Hundreds of Bicyclists Turn Out for St. Charles Races

The phrases “spinning your wheels” and “going round in circles” generally are expressions of frustration about a lack of progress in an endeavor.

That was not the case, however, for the hundreds of bicyclists who turned up in downtown St. Charles on a sunny Sunday for Sammy's St. Charles Prairie State Criterium Race, a series of five amateur and two professional cycling competitions from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. A women’s pro even was scheduled at mid-afternoon, and the men’s pro event was scheduled about 5 p.m.

Cash prizes were awarded to adult race winners in both the amateur and pro events. There also was a youth race sponsored by the St. Charles Park District.

The course was relatively short — each race started on Prairie Street, just west of the bridge, heading west and then immediately north onto 1st Street before turning east on Illinois Street, crossing the Fox River, and shooting south on Riverside Avenue before shooting west to cross the river again on Prairie Street. Less than a mile long, the route offered competitors a fast pace with changes in terrain that moderated from flat to hilly.

Each race was led by a pace car and followed by a race official driving a motorcycle.

The course appealed to Chris Gola, who had mounted his racing bike on a stand in the parking lot across 1st Street from the so he could ride in place to warm up for his amateur race. Gola, who came to the “Live, Work, Play” city on the Fox from his North Side Chicago home, said he races about 35 road races like the criterium each summer, although he also races on velodromes — indoor racetracks for cyclists. He said he participates mainly in races in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.

“This is a great course,” Gola said, adding he had ridden it earlier in the day, before the races began. “It’s great to see this sponsor come down to Illinois and do races here. They are very well-organized.”

That sponsor is Wisconsin-based Tour of America’s Dairyland, with local hosts and Sammy's Cycling Club, which hope the Prairie State Cycling Series will return to St. Charles again next year in July and become an annual event, said race director Marco Colbert.

By the way, Colbert said a criterium is a short race course — usually shorter than a mile — along a circuitous route. He said 202 cyclists had pre-registered online for the event, and another 200 were expected to show up to register during the races, which is not unusual for Tour of America’s Dairyland events.

Colbert said the Tour of America’s Dairyland hosted 11 criterium events in June, which is the largest race series of its kind in the United States.

“Our goal is to set a high-quality cycling series in the state of Illinois next July,” with one of those events in St. Charles, he said.

Colbert expressed appreciation to Sammy’s Cycling Club and for hosting the St. Charles event, and praised the city of St. Charles for its efforts to make the race possible. “Our reaction to the city of St. Charles is very positive,” he said. “They have a vision … to see the value of an event like this to bring some money into the community.”

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