USA Cycling announced today that its national criterium championship, previously a fixture in Downers Grove, will move to Glencoe in 2010.

Downers Grove has hosted the national championships on a popular figure-eight course since 1991, but the race’s demise has been speculated ever since the village council pulled $37,000 in funding in December.

Special Events Management will continue to manage the race, set for Saturday, Aug. 14.

This is a major coup for promoter Jon Knouse and his Glencoe Grand Prix, which in only three years has built a reputation for a well-run and well-funded operation.

“Once I saw Downers Grove decided not to renew,” Knouse said, “I called (ICA president and SEM event manageer) Steve Hansen and said: ‘We can help you. At least for this year, I know we can offer a great alternative and on short notice.’ SEM agreed, and we approached USA Cycling and they agreed.”

I’m looking to confirm details, but I’m told that the course will be altered -- no more Amen Corner, but a hill will be incorporated -- and racing will be limited to one day, meaning less amateur racing and no more twilight pro-am.

“This was really a lightning-in-the-bottle scenario,” Knouse said, “and we are totally grateful to SEM management and USA Cycling for having faith in us. We plan to deliver in spades.”

USA Cycling had previously announced the relocation of women’s and men’s elite national championships, which this year will take place in Bend, Ore., but Knouse says the Glencoe schedule will include a 1/2 race and a “big women’s pro race.”

Also of note: ABD this week announced that the Winfiled criterium weekend -- a fun, climber-friendly twilight crit on Saturday, ABR national championships on Sunday -- is returning to August on Aug. 21-22. That makes two consecutive weekends of big racing, and it means Winfield no longer conflicts with the popular Spring Prairie Road Race in Wisconsin.

• » Some new info for the April 17 Leland Kermesse. Longer laps, more gravel. Online registration opens March 1.

• » Good news for women: The Tour of America’s Dairyland has added a 3/4 field for you.

• » Hmm. USA Cycling now lists location for the national criterium championships as “TBD.”

• » The Illinois Cycling Association meets Satruday in Lisle.

• » Vision Quest is holding an indoor time trial in Highland Park on March 6, joining ABD’s indoor trials in the Mid America Time Trial Series.

• » For the completist: I have created an updated version of my cyclocross calendar, including photos from the season’s final four races. Available only from CafePress for $17.50. Cheap! (The previous cyclocross version and the road calendar are still available, too.)

• » Set your alarm clocks: Pre-registration for Hillsboro-Roubaix will open at 8 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 1.

• » And mark your calendars: The Tour of Champaign-Urbana returns May 22-23.

• » At Podium Insight, Lyne Lamoureux has an interview with Adam Myerson (Cycle-Smart). The comparison of results-oriented East Coast vs. crazy-oriented Portland is noteworthy in the wake of our own breakthrough cross season.

• » Careful with that door.

• » Through Jan. 15, show a cycling license or a bib number at Human Performance Institute and get 20 percent off gym membership or personal training.

• » Everything I know about Downers Grove I learned from Emo Phillips.

The village council of Downers Grove voted Tuesday to eliminate the $37,000 it spends on the USPRO National Championship weekend, the crown jewel of local racing.

Although the budget’s wording suggests the race will be canceled, I’m told that organizer Special Events Management is seeking sponsorship to plug the gap, and the race may go on. (The Downers Grove budget also calls it a “criterion,” but that is neither here nor there.)

USA Cycling was unaware of the development. Director of communications Andrea Smith says at this point the race remains on the national championship calendar.

SEM estimated that more than 15,000 spectators attended the races in 2009. Although downtown restaurants benefit, locals tell me that some retailers see a drop in business and resent the crowds, and several close up shop for the weekend.

At a July planning workshop, the village council rated the race as “low priority.”

Village manager David Fieldman did not return a request for comment.

In addition to national championships for men, women and elites, Downers Grove traditionally hosts a full slate of amateur races over two days, including a Saturday twilight pro-am. In 2010, however, the women and elite men will have their criterium national championships in Bend, Ore.

SEM manages the Chicago Criterium as well, and that race’s future also will hinge on angel sponsorship without city funding.

Meanwhile, the Daily Herald reports that Arlington Heights is considering not funding its Superweek race, a midweek criterium that made its debut in 2009. Read the comments for a sampling of residents’ attitudes toward bike racing.

• » It makes me think seriously about grad school: The 2010 collegiate national championships will be in Madison, Wis., and a source tells me the road race will employ the popular Blue Mounds course. Masters championships won’t be far, either, returning to Louisville, although later in the season: Aug. 1-7.

• » Update: Thanks to Mike Ebert (ABD) for noting a significant point that I missed: The 2010 elite national criterium championships will be held in conjunction with the elite road race championships, which are slated for Bend, Ore. That is a major blow to Downers Grove. With the Chicago Criterium in question, it may mean we never see the nation’s best women race, which is a huge loss.

• » “Race Across the Sky,” a documentary about this year’s Leadville 100 mountain bike race, returns for a second showing Thursday. (Since AMC River East botched the initial showing, the dirtbags of The Bonebell are heading to Evanston.)

• » More than 60 women attended Half Acre Cycling’s women’s night last week. Coincidentally, Sunday’s cross race had the largest women’s turnout of the year.

• » North Branch Cycling is having a fall social in Deer Park on Friday. The team invites interested riders from anywhere but particularly the northwest suburbs. Contact Rob Roop for directions.

• » Turin is again holding a winter food drive. Food can be dropped off at the shop in Evanston or at the state cross championships on Dec. 6.

• » Lower race fees. Bigger purses and a sweet raffle. A chance to party with the Cuttin’ Crew. Should be good times at Indian Lakes this Saturday.

• » Brilliant. In Minnesota cyclocross, the winner of the 4’s race gets a bag of sand. (Because our friends up north are soft and afraid to race in the cold and snow of December, Minnesota’s state championships are this weekend. A source tells me it will be epic.)

• » Ben Jenkins took some superior photos of the muddy cross racing in St. Charles.

• » “Hill repeats suck so much ass.” If “Downfall” parodies are wrong, I don’t want to be not wrong. (May be inappropriate for delicate readers.)

• » NY Velocity collects some interesting comments on race radios.

• » Kristen Meshberg (Team BH USA) once again teaches Pedaling with a Purpose training sessions this winter in Westmont.

• » 2010 road and cross calendars remain. Flag me down at Saturday’s cross race. Just $15 when purchased in person.

Time to start crossing names off your holiday shopping list: Chicago Bike Racing calendars are here! Perfect for all the coaches, wrenches, parents and significant others in your life.

