A new system was used to determine our State Championship Criterium. The full explanation as well as all of the votes and comments are included below. To save time the final result is that the Winfield Criterium has won the voting.

Committee Vote (5 votes total): Winfield 4, Cobb 1, Lake Bluff 0
Board Vote (1.5 votes): Winfield 1/2, Cobb 0, Lake Bluff 1
Team Vote (3 votes total): Winfield 4, Cobb 6, Lake Bluff 1

Total vote Count: Winfield 4.5 , Cobb 4, Lake Bluff 1

Continue reading for the full story.

The system of voting used to determine the outcome for the 2019 State Criterium Championships is a pilot program designed to test revising the existing system of selection. Main focus of revision was to achieve the following:

• Make the selection a transparent process. All votes are public.
  • Helps everyone see how the voting developed and see that the decision was made through general trend and majority – not through special purpose or agenda.
  • Allows for a simple record to direct others to in the future when they question race selections
  • Allows promoters of all races to begin to understand what the racers and the committee and board finds beneficial in a State Championship Race.
• Involves the voice of the ridership
  • Makes all of the information regarding all of the possible choices available to all members and allows all teams to vote to have their opinion heard.
  • Takes the decision out of the hands of a few and places it into the hands of many.

The vote is made up of separate voting structures that allocate points to each race.

• Selection Committee
  • More traditional system of nominated individual association members that work to review and discuss the races individually and make a decision
  • Required to vote as individuals while providing justification for their votes.
  • Each of their votes counts as a single full vote to the race each member selects.
• ICA Board
  • Members that do not recuse themselves due to conflicts of interest with any of the races are allowed to vote
  • Each board vote counts for 1/2 of a vote
• Team Vote
  • Each team is allowed to vote 1 time.
  • The race with the majority of team votes is selected as the “Team Selection”
  • That Team Selected race receives 3 total votes

Results:

