Another beautiful day in Chicago set the stage for the days
Individual Time Trials. Set in the Palos SAG Forest Preserve about
an hour south of Chicago, the time trial course was a challenging 11
miles on roads of varying condition and terrain.

About 180 men and women gathered in the Forest to wait their start
times, among them Jack Michael and Jay Hulsey from Big Crank
Cycling. Again, the Gay Games organizers pulled out all the stops.
They managed to get the roads in the Forest Preserve closed for the
first time to accomodate the time trial (as well as the road race on
Thursday and the team time trial on Friday). As with the crits on
Monday, Velo-Deli offered full breakfast and lunch services along
with tank loads of gatorade (an event sponsor) and water.

At 10am, to the sounds of classic rock blaring from the judges
stand, the riders lined up in order for their start time. Each
rider began their race against the clock in 1 minute intervals for
the next 3 hours.

In a time trial, the goal is to go as fast as you can for the
duration. The course was challenging. The day was hot. The sun
was bright and draining. But whatever challenge the day may have
brought on the road or in the weather, the energy of the assembled
riders guaranteed another positive, collegial gathering of brothers
and sisters.

Big Crank appears to have performed well, though the team is left in
suspense until Thursday when the medal ceremony will be held. With
180 riders competing in 6 different categories split up by gender
and age group, the judges have a long night ahead of them. On
initial review, the men seem to have placed in the middle of their
respective age groups - another fine performance. Only Thursday
will tell for sure whether more medals are in store. The men
returned home pleased with their performance and excited for
tomorrow's results.