New this year: A cyclocross-only calendar!

There are two ways to order: For $17.50 plus shipping, you can order either calendar online. Follow this link for road and cross or this link for cross-only.

Or, I will have a limited number of calendars for sale in person. Price: $15. Cheap! I will have them available at remaining cross races and XXX Racing-AthletiCo functions, or I can have them available from my office in River North. E-mail me to make arrangements.

Buying 10 or more? $12.50 each.

As in previous years, this is not a big money maker for me. It’s just a chance to share some of my favorite photos with some of my favorite people. Note that there are still several cross races I expect to shoot. If I get any gems, I may publish an update in December. Stay tuned.

All photos are from the 2009 season, and all your favorite races and racers are included:

Road and cross
Cover: Ryan Freund (ABD) cruises through the BK Stacker at the Evanston Grand Prix.

January: A masters races makes its way up the challenging Circuit of Sauk climb.

February: Debbie Dust (PACT/Dish Network) beats Kristen Meshberg (Team BH USA) in an exciting sprint at the Winfield Twilight Criterium.

March: Wayne Simon (Verdigris) leads the charge up the ski hill at the Fox River Grove Cycling Challenge.

April: Devon Haskell (Team BH USA) negotiates a wet corner off the front at the Glencoe Grand Prix.

May: April showers lead to May flowers: Some color at the Cat 3 Tour of Elk Grove.

June: Adam Lesniakowski (PACT/Dish Network) had a perfect endgame to win the Downers Grove Cat 2 race.

July: Ryan Freund (ABD) bridges to a move in the Chicago Criterium P/1/2 race.

August: Who will ever forget Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) and the thrilling end to the USPRO National Championship?

September: Seth Meyer (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) gives it full gas on the final climb in Willow Springs to claim the 2009 state championship.

October: Bobby Lea (Team OUCH) takes Turn 8 at the Downers Grove pro-am.

November: State champion Scott McLaughlin (SRAM) is first up the hill at the Dan Ryan Woods cyclocross race.

December: It takes a village: Heckle Hill gives every kind of encouragement to Jacob Thom (Half Acre Cycling) as he gamely rides up through the thick mud.

Cyclocross only
Cover: Jacques Cartier (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) leaps over a barrier at Jackson Park.

January: It was a cloud of dirt and fury as the 4A’s charged across a softball field at Jackson Park.

February: Pony Shop is there, so this must be near the front of the race.

March: Robin Williams (Mercy-Specialized) rolled through the women’s 1/2/3 field at Dekalb.

April: Uh-oh. Something has made Henry Loud (Team Pegasus) angry at Dekalb -- very angry.

May: That’s Ed White (Half Acre Cycling) escaping from the 4B scrum at Dan Ryan Woods.

June: Cat 4 powerhouses Brittany Barran-Stanley (Verdigris) and Janette Rho (Bouledogue Tout Noir) march up the Dan Ryan Woods run-up.

July: Andrew Yeoman (Team Pegasus) shows good shoulder form at Dan Ryan Woods.

August: Ara Oggoian (Bicycle Heaven) leads the P/1/2/3’s over the barriers at Sunrise Park.

September: Dave Norton (The Bonebell) pops a wheelie for the adoring tifosi at Sunrise Park.

October: Ah, fall. Tim Boundy (Verdigris) gives Andy Daley (Burhnam Racing) a nice draft at Sunrise Park.

November: The crowd erupts as Jacob Thom (Half Acre Cycling) tops Heckle Hill.

December: The shot you’ve been waiting all year for: Super Girl is queen of the hill, and dozens of her loyal subjects cheer the latest muddy pratfall.

If there’s a problem with Downers Grove, it’s that you can see only so much of the course, and there isn’t a single spot that isn’t a candidate for drama and excitement, especially when rain is thrown into the mix. Each corner becomes a slippery crap shoot, and each straight can be a launchpad for the next attack. At best you can stand at Maple and Main and be on top of two of the eight corners, but even then you’re blind to more than 50 percent of the action, including the treacherous Turns 7 and 8 and the grueling kicker of Summit Street.

Fortunately there are dozens of rider and spectator accounts, so part of the enjoyment is later piecing together all the fragments of what -- and who -- went down.

I spent the final laps of Sunday’s men’s championship down in Turn 8, waiting for what I knew would be a crucial final turn. The amazing crash of Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) would be the only one I would see firsthand, but on just about every lap riders would limp through with torn kits and bloodied bodies. One of those was Matt Rice (Jelly Belly), who got the worst of a large pileup in Turn 7 inside of 10 laps but who judging from this photo appeared set to jump back into the fray, as dozens of riders would do over the day, some more than once. Here’s a shot of Ivan Dominguez (Rock Racing) going down; I’ve read it wasn’t his only trip to the ground.

Writing for VeloNews, Mark Zalewski speculates that Kelly Benefit Strategies may have been trying trying the “Saturn sit-up” on the penultimate trip through Turn 1, and this is what led to the lap-long split of four KBS and two Team OUCH. Jeff Chen of Chicago Personal Photographers captured the maneuver nicely.

As heart-breaking as Bahati’s fall was, one must also feel for Kelly Benefit Strategies, whose Alex Candelario and Jake Keough had to take evasive measures while sitting second and third wheels. Candelario had his nose in the wind for much of the frantic final few laps. Last year, of course, he led out of the corner only to have Bahati outsprint him, and he finished 4th in the similarly rain-soaked 2007 edition. (Judging from Bahati’s Twitter, the teams won’t be exchanging condolence cards this week.)

All this attention to the men shouldn’t discount the conclusion of the women’s race, which was just as exciting. Team Tibco put the field on defense much of the race, but just like last year it boiled down to mano-a-mano between Brooke Miller (Team Tibco) and Tina Pic (Colavita). This time, however, the veteran Pic took the inside line and came out of Turn 8 with victory in her eyes and a giant smile on her face. This was Pic’s sixth national championship -- and her last, per her retirement announcement. She goes out on top.

Local amateurs Debbie Dust (PACT/Dish Network) and Devon Haskell (Team BH USA) both cracked the top 20, in 13th and 19th, respectively.

The men’s elite national championship got the worst of the weather with rain and wind sweeping across the course. Attrition and chaos were high, and the Mavic pit busy. In the final laps a five-man group formed, and in it were some local ties: Riding for ABD, Colorado’s Zach Watson would finish 4th, and Northwestern product Michael Margarite (CRCA/Empire) finished 3rd, both missing out on the national championship to Justin England (Cal Giant), who attacked atop Summit Street to earn the second consecutive stars-and-stripes jersey for the California squad.