• Committee Vote
  • Maria Larkin – Chicago Cuttin’ Crew – Winfield Criterium (1 Vote)
    • Cobb Park, Lake Bluff and Winfield are great races and are put on by stellar teams and have made for a tough decision which we debated over two calls. Lake Bluff was ruled out early due to it’s participation in the Intelli Cup series, which already hosts the road state championships. We had heard push back from many racers on the impact of outside racers on the IL state champs. We also did not want the series to have a monopoly on state championship races. Considering the excellent course, quality competition and party atmosphere, we did not think that Lake Bluff would be adversely affected by not being awarded the crit state champs. That left us with Cobb and Winfield. Initially my vote was for Cobb based on it’s central Illinois location, the excellent SCW production and it’s affordability, Cobb Park is also benefiting from being an IL Cup race. Upon further deliberation I believe that all these reasons will ensure that Cobb Park is a well attended race in 2019 irregardless of if they host the state championships. I think that in the interest of getting encouraging attendance of more racers at more races I will be voting for Winfield Crit. While the late date on the calendar is one factor that gives me pause, I believe that Winfield will would benefit the most from hosting the state championships and have the best venue and race course to encourage dynamic and exciting racing. As a lower attended race in 2018 I believe bestowing the Crits Champs will boost their attendance and hopefully mean that we will see a Winfield crit in 2020 and beyond. The length of the season is long, but with five months between the start and the end of the season, that give enough time for people to peak for early season races, recover and then peak again coming into Memorial weekend and the final race of the season.
  • Bill Barnes – PSIMET Racing – Winfield Criterium (1 Vote)
    • I voted based on three main points of view: Promoter reputation/quality of “putting on an event”: While all three are well respected and experienced promoters, the nature of Lake Bluff’s being part of Intelligentsia cup would no doubt mean it comes with more fanfare and technical support. Course quality: Course quality is obviously subjective. I find the elevation change, and proximity to festivities at Winfield to be something a little more special than the others. Lake Bluff being part of a series could be considered either a negative or a positive, again, being subjective. Cobb Park is a fun course, but not as fun to race as Winfield in my opinion. Timeliness and how it fits into the season: Each of these has an advantage as far as the date goes, depending on your point of view. They are spread out over the peak months of the season, so the only one with a potential disadvantage in my mind is Lake Bluff – and not because of the race date itself – but because it’s compressing both the State road race, and the State Criterium championship into an already targeted week of racing (The Intelligentsia Cup). To me, it feels like it makes that week of racing more important than the rest of the season, and I would rather see racers have multiple chances to fight for a title throughout the season, even if it’s just separated by a few weeks.
  • Lisa Hilleren – BFF Bikes – Cobb Park Criterium (1 Vote)
    • Cobb Park, Lake Bluff, and Winfield are all great races and are put on by excellent teams. This certainly made it a difficult decision which the committee debated over two calls. Lake Bluff was ruled out early due to its participation in the Intelligentsia Cup series, which already hosts the road state championships. We had heard push back from many racers on the impact of outside racers on the IL state champs. We also did not want the series to have a monopoly on state championship races. Considering the excellent course, quality competition and party atmosphere, we did not think that Lake Bluff would be adversely affected by NOT being awarded the crit state champs. When it came to be time to choose between Winfield and Cobb Park, I was very torn. Both have unique advantages and great race atmospheres. My ultimate decision ended up being 100% about when in the season the races fall. I think Winfield and Cobb are both great venues and put on by great teams, but I think Winfield is just too late in the season. There are a number of folks who would be interested and in contention for state that are also geared up right now to race the early season April races. I know from my own race experience last year that trying to race in September when you geared up for April is very, very difficult. A June race gives folks time to plan a build if they want to and a fair shake to people who are also hitting the early season. Perhaps with more notice to racers going forward a September race would be more acceptable to me, but I think doing that this year doesn’t give people the chance to be fully informed when making their season plan. This is in addition to my own personal extreme mental fatigue when I think about racing a highly competitive race the week after Gateway Cup. I definitely think Winfield is a great course and would be worthy of a state championship, but the timing of events in this particular year has made Winfield a less ideal choice for the state championship in 2019.
  • Anna Affias – Spidermonkey Cycling – Winfield Criterium (1 Vote)
    • Before joining the IL Crit State Championship Committee, I anticipated choosing an IL State Championship crit race would be fairly easy. However, after much debate, turns out, narrowing it down to just one race was far too hard. Therefore, my proposal would be to allow each race to run as their own separate IL State Championship. JK. JK. JK. In all honesty, it was a really hard decision. Lake Bluff, Cobb Park, and Winfield are all great races in their own regards and each bring unique factors to the table. That said, Lake Bluff was the easiest to eliminate off the bat as we wouldn’t want both road State Championship titles given out in the same series. The real debate came down to Cobb Park and Winfield. While my initial vote was for Cobb Park, after numerous discussions with the committee, it became apparent that while both are great courses ran by respected teams, choosing Winfield as the State Championship race might help bring their numbers up and protect us from losing another race in our community. This is definitely a gamble, as we know numbers at Cobb will likely be down this year (due to loss of Glencoe racers in town), but we figured it’s our duty to give it a try. On top of trying to boost numbers, the Winfield Crit is set on a dynamic course that provides excitement for both racers and spectators alike. Therefore, my final vote for the IL State Championship race is with Winfield.
  • Andrew Zens – Burnham Racing – Winfield Criterium (1 Vote)
    • It will result in more people on bikes more often. Extension of season. Best course
• ICA Board Vote
  • Robert Curtis – President – PSIMET Racing – Winfield Criterium (1/2 Vote)
    • I love all three of these races. It was not an easy choice. I chose Winfield because I believe the later date int he calendar will help to start to reverse the trend we have been having of ending the road season at the end of  July. I also selected it because the ABD club has been an anchor in local racing for a long time but has not been hosting as many USA Cycling sanctioned races, choosing ABR instead for many different reasons. While it was common for most in the road racing community to have deep knowledge of both sanctioning bodies and therefore heavy attendance at all races regardless I have felt that has not been the case for quite some time. ABD has made repeated efforts to help bring USA Cycling and its racers back to its events and honestly I think we in the USA Cycling community of racers have really fallen short. I personally believe the time has come for us to re-unite our racing communities and show our love and appreciation for these promoters by having their race represent what we feel to be the pinnacle of criterium racing for racers in our state. While I am gutted that by choosing Winfield I must also NOT choose Cobb Park and Lake Bluff. I trust though that everyone involved in all of these races understands that I view all of them as critically important to the racing community here in Illinois.
  • Michael Kelly – Vice President – South Chicago Wheelmen – Abstain (0 Vote)
    • Michael is currently a member in good standing of the South Chicago Wheelmen team – the named promoter of Cobb Park. As such he has decided not to participate in the vote.
  • Brenda Feehery – Tresurer – ICA – Abstain (0 Vote)
    • Although not technically on the team Brenda’s husband is a member of SCW – the team promoting Cobb Park. Brenda often helps with the race and therefore decided not to participate in the vote
  • Kevin Pietka – Secretary – CWEC – Lake Bluff Criterium (1/2 Vote)
    • I believe it is the best run race of the 3 options as well as the highest attended. We have always struggled with State Championship attendance when the race has been small or distant from Chicago. Lake Bluff is close to Chicago and is a large event with large turnout. I feel this will give the best option for large turnout as well as a challenging course.
  • Chad Briggs – At Large – Christian Cycling – Lake Bluff Criterium (1/2 Vote)
• Team Voting – (3 Total Votes to majority winner)
  • The Cyclery – Cobb Park Criterium
  • Tower Racing – Cobb Park Criterium
  • PSIMET Racing – Winfield Criterium
  • Wølfpack Bike Racing – Winfield Criterium
  • Midwest Masters Cycling Team – Winfield Criterium
    • 1. great, challenging crit course 2. long standing crit venue 3. ABD always presents a classy event for both riders & spectators.
  • Bloomington Cycle and Fitness – Cobb Park Criterium
  • CDF Cycling – Winfield Criterium
    • Lake Bluff is awesome, however since it’s part of a series, there will be lots of out of state racers and that can “mess up” the results in terms of how the race plays out, etc.
  • xXx Racing – Cobb Park Criterium
    • While we would love to change it up from previous years, we aren’t keen on having both the State RR and Crit as part of Intelli. That said, the Lake Bluff course is a great one. Winfield would be a great courses well, but that’s too late in the season with CX dropping/burnout, etc.
  • Spidermonkey Cycling – Lake Bluff Criterium
  • Chicago Cuttin’ Crew – Cobb Park Criterium
    • Although all the listed venues are amazing, we as a team voted in favor of Cobb Park.
  • BFF Bikes – Cobb Park Criterium

