were also on Tour de France veterans Horner and Fred Rodriguez of Predictor-Lotto, both of whom were in striking distance given the right combination of bonuses. (Horner was seen beforehand with a USCF official trying to make sense of the bonus situation.)

With more than 20 of the race's 40 laps to go, six riders representing minor teams -- Kelly Benefit Strategies, Rite Aid, Jelly Belly, Priority Health and Colavita, plus great big Dane Jacob Nielsen, riding for himself -- overcame some organizational issues to form a group that put more than 90 seconds over the field. After fighting over enough big-money primes, however, the group gradually fell apart and was consumed with seven to go, thanks to the chasing efforts of Jittery Joe's and Slipstream, the latter obviously protective of its podium spots.

At this point Toyota-United and Horner took control to set up their sprinters. (The other major teams, including Navigators, Rock Racing and Health Net, were largely quiet all race.) It was Ivan Dominguez who came from the inside on the final chicane to win the sprint, throwing his arms in the air ahead of a visibly upset Taylor Tolleson (Slipstream).

Leader O'Neill and his anonymous Health Net team caught two lucky breaks: Mike Friedman (Slipstream) came in 4th and "Fast Freddie" Rodriguez came in 5th, both just shy of the 3rd-place time bonus that would have sent them into first place on the overall. Thus it was O'Neill going home with the $26,000 novelty check.

Also of note from the men's race: With three five laps to go, Kodak Gallery leader Dominique Rollin suffered a mechanical crash. (Cyclingnews fleshes out the details.) Four teammates dropped back in order to frantically pull him back to the charging peloton. They got him there, but he was not able to pull off a Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto), and he finished nowhere near high enough for a time bonus.

Notable local finishers include CBR interviewee Reid Mumford (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and former University of Chicago rider Todd Yezefski (Nerac), who finished with the pack Sunday to get 32nd and 39th overall, respectively.

Complete results.

Chicago Bike Racing photos.

Cyclingnews coverage.

A full wrap-up of links and photos will follow later this week.

Photo by Luke Seemann

Well, that was a bizarre race.

I spent the first three laps of the men's 3/4's race down in the first corner. (My expectation to photograph crashes was unsatisfied. Well done, gentlemen.)

Each lap was taking about five and a half minutes. As I headed back to the start/finish area, the pack passed me on its fourth lap.

As I got closer to the finish line, I was astonished to see the pack come again ... sitting up.

Surely that was just a prime. Maybe somebody had just one a pair of Ksyriums. Had I missed the finish? After only four laps? "Was that it?!" I yelled to the racers.

Meanwhile, they were yelling at each other: "Did you hear the bell?" "No, did you?" Over the next 15 minutes I would spoke to about 10 riders, none of whom claimed to have heard a final-lap bell.

Someone who apparently did hear it was Elk Grove native Kurt Tromp (Turin), who finished ahead of James Holton (Team Get a Grip Cycles) and state Cat 3 criterium champ Carlos Garcia (Project 5). Wish I could have seen it.

Later I spoke to Jeff Wat (XXX Racing-AthletiCo), who said there was indeed a bell and an announcement. He speculated that people were so focused on the race and holding wheels that they were oblivious to the announcer's booth.

Or maybe they just weren't expecting the bell to ring after only 17 minutes of racing.

The only other races I saw were the Cat 5 heats, which were surprisingly lively. (I believe my exact words were, "Hey, I think they're actually racing out there!") Chicago's Craig Simon (Vision Quest) won the first heat in a sprint, and Lisle's Michael Schmalandt (Alberto's) won the second in convincing fashion (pictured above). Schmalandt, Jon Dugas (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) and Chris Hurst (Baraboo Sharks) showed particular panache off the front of their race, a nice thing to see in the 5's.

I didn't find any results for the women's 4/5 race, but I saw an X Plane Team Revolution rider carrying a giant check, and that can only mean good things. (UPDATE: That was Christine Roettger taking home the big check.)

