Fans of the annual Cycle Brookfield Criterium, rejoice: The day of professional bicycle racing, operated as part of the Chicago Grit bike racing series around Chicagoland, is returning to Brookfield for a fourth year.
The village board gave its support Monday evening to Chris Valadez, the president of transit advocacy nonprofit Cycle Brookfield, to bring the criterium back to town next summer. The races will return to the B-shaped route starting on Grand Boulevard that they followed in 2023 and 2024 after this year’s event moved south of the train tracks due to summer construction on Grand, Valadez said.
He said audiences and pro cyclists alike preferred the old route to this year’s.
“That course was designed to be not only fast but hit highlights of some of the beautiful areas throughout the village,” Valadez said. “The unfiltered version [of cyclists’ feedback] is, if you’re not a good bike racer, you loved this year’s route. If you’re professional, they love this [B-shaped] course, because this is more challenging. This brings more visibility.”
He attributed lower crowds at the July event this year to the intense 90-degree heat and diminished shade along the new route.
While two trustees were absent from the meeting, those who were present lent their unanimous support to a fourth iteration of the day of bike racing.
At the meeting, Deanne Adasiak, Brookfield’s business development specialist, walked the board through the costs by department to host the event in 2025, with the village’s total price tag coming to about $51,000.
About half of that money went toward paying public works staff to set the event up beforehand and take it down afterward, which Adasiak said cost $26,085. The public works department spent another $8,802 toward concrete patching work to prepare the streets for the races, she said, for a total department cost of $34,887.
Next, the police department spent $13,232, with about $7,000 going to command staff and the remainder to staff overtime, Adasiak said. Finally, she said, the fire department spent $2,884 for a 10-hour detail of four firefighter paramedics to ensure, according to a village memo, “immediate medical response capability” for the duration of the races.
Valadez took a chance at the meeting to recognize that the Cycle Brookfield Criterium truly does take a village — the village of Brookfield.
“President [Michael] Garvey, if anyone doesn’t know, was out there volunteering, holding a sign at the crossing, but, beyond that, Women’s Club and many other organizations really make this happen. This is not a Cycle Brookfield and village-only event,” he said. “I’m always in awe. Every year, when I’m done, I don’t want to think about the race for many, many days, but then the community keeps coming back out and saying, ‘Please bring this back.’ The support that comes through is truly immense, and I’m honored to be part of the community, that they want it back as well.”
