This week I had an exchange with Jon Reimer, director of communications for Breakaway Event Productions, which promotes the 19 different races of the International Cycling Classic, better known as Superweek.

I wanted to know about the new races, and I wanted a promoter’s perspective on safety. Among other things, we get this nugget: Parts of Superweek will be televised! Time Warner subscribers, start clearing your DVRs now.

How did the Blue Island and Evanston races come about?
Blue Island is right next door to Beverly, where we’ve been racing for several years. The folks in Blue Island liked what they saw so when they heard from our contacts in Beverly that we had an opening in the schedule this year, they were eager to jump on board.

We’ve been working on the Evanston race since 2004. Chris Mailing at Turin Bicycle has done a great job of planning for this race and he is the one who suggested the course that we’ll be using.

This is a fabulous race course. “Figure eight” type courses are always attractive and this one has great sight lines for spectators at many different areas along the course. It`With the course layout and all the nice restaurants and shops along the course, [downtown Evanston] is a perfect spot for a race.’ should also be a fast course with smooth, wide streets for most of the circuit with one narrow section in the middle to make things interesting. With the course layout and all the nice restaurants and shops along the course, this area is a perfect spot for a race.

Does International Cycling plan to make Evanston an annual event?
Definitely. Whenever we bring in a new race we expect to keep it for many years. We really appreciate the relationships we’ve been able to establish at all of our host sites because they have allowed us to have a pretty stable schedule over the years.

Anything else new to look forward to this year?
We’re expecting some great primes during the first weekend. Being able to open up with three races in the Chicago area is very exciting.

We’re also pleased with how many races we were able to place on the National Racing Calendar schedule. For the P/1/2 men’s series, we’ll be offering a special $5,000 prize list to the top points winners during the NRC races.

We are also very excited by our partnership with Time Warner Cable. We’ll be making an announcement shortly with more details, but there is going to be television coverage of several races this year.

What’s the latest on the Milwaukee lakefront courses? Can we look forward to those in 2008?
When the Marquette Interchange reconstruction project began, we were informed that we could not use the lakefront courses until the project finished because those roads were being used as traffic detours. The project is scheduled to complete in 2008 but we don’t know yet whether we’ll be able to go back there in 2008 or whether we’ll have to wait until 2009. We’re definitely eager to return. Those are great courses and were clearly some of the most popular with the riders.

The Proving Grounds course has narrow, rolling roads not that different from the road race course in Illinois where a racer was killed last week. Will there be any extra centerline enforcement this year?
We are always reviewing our safety procedures for the road races and we work closely with our USCF officials, local law enforcement, and even nearby businesses to make the races as safe as we can. We are especially appreciative of the support we receive from the Wisconsin State Patrol who provide lead cars in front of our races. They provide a critical first layer of safety by warning oncoming traffic of the approaching riders.

Yellow-line enforcement is always a priority for our officials and they explain the “rules of the road” to the riders very clearly before each race.

I’m not familiar with all of the details and causes of the tragic accident to which you referred, but to`No placing in the final results is worth pushing the limit of the rules.’ me it was a painful reminder that no placing in the final results is worth pushing the limit of the rules, especially the yellow-line rule. When officials have to enforce this rule, the reason is because someone has decided to break it and that’s not just unfair to the other racers, it’s incredibly dangerous.

Will every race have a motorcycle official?
We will have motorcycle officials at all three of our open-road race
courses.

A lot of people are wondering about closed courses, or at least rolling closures. From a promoter’s point of view, what would be involved in such a closure? Is it feasible for amateur races like Superweek?
Clearly, a closed course is the best choice when it comes to safety. That’s one reason why we are so eager to return to the lakefront courses. However, it’s very rare to find an interesting circuit where the roads can be entirely closed for six hours or more. A rolling enclosure can improve the safety margin, but it’s certainly not a bulletproof solution either and it can be a challenge to get local approval to operate that way.

It’s also a tough situation financially because road races remain somewhat popular with riders but the costs associated with operating them continue to rise dramatically.

For our races, I come back to my comment about the support we receive from the Wisconsin State Patrol. With them we feel that we have found a good formula where we alert oncoming traffic and get them to slow down and pull over while the race passes by.

There is another factor in road race safety that might at first seem entirely unrelated but is really quite important, and that is conscientious behavior by cyclists.`If we have the support of the residents along a race course, that’s going to be a big asset toward operating a safe race.’ If we have the support of the residents along a race course, that’s going to be a big asset toward operating a safe race. Supportive residents are going to be more aware of the races and will be more tolerant of any inconvenience the races may cause. They can even become our allies in making sure motorists exercise due caution on the roads during the races.

However, the support of residents can be lost very quickly by bad behavior. No promoter likes to see an angry neighbor come storming up to the finish line to complain during or after a race and that same neighbor can very easily kill the race when it comes time to seek local approval the next year.