I'll have more of a wrap-up, including results and observations from the pro races, after tomorrow's races. (Nathan O'Neill (Health Net) won Saturday's time trial, and Fred Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) won the criterium.)

Now, about the lengths of these races. I'm loathe to criticize any promoter, but I think a discussion is in order.

The 3's and 4's categories are the core of amateur cycling, yet I imagine both categories are feeling disappointed this year. For one thing, the categories were combined into a mammoth field of more than 130 riders. (Amazingly, there were no serious crashes.) Secondly, their race was scheduled as a mere 20 minutes plus one, the same distance given to the Cat 5's and 15-18 juniors.

Last year the 3's and 4's raced separately. The 4's race lasted 33 minutes. The 3's race lasted 42 minutes.

This year's combined race lasted 23 minutes.

There are only so many racing minutes available in a day, and the Tour of Elk Grove this year has a few unique restraints that make it different from most races around Chicago. To wit: The new time trial takes a chunk out of the morning. Since the premier event is pro only, a separate race is required for the 1/2's. Finally, a second 5's race was added, and even with that promoters had to turn away racers.

What's the solution? Is there a way to get races for 3's and 4's that are at least long enough to qualify for upgrade points?

One thing I do not advocate is cutting back the 5's races. I'd add a third one if it were possible. Cycling is always going to be in need of new blood (figuratively speaking only, of course). We should encourage anything that gives new racers a chance to try our sport out.

So what do we give up? The women's races? The juniors races? We all love the long races of Superweek, but keep in mind that there were no juniors races at Superweek, and the women's schedule was abbreviated. These racers need a chance to race, too.

Can we make more racing minutes available? I imagine this depends on the municipality, but take for example the Austin AT&T Downtown Crit: Racing starts at 7:30 a.m. and continues on into the evening with a twilight finale.

The easy solution, of course, would be to eliminate all the amateur racing and have it be pro only. I don't know what the rest of the National Racing Calendar is like, but I have to think we're pretty lucky that everyone gets to race the same courses as the pros. I would hate for the promoters to consider this option.

I can think of only two fair solutions to create time for proper races: 1. Move the time trial off-site and start the amateur racing at 9 a.m. 2. Eliminate the masters races. Give everybody exactly one opportunity to race, but make it an adequately long race.

As is, the schedule just seems bizarre. The promoters do an unparalleled job organizing the race and raising sponsorships and prize money -- and yet come up short when it comes to the actual racing. Until this oddity gets resolved, I think a lot of racers will be scratching their heads: "I paid $25 for that?" And despite the prodigious prize money, I bet many will reconsider their participating next year. (Some of us, ahem, reconsidered this year.)

In the meantime, I'm sure race organizers will want to hear from you. (Special Events Management also puts on next week's Downers Grove races, which share a similar schedule.) Naturally, be gracious and understanding, but if we have thoughts or bright ideas, let us do more than merely moan amongst ourselves.

And you can always put your extra energy to use when full-length racing returns in two weeks with the Sherman Park Criterium on Saturday the 25th and the Glencoe Grand Prix on Sunday the 26th.

I couldn't help but laugh to see how Matt Smith (Big Shark) is motivating himself at Elk Grove this weekend.

Good luck, everyone. Rubber side down, shiny side up. I'll be dashing off to a wedding shortly after the 3/4's race, but feel free to find me for a post-victory interview.

Also: Dig the nicely edited video from this weekend's Cat 3 races uploaded by Bryan McVey (Vision Quest). The Grayslake sprint, which McVey won, is a great companion to the in-race video shot by second-place Julian Baumgartner (Team Clif Bar Midwest). One thing I notice is the vast difference in cadence between McVey (80 rpm?) and Baumgartner (110 rpm?). If the finish line were just a few yards farther, I think the results would have been flopped. (I hope Baumgartner isn't kicking himself for all the extra grams the camera burdened him with.)