First out of the corner, first to the line: That’s how it worked for Adam Lesniakowski (PACT/Dish Network) in the 2’s, above, who flew up Main Street to take one of the biggest wins of his career. In tight formation behind him were John Coyle (Wolverine Sports Club) in 3rd and recent Cat 2 upgrades Peter Strittmatter (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) and Keith McMahon (Van Wagner/Yojimbo’s) in 4th and 6th. Lesniakowski also placed 5th in Saturday’d 35+ 1/2/3 race.

The 3’s races at Downers are stingy with breaks, but it’s not uncommon for last-lap fliers to stick if a rider can catch the pack sleeping. After 45 minutes of racing, that was the card played by Joel Friedman (Bicycle Heaven) in only his third Cat 3 race. He attacked hard halfway up Lane Place and had just enough of a gap to hold off the sprint, led by Saturday’s winner Brent Mahan (NashvilleCycling.com). Henry Loud (Team Pegasus) has twice crashed out of good bell-lap positions in big races this summer, but he kept it upright to come in 4th. Others weren’t so skilled, with several riders sliding out into Turn 5. (One of Mahan’s teammates captured the last lap on video.)

Did I at one time suggest that another race could possibly be the best criterium the Midwest has to offer? I take it all back. Downers Grove is king.

Full results. See also my Saturday report and my preliminary Sunday report.

Saturday reports
Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing; P/1/2): “The attacks started very quickly as every team has guys who can’t win the jersey on Sunday.”

Newt Cole (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 3/4): “I looked at Julian and said in my nicest voice, ‘Dude, let me go,’ and off I went.”

Rob Curtis (Bicycle Heaven; 35+ 4/5): “This course is really meant for us short, fat power riders.”

Kristina Meinig (Half Acre Cycling; W-3/4): “For the first time in a bike race ever, I thought I might throw up.”

William Pankonin (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 35+ 4/5, 3/4): “Someone counted me first wheel for four laps. That’s a problem.”

Bryan Witry (Spidermonkey Cycling; 3/4): “The pace started fast and the war of attrition began on lap one.”

Eric Shivvers (Half Acre Cycling; 5): “It was such a blur, I don’t remember who passed me and who I beat. I just pedaled as hard as I could.”

Steve Tilford (Tradewind Energy/Trek Stores; P/1/2): “I was surprised that I was still around. That wasn’t any of my doing. The race wasn’t going full tilt like prior years.”

VeloNews: “The 50km was run on ever-darkening streets, making the later laps a challenge on the darker corners.”

Sunday reports
Newt Cole (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 3): “It sounded good until the wheel in front of me lost control of his bike in Turn 7 and once again I have to grab brakes.”

CyclingNews: “‘I stayed out of the way because you can tell the guys who can and can’t ride in the rain, and there’s a lot of guys who can’t.’”

John Dunne (ABD; 5): “When I was not on the ground, I felt pretty good.”

Debbie Dust (PACT/Dish Network; W-P/1/2): “Things were sort of twitchy and tight early on but it got better as riders eased in and got more comfortable in the turns and the field shrunk due to attrition.”

Brad Huff (Jelly Belly; P): “It was very controlled and very safe ... for the first 40 laps.  Then all hell broke loose.”

Derek Laan (Panther/RGF; 1): “The race was crazy with riders crashing everywhere.”

Adam Leibman (ABD; 3): “Two Mavic reps jump out of my way, leaving a remarkably clear path through to the other side of the tent, where I finally come to a stop.”

Adam Mills (Mercy; 1): “It’s tough to maintain focus in the rain when you nearly are killed by a falling tree!”

Ian Murray (Northwestern; 5): “I could have pwnd those guys and gotten 3rd and I should have followed the early break or attacked at some point.”

Alex Neckar (Northwestern; 5): “I never really found my legs and was generally too terrified by the constant cornering to venture forward in the pack.”

Podium Insight: “With so many dangerous breaks, the Colavita/Sutter Home field was forced to chase, time and time again burning riders as they went.”

Mike Sherer (Alderfer Bergen; 1): “I think that was the hardest rain I have ever riden in or let alone race in.”

VeloNews: “Eventually the three Kelly riders were joined by the few others as more and more riders went down in every subsequent turn, whittling the field down to 30 riders.”

Photos
ABD
Chicago Personal Photographers
Nikki Cyp: Saturday, Sunday
LaMariposaGallery
Mark Novack
Andrew Rizzo: Saturday, Sunday
Luke Seemann: Saturday, Sunday

John Murphy (Team OUCH) is your new national criterium champion after a wet, storm-delayed race in Downers Grove that will go down as one of the most thrilling and heartbreaking in American cycling history.

The race started an hour late after a serious thunderstorm whipped through shortly after the big-wheel race. The pavement stayed wet for the duration and caused no shortage of mayhem, particularly in the final laps.

Fewer than 30 riders remained with two to go, dominated as usual by a large Kelly Benefit Strategies train, followed by a well-organized Team OUCH. Defending champion Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) was completely isolated, as was favorite Tony Cruz (BMC), who rode the entire race without teammates.

With one to go, the race was reduced to two small groups. Kelly had four and Team OUCH had two in the lead group of six. A mish-mosh of teams composed the 10-strong chasing group a few seconds back.

After the second group regained contact, Tasmanian Karl Menzies (Team OUCH) was putting together a leadout for Murphy when he wiped out into Turn 5, with Murphy barely dodging the wreckage.  Bahati then surged out of Turn 7 and led into fateful Turn 8 with victory in his grasp. At the apex of the turn, however, his wheels went out from under him and he slid into the hay in a devastating conclusion to a hard-fought race.

Sitting on Bahati’s wheel, Alex Candelario (Kelly Benefit Strategies) was forced to clip out. That opened the door for Ben Kersten (Fly V Australia) and Murphy to fly up the 150-meter homestretch, both raising their arms in victory: Kersten for the win, Murphy for the stars-and-stripes jersey. (Murphy may have been able to win, but he celebrated prematurely while Kersten threw for the line.)

Cruz, a national champion here in 1999, finished 3rd, 2nd American, and was visibly disappointed as he took his latest Downers Grove podium.

Jake Keough (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Soldier Field star Adam Myerson (Mountain Khakis) rounded out the podium in 4th and 5th.

Bahati lay motionless for several worrisome moments but eventually remounted his bike and, bloodied and in tears, crossed the line to large applause. He would place 22nd.

