Willow Springs 30K TT
August 24, 2008 – Willow Springs, IL
Masters 30-39 – 6th – 45:20.58
276 watts – 25.6 MPH

Venues for road racing in the Chicago area tend to be pretty cookie cutter. Office parks for crits and cornfields for time trials. We racers tend to get overexcited even if a course differs just slightly from the norm. Taking that into mind, the course for the Willow Springs TT was like a surprise birthday party. Not only did it have real hills, but lots of trees! Huh? Trees and hills on TT course in the Chicago area. Yep, and less than 30 minutes from downtown. That’s right, I’ve got a new favorite TT course.

The Willow Springs TT on August 21 was staged near the Palos Forest Preserve. Mountain bikers are very familiar with this Cook County gem and its heavily wooded areas, challenging hills (for Chicago), and sense that you’re no longer in the city. The course started near the corner of Willow Springs Road and Archer. Riders immediately faced a 1.5 km uphill that averaged a 6% gradient. The hill climbs were timed for a KOM competition. After this uphill section, the course followed a nice fast descent to 107th street. The course west on 107th was flat with a slight downhill near the turn onto Archer. The remaining stretch on Archer was also flat and heavily wooded, thus protected from the wind. This loop was 15K, so the racers would do 2 laps for a full 30K. Traffic was also courteous to riders and I was usually given plenty of room when cars were passing.

The race shared parking with I&M trail users, but this wasn’t really an issue on a Sunday AM. In fact, the path provided a great traffic-free spot to warm-up. I had arrived an hour early which was more than enough time to pick up my packet and warm-up. I ended up spending most of my time, while stretching, explaining the race and my TT bike to inquisitive recreational cyclists on their hybrids.
I was a little nervous at the start because I didn’t know how I would handle the downhill speeds and some tight corners. Yep, I chickened out. However, I cruised uphill and really dropped the hammer on the flats for a respectable speed of 25.6 MPH for 6th in Masters 30-39. Ironically, my time would have been first in Cat 4.

I got lucky having some nice carrots in front of me to help push the pace. Druber passed me on his second lap just when I had started my first. Sure, he’s a lot faster but I could at least minimize the amount he gained on me. I kept him in range up until about a mile or so before his finish. Then, just as I started my second lap. Voytek started his first lap. He started fairly fast, but I knew Voytek wasn’t that much different from me in speed. That provided good motivation and he soon backed off his pace and I caught him just before my finish. It’s amazing how important psychology and having something to chase is in TTing!

I’m hoping the new Chicago TT series continues next year and we get to use the Willow Springs course again. A lot of effort went into this inaugural series and even though it had a few hiccups and bad luck this year, it would be nice to have a regular USA Cycling based TT series in the Chicago area. Thanks to all of the organizers and volunteers who helped make it happen!