Thursday night race series that runs throughout the summer at the Ed Rudolph Velodrome in Northbrook
The Alderman James Cappleman's 46th Ward Lincoln Park Criterium Preview
Submitted by Vanessa Buccella on Tue, 04/17/2012 - 5:08pm
Chicago-area bike racers have it good this weekend. Sunday, after we have cleaned all the Leland dirt from every crack and crevice on our bike, we get to race AGAIN. Only this time the race is in the middle of one of the most beautiful parks in the world, Lincoln Park. Race director, William Pankonin, is giving us the goods on the new xXx Chicago criterium, The (ahem) The Alderman James Cappleman's 46th Ward Lincoln Park Criterium. (Hope I got that right.)
From William:
Even though our past winter has been unusually mild, previous winters have not. Over the last few years, while many of us were hammering on our CX Bikes, Chicago’s winters were hammering the roadway in our city’s beautiful Sherman Park. I visited the park late last fall and found that the holes were deeper and the cracks wider. Unfortunately, the city’s budget could not make room for a fresh layer of tarmac in Sherman Park, so xXx Racing-AthletiCo would have to find a new venue for its Chicago criterium.
Randy Warren, our team’s long time Cat 1 USAC coach, suggested a course in Lincoln Park where he used to conduct practice sessions. He described a course that had a little hill and a U-Turn; our ears perked up. I rode the route last December and easily envisioned a challenging racecourse that would offer many tactical possibilities for racers of every style. It’s a course where sprinters and lead-out trains would enjoy the finish, a course where teams would prepare counter attacks, and a course where the break-away folks would be dreaming about that rare solo post-up. We began work immediately, but what would we call our race?
The Alderman James Cappleman’s 46th Ward Lincoln Park Criterium! Slides right off the tongue, right? The shorter handle, if you prefer, is the Lincoln Park Criterium. Alderman Cappleman and his staff have been incredibly supportive from the inception of our event. He has offered us his support in meetings, has opened his own doors to meet with me personally, and has generally portrayed an excited attitude about the race.
The location is next to the Montrose Harbor Dog Beach. It’s an oval loop with an extension –so yes, there is a U-Turn. Not to worry, however, because the turn will be plenty wide for racers to get through (braking still required). The course is situated on N Simonds Drive and W Lawrence Avenue, between W Wilson and W Lawrence. The start and finish line will be on W Lawrence, closest to the lake, and near the parking lot for the dog beech. Here, you will find registration, first aid should that be required, and toilettes. Also, the wheel pit will be near this area as well. Racers will begin by going south and around the bend. They will race counter clockwise around the circular portion, turning through the nice, wide turn and onto N Simonds. Racers may not notice the elevation here on the first couple laps, but they will soon after as the race grinds on. The road here is really wide, so if you want to hit the front, here would be your chance. There is also a little rough patch here in the middle, so please be aware of that. A right-hander brings the bunch onto Wilson heading west towards the U-Turn. In order to keep the city’s parking lot open, we had to make the U-Turn before the traffic island. After the U-Turn, racers will notice that once again, there is a little elevation. Finally, racers will continue east down Wilson and back onto W Lawrence. The finish will be fast with a safe, slight bend to it. The wind will most likely play a factor in how the races play out. Imagine a strong southerly wind going up the incline. Imagine a cold blast of Lake Michigan’s easterly gales coming out of the U-turn! OUCH! A northerly gale will force people off the front, which will bode well for four to five racers in the break.
You’ll find parking by exiting Lake Shore Drive on Foster or Montrose, depending on which direction you are driving. After exiting go east. Please bring your trainers to alleviate congestion on the lake front path, and really, you can’t get a safe, proper warm-up on the path anyway. If you do ride your bike to the race, please take caution and watch your speed on the path. The Chicago Park District designates one specific location for teams to erect tents, and unfortunately, that location (Grove 16) is a ways south of the racecourse. If you choose to bring a tent, please set it up near the Montrose Beach House on the lakeside of the road. Use the link below to view the map. Please plan accordingly.
It is our intention at xXx Racing to direct and promote one of the best USA Cycling road races in the area, and to make the Illinois Cycling Association proud to have our criterium as part of the Illinois Cup race series. As usual, our race is also on the Lance Armstrong Juniors race calendar. Hopefully, in the near future, Sherman Park is repaved so that we at xXx Racing can continue racing there, or perhaps another club in the Chicago area would be willing to host a race at Sherman Park. Until it is repaved and racing can continue there, we are thrilled to offer the community a new race on a course with many interesting attributes, and a race that hopefully has a lasting future along the lakefront in the city of Chicago. We hope to see you all on Sunday, April 22nd, at the inaugural James Cappleman’s 46th Ward Lincoln Park Criterium!
William Pankonin
For even MORE on The Lincoln Park Crit, check out the videos, pics and other news on The xXx Racing Twitter Feed and a nice preview from xXx itself on their website.
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