For some strange reason -- the weather? the terrain? the crazy drivers? -- Chicago isn't home to a huge number of international-caliber riders. One exception of late has been Brooke Miller (Tibco), who split time between her husband here and her PhD studies in California, where she researched the mating habits of banana slugs.

Miller, an elite volleyball player in college, didn't start cycling until graduate school. Like many of us, she struggled at first. "I would measure how well I did in a race by how close to last I finished," she writes in her bio. "Usually 2nd or 3rd [from last]."

Six years later, she owns a dominant sprint and has enjoyed a breakout season as a rookie pro. She reeled off four wins to start the season in California, represented the U.S. National Team in a European tour and won Stage 2 at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. She currently sits 20th in the National Racing Calendar rankings.

Unfortunately for Chicago, Brooke's husband has relocated to Cleveland, so Tour of Elk Grove and Downers Grove may be our last chance to see her for awhile.

You're going to be back with Tibco next season?
Yes! The team is growing tremendously and I really feel that I have been a part of the whole process. It is thrilling to not only
race for a team, but to feel as though you are a part of making
something great from the ground up.

After my spring racing in Europe, I knew I had opportunities to leave for a more established team, either domestically or internationally. But I am very loyal to (coach and director) Linda Jackson because she has been phenomenal to work with and has shown real loyalty to me. She is working hard to build a team that will be the best in the country. I trust her on the mission.

What's something you know now you wish you knew when you started racing?
I wish that I knew that women peak in sports like cycling so much later in life. When I started, I was 26 and just racing for fun as a graduate student.`[Pro women] are, as a rule, highly intelligent, well educated and interesting people who also happen to like racing their bikes.’ I had absolutely no intention of taking cycling seriously for two reasons: 1. I was focused on my PhD work and 2. I did not think that there was any point to it. I felt like I was too old to get good at a new sport and that there was no incentive to really try. I could not have been more wrong!

After attending the USA Cycling Women's Talent ID camp in 2005, I learned that some of the top pro women were in their late 30's and early 40's! Tina Pic (Colavita) did not start racing until she was 29. Linda Jackson never rode a bike until she was 33, and she went on to be one of the best in the world. Had I known that I was actually quite young still, I would have considered training back then!

Also, I would have liked to have known what opportunities were in the sport. I was very intimidated and had been told that the women's peloton was mean, catty and horrible to be around. I was afraid. Even local races with Cat 3/4 women were scary for me. I wish that I knew to not be intimidated.

Yes, sometimes people get mad at you and there is some shouting on occasion. But as a whole, I have tremendous respect for the women in our peloton and think that they are incredible people, on and off the bike. They are, as a rule, highly intelligent, well educated and interesting people who also happen to like racing their bikes.

Any thoughts on how to get more women into the sport?
This is a hard one to answer. I think that the best way is to make it a less intimidating atmosphere when trying to attract new riders. Group hammerfest rides are a great way to put off new cyclists, especially women. I think that women-only rides are a great idea, or no-drop rides.`Group hammerfest rides are a great way to put off new cyclists.’ To get more women racing, I think collegiate cycling is a great venue. It is a fun environment and a great incubator for the sport. (Ed.: Miller provided clinics for the Northwestern University team while she was here.)

The biggest thing standing in the way for new cyclists (particularly women) is equipment. Bikes are expensive. If there was a program to get bikes to collegiate women or other women with athletic
backgrounds, I think that you would see a tremendous increase in the sport. There are a lot of women who are athletes in other sports but are not cyclists since they don't have a bike. Getting bikes to those women will get them racing.

