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.

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.

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.

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.

Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson has made no small plans in his attempt to put his home on the map via the sport of cycling. Plans for his Tour of Elk Grove get even bigger in August 2008, its third year: A professional road race will make its debut, a JumboTron will help fans track the action, and the weekend’s $225,000 payout will be theworld’s largest for a three-day cycling event.

Part of what has made the Tour of Elk Grove extraordinary is that is has always included a full slate of amateur racing. What’s more, its amateur purses have been the most generous in the Midwest, making it one of the few weekends where even a Cat 4 racer stands a good chance of a decent payday.

Since August, however, we amateurs have been wondering how the 2008 changes will affect us. To find out I went straight to the top and asked Mayor Johnson about what to expect. Some details remain to be finalized, but as things stand now:

• » Saturday’s road race will start in Schaumburg and end with circuits of the 4.5-mile time trial course, a portion of which makes up that day’s amateur criterium course, meaning racing will either be put on hold for or will be scheduled around the pros’ arrival.

• » A two-criterium series for Cat 1/2 men will feature a $35,000 purse. (That’s almost as much money as is on the line for P/1/2’s over the entire 17 races of Superweek.) The overall will be decided by time, with time bonuses available at both stages.

• » Masters racing will expand. Cat 1/2 masters get a 50-minute race with a $6,000 purse, 3/4 masters get 40 minutes and $3,000, and Cat 5 masters get 20 minutes and awards.

• » Men’s 3’s score big: They’ll get their own 60-minute race, after sharing a 20-minute race with the 4’s in 2007. Cat 4’s will get their own 25-minute race, and 5’s will get a third field to accommodate demand -- this in addition to the Cat 5 masters race.

• » The good race director giveth, and he taketh away. To make room for added men’s races, there will be no juniors races, and the lone women’s race will have an open field. The women’s purse will be $4,000, down from a combined $18,000 in 2007.

• » Portions of each entry fee will benefit the Heart of the Marines Foundation and the Elk Grove Village Fallen Soldiers Memorial Fund, which provides scholarships in the name of Elk Grove residents killed in the line of duty.

This next year brings many exciting changes but also some challenges.

• » Will the country’s best teams return even though the race isn’t on the National Racing Calendar?

• » Can the race shrug off any embarrassment from its 2007 winner, Nathan O’Neill, having tested positive for a banned diet drug?

• » Will spectators finally show up in numbers that do justice to the caliber of the riders?

• » Will Elk Grove and Schaumburg have the logistical wherewithal to pull off a successful road race? (Chicago cycling historians, help me out here: When was the last time there was a road race this close to the city?)

For answers to all this and more, here’s the Chicago Bike Racing interview with Mayor Johnson.

Read more ...

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.

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.

Final thoughts on the Tour of Elk Grove:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tim Keeley (ABD; 3/4): “OUCH!”

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday photos
Action Images
Cyclingnews
Graham Fisk
Sheesh photo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photos by Luke Seemann

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

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

Lance Armstrong: Afraid to fail. Who knew!?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Complete results.

Chicago Bike Racing photos.

Cyclingnews coverage.

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

Photo by Luke Seemann

Well, that was a bizarre race.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This year’s combined race lasted 23 minutes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo by Luke Seemann

In a proper world, fans would line for all our races. High-value primes would shower down like candy from a piñata, and the prizes would come close to matching the prodigious expenses and risks we bear for our sport.

Alas, that’s not the world we live in -- except for this weekend.

I have no idea how they did it, but the Tour of Elk Grove organizers have returned with an even bigger pot of gold for the event’s second year. How long can this bounty last? I don’t know, but come out and enjoy it while you can.

That said, while the good promoters giveth, they also taketh away. Presumably to accommodate an extra 5’s race (a noble thing!), other amateur races are unusually short. Thus expect these races to be fast and active. In the men’s 3/4’s race it will be like Gallipoli out there: As soon as one attack gets reeled in, new ones will stubbornly launch, certain doom notwithstanding. That’s my prediction, for what it’s worth.

My advice to the 5’s here is no different than for at other races: There will be a wide range of skill level. Stay near the front from the start. Expect gaps to open early and often. Look for them and quickly skip around slower riders and on to the lead group. If you hesitate, the gaps will grow too big to jump across.

Each day’s courses are L-shaped, effectively flat on smooth roads. As I mentioned in my last post, the U-turns are guaranteed to cause trouble. We haven’t had a lot this season, and someone is bound to misjudge one in every race. (It’s partly for this reason that I’m opting out, but don’t let that dissuade you.) Riders at the fore will have an easier time, so get up front and stay there. (Easier said than done, granted.)

The further challenge of the U-turns will be re-accelerating out of each one as you try to go from a near standstill back up to 25 mph without losing any ground.

I forget whether free laps were given last year. With laps of 2.3 and 1.7 miles, I expect not.

Payouts go 20 deep, so sprint every last inch even if you’re mid-pack. Quitting early can cost you a nice dinner out.  You’ll be surprised how much riders ahead of you are fading, and you’ll be astonished how quickly the riders behind you are gaining. (Even the women’s 3/4’s go 20 deep, plus $500 in primes. Viva la egalitie!)

Once the amateurs are done, the real business starts with the pro races. Grab some lunch in town, replenish your carbohydrates with a cold beer and make a day of it. A complete start list has not been released, but known notables include Tour de France finishers Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) and Christian Vandevelde (CSC). Sunday’s 110k race at 2 p.m. should be dynamite, with $45,000 on the line plus another $60,000 for the overall, not to mention primes of $1,550, $2,500 and $3,000.

This should be a fantastic weekend. Race well, race safe and be sure to let Elk Grove know how happy you are to be there.

Saturday and Sunday
Tour of Elk Grove
USCF criteriums
Elk Grove, Ill.
Distance from Chicago: .5 hours

Tour of Elk Grove organizers sent a press release today saying that “all riders” will be drug-tested this year. I’m presuming this refers only to the pro riders and not to the lower categories, but one never knows that lengths a Cat 5 rider will go to to survive the rigors
of a 20-minute criterium.

(UPDATE: A corrected press release clarifies that only random riders will be tested, not “all.")

The same release announced the marquee racers for the pro stage race: Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) and Christian Vandevelde (CSC), both fresh from finishing the Tour de France, as well as defending Elk Grove and Downers Grove champion Hilton Clarke (Navigators). (No Dave Zabriskie (CSC)? Nuts!)

Fan favorite Horner will appear Friday, Aug. 10, from 4-5 p.m. at Village Cycle Sport, 45 Arlington Heights Rd., Elk Grove Village.

Finally, dig this prize list for the pro men, a total of $200,000 that is the largest for a cycling event on American soil. A $3,000 sprint prime!

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.