The Illinois Cycling Association has secured Oak Brook as a location for our Aug. 23 state road race championships. The 3.1-mile course, shown above, will start on York Road, head northwest up Spring Road, then east on 31st Street back to York.

“Spring Road will provide much of the action,” ICA vice president Steve Hansen (North Branch) says, “with two fairly good hills that make this course worthy of a good road race.”

Two lanes of 31st Street will be closed, and York Road and Spring Road will receive partial road closures. Officials will enforce the centerline rule.

A tentative schedule has races going off in five groups starting at 8:30 a.m. and into the late afternoon. Distances include 80 miles for P/1/2/3 men, 64 miles for P/1/2/3 women and 48 miles for Cat 3 men. There will also be races for Cat 4 men and women, masters and juniors.

The course is short but satisfies USA Cycling’s 5-kilometer minimum for a road race. Milan-San Remo it’s not, but at least it’s close. No four-hour drives, no overnight stays in downstate hotels.

And at least it is. We ought to congratulate and thank Hansen and the ICA for the work they’ve done to make sure we have a state championship this year following the dissolution of the Proctor Road Race and the Al Stern Road Race before that.

Breakaway Event Productions today secured Richton Park as the final location for Superweek. The Monday, July 14, criterium will be just down the road from that Sunday’s Olympia Fields criterium, and it will kick off the seven-race Wheel & Sprocket Women’s Pro Tour for P/1/2/3 women.

Organizers will be scouting out the exact course tomorrow.

“It might have come down to the wire,” director of marketing Michael Garrison said, “but we’re pleased to have met our goal, which was to provide what riders have been asking for for years, and that’s consistency and keeping the races close together.”

The first six days of Superweek will all be within a 45-minute drive of downtown Chicago. With the exception of the Ripon and Evanston, the balance will all be within an hour of Milwaukee.

Garrison also said that the new Olympia Fields course will be in a subdivision close to Metra.

The Superweek criterium that was to be held in Homewood on Sunday, July 12, will now be a little farther south in Olympia Fields. Still no information about courses or the location of Monday’s criterium.

Chip timing made its Chicago debut Saturday when the Illinois Cycling Association ran an experiment with a vendor’s system at the Cobb Park Criterium. A small transponder was zip-tied to each bike’s fork. During the races, laps were counted and timed to the thousandth of a second. Early reports are that it was a success. Complete, accurate results were available within minutes, and set-up was a breeze. “It was freakin’ awesome,” one rider told me.

Upfront costs would be steep, but the ICA is considering adopting such a system for 2009. I’ve always been skeptical myself, but after a few races where cameras have proven as fallible as humans, I have to concede it could be worthwhile thing to have -- if it does not drive up our rising race fees.

Has anyone used chip timing elsewhere? Is it reliable? Is it accurate in a 10-up sprint?

We’ll get another chance to try it out when the Glencoe Grand Prix uses chip timing in August.

Speaking of Glencoe, check out the winners jerseys that will be awarded in the elite races. 

My source with the city tells me that there are only five spots left in the Chicago Criterium’s masters 4/5 field.

There remain 60 spots in the 4’s (125 capacity) and 150 spots in the 3’s (200 capacity).

Register here.

When the pros come to town in August for the Tour of Elk Grove, they’ll kick the weekend off with a $15,000, 4.5-mile time trial. This year there will be two ways for amateurs to get in on the action: Be fast or be generous.

The Chicago Time Trial Series will be selecting the fastest six contestants and giving them free entry to Elk Grove’s pro time trial. Eligibility requires competing in at least three of the series’ events. Two are already in the books, but there are three to come: in Hampshire on July 13, a rain-postponed Willow Springs on July 19, and in Richmond on July 26.

Failing that, 30 amateur spots are open as a fundraiser for the Elk Grove Village Soldier Memorial Fund. Entry is $250. WDT-Allvoi was instrumental in making this happen. I’m told the hope is that teams and shops will sponsor their best TT hot shots and see who can embarrass some pros. These amateurs will not be eligible for the prize money, but Voytek Glinkowski (WDT-Allvoi) will be providing trophies for the top 10.

Only five spots remain in the Chicago Criterium Cat 5’s. Both Cat 5 heats of the Chicago Criterium have reached capacity. Other fields may still register.

Registration forms can be faxed in now. Online registration will be available soon is now available as well.

July 14 is still listed as a TBA location. At Winfield I spoke with Breakaway’s Michael Garrison, and he told me he was still looking for a Chicago-area location for that day.

Pre-registration is a good idea and saves you a few bucks per race. I also expect the local weekend races will fill up in the 4/5’s, starting with Evanston and then Blue Island and Homewood.

The Indiana state road race championships were washed out this weekend. They’ve now been rescheduled for Saturday, July 19. Refunds are available for those who preregistered.

