John Wilke

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?...ec08/dec23news

By Mark Zalewski, North American Editor

Christian Vande Velde rode Beijing and compared the difficulty with the proposed Chicago course
Photo ©: Rob Jones
The Chicago 2016 Olympic bid committee said in a press conference recently that the worsening economy, combined with rule changes for hosting the Games, have increased the chances that the city will need to cover any budget shortfalls with its pledged US$500 million guarantee. But committee chair Patrick Ryan said that taxpayers would still not have to absorb any costs.

A side effect means both good and bad news for Chicago's cycling fans, as the changes could see a permanent indoor velodrome constructed. Unfortunately, early plans for the road racing and mountain bike courses within the Chicago metro area seem to have been replaced with a site nearly three hours to the northwest in western Wisconsin.

John Vande Velde, a former US Olympic cyclist and father of current professional Christian Vande Velde, had designed a course close to downtown in the southwest suburbs. But he said an early review by the UCI deemed the courses unsuitable for Olympic competition.

"It's very disappointing to me that the UCI has stepped in and said the courses we had in Lemont and Palos [Hills] were not hard enough," he said. "The rumor is it will be west of Madison [Wisconsin.] 95% of the events will be in Chicago and [the cycling events] will be three hours away. Without even seeing it they made the decision."

The course was proposed near where the Vande Veldes live, in the town of Lemont. A river running past the town was to provide enough climbing to make the course challenging – not quite like the most recent Olympic course but definitely harder than some past courses such as Atlanta.

"Christian said the course in Lemont was not easy at all. We worked hard on it to make it a good technical course. But the UCI wants the Olympics to be a classic race and the hardest race of four years. We would have had a million people on the road and it would have been great for spectators. It would have been difficult – sure, not like Beijing, but great for spectators."

Officials with Chicago 2016 refused to return multiple calls for comment.

One of the cost-saving measures comes in terms of venue location and construction. For example, the planned aquatic facility was moved south to the same location as the proposed Olympic Stadium, and with a change to a temporary competition pool. The committee also announced a change for its track cycling and BMX plans, moving from a site on Chicago's lakefront to semi-permanent plans in an existing park on the city's west side.

Following the conclusion of the Games the proposed velodrome would be converted to a year-round multisport facility to host cycling, as well as indoor soccer, basketball, volleyball and other sports. This is a change from the original plan which called for a temporary velodrome to be constructed only for the Games. The track would be the only velodrome in the city and only the second indoor, full-size facility in the US.

If chosen Chicago would be the first Summer Olympics in the United States in two decades. The other finalists are Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro.

iab

South burbs - difficult -

It would be sweet to do it at the HHH. I could compare my time to their's. My goal is no more than double.

Psimet2001 

That would make for a nice course, but few spectators. Bumble-tuckey Wisconsin - although great to ride in - does not have the infrastructure to handle a few thousand riders for events let alone an olympic contingent and spectators.

If the olympic organizers saw what they were dealing with they would most likely change their mind.

But it would be nice to see those guys suffering on the same climbs I have suffered on....even if they were suffering at 3 times the speed.

MJH2

I'm not sure that the UCI and IOC care too much about on-hand spectators at these cycling events. Look at the video from this year... there's NOBODY out there watching the race.

I'm not sure why they get so hung up on making it "hard". That seems to me as much a function of the competition as anything else. Have them race a 5 hour crit on the Downer's Grove course and see how many of the starters are left. If it was up to me, the Olympic course would start in down town Lake Geneva and end on Michigan Ave.

Psimet2001 

Hmmm...maybe they should race FROM Western WI TO Chicago. That would be cool.

CyLowe97

Remember that the Olympic course is a repeating loop like the Worlds course. They wouldn't be using all 100k of any HHH route, but it would be awesome to see them battling up something like Barlow or Observatory five or six times.

A course loop from Madison out to Cross Plains or something like that would provide tons of fun and I believe tons of fans. I'm thinking something out Mineral Point Road or US-14. Could be sweet.

VdV's right, though, that they could put together a pretty sweet loop along the river and ride through Lemont and Palos Hills or something like that. I don't think it would be the greatest Olympic cycling route ever. But it's Chicago. What are they supposed to do?

Anyway, when Atlanta had the games back in 1996, IIRC, they had whitewater kayak stuff up in Tennessee and nobody complained much. Hmmm.... that was kayaking, though.... Cool, but.... never mind.

Psimet2001 

Remember....this is cycling (though). No one cares.

jbmadtown

And those small towns West of Madison think they hate cycling now...

Road Fan

I would have loved to see something that involves the North Shore, and the Lake Shore trail.

