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| Hanging out with our awesome wheel sponsor PSIMET: Liza, Rob Curtis, Korina, and me. |
Following a
mixed bag of results in the Quad Cities, Liza joined me and Korina for a
weekend of racing in Chicagoland. We started out with the Glencoe Grand Prix (GGP) on Saturday. GGP does an amazing job engaging the Glencoe community to raise money for the
Glencoe Education Foundation.
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| Very cool Glenoce Grand Prix Vanderkitten rider cards. Contact me if you want one! |
As part of the GGP, we headed over on Friday to
Glencoe Central Elementary School to talk with 5th graders about
cycling. I did this for the first time last year and find it one of the most
rewarding parts of the weekend. These kids are switched on!
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| Visiting students at Glencoe Central Scholl. |
Saturday morning brought us perfect weather,
cool temps with clear skies. As part of the National Criterium Calendar (NCC),
the race drew a star-studded field and top notch teams. I lined up with good
position on the start line.
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| Stacked front line at Glencoe Grand Prix. Photo by Jon Cline |
On the gun, I got pinched out and immediately went
backwards. The technical course at GGP means position is critical. Gaps began
to form from lap one – and the being at the back meant a lot of extra work
bridging gaps. Due to my poor start, I spent the first half the race fighting
to get to the front – and getting very tired in the process. My lungs were definitely
not handling the pace!
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| Showing off my Colnago at Glencoe. Photo by Michael Kelber |
Liza and
Korina did an awesome job up front laying down attacks and making the race.
With two laps to go, Pepper Palace started a lead out, keeping the pace high. I
saw an opening on the left and took the chance to move in just behind the
train, Korina on my wheel. We lost a bit of ground, getting pinched on corner
2. We would have to wait till corner 5 to move up. Then on corner 3, a rider
slide out. I somehow snuck around, manoeuvring left in a narrow gap between
fallen rider and curb, but poor Korina went directly into the haybale.
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| Pepper Palace lining it up at the front. Photo by Elizabeth Rangel |
The crash
split the field with a group of about 20 racing on unhindered. The rest of the
field was splintered, chasing in small groups. Liza was safely in the front 20.
One lap to go. A horrible crash just before the final corner took out several
of the race favorites, who went down hard. Liza made it through safely but lost
position in the crash, finishing an admirable seventh.
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| Liza sprinting to seventh. Photo by Michael Kelber |
Sunday we
headed south to Kankakee for Cobb Park. Normally a small local race, the
pairing with Glencoe meant that Cobb Park drew some quality international
fields with over 100 riders in the men’s pro race! Vanderkitten started the
race aggressively with successive attacks from Liza, me, and then Korina.
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| Along the river at Cobb Park. |
Within 15 min a break established with Liza, Kendall Ryan (TIBCO), Christy Keely
(Pepper Palace), and Diana Peñuela (Columbia). Several riders made concerted
efforts to bridge the gap, which kept me well occupied either neutralizing
moves or trying to get across with one. The two remaining Pepper Palace riders
worked well countering each other’s moves with successive attacks, pushing my
already taxed lungs to the limit. In a photo finish, Liza pulled off an awesome
second against top sprinters Kendall and Christy.
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| Cobb Park podium: Liza, Kendall, Christy, Diana |
Thank you to
the city of Glencoe, Jon Knous, Nikki Cyp, and the team at GGP, as well as the
South Chicago Wheelmen for putting on excellent weekend on racing. We enjoyed
amazing generosity from our incredible Glencoe host family, the Kelbers: Michael,
Jenny, Jacob, Ava, Lyla, and Nola. We are grateful to Greg Bliss for a fabulous tour of the North Shore on Friday afternoon, John Cline for assistance with bike transport, Rob Curtis for amazing technical support, and my dad Eugene Kuhajek for providing transport.
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| Ice Cream with the Kelbers. Photo by Michael Kelber |
To cap off
the weekend I had the opportunity on Tuesday to head into the AMC Theater in Chicago
to see the film Half the Road. Half the Road
is a documentary by Kathryn Bertine about the inequality that women face in
cycling. The film reveals the huge barriers that continue to limit the progress
of society in general through inequality and oppression. Everyone needs to see
this film - cycling enthusiast or not. The way forward is understanding the
past. Half the Road is traveling around the US at the moment. Find out more at http://halftheroad.com/
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