With bright blue skies and moderate summer temperatures, professional bicycle racing took downtown Brookfield by the handlebars on Wednesday, July 22.
It was the village’s annual day of professional bicycle racing.
The Cycle Brookfield Criterium made up the sixth day of Chicago Grit, a 10-day series of races across the Chicago area. Brookfield joined the series four years ago, bringing a day of sharp turns, top speeds, and great weather — an improvement over last year’s 90-degree temperatures.
The race returned to its original “B” shaped track, which was impossible last year when construction on Grand Boulevard pushed the race south of the railroad tracks. Featuring five tight corners followed by a long, straight path, the path “tests the skills of every turn for these criterium racers,” Cycle Brookfield president Chris Valadez said.
“From a bike racer’s perspective, they love it,” Valadez said. He said after navigating the race’s intense corners — which include two turns over 180 degrees — racers get the reward of “blasting as fast as they can” down Grand Avenue.
Cyclist Nick Hand, who came to the Criterium from St. Louis, said the course was technically challenging, but the recently paved roads helped. While Hand, who is from Glen Ellyn, has participated in Chicago Grit at least a dozen times, this was his first time racing in Brookfield.
“[Chicago Grit] is one of the premier races in the United States … it’s a really special thing,” Hand said. In addition to racing, Hand is also the manager of the Chaney Windows and Doors professional team, one of several teams from all over the country traveling for the series.
Justin Williams, co-founder of the L39ION of Los Angeles cycling team, said racing in Brookfield was “always fun.”
“People can sit on their front lawns,” Williams said. “[There’s] more spectating. That’s always cool.”
The race wasn’t just for professionals and high-level amateurs. It also featured family events, local vendors, and lots of room for spectators to watch the races.
Marco Colbert, the race director for Chicago Grit, called Brookfield “a very cycle-friendly town.”
“Cycle Brookfield is evidence of that. Further evidence of that is going to be the immense number of family riders in the family ride later,” he said during the Criterium.
The Criterium is open to anyone with a bike: professional racers from all over the world, local competitive amateurs, and families with any level of experience are all free to race the track at different times.
“What is cycling? It’s active, it’s healthy, it’s outdoors, it’s wholesome,” Colbert said. “This activity is very family-friendly because it’s so spectator-friendly.”
Plenty of spectators had minimal interest in cycling themselves, choosing to relax outside nearby restaurants while racers whizzed by. Karen Judge, who was at the event with her husband, said she came to watch the races while her car underwent maintenance just around the corner.
“It’s a fun, neighborhood thing,” Judge said. “We have a bike, but I haven’t ridden all summer … we’re living vicariously.”
Behind the scenes
Valadez emphasized the role of community in getting the event off the ground. For the second year, funding from Brookfield community members made the race possible, especially an anonymous resident who matched $1,000 in community donations leading up to the races, he said.
“Funding for something like this is always a challenge. It’s a bit of a risk. I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that the businesses that stepped up [to sponsor the Criterium] are taking a risk on this race,” Valadez said. “Having it on the other side of the tracks last year made it difficult to rely on some of the standard sponsors. Coming back this year, as the weather started clearing, as the momentum kept moving along with the summer, we were able to hit our fundraising goals with a majority from our sponsors.”
While Valadez said he worried about the impact of Chicagoland’s poor air quality in the wake of summer wildfires in Canada creating intense smoke, he said race day was ultimately a beautifully mild summer day that pleased attendees and cyclists alike.
“The weather was gorgeous. It was maybe a high of 80 degrees with some overcast in the morning and a cool breeze coming out of the north. We had blue skies and sun for the rest of the day, and I think that really encouraged people to come out,” he said. “Some of the earlier races [in Chicago Grit] had to be postponed and canceled due to the air quality … but thankfully, as we woke up on Wednesday morning, it came to about an 18 AQI and perfect conditions.”
All in all, Valadez called this year’s Criterium the best yet, but as the lead organizer, it will be his last. In January, Valadez announced his intent to step down as president of Cycle Brookfield by the end of the year.
“The team that has always been there behind me and next to me … has to step up to the plate here,” he said. “They really stepped up their involvement for race planning this year pretty extensively, so my involvement next year, I hope, is as a participant. I hope I’m able to sit back and watch the races next year for the first time.”
