It's been a long time since I did a real road race and we were all excited to be at the Sherman Health Elgin Cycling Classic. The race has not been running for the past few years so there was no course news or race reports to talk about beforehand. Since the 4,5 race was 2 minutes after the Masters 1,2,3, we had plenty of time to ride the 5 mile circuit.

Turn 1 was a 180 degree hairpin, no one's favorite. Then the course went up Douglas Avenue, (split with barricades for the returning route) then left downhill and a fast right hand turn up a litte kicker. This continued for a few more turns, some tight turns mixed with short straightaways. On the back of the course was a fast downhill followed by a .5 Fox River Grove climb.

My computer battery took the day off so Chris told me on lap 3 the average was 24.5 mph. That's wierd, I thought this was a road race but it seems like a really long crit. Riders were grabbing a handfull of brakes in the corners and then sprinting out of them.

xXx had about 10 riders in this race so we thought we could take flyers off the front like Proctor a few weeks earlier. After a few laps, I thought why I have no energy to launch an attack, reluctantly I sat in between 10-15th wheel. The group started to break apart, riders were dropping off the back and unsuccessful attacks were going off the front that were quickly chased down.

Before the race I peppered Ed Amstutz with questions about how to ride this course. "Since the last three turns were very tight you had to be in the top 10 coming into it. There might not be many position changes after that." So, after the short hill on the backside, I put myself at 3rd wheel on lap 5 hoping to maintain that spot to the end. That final stretch down Douglas Avenue 7 riders managed to move around me and I had to battle to keep my 10th spot.

Final Turns

Turn 1: I was on the outside, where I found was a little safer if you kept an eye out for the oncoming curb.

Turn 2: On the inside when I heard that horrible sound of carbon and pavement coming together. At least 6 riders went down on that turn. I squeaked by on the inside line.

Turn 3: Guiness rider was in 1st and his bike slid out from under him into the curb while another bike climbed over and through his carbon wheelset. What a terrible sound. I stayed to the inside corner. I could hear the tires of another rider to my right so I put my head down and sprinted it out for 4th place.

Thanks to the race organizers and Sherman Health for sponsoring the race. It will be on my top 10 for next year.