National Crit Champs: Downers Grove, IL

Downers Grove, IL was a very busy town during August 15-16th as the city prepared for supportive fans and anxious racers competing for the National Criterium Championships. While many national champions

hips are rotating on an annual basis, Downers Grove, IL has been the home of the National Crit Champs for the past x years. This year, the

course was a twisty 8-turn 1.1 mile loop nestled in the heart of downtown Downers Grove. Although the course did not hold anything too technical for most racers, it proved to be a hard and fast race because of all the racers in top form fighting for the first wheel to cross the line with one lap to go.

My team, Team Wheaton Fransiscan Hospital, arrived early to scope out the course, get a good warm-up in and enjoy that last cup of coffee before the race. After picking up race numbers and discussing our team plan, we began to warm up and anticipate a solid race. With 10 minutes to race time, Team Wheaton Fransiscan Hospital took a lap to scout out the course for a final time, scoping out the roads for cracks and other hazards. As we roll up to the line, the announcer heckles Sarge (the Cat 3 overall winner of the Tour of America’s Dairyland), asking him what our team has in store for the day.

Just before the starting whistle blows, the announcer proudly tells the pack that the first lap is a prime. I think to myself, “oh boy, this is gonna be a long race”. After a few laps, things begin to settle in the pack and I become a little more comfortable with the course and the riders. The first 10-15 minutes was full of desperate and half-hearted attacks, all of which were brought back within the same lap. I wasn’t too worried about anything serious going off the front of the race, it was too large of a race and too many teams were willing to pull anything back in for a pack sprint. As far as some of the other races this year, I was unusually calm during these attacks having a sense of security knowing that my team was around me to help bring back any break that looked strong.

After watching the minutes count up for the first third of the race, the race went surprisingly quick and I found that we had less than 20 minutes until the final sprint. I began to pay much more attention to the other riders and trying to scope out who was planning on contending for the win. With two laps to go, Sarge and I positioned ourselves within the first 6 riders and worked hard to maintain our position within the top 10 riders. The final lap bell rang and the pack began to swallow up the road as we rounded the first corner. My legs burned from the acceleration and I felt as if the power was drained from them by all the anxiety of the race. The last 7 turns were a constant struggle to maintain a decent position for the sprint as the field behind us consistently swarmed around the front of the pack.

A very technical 8-turn course combined with 70 riders made for a very active last few laps; staying up front and upright was difficult enough. Joel Friedman (Aurora, IL) from Bicycle Heaven took a flyer down the big hill on the last lap and managed to hold off the field for the win, the rest of the bunch had to settle for 2nd.

Results for Team Wheaton Fransiscan Healthcare were: Dave “Sarge” Paquette in 6th, myself in 13th, Nick Fry in 27th, Garrett McAllister in 43rd and Addison Fowl in 50th. Overall, the boys worked hard and we didn’t get a win, but Team Wheaton Fransiscan Hospital will proudly call that an end to a successful road season.

Thanks T6 for the sweet socks. They made me super-duper fast.