State Champs for the Aero Bar Brigade!

Last event of the season at Penrose Park Velodrome. Get you some aero bars and get you a Missouri state champ jersey (maybe, but knowing you probably not).

Illinois State Cyclocross Championships

Yesterday was the last race in the ChiCrossCup calendar, and it was also the Illinois State Championships. The temperature was well below freezing, the course was covered in snow and ice, there were more racers than at any other race this year, and it was a blast! Even though I fell on the ice so much that I can barely feel my legs this morning, it was definitely worth it. If you haven't raced cross then you're missing out.


The 4As set off.


Running the treacherous corner/hill that took out a lot of racers, including me.


Powering towards the bridge in one of the few straight sections.


The Chicago Cuttin' Crew Professional Heckling Squad.


Andrew and Sage of Team Pegasus with the team flag. Noticed attached dollar bills.


Professional ping-pong player and part-time cyclocross badass James LaLonde. Came second in the 1/2/3s on a single-speed. A lot of hyphens in this caption.


The crowd at the bridge.


Riding the ice.


Fishing for cyclists.


I have a lot of photos of this hill. Deal with it.


Almost caught one!

The good news is this wasn't the last race in Chicago this year. Details on the Afterglow to follow.

Illinois State Cyclocross Championship Poster

This Sunday, December 7th, will see the Illinois State Cyclocross Championship happen at Montrose Harbour in Chicago. There will be mud. There will be snow. There were will probably be some blood, maybe some tears. Jay Ryan designed this brilliant limited-edition poster for the race. Get the posters at Turin Bicycle, and get info on the race here.

We Are The Champions

State Champions, that is! Team Pegasus have been killin' it over the last two weeks, posting an incredible series of results. Chris Padfield won the Ilinois State Criterium Championship last week, and Katy Steudel won the Wisconsin State Single Speed MTB Championship!

Chris Padfield (center) of Team Pegasus having won the Ilinois State Criterium Championship. Damn, son! Nick Gierman (left) of VitaminWater-Trek came second, and Stanley Schultz (right) of Chicago Cuttin' Crew came third.

In addition to winning the State Criterium Championships, Chris also won the Fox River Grove Crit, and in addition to winning the State Single Speed MTB Championship, Katy won the Giro d’Grafton, and won a couple of races at Kenosha velodrome two weeks ago. Andrew Utz won the Matteson crit, riding his bike there and back, 100 mile round trip punctuated by a crit win. Jason Ludtke came 1st in the Single Speed MTB category at Stump Farm in Green Bay. Henry Loud came 7th in the State Champ Crit. Aaron Dykstra had a 2nd, 5th, and 3rd on the track at Northbrook last Friday, and came 3rd in the Omnium. On the same night, Andrew Yeoman had a 5th, 5th, and 4th. Michelle Dykstra traveled to Indiana and came 4th, 5th, and 3rd at Major Taylor Velodrome. Cale Wenthur got 3rd at a recent race at Kenosha velodrome, and Andy Toumanoff got 2nd at Kenosha a couple of weeks ago.

Chris Padfield crossing the line for the Illinois State Championship win. Photo by Matt Smith.

Those are just the results from the last two weeks! For a small team, we are certainly kicking some ass. Oh, and I worked out a new training route that takes me over some ridiculously steep Caracas hills and past the Belgian embassy. Okay, it’s not much, but it’s all I have to contribute...