The Chainlink

If you have EVER thought of racing, Especially women, now's your chance

With the Gapers Block Crits


Dearest Ladies,


We hope we're not coming on too STRONG, but we wanted to let you know just HOW MUCH you get our gears going.  HOW MUCH we want your presence at the GAPER'S BLOCK CRITS March 26th-29th, Half Acre's practice race series, just for the beginners (women cat 3/4).

We'd SO LOVE to see your fast foxy selves spinning 'round our Calumet Park course,  that we have ALL KINDS of gifts to entice you, just you, ladies.

1. We've cut the price of racing in half, just for you. 4 nights of racing for ONLY $25! ALSO each night, PRE-REGISTERED RIDERS are eligible for a raffle drawing. So Register soon!!

2. Do the Men get a prize for all overall winner? NO. Do the ladies? YES, the Top 3 overall women get PRIZES thanks to Half Acre Cycling's many sponsors!

3. We know you love shoes! (At least this lady does!) Tati Cycles is GENEROUSLY giving away shoes the the first few pre-registered women, who have NEVER done the Gapers Crits before.  It's first come, first serve!! SO PRE-REG, and also you must actually race. 

4. We don't want to leave you in the cold after your race.  Not us. We want to cuddle after. We are having a special post-race chat/follow-up/QnA just for the women, after the first 2 evening's races. We understand your needs to communicate AND we want to make sure you get the most knowledge out of your racing experience. 

5. We are here to give you what you need.  If you don't have a road bike, let us know. Does your friend want to race and not have one? Let us know.   We're not about to leave you hanging. Just reply to this e-mail and we will do our best to hook you up!

6. If you race ALL FOUR nights, purchasing a day-of license each night, Half Acre Cycling will COVER the rest of the Annual USAC License Fee (total fee = $60).   An annual license is the gift that keeps giving b/c we know you'll want to race in the Illinois Cup next!

7.  Your race starts at 6:50 pm, because we know you have a lot on your plate, and we want to give you plenty of time to get to the park.

8. FINALLY we want you to be prepared, like good girls scouts, so I divulged all of my racing secrets.  Now you're ready to race your best crit, or first crit, ever.

What more could you ask for? We want to be the most devoted bike race series we can be. If you aren't a Cat 3 or 4 any longer, if you have moved up the racing ladder, you can still spread the love to those women who are thirsting for the thrill of a bike race and just starting out. 

For more info or to register, click right here: https://www.bikereg.com/Net/15540.   Registration opens March 1st at 12 am in other words tonight (2/29) at midnight!! 

And, please, ask us anything, ANYTHING about this race or heck, even races in general. We are an open book.

See You March 26th!

Much Love From Vanessa &  Half Acre Cycling

Tags: criteriums, crits, racing

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Permalink Reply by Tonya Nicolaou on March 16, 2012 at 10:05am

Hey all!  I am super excited about coming out and trying road racing!  I am a long time bike commuter and love to do long rides to eating/drinking destinations.  It seems like a natural extension to go ahead and try this out. I got on a road bike for the first time (with the exception of attempting to ride my very tall husband's road bike when trying to diagnose some weird sound) this past Sunday and had a bike-phany!  I love my Bridgestone XO-3...as do most aging bike hipters...but it is a heavy bike already laden with panniers, lights, fenders...all the trappings of a commuter bike.  I felt like E.T. on the road bike, ready to fly off the road.

Anyway, it is great reading through all the comments.  I am going to show up day of too to try to get a spot.  Looking forward to meeting everyone and giving this the ol' college try!

Permalink Reply by Vanessa B on March 21, 2012 at 3:50pm

Melanie! We missed you on our ride on Saturday!!  

Permalink Reply by Melanie K on March 21, 2012 at 10:50pm

Saturday was crazy busy for me-I really wanted to head out with all of you. Is there another ride coming up this Saturday? I'm getting excited with race day just around the corner!

Vanessa B said:

Melanie! We missed you on our ride on Saturday!!  

