More highlights from Saturday’s hot day of racing at the Glencoe Grand Prix:

• » On a course friendly for breaks, the most impressive may have come in the 3’s, where Chris Kinonen (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) and David Jaggi (Flatlandia) escaped around the first points sprint and spent the balance of the race in a two-man time trial. Despite a large, strong field behind them, no organized chase ever came together, and Kinonen was able to pick up the first win of his adult career.
• » It’s often fun to throw some elite cyclocross riders into a 4’s race and watch it explode. It’s like the doodie-in-the-pool scene in “Caddyshack.” On Saturday it was Half Acre Cycling’s Ben Popper and Mike Hemme enjoying their biannual road race and lighting it up from the starting whistle. With their strong fitness and superior handling they shredded the field like so much cheese, reducing the 100-strong field to small packs within the first laps. Fewer than 30 hung on to the lead group. Midway through, Popper took a strong dig off the front, cracked, pulled off course to kiss his wife and then joined the next available chase group. In the end, however, it was junior track national champion Kaleb Koch (IS Corp), shown above, rocketing out of the corner to take the win by a large margin over John Villena (Rhythm Racing).
• » In a case of bad things happening to good people and great racers, Jannette Rho (Chicago Cuttin’ Crew) took a hard spill near the end of the women’s 3/4’s race. The race was neutralized while medics tended to her, leading to a three-lap galllop to the end, won by Holly Matthews (University of Wisconsin). Heidi Sarna (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) was the top local finisher in 6th.
• » Aerocat’s Andy Crater and former Olympian Diego Garavito were men among boys in the 30+. They led each other out for sprint points, and in the final laps Garavito was able to slip away from a still-sizable field. Only Bob Karlow (Verdigris) was able to go with, and the two nursed a slender lead to the finish line, crossed first by Garavito.
• » The usual suspects drilled it early in the 45+ to separate the wheat from the chaff. Only 16 out of more than 50 starters would avoid getting pulled, and those 16 were spread across four separate groups. In the lead group were Andy Kerr (Village Cyclesport), Mark Swartzendruber and Wayne Simon (Verdigris), the latter of whom came out of the final corner with a gap to take the win.
• » Richard Kisseloff (Dogfish) has handlebar video of the first few laps of the 30+ race and the last few laps of the 3’s.

Full results.

Race reports
Adam Austin (Dominon; 4): “I got into the second group after weaving my way through two crashes, some guy who dropped his power meter and slowed down in the pack to get it, several dropped water bottles and flat tires.”

Stephen Butler (Wheelfast; 4): “The pace was furious until we hit each corner, at which point we had to slam on the brakes and then accelerate back up to speed.”

Rob Curtis (Psimet; 4): “We traded pulls and generally looked like working men through the dregs of the race.”

Ryan Fay (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4): “I yelled ‘NO NO NO NO’ before crashing into someone’s front yard.”

Cathy Frampton (Project 5; W-3/4): “The finish of the race was a series of attacks with the strongest riders finding the right lines to position themselves before hitting the final corner.”

Kim Gialdini (Flatlandia; W-3/4): “I knew what my plan was but I didn’t have the mindset to kick it in.”

Chris Kinonen (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 3): “Getting the win was surreal, and honestly still probably hasn’t sunk in.”

Kristen Meshberg (Flatlandia; W-P/1/2): “The screaming crowd, which consisted of tons of friends, was highly motivating, so I decided to make the effort to catch back on.”

Jared Rogers (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 4, 30+): “I took the descents like I was in Tron and scurried up the rise like I was Schleck.”

Luke Seemann (XXX Racing-AthletiCo; 30+, 1/2): “Attrition would be heavy here, so you had to mind the gaps.”

Wayne Simon (Verdigris; 45+): “I wait for his chin to drop again so he sees I am still on the wheel, but as soon as his head goes up, Bamm, I attack about 100 meters from the last corner.”

Wayne Simon (Verdigris; 30+): “‘Sorry, Andy, it’s racing’ as I twist the throttle, telling him there is not enough green in that break.”

Steve Tilford (Tradewind Energy; 1/2): “I like races like these because you can’t let you guard down or you miss the move.”

Photos
Jeff Chen
Amy Dykema
Gavin Gould
Clark Maxwell
Andrew Rizzo
Greg Sailor
Luke Seemann
Ed White