Cyclists pitch Glen Ellyn leg of Intelligentsia Cup

Plans for a Tour of Lake Ellyn shifted into high gear Monday when cyclists and even former Olympians voiced support for the proposed event before Glen Ellyn trustees.

The tour - one leg in the Intelligentsia Cup series - would replicate the course from an event of the same name that ended in the 1980s.

Years later, the route is still part of local cycling lore, known for the elevation changes, twists, turns and prime views for spectators around the 25-acre Lake Ellyn park, organizers say.

"Bike racers all around Chicagoland have started talking about it because they remember the course," said Tom Schuler, an Intelligentsia Cup partner, Olympic cyclist and former Downers Grove resident who was often asked by his contemporaries if he entered the tour.

Schuler and other organizers were primarily asked Monday by trustees about logistics. The Tour of Lake Ellyn is tentatively set for Saturday, July 16, but another venue in Chicago also is eyeing that date to host an event in the series.

"Basically it's whoever signs up first, and they're looking at (July 16) also," Schuler said.

In Glen Ellyn, the alternative date could be Thursday, July 21, but organizers say there are fewer crowds during a weekday.

"I think if Chicago comes in soon, which it doesn't look like they are, and this was delayed, that could be the scenario," Schuler told the board.

Village President Alex Demos urged organizers to commit to a specific date as they propose the races to the board so neighborhoods could plan ahead.

Organizers also would handle the key infrastructure, bringing USA Cycling officials, barriers to close off the course from traffic and announcers.

"The festival environment is going to be up to us," said Ben Raby, a former pro cyclist who lives in Glen Ellyn and now works for SRAM, a bike component manufacturer.

Festivities would run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., with entertainment, food and vendors from Glen Ellyn businesses.

"It turns out to be a community event," said John Vande Velde, a two-time Olympian cyclist who grew up in Glen Ellyn and helped design the original course in the late 1970s.

Afternoon pro races would be capped at 150 cyclists who would top speeds of 30 mph on a scenic course that starts at Lenox Road and Linden Street, winds around the lake, heads south past Glenbard West High School on Crescent Boulevard, northeast on Lake Road and eventually finishes at Lenox and Linden.

Those top athletes - representing 14 countries in the series last year - would log just shy of 50 miles in laps around the course.

"That distinguishes our venues as opposed to others, is that we have a beautiful, natural course with distinguishing elevations, turns, and you'd be able to see the course from one side to the other," said Raby, who's helping promote the tour.

Next Monday, the board could decide on whether to approve a permit for the event.

Demos encouraged organizers to consider off-site parking and shuttle buses for cyclists in order to not "overly encumber" the neighborhood where streets and driveways would be blocked to traffic.

Golf carts also may be able to shuttle residents who live along the route back and forth from their homes to a satellite parking lot.

Several neighbors voiced concerns about noise and access to their homes in emails to the village.

But the tour was largely well-received during a neighborhood meeting Trustee Peter Ladesic attended earlier this month.

"This is another one of those things that our town needs to embrace," he said.