Full men’s USPRO results.

Full wrap-up to come. More photos here, and Peloton-Pix has a good photo race summary.

Local amateurs were aggressive in Saturday night’s pro-am, with Chad Hartley (Geargrinder), Josh Carter (ABD) and Jeff Schroetlin (ABD) all getting involved in key moves. After a final selection of about 20 riders was made with about 10 laps to go, it was 2004 elite national champion Frank Pipp (Bissell), pictured above, who made the move of the night, attacking with Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly) with two to go. Tour of Elk Grove champ Karl Menzies (Team OUCH) bridged across, but Pipp held on for the win.

National champion Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) was busy at the front but called it a day early, saving himself for tomorrow’s title defense.

Team Tibco won its third consecutive Downers Grove women’s race, thanks to Katharine Carroll, who dropped her companion in a late two-woman break to solo for the final few laps, finishing just seconds ahead of a chase led by Tina Pic (Colavita).

A 3/4’s field of more than 150 was crowded but surprisingly safe and smooth through the corners. WDT-Allvoi was positioned perfectly out of the final corner with Waylon Janowiak leading out Ricardo Otero, but they could have used a sweeper: Otero lost Janowiak’s wheel after the corner and when he found it again, Brent Mahan (NashvilleCyclist.com) swung past both of them to take the win, with Otero and Janowiak settling for 2nd and 4th.

The day’s closest win may have belonged to Pascale Petro (Project 5 Racing), who led out of the corner and then timed a perfect throw to barely beat a hard-charging Aubree Dock (KCOI Boulevard) in the women’s 3/4’s.

Another impressive win came from David Jaggi (Flatlandia), who sprinted around Ben-Jamin Widoff (Team PoweBar) in the 35+ 4/5, followed closely by Bob Bryant (Unattached).

Full results.

I caught some grief last month when I declared the Chicago Criterium the best race our region has to offer. Several people made a strong argument for Downers Grove, and although I’m not ready to retract my claim, in retrospect I’ll concede some hometown bias. Indeed, Downers Grove is about as good as it gets for both racers and race fans.

We get two hot days of action, professionally managed by Special Events Management, which also handled Chicago and the Tour of Elk Grove. National championship jerseys are available only to Cat 1 men, pro men and pro women, but anyone who wins this weekend will get to spend 2010 being recognized as “the one who won Downers last year.” Most race glory is fleeting and is forgotten by the next week, but Downers Grove’s sticks around.

Expect the races to be fast, wild and woolly on this figure-8 course. This is a very technical circuit, so it’s crucial to be up front and out of danger. One can get through these turns without braking up front where it’s single-file, but in the bunch it can be a mess. And in the lower categories, the accordion at the back will squeeze you a mournful dirge as you fade into a DNF.

Because of the turns, climbs and wide talent disparity, it won’t take long for the 5’s races to splinter. Keep an eye on the gaps and always be ready to jump across. And if you fall off the pace, don’t be surprised if officials pull you from the course.

With the exception of the occasional late-race flier, breaks rarely succeed. Count on bunch sprints in just about every race.

If you haven’t seen it already, find a way this week to watch “Race Day,” a training video that Robbie Ventura (Vision Quest) shot from within the 2005 masters race. It’s a fun way to preview the course.

Someday someone should make a video for how to survive the “race before the race,” a spectacle that at Downers Grove is as pivotal as it is absurd. It isn’t unusual for racers to abandon their warm-ups and start crowding the barriers 20 minutes before their race.

A few notes about the course:

Turn 1: The best way to do well is to get to the front and stay there. This starts from the gun. Fortunately you’ve been practicing your clip-in. Once you’re near the front, defend your position and jump on opportunities to move up. And don’t shy away from taking a pull. Indeed, keeping the race fast can be a key to staying up front, lest the pace slow and you get swarmed.

Between Turns 2 and 3: Here’s a long, shallow climb. If there’s room, it’s a great spot to make up some ground. Keep an eye out for people moving up the sides and grab them for a free ride.

Between Turns 3 and 5: At Turn 4 there’s a short, steep kicker. It can be a good launchpad for attacks. One can also advance positions on the wide, fast descent between Turns 4 and 5, but the trick is slotting back into 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. (And you don’t want to be the jerk who bombs the inside because he got greedy and careless.)

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 for the final kilometer. 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 with some street furniture on the far side, 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 block 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 take care to not 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 -- keep your inside pedal up. Even the pros will eat hay here, as Ventura famously demonstrated on the last lap of the 2004 national championship.

Have fun, ride safe and stick around for all the weekend’s races. Sunday’s pro races are always spectacular. There’s not a dull spot on the course, but I recommend the bleachers at Turn 7 for the best end-of-race spectating. At the elite level, the true sprint will take place between Turns 6 and 7 as sprinters try desperately to be the first onto Main Street. From that corner you can see all the action develop down Curtiss Street and then watch as someone raises their arms in triumph 150 meters up the road.

Saturday and Sunday
Downers Grove National Criterium Championships
USCF criteriums
Downers Grove, Ill.
Distance from Chicago: .5 hours
Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008

• » Fall Fling information is out, with new courses for 2009. Criteriums will be in West Chicago, the road race in Crete. This is always an excellent way to wrap up your season -- or start the next one.

• » It got lost in the Superweek hubbub, but ABR held its state road race championships July 18 in Port Byron, Ill., and some Chicago-area riders won their categories, including Adam Leibman (ABD) in the 4’s, Tim Henry (Project 5) in the 30+, Brian Harris (PYOC) in the 40+ open and Debbie Dust (PACT/Dish Network) in the women’s open.

• » Congratulations to Christina Peck (Chicago Cuttin’ Crew), who won this weekend’s North American Cycle Courier Championships in Boston. She is the first woman to ever win the overall, and she did so decisively.

• » Why we do wheel-rubbing drills. Nice save, Mike.

• » Francine Haas (Alberto’s) is leading a beginners clinic for women Saturday in Glencoe.

• » There are only a few no more Cat 5 spots left for Sunday’s Glencoe Grand Prix, but there’s plenty room in both Cat 5 heats of Saturday’s Grayslake Cycling Classic.

• » Well-Fit is hosting a cyclocross information session Aug. 13.

• » Anne Barnes (Turin) is looking for host housing for the women of Team Tibco over Downers Grove weekend. E-mail her if you can help.

• » You think crashing in the BK Stacker is bad enough in the Cat 4’s? Try it when you’re actually going fast. (Not for the squeamish, or those emotionally attached to carbon fiber.)