Illinois Cycling Association president Steve Feehery (South Chicago Wheelmen) writes to tell me that Tuesday night criteriums in Matteson will return next week, June 10. Hooray!

He also confirms that a state road race championship in the works. The Illinois Cup schedule lists Saturday, Aug. 23, as its date. Double hooray!

The flier is out and pre-registration is open for the Spring Prairie Road Race, Wisconsin’s state championships. It’s a great course and is one of the last road races of the year. So many Illinois riders entered this race in 2006 that they created a special 4/5 category for out-of-staters. As such I don’t expect these fields to fill, but keep an eye on things. And as we’ve discussed before, pre-registration can make things a lot easier for you and also for the race promoters.

UPDATE: Four hours later, out-of-state 4/5’s outnumber Wisconsinites 11-1 in their own state championship. I love you guys!

Closer to home, pre-registration is now available for the Sherman Park Criterium (June 14), Cobb Park Criterium (June 21), the Glencoe Grand Prix (Aug. 10), as well as the Illinois criterium championships in Peoria (June 29).

Tuesday night racing at Matteson is on hold while the paint factory undergoes some construction. The South Chicago Wheelmen will hold events as conditions allow, but it will be on a week-to-week basis. Keep an eye on the Web site for updates.

I’m also told that USA Cycling now requires new rider releases each week, rather than one for the entire season. The best way to take care of this is to complete one with everything except for the date, then make 20 copies and keep them with your gear. Sign and date and you’re good to go.

I don’t monitor track racing here, but I’m still a big fan and head up to the Ed Rudolph Velodrome in Northbrook every chance I get. The 2008 season starts Thursday, and this year Northbrook offers a two-for-one admission coupon. Opening night usually draws strong fields of riders. This week the action starts at 6:45.

Metra is the best way for spectators to go, especially with the Edens construction. Here’s the train schedule. The velodrome is a short walk from the station, and the 5:58 p.m. train from Union Station will get you there just in time to watch racing.

Track racing is exciting stuff. Here’s a video from the inside. But in addition to enjoying yourself and supporting your friends and teammates, you will be able to observe tactics as they unfold at 30 mph. The velodrome is a veritable laboratory for tactics, and you can see all the moves and counter moves from your vantage point in the stands.

The Superweek schedule has been updated to add a July 13 criterium in south-suburban Homewood. That’s the series’ first Sunday, previously home to the Bensenville Criterium, now scheduled for Wednesday, and makes a total of four Chicago-area criteriums, plus the P/1/2-only twilight criterium in Beverly.

The schedule still has two empty slots, and I have no word on the fate of the Tour of Alpine Valley or the MGA Proving Grounds Road Race.

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.

The road race to open Memorial Day weekend in Iowa had been up in the air because of construction, but it is officially on. The route will be shorter than usual, and there appears to be no P/1/2/3 race.

I always hated that finish in Burlington anyhow. The downhill sprint was famous for terrible crashes, photos of which would inevitably appear in the local newspaper the next morning.

It’s not necessarily a race that I would take a day off work to do. It’s a flat, narrow course that was very nerve-wracking the year I did. It may be better now that the 4/5 field is split up, however, and if you’re there already for the Snake, might as well double up.

Registration for Tour of Elk Grove is now online. Nothing yet for Downers Grove or the Chicago Criterium.

In other summer news, the Superweek schedule has been shuffled to move the Whitnall Park Road Race to the second Wednesday, July 23. That and the Tour of Holy Hill are the only road races, although there remain three TBA’s for the first week.

Look who submitted a flier to USA Cycling!

We could guesstimate race lengths from the schedule that was released earlier this month, but this gives us more specifics. Check out those purses for the women -- nearly twice as much as is up grabs at the otherwise generous Tour of Elk Grove. And with that weekend's Tour de Toona scaled back to a single $15,000 criterium, perhaps the $25,000 purse for P/1/2's will be enough to lure the better domestic teams to this non-NRC extravaganza. Heck, we all know Astana won't be busy that weekend. Let Levi ride!

(Race lengths are in minutes plus laps.)

I don’t see any Chicago teams in the Indiana results, Madison results haven’t been posted yet, and I’ve come across only one race report. So for the time being, Team Pegasus gets all the attention in this week’s wrap-up. Congratulations, Chris Padfield and Henry Loud, for going 1-2 in the Cat 5 race in Sunday’s Great Dane criterium.

UPDATE: Full Great Dane results.

Great Dane reports
Dave Eckel (Team Wheaton): “In the last lap Doug Wambach (Team Wheaton) used his team to perfection, making a huge attack into the wind with teammates ready to choke up the front of the field.”

Chris Padfield (Team Pegasus, 5): “I didn’t trust the people at the start/finish when they yelled at me that I was done and could stop. After convincing myself that the race really was over I rolled back in time to see Henry work the group at the sprint and take second place.”

