I was comforted to see such a large turnout at Saturday’s Illinois Cycling Association meeting. These are never the most exciting way to spend the afternoon, but it’s important for all interested parties to stay informed and involved. Our ICA board does a lot of work behind the scenes, and showing up is the least we can do to show our appreciation.

Some highlights:

• » The 2009 schedule is coming together. Here are some likely dates you can circle on your calendars: March 29: Spring Super Crit. April 4: HIllsboro-Roubaix. May 3: Vernon Hills Grand Prix. May 22-25: Iowa/Quad Cities Memorial Day weekend races. May 30: O’Fallon Grand Prix Road Race. June 20: Cobb Park Criterium. June 21: Fox River Grove Cycling Challenge. June 28: Proctor State Criterium Championship. July 26: Chicago Criterium. July 31-Aug. 2: Tour of Elk Grove. Aug. 9: Glencoe Grand Prix. Aug. 15-16: Downers Grove. Aug. 23: State road race championship.
• » 2008 state championship jerseys were distributed, and they look sharper than ever, thanks in large part to Julian “Project Runway” Baumgartner (Vitaminwater-Trek), who stepped in to help with the design. Seriously, if I had known they’d look this good I would have tried harder at Oak Brook. The vendor is now Pactimo, and the ICA is looking into a sponsorship arrangement to reduce future costs.
• » Dave Fowkes invited teams to send members to the introductory officials clinic on Nov. 29. With the time trial series and two NRC races on top of an already-packed schedule, he needs a big labor pool to ensure each event is fully staffed. (Officials are paid, by the way. Not much, and not enough to justify the whining and pouting we reward them with, but paid nonetheless.)
• » Jason Knauff (Vitaminwater-Trek) is helping develop a cheap, reliable and accurate finish-line camera system. It’s being tested at some of the cyclocross races. Meanwhile, Fowkes is developing a better computer system to better manage and report results.