Tour of Elk Grove Day One

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.

Comments

Posted by: Jason at Aug. 12, 2007 11:21 AM