The April 5 Evergreen Park Criterium in Sheboygan, Wis., has been rescheduled for Sunday, April 27, but the May 4 Wheel & Sprocket Criterium in Neenah, Wis., is now off the WCA schedule. There’s not yet a flier for the popular Baraboo Road Race on May 3, but historically this has always been a last-minute posting. I’m not alarmed.

It’s also been brought to by attention that the May 2-4 Fat and Skinny Tire Fest in Winona Lake, Ind., includes a Saturday circuit race and a Sunday criterium. That’s a weekend of USCF racing just 2.5 hours from Chicago.

The University of Chicago Velo Club has updated its Monsters of the Midway Web site, including an updated flier. New this year is a women’s Cat 3 race. UCVC hopes the field is popular enough to become a permanent feature.

(Full disclosure: Along with the Sherman Park Criterium, Monsters appears as a sponsor of the CBR race schedule, but I would say nice things about them regardless.)

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.

Quick! Find a stamp!

Registration for the 2008 Snake Alley Criterium is open. This is one of the most exciting and fun events in the country. Imagine the thrills, intensity and novelty of Hillsboro-Roubaix compressed into 1 mile and 30 minutes. Plus, more cowbell. (Here’s coverage of last year’s edition, after which yours truly suddenly found himself with lots of free time on his hands.)

More than any other race, success at Snake Alley hinges on start position, which here is determined in a civilized manner via registration order rather than the traditional guile and pushiness. This is the race before the race, and if your entry form isn’t in the mail by the end of today, you put your start in peril.

Information is also available for Memorial Day weekend’s other three races around the Quad Cities, although it appears Friday’s road race is tentative pending construction.

The Chicago Criterium has announced its schedule and it looks fantastic.

Race lengths and detailed prize lists aren't out yet but I expect to have them soon. The total prize purse is $40,000, with $25,000 going to the P/1/2 race. Racing starts bright and early at 7 a.m. with two Cat 5 races. Women get two races, 4's and 1/2/3's. Men's 3's and 4's are separated, and there are two masters races, 4/5's and 1/2/3's. Race order is mixed up a bit, too, with 3's going off at 9:30 and the 4's racing as the immediate undercard to the main event.

Volunteers are also being sought for the July 27 event. Send e-mail to . The race is being managed by the Mayor's Office of Special Events and Special Events Management, which also promotes Downers Grove and the Tour of Elk Grove.

Tonight’s memorial for Pieter Ombregt at Matteson will be postponed until next Tuesday, April 15.

Theoretically racing is still scheduled tonight, but the threat of rain makes it extremely unlikely.

In other Matteson news, I’m told that the course will be out of commission for a two-month stretch this summer as Ace Hardware installs underground tanks. All the more reason to get your licks in early this season.

Snow and ice have made Saturday’s course in Sheboygan unfit for racing, so the event is canceled. (Thanks, Lyle!) Also, Julian Baumgartner (Vitaminwater-Trek) informs us in the comments that the Cat 5 field for Sunday’s Spring Super Criterium is filling up. Be sure to pre-register. It saves you a few bucks per race and guarantees your two-hour drive isn’t for naught.

As you follow the action out at the Redlands Bicycle Classic this weekend, look for locals Kristen Meshberg (Flatlandia) and Devon Haskell (Team Get a Grip Cycles), who are guests of the Dolce Vita squad. Today Haskell finished 28th in the prologue time trial. She no doubt is spending the evening studying the results and admiring all the big names that appear below hers.

Last week the Daily Herald profiled Jessi Prinner (ABD), a promising junior from South Elgin. I expect that as a cyclist, Prinner is one of the hardest-working athletes at her school, and it’s excellent to see media take note.

Coincidentally, Haskell, Meshberg and Prinner finished 3-4-5 at Hillsboro Saturday.

Speaking of women and cycling, Alberto’s is hosting clinics for women starting Wednesday, May 7. The three-week series covers everything from basic shifting to pacelines and cornering.

Much of our sport depends on the goodwill of sponsors, and CBR is no different.

ABD has been a longtime sponsor here. I don’t know if if anyone produces as many events in the Chicago area. Its next event is Sunday’s John Fraser Memorial Time Trial, the finale to its annual time trial series, where I see an astounding 280 names on its start list. ABD has also released the flier for a Memorial Day weekend series of masters races. More than $13,000 in cash and prizes will be on the line over three days, and Cat 5 masters can race for as little as $10.

Sharing sponsorship starting this week is CycleAnalyze, a new coaching system from Patrick McNally (MetCycling) that promises to put an emphasis on communication and feedback. We’re also joined by the Glencoe Grand Prix, which after a successful 2007 debut returns this year on Sunday, Aug. 10.

I couldn’t be happier to have this support, and I thank everyone who’s helped CBR over the past year.

Race fliers for 2008 are starting to trickle in, and I’ve made updates to the calendar.

