It made getting up at 3:30 in the morning, riding shotgun to the southside with 4 gallons of coffee, 4 dozen donuts, and three dogs in and around my lap by 5am, and then racing in the pouring rain, unable to see, breath, and catch a draft at the same time all incredibly, magically, improbably worth it.
I'll let the pics speak for themselves. Mostly.
Sourcing out the barriers = BEST IDEA EVER:
You know you want one:
Just look at the VERY short registration line:
Yet we had some big fields (thanks for preregistering!):
(photo credit: Chicago Personal Photographers)
Nothing, however, was worth putting up with the smell of whatever it was The Beagle rolled in - even Henry is keeping his distance:
Here's to your first race!
Peter Strittmatter wins the Category 3 race - beating out a 19 year old wearing a State Championship jersey he won as a Junior in 2008. (We'll have to work on enforcing protocol, apparently):
If you raced, and flatted, and got a wheel from these guys? I suggest you get your ass over to either their Irving or Fulton locations with a bit of gratitude - best expressed in fermented, cold, Belgian form:
The Men's 1/2/3 race - the main event:
Which I had the extreme pleasure of emceeing - I tried my best to get your name right, and if I knew you and you were anywhere near the front, you definitely heard your name! I want to do this again next year, but I plan to be racing this specific event (I just registered for the 3s and the M1/2/3 races at this year's Chicago Crit!):
And...we're done. See you next year - thanks again for coming out. All of you really helped make this race a success:
