Tour of Elk Grove big step in dreams of turning pro

For many riders in this weekend's Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove bike races, the quest to turn professional is a full-time profession itself.

The four members of the California-based Velo Club LaGrange team competing in today's category 1 men's race spend nearly the entire year on the road going from tournament to tournament.

While sponsorships help keep this lifestyle affordable, the assistance of host families like Rick Bolesta's in Schaumburg also cuts down on year-round hotel and food expenses.

Bolesta, 48, is a fellow biking enthusiast, but one whose passion really began with watching the first Tour of Elk Grove in 2006.

"It's nice to see things like this on TV, but when you go out there and see how fast they go it's amazing," Bolesta said.

This is the second year Bolesta's family has hosted a racing team. But while he and his own team sponsored by Village CycleSport of Elk Grove are really just beginners in Sunday's category 5 race, he's found it helpful to absorb some of the expertise of the teams staying with him.

For Luis Zamudio, 22, of Ensenada, Mexico, and Alexi Martinez, 23, and Jorge Albarado, 25, both of the Los Angeles area, dreams of the high-profile sponsors and better money of turning pro are what drive them to improve themselves race after race. After four or five years of racing, they see the Tour of Elk Grove as a possible gateway to the top level, the men's professional circuit.

Teammate Victor Ayala, 36, from Ensenada, Mexico, is older and doesn't consider turning pro to be his main motivation for continuing the life he loves. But his 10 years' experience on the racing circuit provides great help to the others in both training for and strategizing how to tackle each course.

Though there's no guarantee of a team staying intact for more than a year at a time, the individual members of Velo Club LaGrange have raced all over the world, including Mexico, Europe and New Zealand.

They've been bouncing around the greater Chicago area for the past several weeks for races in the city, Arlington Heights, Elgin, Bensenville, southern Wisconsin and now Elk Grove Village.

Albarado said the team divides its time fairly evenly between hotels and the homes of host families.

Though some of the team members have raced before in mid-August's national championships in Downers Grove, this year a race in California is calling them home after Elk Grove.

While most races the team competes in are popular with spectators, they said serious biking as a personal calling seems to be most popular in places like California and Colorado where the weather makes it easy to train year-round.