I just wanted to put this out on my blog, hoping that some of you who follow this blog, live in or around Chicago, and enjoy road cycling or racing, might be interested in the following. I ride for a team called Athletes By Design (ABD). Tonight we kicked off our first ever Wednesday Night Training Criteriums series. I am one of the event leaders, so that is another reason I am putting this out, hoping to attract some new riders out there. Right now we have planned and confirmed 4 events, with the first kicking off tonight (April 28, 2010). The next 3 events will be:

• May 5, 2010
• May 12, 2010
• May 19, 2010

The location is nicknamed the “Pelladrome” as it is a 0.8 mile perfect oval, wide open, right next to Pella Windows in West Chicago, IL. HERE IS A MAP of the location. It is just south of the DuPage Airport off of Fabyan Parkway.

Registration kicks off between 5:30 and 5:45. You must have an ABR license. If you don’t you can get a single-day license for $5 or a full-year license for $25. On top of that, adults pay a fee of $10 to race and juniors pay $5 to race. If we get 30 adults to attend the event, then the juniors will be refunded and get to ride for free. These are training races so there are no prizes really. Well, we have fun certificates and tonight we even had blueberry and chocolate muffins which were given out to the winner of the primes. Great recovery fuel!

If you have never raced before and think you might be interested, then this event is perfect for you. The first race kicks off at 6:15PM and is strictly for beginners or noobies as many like to call them. The non-beginner riders get to ride in this first race as well but just as pack fodder out the back. They are not allowed to attack the beginner riders but are allowed to help a beginner rider get back in the pace line if they get dropped. Following this is 2 more races, the first race consisting of 2 groups, A Group which is made up of Cat 1, 2, and 3 riders and B Group which is made up of Cat 4 and 5 riders. A Group rolls out first and 20 seconds later the B Group rolls out. Tonight, we saw the B Group attack from the start. Heck, I don’t even think some riders were clipped in fully before hammering on it to catch the A Group and sit in with them. Sprints galore, attacks were fast and hard. All in all it was a great event tonight.

Please, if you are interested, head over to http://www.abdcycling.com/events/wednights.html for more information. Hopefully I will see some of you out there. I am not hard to spot, I am a football sized person wearing either a team kit or strolling around with my Ubuntu or Kenda hat. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email to ‘nixternal AT gmail DOT com’.