Let’s start with the Wisconsin Schedule, where we have fliers for the April 5 Evergreen Park Criterium in Sheboygan and for Madison’s Great Dane Series on April 13 and 20. We also have a flier for the Whitnall Park Criterium, a favorite of mine, which adds a masters 3/ 4 field in addition to masters 1/2/3 and 4/5 fields. As a 32-year-old Cat 3 rider, I salute this innovation.

April 19 was previously down for the Brown Deer Criterium in Milwaukee, but now it’s listed as the Menomonee Park Criterium in nearby Menomonee Falls. (“Do doo be-do-do, Menomonee!”)

Closer to home, fliers have been filed for the Vernon Hills Grand Prix on May 4 and the Fox River Grove Cycling Challenge on June 15 June 22.

We already knew there would be no road race at Proctor this year, but my understanding had been there would still be the Friday evening time trial and a race on Sunday, either a criterium or a circuit race. Now, however, only Sunday’s state championship criterium is listed at the Proctor Cycling Classic site and on the ICA calendar. Stay tuned for more information.

Organizers tell me the Grayslake Cycling Classic race is confirmed for Aug. 9 and that its Web site will be updated soon.

The Elgin Cycling Classic is down for Aug. 3, the Sunday of the Tour of Elk Grove, and it moves to the ABR calendar. Speaking of Elk Grove, its schedule is posted, confirming many of the changes you heard about first in December’s interview with Mayor Craig Johnson. One change to note is that instead of an open women’s field, there will be concurrent 1/2 and 3/4 races. The 1/2’s race 50 minutes for $3,000, and the 3/4’s race 30 minutes for $1,000. That’s a major reduction from last previous editions of this event, but I’ll be curious if the women 3/4’s ever see a purse that big around these parts.

In other news, a new team has come to my attention: PACT-Dish Network. PACT stands for “Polish American Cycling Team” and on its roster I spot several strong riders drawn from Redline, WDT and The Bike Shop.

A tentative Superweek schedule is out.

• » We have the same local crits as last year, but Bensenville moves from the first Sunday to the first Wednesday. The series again opens with a P/1/2 twilight criterium on Friday, July 11, in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, followed by a criterium in Blue Island the next day and then the Evanston Grand Prix the next Sunday.
  
• » Some notable road races are not listed: the Tour of Alpine Valley, the MGA Proving Grounds Road Race and an awesome course last used in 2005 on the Milwaukee lakefront. (In an interview last year, Breakaway communications director Jon Reimer indicated that a return was expected now that a construction project there was complete.) Also missing are crits in Green Bay and Sheboygan, Wis. There are, however, three TBA’s on the schedule, so perhaps we’ll see some of these courses yet.
  
• » The criterium formerly in Green Lake, Wis., moves a bit west to Ripon, and there’s a new criterium in Racine.
  
• » For the first time in the 40-year history of Superweek, all categories will race on the popular Downer Avenue course in Milwaukee on the series’ final Saturday -- accompanied by an “all-day Belgian beerfest.”

Jason Meshberg (Flatlandia) thinks we’re getting a little too serious here. So in honor of Slipstream heroes Steven Cozza and David Zabriskie, he introduces the Flatlandia Unofficial Monsters of the Moustache Prime. The best-placed moustache at Monsters of the Midway wins $5 plus one Clif Bar. “In the event of a tie,” he says, “the better of the moustaches wins.  This is not democratic and based solely upon me and my brothers and sisters on Flatlandia.”

Come May, photographic verifcation of the feat should be sent to him at . The winner will also be honored here at CBR.

You have two months, gentlemen. Ready, set, grow!

Burnham Racing has announced two exciting additions to its April 6 Spring Super Criterium in South Beloit.

The first is a free skills clinic for new racers, presented by the Illinois Cycling Association and conducted by Randy Warren (XXX Racing-AthletiCo), one of our state’s few Level 1 coaches. It will be held at 8 a.m., early enough for those competing in the women’s 4’s or men’s 5’s races. I will be involved with the clinic and thus am somewhat biased, but I strongly recommend attendance for anyone entering their first or second seasons of racing. It will be well worth leaving the city a little earlier.

The second announcement is a team competition. Points will be available for every race and prime. The winning team will have a contribution made to World Bicycle Relief in its name. Neat!

The Glencoe Grand Prix has announced that the second edition of the event will be held Sunday, Aug. 10. That’s the weekend between the Tour of Elk Grove and Downers Grove. Also, AT&T is on board as title sponsor, which will help the race support its beneficiary, the Glencoe Educational Foundation.

Jason Mindeman (Vitaminwater-Trek) tips me to the Chicago Criterium Web site, which has posted a map of the course: North from Buckingham Fountain on Columbus, left onto Jackson above the Metra tracks, a downhill left onto Michigan Avenue -- Michigan Avenue! -- then a whoopsy-daisy up and over Congress Plaza and back onto Michigan, a left uphill onto Balbo and finally a left back onto Columbus.