• » Colorado Springs to L.A. to Chicago to Oregon and back to Colorado Springs. The life of a gypsy cyclist.

• » The Bike Film Festival starts next Wednesday.

• » Team Beer’d spends most of its time “drunk and wearing spandex.”

• » Our old friend Carlos Cabalu (Quaker City Wheelmen) has refreshed the Unattched Rider look.

• » How to post up.

• » Reports have been positive from Saturday’s inaugural Allvoi Cup in Northbrook. Results are online. To encourage more women to race, registration fees are waived for the balance of the series.

• » The Downers Grove schedule is up.

• » What the city teaches its police officers about urban cycling.

• » Soldier Field Cycling gets Pez’d. (Direct link).

• » Look for the Nature Valley Grand Prix on Universal Sports starting this weekend.

Attention, holiday shoppers! Your 2009 Chicago Bike Racing calendar is now available.

Once again I’ve selected 12 of my favorite photos from the season, hoping to capture the gamut of our great sport. There’s some road, there’s some track, there’s some cross. (Sorry, Paolo. I didn’t hit any mountain bike races this year.)

Price: $17.50 plus shipping through CafePress. Cheap!

Super discount opportunity: I will have a limited number of copies in my possession, available for $15. E-mail me if you’d like to purchase in person, either at an upcoming cross race, a XXX Racing-AthletiCo function or at a meet-up in downtown Chicago. I can also arrange for discounted bulk orders of 10 or more.

Don’t be selfish by limiting yourself to only your home and office. Think also of all the people who help you get through the season:

• » Your significant others!

• » Your mechanics!

• » Your coach!

• » Your teammates!

• » Your massage therapist!

• » Your family!

What’s inside? Maybe you!

January:  Tristan Schouten (Planet Bike) leaps over a barrier at the 2007 Montrose Harbor state cyclocross championships.

February: A women’s field takes its neutral lap at the Northbrook Velodrome.

March: A Jittery Joe’s rider takes a corner at the Beverly Hills Cycling Classic.

April: Kayle Leogrande (Rock Racing) takes the line at the USPRO national criterium championships.

May: Shane Winn (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) wins a sprint against teammate John Tomlinson and Chris Mosora (Lucas Oil) at the Northbrook Velodrome.

June: Chris Kelley (Indiana Hand Center) screams down the descent at the Fox River Grove Cycling Challenge.

July: Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci/Breakaway) sprints to her latest Superweek win, taking the Evanston Grand Prix and wrapping up the women’s overall.

August: Brooke Miller (Team Tibco) celebrates her national championship victory at Downers Grove.

September: Cat 3/4 racers take Turn 1 at the Downers Grove Criterium.

October: Cat 4 racers turn onto Michigan Avenue at the inaugural Chicago Criterium.

November: Newt Cole (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) braves the sand pit at Carpentersville Cyclocross.

December: Is it winter again already? Brian Boyle (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) cuts a solitary profile at the 2007 Montrose Harbor state cyclocross championships.

I’m not looking to make a huge profit here -- mostly it’s a vanity project and a fun souvenir to offer the friends who enjoy this sport as much as I do -- but your support will be appreciated. Thanks!

Following a 2008 National Racing Calendar that included no Chicago-area races, USA Cycling has published a 2009 calendar that for the men adds the Chicago Criterium and restores the Tour of Elk Grove. This is fabulous news, as these premier events deserve the best riders available.

Missing again are the USPRO national criterium championships of Downers Grove, a major disappointment. The 2008 edition, also off the NRC calendar, saw teams splitting themselves between Downers Grove and the Tour of Utah, which resulted in a smaller field and some say overly negative racing. (It also resulted in an American winning the race outright for the first time in several years.)

On the bright side, the calendar adds the Marion Classic Riveralk Criterium a few hours away in Marion, Ind.

Two notes on dates: The Chicago Criterium is listed as Sunday, July 26, which will again coincide with the final weekend of Superweek. Also, four days are listed for the Tour of Elk Grove -- July 31-Aug. 3 -- although the press release calls it a “three-day” event.

For more context on the NRC, read Mark Zalewski‘s excellent CyclingNews analysis from August.

• » Two of our big August crits are going to be televised on Comcast SportsNet. The Tour of Elk Grove will be on at Sept. 20 at noon and Sept. 30 at 12:30 p.m. Downers Grove will be televised this Sunday at 4:30 p.m., Sept. 16 at 12:30 p.m., Sept. 27 at noon and Sep. 28 at 6 p.m. Set your TiVos!

• » Check out the sweet Chicago Cross Cup T-shirt designed by Jesse Lalonde. They cost $15, with a portion of the proceeds going to World Bicycle Relief.

• » Why, yes, that was your editor who won yesterday’s Tour of Missouri “Guess the Catch” at CyclingNews. (Confidential to CyclingNews human resources: Is it really a guess when you know this much about professional cycling, are this good with computers and have this much media experience?)
  

More notes from the national championship weekend in Downers Grove:

• » Out-of-state riders kicked our butts in many of the amateur races, including the women’s 3/4 race, where Sarah Maguire (Bissell) and Tara Tasma (Team Giant), both of Grand Rapids, Mich., went 1-2 and quickly congratulated each other afterward. (Either that or they’re doing a Madison throw.)

• » We did better in the 3’s. Chip “Cover boy” Gray (Team Get a Grip Cycles) employed an old trick Sunday, jumping as the leaders hesitated on the final descent down Main Street. He was passed coming into Turn 7, but that let him recover enough to jump again coming into Turn 8. Three Chicagoans followed him in 2nd through 4th: Bryan Rheude (Team MS Racing), Keith McMahon (Van Wagner/Yojimbo’s) and Matt O’Keefe (XXX Racing-AthletiCo). I believe this is the first road podium for Van Wagner/Yojimbo’s, a micro-team that formed earlier this summer.

• » The closest race of the weekend may have been the final 5’s heat on Sunday, where Alex Rams (Colavita) surged in the final meters to pip Adam Lund (ce::four). Lund may be OK with that: He had already won once, in Saturday’s first 5’s heat.

• » XXX Racing-AthletiCo showed off some of its up-and-coming talent: Kyle Wiberg soloed away from the masters 4/5 race after several attacks from his teammates had softened the field, and Tom Briney won the first Cat 5 race on Sunday in a sprint.

• » I wasn’t there to see it, but Hogan Sills (C-U Racing) took a hard fall in the juniors race and still managed to come in 5th.

