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.