Here’s a Map My Ride profile of the 1.1-mile course. This will be a fun, technical course and will feature one of the most beautiful landscapes on our calendar: the lake on one side, the Michigan Avenue streetwall on another and Grant Park in between.

Racing will start at 8 a.m. on Sunday, July 27. I’m told to expect a full day of full-length amateur races in addition to the main pro race, with generous purses to boot. Stay tuned for more information. You now have four months to practice your screaming-fast left turns.

Great news: Matteson is back.

Racing resumes Tuesday, April 8, and runs through Sept. 23. The opening evening will begin with a brief memorial for Pieter Ombregt (XXX Racing-AthletiCo), who died after a freak crash in September. Come early to participate and to queue up for paperwork.

I can’t say enough about Matteson. For new riders, the flat, .6-mile course is an effective way to learn the fundamentals of racing. For experienced riders, it’s always a fun, low-stress evening of racing, plus a welcome chance to hone skills and experiment with tactics.

Hundreds of Chicago cyclists are faster and safer for the Matteson experience, and we should all be thankful to the South Chicago Wheelmen and Ace Hardware Paint for seeing that the series continues.

USA Cycling licenses are required. And everyone saved their race numbers from last year, yes?

It looks like we’ll have crits in March after all. Kenosha Velosport has released the flier for its March 9 and 16 races.

The 10-day forecast calls for partly cloudy with a high of 32 on the 9th.  Not ideal, but it should still be an excellent chance to get in some race miles, especially for those doing Hillsboro-Roubaix.

Burnham Racing and Vitaminwater-Trek have quickly come up with a spring criterium to replace the series we had hoped would happen in Vernon Hills.

The Spring Super Criterium will take place April 6 at the Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit, about two hours from Chicago. Discounted pre-registration is available.

“It’s a rally course,” says Eric Goodwin (Vitaminwater-Trek). “Twists and turns like Laguna Seca without the elevation. There are some false flats though.” This video of the 1.9-mile course makes the turns look as gentle as they come, and indeed it looks more like a circuit race than the criteriums we’re used to. I’m looking forward to it.

We all will miss Parkside, but this should be a good, low-key tuneup for the season ahead. I expect it will draw teams from Madison and Milwaukee. Masters racing is available for the men, so there will be no reason not to race two or even three times.

Since October the Illinois Cycling Association has been working to create a spring criterium series. The idea was to provide a local alternative to the popular Parkside series in Kenosha, Wis., which has long been a welcome opportunity to shake winter out of our legs.

The ICA found a viable location at a Vernon Hills office park, and Vitaminwater-Trek stepped up to manage not just one but all three of the events. In addition, XXX Racing-AthletiCo planned to provide safety and handling workshops for new riders.

Now, however, a property owner on the route has objected to the races, and the series, originally set to begin March 30, is in jeopardy. Vitaminwater-Trek and the ICA are still working to secure a new venue, and ICA vice president Steve Hansen (North Branch) says anyone with a lead should contact him.

“If it does not happen this year,” Hansen says, “the ICA will continue to work on a location for the same dates in 2009.”

As for the series formerly known as Parkside, we’re still waiting for fliers for the March 9 opener. Don Lowe (Team Mack) commented in a previous thread that the promoter is looking for a location with an indoor changing area, an important amenity at this time of the year.

Because of lingering snow and ice in Kenosha, Wis., the March 2 opener of the Kenosha Velosport Spring Training Series (nee Parkside) has been canceled. Weather permitting we’ll have crits to look forward to on March 9 and 16.

Benga Sports this week released information for its Tour de Lafayette stage race in May. This new event -- criterium, stage race and time trial -- is interesting for several reasons: It’s scored by time. Its only fields are men’s 3’s and 4/5’s (save for citizen and junior fields at the criterium).  And note this warning: “For safety reasons, if one rider violates the yellow-line rule, the race will be stopped, the stage cancelled, and no prize will be given to competitors for the stage.”

Lafayette, Ind., is two hours from Chicago. Unfortunately the May 17-18 event conflicts with Monsters of the Midway, a Chicago favorite, and at 20 and 32 miles the circuit races are on the short side. Nonetheless, stage races are fun, and I’ll be curious to see how Indiana and Illinois racers receive this one.

I’m sure there are dozens if not hundreds of people disappointed at being locked out of Hillsboro-Roubaix, and many women are upset at the shorter women’s fields, but I’m extremely sympathic to the organizers for doing so much with limited resources. They’re doing the best they can to make sure what has become one of our most popular races runs smoothly and safely, and somehow they do it with admirable good humor and patience.

Rich Pierce this morning posted the following over at STLBiking, and a low-res flier is now up at Hillsbororoubaix.com.

All, I appreciate your patience and trust. Work has been very stressful this year and I have not been as organized as I like.