• » There were some hard crashes over the weekend, but it was nothing like last year, thankfully. From Sunday’s men’s championship, Julie Pusateri got a series of Kyle Gritters (Health Net) wiping out in Turn 7 on the last lap. The podium can be seen riding away in the background.

• » VeloNews reported that 2006 national champion Brad Huff (Jelly Belly) had unclipped in the final sprint, but he says on his blog that his chain dropped. (I’m told the VeloNews reporter sought comment after the race but was rebuffed.)

• » What’s it like to be a national champion? Brooke Miller (Team Tibco) has a great report about what went into her win. (Her celebration is pictured above.) You can read more about Miller in her CBR interview, and you can learn more about men’s champion Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) in this interview, conducted by students at Naperville Central High School when Bahati flew into town to give a talk on Major Taylor.

• » Some big primes were awarded in the women’s championship, compliments of “More money for women’s racing.” Brilliant. I love clever advocacy, especially when it literally puts its money where its mouth is. But I never heard who was behind it. Anyone know?

• » With Justin Williams (Rock Racing) having won the U-23 criterium championship in Anaheim, Calif., Rock Racing says Bahati’s win makes this the first time two African-Americans have earned national cycling titles in the same discipline in the same season.

Full results.

Saturday race reports
Newt Cole (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5): “I was too far back to contest for the podium, but I wasn’t gonna shut it down, even though my eyes were bleeding. I came through the last corner about 10th wheel and threaded the needle between the wobbly blown-out carnage Kyle had left behind in his jetstream of destruction.”

John Coyle (Wolverine Sports Club; 30+ 1/2/3): “30 more feet to the race I might have been able to take it home.”

Sarah Derer (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; W-3/4): “I pulled out once the bile started coming up into my mouth at the top of Main Street.”

Karla Kingsley (Easton/ Sugar CRM/ Specialized; W-P/1/2/3): “Hello? I thought this was a warm-up race?”

Sterling Magnell (Rock Racing; Pro): “I owe this one to Rahsaan. I’m hoping I can return the favor to him today in the race for the jersey.”

Brooke Miller (Team Tibco; W-P/1/2/3): “It is a great relaxation to have your teammate up the road- that let me just sit in and enjoy the race.”

Mike Seguin (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5): “I like to take some of the turns at an all out pace to see if those lines actual work, and what better time than on a prime lap.”

Sue Semaszczuk (ABD; W-3/4): “I made sure I was at the front at the start and my goal was to lead out the first lap.”

Chris Sherpitis (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5): “I was so much in oxygen debt I don’t really have a clear picture of the sprint finish.”

Steve Tilford (HRRC/Trek Stores; P/1/2): “I woke up in Chicago early Saturday morning feeling like shit.  Super achey, flu symptoms. Didn’t eat anything, but the $55 entry fee for the Saturday night race.”

Kyle Wiberg (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+ 4/5, 5): “The men must have passed out pillows and sang some lullabies to put the whole field to sleep for me.  I got a huge gap down the hill and made the pace car hit the turbo. Surreal when you’re thinking about how to pass the pace car. Maybe, it was a messenger’s reaction.”

Saturday photos
Jason Knauff
Eric Schmuttenmaer
Luke Seemann: 30+ 4/5, 30+ 1/2/3, 5, 3/4
Bob Willems
John Wilke

Sunday race reports
Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing; Pro): “Once I came out the last turn and noticed whom I was sprinting against and the celebration had already started in my heart and head I just needed to physically cross the line.”

Ryan Baumann (Sakonnet; 1): “My rear tire flatted and I practically ate it in a downhill corner. Sweet.”

David Dokko (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 5): “I sprinted for all it was worth and did not lose/gain any spots and finished for my first top 5 of the year.  After going through the finish I immediately pull over and start dry heaving from the effort.”

Debbie Dust (Kenda Tire; W-P/1/2): “I was happy with my place in the field on the final lap, until someone skipped her back wheel in Turn 7 and someone else scraped a pedal in Turn 8.”

Brad Huff (Jelly Belly; Pro): “Less than 200 meters to go and my chain falls to the outside?  Bad luck for sure.  Great Criterium Championshits for me.”

Karla Kingsley (Easton/ Sugar CRM/ Specialized; W-P/1/2): “I’ve been wanting to try out the SRAM Double Tap shifting for a while, but during the last four laps of the national championship criterium was not the timing I had envisioned.”

Bryan McVey (Vision Quest; 1): “Today went well.  Until three laps to go when some dude wiped out in front of me causing a giant traffic jam and ruining my race.”

Sterling Magnell (Rock Racing; Pro): “The boys and I busted our asses and he cleaned up beautifully. It feels a lot like the days when we were juniors. Now we’re all pro and shit so there’s more at stake, but it’s still just as fun.”

Brooke Miller (Team Tibco; W-P/1/2): “I KNEW that I could take that corner full speed and I knew that I would hold it up.  I trusted my equipment and trusted my bike handling.  I was not nervous.  Not at all.”

Avi Neurohr (Chicago Cuttin’ Crew; 5): “I poured it on and tried to keep it on, but didn’t get much help, at least not when it could’ve counted.”

Chris Padfield (Team Pegasus; 3): “The first ten minutes or so were the typical faster than normal pace and moving up to improve my position just wasn’t happening.”

Steve Tilford (HRRC/Trek Stores; 1): ”Ken Hanson (California Giant) smeared everyone, so the race probably wasn’t winable.”

Kristen Wentworth (Kenda Tire; W-P/1/2): “I was just happy to avoid the couple of crashes and finish off the season safe. The racing was top notch though and I had a lot of fun.”

Sunday photos
Karl Crapse
Jason Knauff: Pro, 1, W-P/1/2
Clark Maxwell
Mark Novack
Julie Pusateri
John Rowland
Runaway Wind
Luke Seemann
Velogrrl
John Wilke

Your new national criterium champion? You’re looking at him: Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) rocketed out of the final corner to take the win and give his team a sweep on the weekend. Former Evanston resident Brooke Miller (Team Tibco) also goes home with a new stars-and-stripes jersey after sprinting to a win in the women’s race.

VeloNews was first with the story.

Full results are online. I’ll have an amateur report late Monday night.

Fliers were the Saturday special in Downers Grove, with late attacks working out in both masters races and in the 3/4’s race, above, where Ryan Freund (IIT) and Julian Baumgartner (Vitaminwater-Trek) kept rolling after a prime with two to go and held a monster gap all the way to the line, where Freund took a close two-up sprint.

