Chicago Cross Cup

New for 2010 Steve Feerhery, Mike Kelly, and the South Chicago Wheelmen move their race venue from Lansing to the West Subrurb’s Hilton Indian Lakes Golf Course and Resort. This course promises to be fun and exciting… and that’s all before race sponsor New Belgium Brewing starts serving Fat Tire Amber Ale. Apparently all of you think so to… since 365 of you pre-reg’d… or maybe its just the $5k in prize money and prizes up for grabs?

• First and foremost… remember the race is TOMORROW which is Saturday. If you show up on Sunday people will be playing golf on what was the course.
• If you missed our post earlier in the week there’s a party tonight in “The Cave” out at Indian Lakes. Great adult beverages and schwag all hosted by the (other) CCC’s own Andrew Nordyke.
• Unlike a few CCC races we’re very lucky the Indian Lakes Resort is a one-stop-shop overflowing with plenty of amenities including…
  - All Day, all you can eat buffet for $13.95: burgers, chicken, soup, fruit.  Probably open at 11 AM and go to about 6 PM.
  - $2 Pints of Fat Tire Ale (New Belgium Brewery is a sponsor of the event).
  - Room rates at $79.  Up to 5 people can stay in one room at no extra charge.  Roll away beds provided at no extra charge. We’re not sure if you can still get this deal… but if the hotel still has rooms left they might cut you a deal. Contact the hotel here and let them know you’re with the CCC.
  - Outdoor patio seating with open fire pits burning all day long. Did someone say smores hand-ups?
  - Indoor heated pool.  All ages welcome.
  - Indoor locker room.  Change in the warmth.  Take a shower after your race.
  - Spa, including steam room and jacuzzi.
  - Live Band.  Probably start at 3ish and playing until 6ish.
• The SCW will be holding a raffle to benefit the their Junior Development Program. Items will include schwag autographed by Christian Vande Velde and SuperGirl.
• We’ve gotten lots of questions about how this venue came to be… mostly… “How did you convince a golf course to let us race bikes on their property?” Well, truth be told, ILR approached us about holding a race. It seems November is usually a slow time of year for a golf course and being the resort has a staff of professional lawn fixers… they don’t anticipate any problems fixing the grass after a few hundred ‘crossers ride around on it. That being said… the course isn’t presently scheduled to ride across any putting greens… so unless that changes, please say off the greens.
• SCW’s Mike Kelly has confirmed that dogs are allowed on the premise. However, please remember we are always guests at the parks we visit, and much like driving a car or racing a bicycle, owning and bringing a dog to a race is a privilege, not a right. The CCC loves dogs too, but they’re not always allowed, so please respect the land owners’ rules. We try to supply as much info as possible on this site but can’t always get to everything.
• All of you spectators hecklers continue to be creative in your hand-ups. At Northbrook we heard reports of candy-corn mouth-ups, saw dollar bill Pegasus flag-downs, and saw photographic evidence of hot-dogs on sticks and bags of sand for sandbaggers. We can’t wait to see what golf-inspired hand-ups/downs/laterals you’ll come up with this week. Just remember to keep it safe and fun and don’t interfere with the racers!
• Speaking of golf… this week’s course will likely visit a few sand-traps and we need rakers. Feel free to help out, but please do NOT interfere with riders during their race.
• If you’re not a loyal follower of ChicagoBikeRacing.com you might have missed that Luke Seemann will have CX calendars for sale for just $15 at the race. Aside from a few great panoramics these calendars include close-ups of a few CCC celebrities such as super-star Brian Conant, pretty-boy Henry Loud, the killer Brittany Barran-Stanley, Nevada Dave Norton, the cutest couple in CX Tim Boundy & Andy Daley, Hand-up King Jacob Thom, and of course… SuperGirl. These calendar make great stocking stuffers at a great price.
• The rain has disappeared from the current forecast, but just in case we do get some precipitation there is plenty of room inside the resort for everyone.
• Registration will be just inside the closest building to the Start/Finish line. The wheel/bike pit will be double sided and right next to the Start/Finish line.
• Finally, the general course direction (anti-clockwise) is shown below. There will be quite a few more twists, turns, and wiggles… but this should give you an idea of what to expect. As always, the course may change due to weather and ground conditions.

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