Why fewer fields or less miles or both?
We are trying very hard to appreciate the dangers present in road racing after a young lady was killed in a race in Illinois last year. She placed 6th at Hillsboro last year. So in the interests of safety, order, and scoring, we are reducing the numbers of fields and some distances so we can manage the race as well as it can be done.

Oops on the flyer not being published yet
I did intend to have the flyer out before pre-registration opened. But there were 2 old guys involved, me and Dave Ploch who runs http://www.2wheeltech.com. We both sometimes find ourselves down in the basement of our homes, wondering, “Now what did I come down here for?” So we had a miscommunication and pre-registration opened before I intended and before the flyer got out. Old guys.

No waiting lists, sorry
We don’t keep and manage a waiting list. The logistics are very difficult. It takes a lot of time to manage all the communication, who is in, who is out, and we don’t have the personnel to do it. We all work regular jobs and in a guy’s mid-50’s, losing that job is not good.

On race day, we don’t know that “no shows” are “no shows” until registration closes. Once it’s closed, we can’t open it up- there are 100 emergency details that have to run like clockwork as we wind down to start time.

I don’t get to race the race either
If you are disappointed that you won’t be able to race, I know how you feel. It’s “my” race (actually my team’s race and a few other guys helped me plan the course) and I’ve never been able to race it, because I manage it. My team says they will arrange it so I can race, but I’d be so stressed and exhausted by the time it begins, I’d have nothing, nada, and get shelled. At least I’d have an excuse, though! I’d love to feel how it is on some of those downhill chicanes, in the pack.

Thanks for your support for the Hillsboro race and I hope we or another team is able to put the race on again next year.

I knew the Hillsboro-Roubaix fields would fill quickly, but I didn’t imagine they’d fill this quickly. The 3/4’s field filled overnight, joining capacity fields in the 4/5’s and 5’s. All that remains are the women’s fields, juniors and masters fields, and the P/1/2 field.

What does this say about the demand for quality road racing in Illinois?

Let’s see who was on the ball from Chicago-area teams:

Cat 3/4
8 Vitaminwater-Trek
7 Team Get a Grip Cycles
7 XXX Racing-AthletiCo
5 ABD
3 Flatlandia
3 Vision Quest
2 Cuttin’ Crew
2 North Branch
1 Half Acre
1 Northwestern
1 WDT

Cat 4/5
10 XXX Racing-AthletiCo
9 Beverly Bike/Vee Pak
6 Vision Quest
5 Get a Grip Off Road
4 Half Acre
2 ABD
2 Killjoy
1 Cuttin’ Crew
1 Team Pegasus
1 Turin
1 WDT

Cat 5
9 XXX Racing-AthletiCo
6 Vision Quest
1 Team Pegasus
1 UCVC

Registration for Hillsboro Roubaix is open. I don’t see a flier yet, but men’s 3/4’s are capped at 100, 4/5’s at 75 and 5’s at 50. I expect all three of those will fill up, starting with the 5’s, as this is one of the most popular road races in the Midwest, and deservedly so.

Congratulations to Vitaminwater-Trek for apparently winning the race before the race and being first to register.

1 P.M. UPDATE: Four hours later, the 5’s field is almost 50 percent full, the 4/5’s field is 33 percent full and the 3/4’s field is almost 25 percent full. Happily, most of these registrations are from the Chicago area.

2 P.M. UPDATE: Promoter Rich Pierce posts the following over at STLBiking:

“In the interest of safety (#1!) we have made changes:

“The men’s 5 race will be one lap. That’s right, 22 miles of heck-for-leather racing and then you’re done to recover and watch the pros duke it out.

“The women’s 4 race will be one lap only, 22 miles instead of 44 miles.

“The women’s 1,2,3 race will be 2 laps (44 miles) instead of 66 miles.

“This will allow us to have these fields fields finish quicker and then we’ll have fewer fields on the road to manage. We had to do it! If we could we’d have 13 fields, 3 of them being men’s 5’s! But it’s not possible to do it and score racers and keep them safe.”

4 P.M. UPDATE: Good-bye, Roubaix Tuesday! The 5’s race is now full. Your options are either to register for the 4/5 race or to ask -- politely, with sugar on top -- to be put on a waiting list.

By the way, how awesome are these pre-registration lists? Surely I won’t be the only one who will be spending the next 45 days sizing up my competition by seeing how they did last year and looking up their results at USA Cycling. (Tip: Googling a person’s name along with “compid” will usually return a list of their USCF results.)

7:30 P.M. UPDATE: Theres no time to lose, I heard her say;
Catch your dreams before they slip away. And now the 4/5’s race has filled. Now a Cat 5’s best shot of participating is to work the feed zone. Cat 4’s, there’s still room the 66-mile 3/4’s race.

The Wisconsin Cycling Schedule has posted its 2008 road schedule. It’s very similar to past editions, although I’m chagrined to see the Leland Grand Prix scheduled for the same day as Monsters of the Midway (whose 2008 flier has been posted, BTW).