Team Tibco has often found success in Chicago. It won last year’s pro-am and the inaugural Chicago Criterium three weeks ago. Saturday its Lauren Franges won a four-up sprint out of a break that started early in the women’s P/1/2/3, a race that typically has most of the favorites keeping their powder dry ahead of Sunday’s championship.

The men’s pro-am finished in near darkness, which may or may not have contributed to a crash with two to go. By that point, Kelly Benefit Strategies had yanked all its riders from the fray, leaving Rock Racing, Colavita and Jelly Belly as the major players in a field about half as big as the roughly 170 who started. Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) lead it out coming out of Turn 4, but coming out of Turn 8 it was his teammate and Superweek revelation Sterling Magnell bounding up Main Street for the win.

The real action starts today, culminating with the USPRO national championship at 3 p.m. CyclingNews has a good preview.

FYI: Although CBR is always first in my heart, I’m going to be on the clock today for an out-of-town publication, so expect my wrap-up here to be delayed.

FRIDAY UPDATE: Lemont’s Christian Vandevelde (Garmin-Chipotle), 5th place in this year’s Tour de France, will be among the stars in Sunday’s USPRO championship. Neat! Check out the preliminary start lists for this and other fields at the race Web site.

Seems like yesterday we were getting snowed out of races in Kenosha, and now already the season’s most prestigious local races and the final major crits are at hand.

Just like at Elk Grove, amateur races at Downers Grove are longer than in the abbreviated 2007 schedule. On Saturday, 4’s will again be racing with the 3’s, but the 3’s get their own race Sunday, so many may opt to do only that. Saturday evening’s pro-am doesn’t start until 7 p.m., and I’m curious how dark things will get.

Expect the races to be fast, wild and woolly on this figure-8 course. This is a very technical course, so it’s crucial to be up front and out of danger. One can get through these turns without braking up front where it’s single-file, but in the bunch it can be a mess.

For God’s sake, do not bomb these corners, people, unless you keep a stack of “Sorry I crashed you out” cards in your glove compartment. That hole you see on the inside is not really there.

Because of the turns and climbs, it won’t take long for the 5’s races to splinter. Keep an eye on the gaps and always be ready to jump across. 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.

Someday someone should make a video for how to survive the “race before the race,” a spectacle that at Downers Grove is as pivotal as it is absurd. Watch! As riders abandon their warm-ups to crowd the barriers 20 minutes before their races! See! The officials insist on pre-riding the course! Laugh! At the suckers who do so! Behold! The riders who cruise down Main Street and insert themselves at the front of the waiting pack, as if they had called ahead for reservations. Listen! As everyone else grumbles and curses!

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 great spot to make up some ground. Keep an eye out for people moving up the sides and grab them for a free ride.

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. Even the legendary Steve Tilford (HRRC/Trek Stores) hit the curb coming out of this corner last year. 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 block 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 -- keep your inside pedal up. No, really, I mean it. Even the pros will wipe out here, as Ventura demonstrated in spectacular fashion on the last lap of the 2004 national championship, and about 30 others demonstrated in the rain-soaked 2007 edition.

As always, your mileage may vary. Feel free to consult last year’s wrap-up to learn from other racers’ experiences.

Have fun, ride safe and enjoy all the weekend’s races. Sunday’s pro race is always a treat, and the crowd will roar waiting to see which Canadian, Australian or Cuban will win and which American will come in 2nd. And don’t forget to play the national championship drinking game: Take a swig of Southern Comfort every time an announcer refers to the “Stars and Bars” on the line.

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

Online registration is now available for Downers Grove and for your Chicago Criterium. Cat 5’s will want to register as soon as possible, especially for Chicago, which has only two heats.

A reader writes:
Is it necessary to pre-register for races? Do they all tend to fill up?

Two related trends bode well for our sport: More and more races are providing online pre-registration, and more and more races are reaching capacity, especially in the Cat 5’s. (USA Cycling limits Cat 5 fields to 50 riders, and Cat 4/5 fields to 75.)

The risk of pre-registering is that it may rain, or something may come up to conflict with the race and you’ll be on the hook for your $25. (Curse those loved ones with the gall to wed at the height of racing season!) Promoters usually don’t often provide refunds, and few will go through the hassle of transferring registration to your teammates.

But the risk is worth it if it’s a race you have your heart set on and there’s a possibility it will fill. Alas, I know of no women’s races to have filled up, nor P/1/2’s or 3’s, but the Tour of Elk Grove, Downers Grove and the Chicago Criterium are all local races where we can expect the Cat 5 and Cat 4 fields to fill. Last the local Superweek races filled their 4/5 fields, starting with Evanston, and Wisconsin’s Spring Prairie Road Race has in the past filled its 4/5 fields.

Finally, Hillsboro-Roubaix will fill up the quickest of any race, as we discovered this year, and Snake Alley is a race for which it’s essential to pre-register, not because it will fill up but because start position is so crucial.

For most other races, however, one can safely count on registering on the day of, but you never know: Even this year’s Spring Super Criterium, an untested race two hours from the city with no money on the line, filled several of its fields, to its promoters’ credit. Better to be safe than to drive 100 miles to be a spectator.

Many of us whinged last year at the short races of Downers Grove -- 20 minutes for a combined 3/4 field? -- but it appears our pleas have been answered with this year’s schedule, which features longer races and adds several races to Sunday’s festivities.

Cat 3’s get two chances to race: 45 minutes with the 4’s on Saturday, and a Cat 3-only race for $1,500 on Sunday. Women get 3/4 and 1/2/3 races on Saturday, plus the elite national championship on Sunday. And by starting an hour earlier on Sunday and eliminating some dead time before the men’s national championship, organizers squeeze in a total of three Cat 5 races.

I also notice that Saturday’s 50K P/1/2 race doesn’t start until 7 p.m., an hour later than last year. With a 7:49 p.m. sunset on that day, I’m wondering whether artificial lighting will be necessary. You can see in this picture how dark it was for last year’s finish already, and here’s a good one from the post-race interview. Better bring your blinkies, gentlemen!

Mail-in registration is available.

Mail-in registration is also available at the Tour of Elk Grove with online registration promised April 20. Check out that $3,000 purse for masters 3/4’s!

Finally, I couldn’t help but notice that the flier has been released for Chicago’s own Sherman Park Criterium, and online registration for the June 14 event is open now.

