Oktoberfest and then some in Carpentersville

Like many communities across the country, Carpentersville has an Oktoberfest celebration planned this month. But Carpentersville's event comes with a twist – Oktobercross.

Jeff Provisor, owner of Main Street Bicycles in Carpentersville, started sponsoring an annual “cyclocross event six years ago. Cyclists from across the Chicago area, but even as far as Florida, came with their families to race a course that sports a 60-foot sand pit, among other obstacles, in Carpenter Park. Three years ago, the village of Carpentersville decided to link an Oktoberfest event to the bike race, expanding the fun communitywide.

“As long as we had a lot of people coming down for the race, and family and friends of the racers, we wanted to see if we could make it more of a festival for the community to come out and enjoy as well, Provisor said.

The first race will start at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 17, in Carpenter Park with a total of 10 races before the end of the day as part of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup. The final race begins at 3:30 p.m.

Provisor designed the course as a 2-mile loop. The bike races are timed with the goal of being able to make as many laps as possible before the 30- or 45-minute race ends. For some of the races, there could be as many as 100 competitors on the track at once, getting on and off their bicycles to navigate the obstacles and recover from crashes.

“Cyclocross is the fastest growing segment of bicycle racing right now, Provisor said.

The village-sponsored Oktoberfest will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Carpenter Park with live music, kids activities like a moon walk and an obstacle course, food vendors and a beer garden. The cyclocross track will actually be incorporated into the festival itself, with half of the track visible from the beer garden area.

The 21+ wristbands will be available for $2, but the village is waiving the fee for a donation to FISH Food Pantry. The food pantry is in dire need of supplies with their own stock dwindling as they try to serve more people each month.

“The economy is really, really hurting us, said Mary Graziano, secretary at FISH Food Pantry. “Our donations are way down.

The village's park commission has been planning Oktoberfest since the spring, Trustee Paul Humpfer said. It hopes to break even with the event and, in the future, expand the number of festivals in Carpenter Park throughout the summer.