The Fox Valley goes global once again when bicyclists from around the world compete Friday, July 17, in the West Dundee River Challenge followed a week later by the July 24 Elgin Classic on the city\u2019s northeast side.<\/p>\n
Both are part of the Chicago Grit 10-day racing series, a 14-year-old event that organizers say draws about 500 riders per day to each stop. Towns host a series of celebratory events to coincide with the competitions, and some locals give riders a place to stay when they\u2019re in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year we had riders from 38 states and five nations,\u201d event publicist Bekah Collins said. \u201cWe typically have a fairly significant Canadian presence, but truly host riders from all over the world. We\u2019ve had teams come from Australia, England, South America, Belize and New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Loli](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ECN-L-bike-01-e1784054151494.jpg\")
Loli Gudino and her husband, Ed Hanson, center, last year hosted New Zealand cyclists competing in West Dundee River Challenge. They included, from left, Marshall Erwood, Keegan Hornblow, Bailey O\u2019Donnell, Jen Johnson, James Gardner, Sam Ritchie and James Fouche. Also pictured is Gudino and Hanson’s daughter, Jennifer Johnson, (Loli Gudino)<\/p>\n
In 2025, Loli Gudino and her husband, Ed Hanson, hosted four members of the MitoQ men\u2019s pro team from New Zealand. Their daughter, Jennifer Johnson, and her two children hosted two other Kiwis at their Elgin home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year Ed and I are hosting the captain of Road Kings Cycling from New York, who\u2019s racing in all the Grit races. Jen won\u2019t be hosting anyone this year, but my friend Charity will be replacing her,\u201d Gudino said.<\/p>\n
Gudino, who has been volunteering with other Northeast Neighborhood Association members on race day for several years, said the riders stayed with the families for two weeks.<\/p>\n
The men typically get their own meals but use the homes for sleeping, showering and doing laundry. The family did hold a spaghetti dinner for the racers, prepared by Ed Hanson, a retired Elgin firefighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all stayed out of each other\u2019s way. But my family became cheerleaders for the team, not only in Elgin but rooting them on with cowbells at races in other towns too,\u201d Loli Hanson said.<\/p>\n
The guests were polite young men, ages 18 to 23, she said. \u201cThey were so into (racing that) I think they only went out once,\u201d Gudino said.<\/p>\n
A number of people in the West Dundee area will be hosting cyclists as well. Those include John Werner and his wife, Dee Dee, who will have a rider from Houston living with them.<\/p>\n
Werner said he and his wife know members of the challenge\u2019s organizing committee and have attended the event over the years. He recently retired and decided he had time to help out not only by housing a rider but by helping publicize the day\u2019s doings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe West Dundee event is much more than a bike race. The whole community turns out to support the event, cheer on the athletes and have fun,\u201d Werner said. \u201cThe kids bike race is fun. The food vendors make it a social gathering as much as a sporting event. And there will be more vendors this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using Grafelman Park as its staging area, this year\u2019s free event will also feature live music downtown, children\u2019s activities, an open-air market and a family bike parade. Local nonprofit organizations, including the D300 Food Pantry, will be spotlighted.<\/p>\n
Werner said there will be a hospitality center hosted by First United Methodist Church, where athletes and volunteers can change clothes, get access to phone charging stations and obtain water.<\/p>\n
Post-race activities will include a downtown parking lot party and a cornhole tournament, where teams make a $60 donation to support the Children\u2019s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation. A 50\/50 raffle will also benefit the foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWest Dundee is our first race of the series,\u201d Collins said. \u201cThis course is challenging because of Leg Breaker Hill, which is the hardest climb on any of our courses.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Elgin, NENA secretary-treasurer Eric Larson once more is co-chair of the association\u2019s race event host committee.<\/p>\n
The course will be the same as the last few years, Larson said, and the festival will follow the usual format. The start\/finish line is at the intersection of Cooper Avenue and Spring Street, adjacent to the former location of Sherman Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are also partnering with the Lions Club of Elgin on our beer tent and will feature some new options for food,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Another new component will be a nonprofit partners program that allows organizations to have a presence at the event. Organizers once again will give away refurbished bikes and new helmets and hold a family fun ride at 6:15 p.m., Larson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cElgin is one of our most technical courses as it has a chicane, some climbing and a technical descent with a corner,\u201d Collins said. \u201cElgin is often a defining moment for many riders and teams. And since it comes on day eight, it adds significant drama to the overall event.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information on the races, go to wdundeeriverchallenge.org<\/a> and dennisjursmemorialrace.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The (Elgin) Courier-News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Fox Valley goes global once again when bicyclists from around the world compete Friday, July 17, in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":934883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[8107,960,5404,376824,14684,14721,5386,1818,31887,728,156197,376825],"class_list":["post-934882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-carpentersville","tag-chicago","tag-cook-county","tag-east-dundee","tag-elgin","tag-elgin-courier-news","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-kane-county","tag-local-news","tag-south-elgin","tag-west-dundee"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116919849928250377","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=934882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}