Dan Daly of the Indiana Race Series has posted a preliminary schedule for 2008. Although the series is much smaller than previous incarnations, it still includes two stage races: the Tour of Indiana on April 19-20 and the Indiana Stage Race on Aug. 23-24.

Missing from the slate is The Great Race, a criterium and road race that are low-key, semi-local alternatives to Memorial Day weekend’s big races in Iowa, Minnesota and Tennessee. Daly tells me The Great Race is still on, but he does not yet know whether he’ll be helping run them.

Chicago Special Events Management issued a press release this morning naming Mike Friedman (Slipstream) the new winner of the 2007 Tour of Elk Grove, following last week’s disclosure that Nathan O’Neill had tested positive for phentermine.

From the release: “‘We’re obviously disappointed but we will continue to be aggressive about testing and holding our riders to the highest possible standards,’ said Elk Grove Mayor Craig Johnson, who also serves as Director of Tour of Elk Grove. As a result, O’Neill has returned his $33,500 prize money (which will be redistributed to other 2007 top winners). He will also be banned for life from racing in the event.”

This is quick action, and I’m surprised that it was taken before O’Neill had appeared before his Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, which on Nov. 8 CyclingNews reported would be happening “in the coming weeks.”

On a happier note, the CSEM release gives the first official mention of a date for the 2008 Tour of Elk Grove. It will run Aug. 1-3, one day longer than previously, presumably to accommodate the new road race that was announced at this year’s event.

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?

Photo by Luke Seemann

It looks like we have our own private Landis.

Health Net has terminated the contract of Nathan O’Neill, winner of this year’s Tour of Elk Grove overall, for having tested positive for appetite suppressant phentermine at the event. According to the team’s press release, O’Neill had a prescription for the drug, but its presence is banned during competition.

If you’re looking for Health Net’s bio page for the eight-time Australian time trial champion, it’s not there, and his Web site has no comment yet.

Mike Friedman (Slipstream) finished 3 seconds behind O’Neill in both the overall and the opening time trial that decided the weekend. No details yet on whether this makes him the new champion -- or the new owner of the $26,000 novelty check.

UPDATE: This from Andy Lee of USA Cycling: “It will most likely be a while before USADA adjudicates O’Neill’s case. Once USADA determines the penalty, if any, USA Cycling will adjust the results of the event accordingly.”

UPDATE: CyclingNews has a brief on a statement from O’Neill. In the statement, posted on his Web site, he concedes to having taken phentermine out of competition. Although he denies any stimulant effect, he apologizes for the “misjudgment.” He now goes before the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

The Parkside Fall Criterium of Sept. 16 has been canceled because of construction at the university. Rats! The fall Parkside race has always been a nice tune-up for, um, the spring Parkside races, which traditionally kick off our road season in March -- a mere six months away!

The cancellation means the only remaining road races in ‘07 are the two weekends of the Fall Fling and, presuming it is still on, the ABR masters national road race championship on Sept. 22 (flier pending).

I hope the construction doesn’t jeopardize the spring series. That would be another big loss to the calendar, and I’m not sure I could handle going all the way to April without a race.

Update: Crack investigator Andy Daley (Team Clif Bar Midwest) digs into the University of Wisconsin-Parkside master plan and notes that there will no longer be a criterium-friendly inner loop. “We can all forget about racing at Parkside again.” Let’s hope our friends at Kenosha Velosport can dig up another course by March.

Many riders have been wondering this week about the status of Sunday’s team time trial. It’s on! Here is the flier. Bob Lundberg of American Bicycle Racing is spreading the word: “If you have not registered your team, please e-mail your team name, names of team members and class entered to . Bring signed release forms and entry fee to registration the day of event.”

(Thanks, Scott!)

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.

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

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!

Somehow this escaped my radar, but Sunday is American Bike Racing’s Illinois state criterium championships in Lombard. There are several juniors categories and a beginners race for those with 15 or few mass-start races.

It’s the same course as ABD’s annual Fall Fling: a safe, office-park loop with one shallow rise. For those who can’t make it to Wisconsin for the last days of Superweek, this is a good alternative.

Sunday

ABR state criterium championships

ABR criterium

Lombard, Ill.

Distance from Chicago: .5 hour

Our worst fear. Our greatest possible loss.

Beth Kobeszka (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) was struck by a vehicle and killed during Saturday’s Proctor road race near Brimfield, Ill.

Doctors declared her brain dead upon arrival at the hospital. She was kept on life support, then allowed to pass Saturday evening with her family at her side.

The crash occurred in the finishing stretch of the women’s 4’s race. My understanding is that she was bumped across the centerline and came into the path of the truck, which was towing a horse trailer. The course is known to have narrow roads, but I do not have information about the conditions at that point of the road, and I have not yet cared to probe or speculate.

Beth was 24, an honors graduate from Northwestern and an organ donor.

