Leland Kermesse 2012

HELLO AND THANK YOU FOR RACING in this year’s LELAND KERMESSE

Thanks to our friends at BH Bikes, Hinsdale Ortho, BIKE FIX, Tati Cycles, Brad at CARBO ROCKET, Real Rides and all of you who are joining us on this day of good sport.

Hello. Few tips and reminders priors to Saturdays event. Thanks for your support, sport!

Registration: Thank you for pre-registering. It makes the morning of event a much smoother process.

Look at the schedule. Everybody starts within 60 minutes which means all-y’all are going to show up and want to park, use the provided porta-john’s, and register at the same time. Give yourself some cushion understanding this.

YOUR LICENSE: Bring your valid USAC license to the Reg Table. Not your “I know Wagner/Pilotto / Burger” statement. Get it together. It’s April!

PARK:

At the Leland Highschool, (370 N. Main Leland IL 60531) like year past. It’s a good size parking lot. Leave the alley for Rider Staging and Roll-out clear. You’ll get it.

Porta Johns:
There will be 4 johns behind the school. That’s pretty much it. Give yourself some time. Don’t whiz in public. It’s a little town. Everybody knows everybody.

USAC:

USAC officials are scoring and judging this event. All usac rules will apply. They will be at the finish and on the course. Thank them for their hard work.

Combined Fields:

We are running fields together with a shared lead and follow vehicle. Scored and paid separate. Each category will have unique bib numbers.

Lead and follow vehicles:

Don’t pass the lead vehicle. The follow vehicle with “WHEELS IN WHEELS OUT” will be staying with the leaders as determined by the USAC officials. The wheel cars are not your team cars, they need to be with the action, dont depend on them to fix your bike.

EMERGENCY:

The corner workers are your best friends on the course, if you find yourself in need of help, please stop and tell them. With 13 corners per lap you will never be more than a few KM from someone who can help you. If you are having trouble or get cold please stop at a corner and let someone know.

CENTERLINE:

Applies on paved surfaces. You get the whole road on the gravel sections. BUT: the roads are open to traffic, very large farm equipment. Be mindful and smart. Farmers drive big pick-up trucks very fast.

NEUTRAL ROLL OUT:

The race rolls out neutral for a mile.

LAPS / FINISH:
After your neutral roll-out the race will be started for the laps noted for your category. Every year folks will “LOSE TRACK” of what lap they are on. Don’t be soft. Do your laps. Take a left hand turn into town on your last lap. Do not expect the corner workers to know what lap YOU are on, know how many laps you are doing before you start. We’ll have a 1KM and 200M sign to help you judge the finish.

FEEDZONE / Dumping H2O bottles:

There will be a feedzone as you start each lap on a slight rise. There will be signs. If you are dumping water bottles (or whatever) please do it here. Trying to be good citizens. You know. Did you know you can get DQed and a fine for tossing a bottle outside of the feedzone? Riders may also stash water there to pick-up. With 125KM of racing for some folks, 2 bottle—heck 3 bottle may not be enough.

FARMS:

You are racing in the heart of Illinois with descent weather expected. Farms will be active and busy. Please take care out there. Roads are open and farm equipment is very wide and unforgiving. TAKE CARE.

DOGS:
There are about 30 farm dogs on the course. Be smart and get through it together.

Is this a road race?
It's a road race.

Can I pre-ride?
You bet! Check the course. Especially gravel sections. Where are the cross-winds? When are Swinand and Druber going to drop you? Take a look at the run to the finish line.

Gravel:

You may have heard. This race has some dirt/gravel roads. Read some blogs to find out what happens there.

WEATHER:

Take care to bring all of the right race clothing. Rain cape. Booties. You get it. Last year went from bad and tough to dangerous. Ma-nature has no mercy west of Leland.

Is there an awards ceremony?
OH YES! This year we have a little do-ra-mi for our top finishers. This should take place at around 1:30pm. We may postpone ensuring sure most of our finishers are in.

If you need to go and are in a hurry we'll get you your laurels of victory...but we'll probably trade your cool prize for one that nobody wanted.

Chip timing?
No

Safety/broom wagon in case I need a ride back to my car or need a hug?
We’ll make an attempt to having a floater vehicle. They can pick you and get you back to your car if you find you are just done. Head up to a corner with a volunteer so they can radio you in.

This is my first race what should I expect?

That is awesome. You picked a great race to start, what hopes to be, a life-long love for bicycle racing. Not all races will be like this. The day will be hard. If you get dropped from your group it’s OK. You are still a good person. Just Finish. Ride Hard. Remember to eat and Drink. Be safe and do your best. JJJ

HAUNTED:

The woods next to gravel section 1 are Haunted. There are Zombies. And THAT is why Ted Burger is not here.

RACE NUMBERS:

You’ll get 2 numbers. A small one for your left jersey pocket. A standard one that should be applied on the right just like you are doing a crit. The left one is for our Moto-Referees during the race and the right is for the camera at the finish. OH…and bring your own pins.

Gas Station:

Caseys’ is awesome.

EMERGENCY:

We’ll have band-aids. Other emergencies will be taken care of via dialing 911 emergency. There will not be paramedics onsite.

FINISH this race!:

We encourage you to finish this race. Racing is training. It is so tempting to take a left back to your car on the last turn, DON’T DO IT. You are a champ if you finish…no joke. This flat race blows up like nothing I have ever seen. Midway through the first lap you may already be on your own. Settle in and ride hard. And FINISH. You are our hero. A Hugs / Handshake from ICA President Loch Miwa for every finisher!