Hundred to race in Elmhurst Cycling Classic
Tim Radcliff knows what it's like to be on a racing bike when you take a turn at 30 mph.
He also knows what it's like to be in the crowd cheering the racers on.
"I'm both a fan and an avid cyclist," says Radcliff, who races with the Elmhurst Masters Competition Cycling team and founded the Elmhurst Cycling Classic that comes to town on Friday. "It's very exciting. It's high speed and you're right there. It's fun to watch."
The all-day and evening racing will begin at 11 a.m. Friday on a course that winds around the Elmhurst College campus. It's an endurance test that demands cycling skills, teamwork and savvy gamesmanship.
The pro-am races, free for spectators, mark the eighth day of races in the 10-event Intelligentsia Cup series, which features races on 10 consecutive days and nights, ending Sunday with the Goose Island Grand Prix in Chicago. Glen Ellyn played host to another of the legs last weekend.
Radcliff says 600 to 700 cyclists will compete on the 1.1-mile Elmhurst course in races that are timed to last from 25 to 90 minutes and are scheduled throughout the day and evening.
The elite racers tackle the course toward the end of the day. The women's top professional riders' 60-minute competition begins at 7:05 p.m., while the men's top professional 90-minute competition starts at 8:40 p.m.
The course is well-illuminated after nightfall, Radcliff says, with light towers similar to the ones used by construction crews. The start/finish line is on Prospect Avenue, near the Wilder Mansion.
Radcliff says he has raced each year in the Elmhurst Cycling Classic.
"This is something that requires a license. It also requires a certain ability of bike handling and fitness. A race like this has some aggressive acceleration. You have to be comfortable racing elbow to elbow at 30 miles an hour," he says. "There is so much strategy going on, so many head games."
Amateur cyclists of all ages can get on the course during the Family Fun Ride, which starts at 6:20 p.m. This ride is free for preregistered riders and $5 for those who register on race day.
The fun ride gives aspiring cyclists a way to participate and to rub elbows with the pros, Radcliff says.
"The pros sometimes are out there, starting to warm up," he says.
Radcliff is president of the DuPage Cycling Foundation, the nonprofit organization that launched the Elmhurst Cycling Classic in 2013. The foundation supports several local and regional charities and the race is the organization's premier fundraising event.
"We have donated between $12,000 and $15,000 each year to charities," he says.
The route will be closed to traffic on race day, and course marshals and Elmhurst police will control access.
"We barricade where there are bigger crowds," Radcliff says. "We don't want people to be crossing."
The festive atmosphere inspires many nearby homeowners to host cookouts and parties on race day, Radcliff says, and between 7,000 and 10,000 spectators typically line the course.
"We've billed it," he says, "as one of the best after-parties of the summer."
If you go
What: 5th Annual Elmhurst Cycling Classic
When: 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday, July 21
Where: S. Prospect Avenue and W. Church Street, Elmhurst
Cost: Free for spectators
Info: elmhurstcyclingclassic.com