Fans of last year’s Cycle Brookfield Criterium will be excited to learn the day of professional bicycle racing and fun in the sun is set to return this year.
At its Feb. 12 Committee of the Whole meeting, the Brookfield village board agreed to have local nonprofit Cycle Brookfield, which helmed last year’s event, lead the organizing efforts for the second annual day of professional bike racing on July 24 as part of the Intelligentsia Cup, a yearly 10-day series of bicycle races across the Chicagoland area. Cycle Brookfield President Chris Valadez said at the meeting that Intelligentsia Cup directors asked the nonprofit to host the race again this year after it and the village of Brookfield did a “fantastic job” last year.
Valadez said Cycle Brookfield plans to keep the same route from last year’s criterium — defined as a one-day bike race on a closed circuit — after hearing positive feedback about it.
“I had the pleasure of speaking to many of the bike racers myself, specifically some of the professionals, and they said, ‘Wow, what a fast, amazing, amazing race course,’” Valadez said.
The route starts with racers heading southeast on Grand Boulevard before making a sharp left onto Prairie Avenue. Next, cyclists turn left onto Grant Avenue, right onto Sunnyside Avenue and left onto Lincoln Avenue. Finally, the bikers make one last sharp left back onto Grand Boulevard before completing a lap.
While the route will remain unchanged, other parts of the event may be different this year. Throughout the meeting, Valadez and members of the village board discussed the possibility of moving the business expo, where local businesses were invited to advertise themselves to race spectators. Last year, it was held in the parking lot of the Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library, but due to “access issues,” the expo didn’t get “a lot of foot traffic,” Valadez said.
For this year’s expo, Cycle Brookfield is eyeing the portion of Prairie Avenue between the intersection with Grand Boulevard and the train tracks, Valadez said, which would require closing down the railroad crossing there for the day. Brookfield Police Chief Michael Kuruvilla said at the meeting that closing the crossing would make the race safer for spectators and require fewer police officers to work the race, saving the village from paying overtime to those officers.
Valadez also pointed to fundraising and marketing as areas where Cycle Brookfield could improve for this year’s criterium.
“We at Cycle Brookfield got right to the dollar amount, I think by the penny, of what we needed to support the race,” Valadez said about fundraising for last year’s event. “A lot of us were unsure of how to promote this successfully, but by the skin of our teeth, we made it.”
He added that Cycle Brookfield is looking for as many local sponsorships as possible so the nonprofit can do more to draw people to Brookfield for the race this year.
At the meeting, the village trustees agreed that last year’s race was a success and that they would like to see it return this summer.
“That day was so fun,” trustee Edward Côté said at the meeting. “Everybody was happy. It was a great atmosphere. I couldn’t get over all the positive things that were sent back. I don’t remember one negative item about it.”
“Brookfield has a reputation for our events,” trustee Nicole Gilhooley added later. “This absolutely fits in with that reputation and elevates us because it is such a unique event.”