Her last race was the Cobb Park Criterium. She came in first.

And she was a teammate of mine.

We called her “Beth K.,” because there already was a Beth on the team, and what daredevil tries to pronounce that name anyhow?

She joined us this year, and I did not get the chance to know her well enough to do her service here. But just from the few times I met her, I know that she was spunky, smart and supportive. As a cyclist, she was talented and selfless.

I invite friends and family to use the comments here to tell us more.

Here is a story from the local ABC affiliate. There is also a brief in the Peoria Journal Star, but its comments have already been filled with so much bile and ignorance that I cannot in good conscience link to it.

Here is a gallery of photos at the XXX Racing-AthletiCo site. Non-teammates who would like to upload photos can e-mail them to me.

I will update this post as there is more information available. There will be opportunities for memorial and tribute, but details have not been announced.

7/2
9 a.m.: Here is a more complete story from the Journal Star, but again the comment section has been visited by uninformed, occasionally hateful debate about roads.

11 a.m.: Here are two stories from the NBC affiliate, with videos: “Cyclist Dies in Crash,” “Cyclists React to Crash”

5:30 p.m.: Local teams are sharing their condolences: Team Clif Bar Midwest, North Branch Cycling, Team Get a Grip Cycles. In addition, I am told that Turin has committed its winnings from the weekend toward Beth’s memory, and the women of XXX have been particularly grateful for the love and support of Team Kenda Tire.

10:30 p.m.: The Chicago Tribune has a story in Tuesday’s paper: “Cyclist aiming for another win killed in race.”

10:45 p.m.: CyclingNews has a story, “Cyclist killed in midwest road race,” which includes comments from another participant in the race. “I just saw people getting tangled,” said Katie Haft (Morris Trucking), “and one woman fell into the side of the trailer.” Haft mentions prior violations of the centerline rule, but I’ll note that no witness has asserted that such a violation -- by Beth or any other rider -- led to the fatal crash.

11 p.m.: Visitation will be Thursday afternoon and evening, July 5, at the Fagen-Miller Funeral Home, 2828 Highway Ave., Highland, Ind. A funeral will be held Friday morning. Check back here or at XXX Racing for location and time.

The family has not yet named a benefactor for memorial contributions. In the meantime, funds can be sent to the team, which will hold them and distribute them per the family’s wishes. Information about a bank account for this purpose will be available later this week.

7/3
12:30 a.m.: Chicago’s NBC affiliate ran a story tonight including comments from coach Randy Warren and cyclist Francine Haas (Alberto’s).

11 a.m.: Parade laps will be ridden in Beth’s honor at tonight’s Matteson races and Thursday night at the Northbrook Velodrome.

1:30 p.m.: Arrangement information has been released. The wake Thursday will be from 2-8 p.m. at Fagen-Miller Funeral Home, 2828 Highway Ave. A funeral service will be held there Friday at 10 a.m., after which there will be a procession to Our Lady Of Grace Cemetery. (Please note the corrected time. Also, Highland is in the central time zone.)

2 p.m.: The Northwest Times of Indiana has a story: “Highland native killed in bike race accident.”

6 p.m.: Gigi Norcross (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) has uploaded photos from Friday’s criterium, including the parade lap ridden in Beth’s honor.

7/4
1:30 p.m.: The Northwest Times of Indiana now has an obituary, which includes a Legacy guestbook.

7:30 p.m.: The Fagen-Miller Funeral Home also has a condolence book.

7/6
1:30 p.m.: I just returned from Beth’s funeral services. Mourners from the many families that Beth touched filled every seat at the funeral home and spilled into the hall and adjacent rooms. The sermon naturally included a drafting metaphor: As we let ourselves be pulled, so must we pull for others.

2 p.m.: Here is an affecting account of the crash and of knowing Beth from Brooke Schuman (Kenda).

3 p.m.: The Daily Northwestern has a story: “Northwestern alum dies in cycling accident.”

7/7
1:30 p.m.: NUSports has a story, including a picture of Beth running cross-country in college.

7/10
8 a.m.: Various cycling communities are discussing the crash, usually leading to a discussion of the importance of the centerline rule. (I’ll reiterate: Nobody has yet said Beth or anyone else was intentionally violating the rule at the time of the crash.) In St. Louis, a secondhand account claims the truck was going very fast, an allegation I’ve heard other women in the race make. In Minnesota, a witness also estimates the truck was going at least 40 mph and adds that the crash had begun before the truck was within sight.

A discussion on preventability is an important one, but although I provide these two links, I do not want to start one here. I’d like the comments to remain about Beth, and comments about the centerline rule will not be approved.

5:30 p.m.: Beth’s family has named the Hancock County Community Foundation as a memorial benefactor. Tax-deductable donations can be mailed to her mother: Vicki Kobeszka; 1536 Misty Oaks Drive; Findlay, OH 45840. Include your name and address.