Glencoe Grand Prix



Made my way to Chicago last Thursday to take part in the Glencoe Grand Prix- an amazing event in a great community.  Went straight from the airport with Vanessa Drigo to South School to spend the rest of the school day with the kids!  We did several presentations with the little ones and 2nd graders.  Lots of silliness!  The little ones insisted on smelling my cycling shoes despite my many warnings.  One little boy declared they smelled like cupcakes... I wish!

 

 

 

Friday morning I met up with pepper Julie Kuliecza to roll.  We spun over to Glencoe Coffee located on the last turn of the course and enjoyed a nice relaxing morning.  Then it was go time.  Lights, camera, action.  Literally.  I joined Rahsaan Bahati and Andres Alzate to star in the Glencoe Educational Foundation's commercial.  Every year, the Foundation raises money to enhance the quality of our youth's education.  They are doing great work in Glencoe and in surrounding Chicago schools.  Glencoe Grand Prix is one of several ways they raise funds and it's a privilege to be part of the great work they are doing. 

 

 



 

 

Went for a nice quick spin with Michael before I was off to the WCA Pro Rider Meet & Greet Dinner.  Met a lot of nice folks, including a number of young women planning on racing for the first time the next day, and autographed trading cards for a lot of excited kids.

 



 

 

 

 

Saturday the Pro Women raced early.  The weather was perfect, the crowds great.  I did a little pre-race check-in with Kenny Labbe who announces for GGP and then got a surprise call-up.  So, the start of the race was great.  It was only as we hit mid-way through that I started to feel it.  This technical course features an up-hill portion that shelled about half the field.  With two laps to go, I was caught behind a crash as we started to descend into a technical right corner before punching it up-hill. I got going again and tried to re-connect, but it wasn't happening.  My legs were done and the group that got through ahead was going full-speed.  While this was a bummer, it also meant I avoided the nastier crash before the final turn. My Pepper Palace friends won the race, so that was exciting to see especially after they did such great work as a team organizing and executing their lead out.  I finished 24th. 



One of my favorite things about GGP is spending time with the Chiang Family.  They are just wonderful.  Everyone had a busy day, racing, volunteering, starring in a musical, so we all spent a good amount of the evening relaxing.  Elise picked out this lucky clover for me and Amelia made my jersey lucky for Sunday's race at Cobb park.  While I didn't make the break of four, despite my best effort of trying to bridge solo and making it within 7 seconds but unable to get any closer, I won the field sprint to secure a 5th place for SKINourishment p/b Paceline Projects.  That felt great!  I owe it to the girls good luck and Regina's blueberry muffins!

 

 

A very big thank you goes out to everyone involved in putting on such a great event:  John, Matt, Nikki, Catherine, Kenny, the Glencoe schools and their awesome teachers who marshaled the course, and last, but certainly not least, Michael, Regina, Amelia and Elise for being the absolute best!