• » Ron Cook (Project 5 Racing) dug up some Sun-Times coverage from the 1987 Citi-Circuit, a weekend of criteriums in Downers Grove, Evanston and downtown Chicago.  Total purse for the weekend was $75,000, which back then was quite a bit of scratch. Downers Grove was on the same course we know today, and Evanston was similar to last year’s Evanston Grand Prix. The Chicago course was located near the spot of this year’s Chicago Criterium, but instead of ducking down to Michigan Avenue it included two 180-degree turns on Columbus, not unlike the Tour of Elk Grove course. Note also the snarky lede from reporter Kevin Williams, now a track sprinter for Alberto’s: “Memo to racers: Don’t fall asleep out there, as these aren’t the most exciting courses in the world.” This from a man who has spent most of his cycling life turning left.

• » There’s no sound more beautiful than an exciting race being called in Italian. “Un attacco! Un attacco! Vittoria storica! Eroica!”

• » Run a red -- allegedly -- go to jail. Welcome to the new Chicago. Elsewhere, the Lake County Sheriff’s Department recently had a word with the Judson Ride after it rolled through a stop sign on Everett, and this week the Glencoe police stopped a Met Cycling rider for going through a red light, with “no traffic and sleet falling from the sky at about 6:15 a.m.”

• » Coincidentally, a new study finds that 96 percent of Chicago drivers exceed the speed limit by 5 mph or more. CBF notes that when cars strike pedestrians at 40 mph, the victims stand a 20 percent chance of survival.

• » Psyche yourself up for Hillsboro with this trailer for an upcoming Paris-Roubaix documentary. ("Every day when I wake up, I see myself winning it.” Poor George. I know the feeling.)

• » The popular Turin ride resumes tonight at 5:30. It doesn’t move to 6 until Memorial Day, and lights are recommended during March.

USA Cycling announced the 2008 National Racing Calendar today. Notable departures include the Tour of Elk Grove, Downers Grove and Superweek. The inaugural Chicago Criterium failed to make the cut, too, a disappointment but not surprising given that it’s an unknown quantity and falls on the last day of the Tour de ‘Toona.

The closest NRC racing to Chicago will be the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota, the Priority Health Grand Cycling Classic in Grand Rapids, Mich., and, for the women, the Tour de Leelanau in Traverse City, Mich.

According to the announcement, Downers Grove was dropped “primarily because of the advantage given to clubs and teams with a greater number of American riders on their rosters.” I’m not enough of an NRC wonk to understand what that means or predict the implications. Is this just meant to discourage another Canadian or Australian from winning? Is it that embarrassing for the Stars and Stripes to go to second place?

When I’m not on my bike at races, I’m usually on the sidelines taking photos. Thus as we wrap up the year’s racing, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve taken 12 of my favorite photos from the 2007 season (and 2006 cross season) and put together a calendar for your enjoyment.

The calendar is for sale through Cafe Press for $17.50, plus shipping.

I’ve tried to capture the gamut of the Chicago bike racing season, from the indoor sprint contests of winter to the 90-degree hill climbs of July, from the grit of the individual racer to the brotherhood (and sisterhood!) of the competitive peloton.

Naturally you’ll want to get at least one for yourself -- one for the office, one for the bike room? -- but also remember that it’s never too early to start on your Christmas list. Consider a thank-you gift for all the people who make your season possible:

• » Your teammates!
  
• » Your coach!
  
• » Your team president!
  
• » Your physical therapist!
  
• » Your mechanic!
  
• » Your orthopedist!
  
• » Your significant other!
  
• » Your mother!

Use it as a training log. Use it as a race calendar. Shoot, maybe you make an appearance: For a month you can use it as a daily reminder of how awesome you look on a bike!

I’m not looking to make a profit here, but your support will be appreciated. Primarily it’s a vanity project and a fun souvenir to offer my friends and readers. If it works out I’ll explore more affordable options for 2009.

Interested in buying more than 10? Want to delight your entire team? Want to sell them in your shop? Significant bulk discounts are available. E-mail me for information.

Who’s included?

Read more ...

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.

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.

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 ...

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.)

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).

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).

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.”

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!

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

Well, this is very interesting.

The Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove, returning for its second year in 2007, and the Downers Grove national criterium championships are both run by Chicago Special Events. They are, far and away, the most professionally run races in the midwest. Payouts and crowds are enormous, signage is great and the races themselves are fun and well-organized. For two entire weekends, cyclists get to enjoy the illusion that they participate in a sport that Americans actually care about.

But according to the Elk Grove schedule and the Downers Grove flier posted at USA Cycling, there will be no Cat 3-only races on either weekend this year.

Downers Grove on Aug. 18 will have a 3/4 field instead of separate 3’s and 4’s races. It appears this change was made to accommodate a second Cat 5 race. (Due to overwhelming demand last year, a second field was added on the fly but the races were only 15 minutes long, disappointing many racers.)

I cheer the move to improve the lot for beginning racers, but I have to think that this change will have a negative impact on both the 3’s and 4’s fields. Many 3’s will resent having to race with less experienced riders, and many 4’s will resent having to race up in a field where most of them will be severely outmatched. It’s a shame there wasn’t another way to expand the schedule.

The 3/4 field is capped at 100, so gentlemen will want to jump on registration as soon as it is open. (I know, I know. My kvetching brings to mind the joke from Annie Hall: “And the portions were so small!")

The rest of the schedule is the same, including a masters 4/5 race and a women’s 3/4 race that at 20 minutes sounds like half of a good warm-up for the female racers I know.

Elk Grove will have a 3/4 field on Saturday, Aug. 11, again to accommodate a second 5’s field. Although the prize pool is an astounding $5,000, the field limit is 175. With all due respect to my friends in the 4’s, the thought of taking those 180-degree turns with more than a hundred beginning riders gives me pause. (Then again, the thought of taking those 180-degree turns with me should give everyone pause.)

The next day, there will be no 3/4’s race as there was last year. The only Sunday racing opportunity for 3’s -- and 1’s and 2’s for that matter -- will be the masters 1/2/3 race.

On the bright side, the payout for Sunday’s 68-mile professional race is a mind-boggling $105,000, and the overall payout of $200,000 is 30 percent more than 2006. New this year for the pro’s is a three-event stage race, starting with a 4.5-mile time trial Saturday morning. I’m not sure if the overall will be scored by time or by omnium points.

Start lists are not yet available, but those purses will attract the best cyclists in the country. Last year David Zabriskie (CSC) made a cameo at the Saturday race before crashing out early and heading to the sidelines for a beer. He would be a favorite in the time trial if he returns. Other ProTour Americans racing last year included Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) and local native Christian Vande Velde (CSC).

Registration for Elk Grove is open but only through through the mail at this point online.