The pro women appear just as aggressive as the men when it comes to defending wheels and muscling out the sprint. How hard was it to get used to that? I don't imagine you had people trying to run you off the road when you played volleyball.
I am an aggressive athlete by nature. I grew up a tomboy and always competed with boys. Volleyball was a good sport for me in that there was a net separating me from the competition! I might have been too aggressive as a basketball player or soccer player. Once I got comfortable with contact on a bike (practiced bumping drills with friends), I was fine throwing elbows. I feel very comfortable on my
bike and only really worry about protecting my front wheel.

Just in case anyone reading this is not quite as comfortable with bumping and shoving: I am a sprinter. That is my job. Not all riders need to ride as aggressively.

Guys around here aren't used to world-class women showing up on their rides. What's it like to go on a ride where the local hot shots don't necessarily know who you are?
It is kind of funny. Guys are typically lumped into two groups: Either they are impressed and like to see strong women, or my ovaries get in the way and they are not happy to have me around!

For the most part, now that I am really a lot stronger, most men have been really respectful and are usually great. It is not that often that I run into guys who are real jerks. But, I have to say that when I first started to get strong, there were a lot of guys who had a problem with it.

I will never forget the very first group ride that I went on in Santa Cruz (groups of 80-100 riders hammering). I had been really intimidated and did not show up until I was quite strong. I had splintered off with a smaller group of riders who were doing a shorter loop and there was a group off the front. We were trying to chase and so I pulled though as hard as I could. When I went to pull off, they just sat behind me and would not let me off the front! None of them had said a word to me the whole ride and would not smile or make eye-contact. They seemed really happy to just let me sit up front and pull. I was mad that they would not pull through and knew that it was because I was a woman. I turned back to them and yelled, "Take a pull you frickin' pansies!"

They pulled through and never did it to me again! Yet I saw them do it to new women every single time they showed up. I always made it a point to be friendly to new women so that they did not get turned off by the men in the pack who had fragile egos.

When I arrived in Chicago and did my first group ride there (Wednesday night Turin), I was shocked at how nice everyone was.`I am racing [Downers Grove] to win it. I love the uphill sprint!’ The men there were super friendly by comparison and were very encouraging. They told me where the sprints were and one of them gave me a push when I was getting dropped. It was a bit different than what I had experienced when I was just getting started.

Beijing 2008: How's your Mandarin?
A little rusty. My Swahili is better, but that is not saying much! My goal for 2007 is to make the world championship team that goes to Germany. Beyond that, yes, I have Olympic dreams! But, the way I look at it, I just have to focus on each step before me and not look too far ahead. I want to focus on the things that I need to get done to get me to where I want to be. So, although I dream of the Olympics, I still have a lot of racing in the meantime!

What's more bad-ass and cutting edge: tattoos or braids?
All due respect to Nicky Wangsgard (Vitesse): The tattoos are bad-ass but not for me! The braids? Little bit girlie, but it has sort of become my "thing" on accident. My hair was long and would get caught on my number safety-pins. So, I started braiding it to keep it from getting caught. It sort of became a big deal and now I always have to have my braids!

Downers is next weekend. How's your uphill sprint?
Downers Grove was my very first NRC race back in 2005. I had just moved to Chicago and did it since it was local. I loved the course, and was thrilled to have finished 25th. This year I am racing it to win it. I love the uphill sprint!

If I had a nickel for every time someone recommended I sold advertising, I wouldn't need to solicit revenue in the first place. So the moment you've all been waiting for is finally here: Presenting the inaugural advertising scheme for Chicago Bike Racing.

A story in the Chicago Tribune this Sunday discusses the experience of finishing last. "You gotta figure if you finished last," says Jeff Kao (XXX Racing-AthletiCo), "it can only get better."

I love talking to new racers who have just finished last or gotten dropped: "Well, that sucked," they'll say, "but it was the most fun I've ever had. When do I get to do it again?"

Kao's perspective is a good one for new racers. Never in the history of cycling has there been a race without a last-place finisher, and as you begin the sport, there's a good chance that last place will be you.