Other good candidates - what about involving the big rollers in Southern Wisconsin? How about a point to point race say across Wisconsin, or across Illinois for that matter? Elgin to Rock Island via Ottawa? If there's a west wind, they are facing a challenge. How about westward to the Quad Cities area, north along the Missisippi to LaCrosse, then parallel or follow the old Wisconsin Bikeway (does it still exist?) to some diagonal route that gets back to Chicago, for a finish at the Hancock Center?

In high school (1970) I had one of my hardest bike rides ever on 176 from Waukegan to McHenry - rollers plus big wind. The next day we came back to Chicago on US12 in one day, which was great until reaching Arlington Heights and the growing 'burbs.

So many of my old motorcycling routes are built up now since I moved away in 1981 - does Volo even exist?

Road Fan

I like this idea!

CastIron

Sure, put it on the NW Tollway on a Sunday afternoon following a holiday. I'm sure the construction will be done by then.

Road Fan

Hmm: start at Ba'Hai temple, north on Sheridan Road to Lake Bluff, west on 172(?) to I-94, south to Circle Campus, over on the Congress (yes, I know, my highway names are dated) to Columbus Drive, north on Michigan onto LSD at Oak Street Beach, then up on Sheridan to end the first lap at Ba'hai again, with a cool-down in Lake Michigan at Wilmette Beach. We can add more South Side by taking the Dan down to South Shore Blvd, head east to South Shore Yacht Club, then North on LSD past Science and Industry, McCormick Place, and (oh, then they'll have to show) Soldiers Field and the Fountain, ultimately back to Sheridan road and the Ba'hai Temple.

Psimet2001 

I thought we were talking about the road course...not the Mtb course. There's no tackling Sheridan without full suspension.

aham23

I would love to see a map of VdV's proposed Lemont Route. Later.

Road Fan

HAAAH! Keep in mind, my latest recollection of cycling it goes back to around 1973!!

I once scored a motorcycle race at a road course near St. Louis, jokingly billed the Midwest's Finest Paved Motocross Track!

Duke of Kent

Being a long time resident of the Chicago suburbs, it pains me to say this:

I completely agree with the UCI. There's nothing within an hour of Chicago that would be remotely challenging, aside from having them bomb up and down the Fox River for 6hrs, climbing the longest and steepest routes up from the river. To hold the event anywhere near Chicago would be a travesty.

There are plenty of places in WI that could host a respectable event, and there's some respectable climbing to be done on the Hilly Hundred course in/near Bloomington, IN., but nothing worth writing home about in the northern two thirds of IL. Even SoIL, at 5+ hrs away, loses compared to those other areas.

tiztim

Why hasn't anyone noticed the area around Peoria, two hours from Chicago? There are some great routes there along the high bluffs on both sides of the Illinois River. There are plenty of 10% climbs. Pretty too.

Severian

Seriously? I mean, I agree with you on the spectators issue. But, no infrastructure for thousands of riders? IIRC the 2008 Iron Man here in WI had more than a thousand athletes.

I'm amused at the prospect.

aham23

There are plenty of steep, yeah short, climbs in the lemont area. The idea that they hold the race two hours away is silly. Later.

CyLowe97

No it's not. It's what the UIC does to get the best possible event. Think the Winter Games for a minute. They often have downhill skiing events hours away at a mountain that provides the best course. Also in the Summer Games the sailing events have to be held hours away to find the best open water.

It's not unusual. Plus, SW Wisconsin is just a far northwestern suburb of Chicago anyway, right?

Oh yeah.... Merry Christmas! Get back on your trainers, you slouches!

Severian

Bah! What's your weather down there? Oh yeah, we had to play in YOUR stadium last week and ya'll said it was the coldest it had ever been at the Bears hole-in-the-wall.

I say we should all go out biking on the lakes around Madison.

Thorn

Hrrrrmph...Polite WI-ites let the IL-ans come play and immediately they suddenly think it is theirs. Polite just never works. Time to build a fence....hrrrrmmph....

Personally, IMO, SW WI has the best collection of terrain and scenary short of true mountains. I rather love the idea of using this beautiful, hilly area. And, well, if it all works out, wouldn't it be great to justify some road work on some of those roads? More than one could use a resurfacing, but as rural roads they don't rate on the priority scale.

CyLowe97

It seems I've touched a nerve.

Steady there, mates. Realize I'm advocating for the road race up that way, yeah?

Actually, I'm rooting for Tokyo to get the games. Chicago has hassles enough without Olympic money rolling around in the gutters.

If Tokyo gets the games, I'll still advocate for SW Wisconsin to get the road race.

Severian

So maybe we should shoot for Milwaukee to get the summer games? Even closer to the HHH course for the road ride. AND there's space enough for sailing, not to mention the other games.

aham23

actually i was speaking towards the "Peoria" comment. that would be silly in my opinion. heck, anything that requires me to drive more then the 20 minutes it would take me to get to Lemont is just plain silly.............. later.