Permalink Reply by Holly on March 22, 2012 at 9:02am

What time do the races start? I need to know when to be there for spectating and I'm not seeing the start time anywhere online. Thanks! 

Permalink Reply by Melanie K on March 22, 2012 at 9:39am

I am pretty sure the races start at 6:50 pm- I signed up to race, and that is what it said on the registration form online.

Holly said:

What time do the races start? I need to know when to be there for spectating and I'm not seeing the start time anywhere online. Thanks! 

Permalink Reply by Vanessa B on March 22, 2012 at 9:42am

Hey Holly - the races start at 6.10 for the 1st men's race and 6.50 for the women, then 7.30 is the last race of the evening, the 2nd men's race.

Melanie - there is always an open team ride which meets at 9.15 under the damen brown line stop. It's pretty fast paced. Probably not good for the mixte, but if you had your fancy to bike ready!!

Permalink Reply by Melanie K on March 22, 2012 at 9:57am

Didn't know the men's races started earlier- good to know :) I can watch a bit of them before we start.

The mixte is pretty fast when I want her to be- although I blew off a platform pedal (literally-spindle broke and it skitttered down the street) while trying to practice sprinting during my commute back home the other day-I think it was her way of telling me to stop practicing on her- LOL.  My fast bike should be ready and tuned up for this Saturday (crosses fingers) :) 

Vanessa B said:

Hey Holly - the races start at 6.10 for the 1st men's race and 6.50 for the women, then 7.30 is the last race of the evening, the 2nd men's race.

Melanie - there is always an open team ride which meets at 9.15 under the damen brown line stop. It's pretty fast paced. Probably not good for the mixte, but if you had your fancy to bike ready!!

Permalink Reply by Julie Hochstadter on March 22, 2012 at 2:08pm

Vanessa,

What time does registration open for those of us trying to register day of?  And I'm looking forward to the women's q and q afterwards.

Vanessa B said:

Hey Holly - the races start at 6.10 for the 1st men's race and 6.50 for the women, then 7.30 is the last race of the evening, the 2nd men's race.

Melanie - there is always an open team ride which meets at 9.15 under the damen brown line stop. It's pretty fast paced. Probably not good for the mixte, but if you had your fancy to bike ready!!

Permalink Reply by Katie Mann on March 23, 2012 at 2:15am

Hey everyone -- good luck next week!  I'm sorry I won't be around, Gapers was my first (and some of my favorite) races ever last year and I had a great time.  Just wanted to say that there's another great, beginner-friendly, and nearby race coming up in a little bit that you should check out: http://www.thechainlink.org/events/monsters-of-the-midway-criterium

We'll be talking a bit about it at Gapers and doing what we can to offer you some kind of deal! 

Permalink Reply by Holly on March 23, 2012 at 8:23am

Thank you, Vanessa. I'm going to have to burn rubber to get there in time. I'll be the very frizzled looking lady in the crowd yelling and screaming for y'all.  So excited for all of you. #ilivevicariously

Melanie K said:

I am pretty sure the races start at 6:50 pm- I signed up to race, and that is what it said on the registration form online.

Holly said:

What time do the races start? I need to know when to be there for spectating and I'm not seeing the start time anywhere online. Thanks! 

Permalink Reply by Melanie K on March 23, 2012 at 10:23pm

I'm believe I am going to try to at least make this last ditch effort to join you on your open team ride-sadly, my Franken-Racer is having problems so I will be there with my tour bike-I'll try my best to keep up, the tourer is more for loaded touring, but I have been able to push her pretty fast so we'll see how it goes. 

Vanessa B said:

Melanie - there is always an open team ride which meets at 9.15 under the damen brown line stop. It's pretty fast paced. Probably not good for the mixte, but if you had your fancy to bike ready!!

Permalink Reply by Vanessa B on March 23, 2012 at 10:47pm

OK  - I am actually working at a bike shop tomorrow, but there will be other people there.

vanessa

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