If you're not last, you may find yourself dropped and riding alone, especially if you're thrown into 4/5's races with fitter, more experienced athletes. Except for the rare prodigy, most new racers should expect this. You're going to suck. Even extremely fit riders may get dropped until they figure a few things out.

And getting dropped can be humbling, if not humiliating, especially for those with marathon or triathlon backgrounds, where they received medals and adulation merely for finishing. (In cycling, only winners receive medals.)

But there's good news: Cycling has a quick learning curve. All it takes is patience and commitment (and maybe a little bit of time and money).

An unscientific survey of my team found that only about 40 percent made it through their first five races without getting dropped. Having observed dozens of new racers make it through their first few seasons, here's how I would characterize the growth of riders who train consistently, pay attention and don't give up:

1-10 races: You get dropped or finish at the back of the pack. You say a prayer before every turn. You wonder what you've gotten yourself into.

5-15 races: Something clicks. You stop getting dropped. You start noticing things. You can predict things. You grab wheels. You attack. (This is why I recommend new racers do at least 10 races their first season. If things haven't "clicked" by the end of the first year, it will be hard to come back the second year or be motivated in the off-season, and you're likely to lose whatever you've gained.)

10-20 races: You contest sprints. You come in the money a few times. You recognize other people and can spot who's strong.

15-25 races: You're consistently in the top 10 and win a race or two. People start recognizing you. Time to upgrade to the 3's.

The progression is predictable and rewarding, both to experience and to watch happen in others. Naturally, mileage varies. Natural talent or youth will help some find success much sooner than others.

As for Jeff? Well, he broke his leg this spring, but I have no doubt that he'll be a valuable source by the time the Trib decides to chronicle the experience of finishing first.

I've updated the calendar with several ABR races in August and September.

Its flier isn't up yet, but ABD's Fall Fling is a fantastic way to finish your season, especially for new racers who may have gotten a late start on training and only now finding are their form. This two-weekend stage race includes a time trial, two criteriums and a road race. In the past there's been a citizens category, perfect for those with limited experience, and for others it's a good chance to experiment by racing up a category. End 2007 on a positive note that will motivate off-season training for 2008. It will be a long five months, after all, until the spring Parkside races. (OMG, can't wait!)

Photo by Steve Hansen

I haven't seen complete results yet and I was out of the country, so I don't have much commentary on this weekend's races, but I was pleased to see how big the fields were. I figured people would take a respite between Superweek and the Tour of Elk Grove. The Grayslake P/1/2 in particular looks to have been unusually competitive, with not only Chicago's best coming out to play but also a full squad of Bianchi/Grand Performance from Minnesota.

As I noted in my last post, some fun video was taken in Grayslake. En route to a second-place finish, Julian Baumgartner (Team Clif Bar Midwest) recorded the Cat 3 race, and Veloist shot and edited a great package, including interviews from the sidelines.

Mainstream media alert! The Daily Herald covered Sunday's Elgin crit.

Full Grayslake results.

Grayslake race reports:
Mike Ebert (ABD; P/1/2): "I played the aggressive card off the line long enough for Jeff Schroetlin to get in a break of eight guys."

Steve Hansen (North Branch Cycling; P/1/2): "The cards were stacked from the beginning as Bianchi/Grand Performance from Minnesota brought six guys to the line."

Bryan McVey (Vision Quest; 3): "Once I saw that they were getting closer, I went up next to a Team Clif Bar Midwest guy whom I knew was strong and said, 'Let's attack hard when the gap starts to get really small.'"

Jeff Wat (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4/5): " made my move as usual and jumped clear. It seemed like everyone else didn't care."

Elgin race reports:
Bryan McVey (Vision Quest; 3): "I just concentrated on pumping my legs hard and since I got a decent jump on the group at the end, I held off any late charges."

Matt Smith (Big Shark; 30+ 4/5): "That nice, comfortable feeling lasted until they called a $100 prime. As a bonus there was a 1/2 burrito, too."

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