Teams who didn’t vote:

• ASU Junior Development
  Beverly Bike
  Bike Surgeon Cycling built by The Korte Company
  Bonkers Cycling
  Bouledogue Tout Noir
  Burnham Racing
  Chicago Womens Elite Cycling
  Club Bicicletta
  Comrade Cycles Racing
  DIRTy Squirrels Racing
  EMC2 / Elmhurst Masters
  George Garner Cyclery Track Team
  Half Acre Cycling
  Heckawee
  INTENT
  KLiCK Cycling
  Little Ade’s
  Main Street Bicycles Sasquatch Squadron
  Meteor-Allied
  Mox Multisport
  Northbrook Bicycle Club Inc.
  Northbrook Cycle Committee
  Northwestern University
  Pact- DISH Network Cycling
  Peoria Bicycle Club
  Plus Cycling Team
  Polish & Slavic FCU International Cycling Team
  Skunkworks Racing
  SLF Motion
  SRAM Factory
  Team Bicycle Heaven
  Team Mack Racing Assoc. LTD
  Team Veloz
  Team World Bicycle Relief
  Ten27 Cycling Club
  Tenspeed Hero
  The Bonebell
  Tuxedo Thunder Cycling
  Union Cycling Team
  University of Chicago
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  UPB Cycling
  Velo Club Roubaix Inc / VCR
  Vision Quest Coaching
  Wheel Fast Racing
  Wild Card Cycling