Tuesday CCC Updates
This is a long one, especially with no race this coming weekend… but there’s lots of important info, so please read it all…
- Another big thanks to Dr. Jim Kearns and all of the volunteers who helped to make Woodstock a success and the 2nd largest race of 2010 (based on # of starters). 418 racers toed the line for hills, woods, hills, grass, more hills, and some very creative hand ups. Oh, and the Dr. raised a boatload of money to help fight Leukemia and Cancer! We also witnessed the first ever dollar bill hand-back! Luckily our CCC hecklers knew just what to do (see below).
- Up next (and sadly the last CCC race of 2010) is Montrose Harbor hosted by Turin Cycles which also serves as the IL State Championships. Turin is looking for volunteers with course set up and breakdown, so please contact them directly if you’d like to help and get a discounted entry fee. We’ll have the usual full preview next week, but as we mentioned to the group on the hill at Woodstock… anyone dressed up like Santa (beard required), Misses Claus, or a Christmas tree (Chanukkah bush if you swing that way) will get a special call up after the top 10 in the overall standings.
A few notes on Race vs. CCC Series (individual and team) vs. State Champion scoring.
- Like any race in the series the winner of each Category or Age Group race will be determined by the first person to ride around in circles faster than their competition and cross the finish line first (duh).
- CCC Individual Series winners are determined by your points earned according to the rules posted here at the beginning of the season. Some racers have already locked up their respective overall competitions, and they don’t need to even race at Montrose to pick up some tasty schwag… but we have a pretty good idea they’ll be there to race anyway. On the complete other end of the spectrum, some categories are still totally up in the air. The Cat 3 Ryans are only separated by 9 points, while Janette and Courtney in the Women 4′s are separated by 14 points. The top 4A’s and 4B’s are separated by a few more points, but anything can happen at Montrose and nothing is for sure until you cross the finish line. Point breakdowns can be found here or on the ‘Points Breakdown’ tab here.
- CCC Team Series winners are also determined by points earned by each team according to the rules posted here.
- State Champions will be determined by the first rider to cross the finish line who is a.) an Illinois resident, b.) a US Citizen or permanent resident, and c.) holds a valid and current annual road or mtb USAC license. State of residence is determined by what is listed on your USAC annual license (or drivers license/ID card if you’ve recently moved). You must satisfy all 3 requirements to be named IL State Champion at Montrose. If you’re a master or cat 4 without an annual license and think you have a shot at the jersey, we’ll have annual licenses on sale at registration for $60. We’re going to try and hold some sort of podium ceremony immediately after each race, so if you finish in the top 3 please make your way back to the reg/finish line area as soon as you finish. Actual jerseys will be distributed to you from the ICA at some point in the future.
- Unfortunately we do not award a state champion in the 4B’s, so if you’re a Cat 4 and want to win a jersey, you’ll need to race the 4A’s. Somehow we don’t think too many of you that race in the 4B’s are worried about a jersey anyway. However, what you may be interested in is a little tradition Ben Popper started last year… but we’ll let him explain.
- Turin has once again commissioned a race poster for the Montrose Race (this year by artist Jay Ryan) which is on sale now here.
- Speaking of things on sale… you can still pre-order a 2009 Joe Kallo designed CCC T-shirt on BikeReg here until Midnight this coming Sunday (11/29/09). We will NOT be ordering extras, so if you want a shirt, order it now and we’ll have it for you at Montrose. After that, they’re all gone! All proceeds go to World Bicycle Relief and helping the CCC in 2010.
- The Annual Awards Banquet and series prize distribution will again be held at EJ’s Place in Skokie on Sunday January 10th. More details will be posted soon and we will again pre-sell tickets on BikeReg.com but please save the date on your calendars now.
- We were going to make a list of all the great hand-ups we saw at Woodstock… but there were simply too many to remember. Feel free to post in the comments below what your favorites were. For Montrose we’re expecting a fantastic end to the season… candy canes, sugar cookies, dreidels, gefilte fish, hot chocolate, hot toddies… we can’t wait to see what you all come up with.
- Another good luck to all of you heading out to Jingle Cross this weekend. Whether you’re racing CX or eating turkey, safe travels to all and Happy Thanksgiving!
- Fill up turkey, stuffing, and cranberry this week because we’re making a special request from all of you at Montrose. Many of the Masters racers don’t stick around to watch the 4B’s… and many of the 4A’s and 4B’s don’t show up early enough to watch the Masters. We at the CCC want to see what you all are really made of… so clear your schedules all day for Sunday December 6th. We want to see the course lined with spectators hecklers all day long. Yes, that includes all the 40+, 30+, 50+ Masters AND all of the 4A’s and 4B’s. Let’s blow out the end of the season with a bang and make it a big party… and no, that does NOT mean driving to Indiana for illegal fireworks! Its been such a great season and we’d like to get everyone who has participated in one place at one time and see what happens.
- Finally, we were all deeply saddened to hear about fellow CCC’er Sean Callahan of Team Pegasus who passed away last week. We will doing something special for Sean at Montrose. Please stay tuned for details.
- You all are taking some really, really, really great photographs of this little circus we call the CCC. We wish we could highlight them all, but here are just a few that caught our eye from Woodstock…
It only took 9 races… but SPAM finally made it to a CCC race… and Steven Tyler was there to hand it out… wrapped in a handed-back dollar bill.
Photo: Liz Farina Markel
The Gobbler rides alone into the setting sun…
Photo: Michael Shea
… and then takes a quick break.
Mini
Photo: Luke Seemann
Steven Tyler? I don’t get why you’re calling me that. The hat? The pinkie? The Spam?
Is there anyway I can get a shirt before Montrose? I’m moving to California a few days before the race and won’t be there to pick it up.
Glad someone else noticed the resemblance.
Take away the hair… and he’s a dead ringer.
Condition b) should be US citizens or Permanent Residents.
State affiliation usually has a 6 month residence requirement, but the rules may have changed.
The photographs taken of the last 9 weeks of CX action and lifestyle are incredible. I hope someone considers putting together a CCC coffee table book of the extremely talented photographers impossibly entertaining body of work documenting one of my favorite Falls in my lifetime…
I’m just sayin…
I’d buy one!
I think Liz Farina Markel was thinking about it – this might just put her over the edge!
We just need to get a few more photographers to get up with us old folks for the 40+ races!
I second both the book and getting there early enough for us “old” guys (50+ too)!
For anyone that tackles the project, they are welcome to use any of my pics taken from the races I didn’t official.
Ditto. Feel free to use any of my pics Luke…uh, Liz…or Chip…
Thanks for pushing me over the edge, Mike.
Liz – you know I’m always good for a friendly ‘shove’!
you can also have any of mine…
I would have and interest in such a project. Here is a yearbook I produced for the Elmhurst Bicycle Club. http://www.elmhurstbicycling.org/m_photos2008.asp It’s a .pdf file. Further, I’d be glad to work with others to produce The CCX 2009 Yearbook.
P
Or Petra!
Make a book!
Here is a good example from the good people at http://www.pdxcross.com
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/481824
WOW. Think we could import some of those forests, hills and the like for the 2010 season? That’s just unbelievably cool shit.
plant a seed and watch it grow into a tree…haha
Lou made a coffee table book two years ago, and I made one last year of Pony Shop riders. I’ll be making another Pony Shop (and friends of) book this year. They’re really not difficult to do if you use iphoto and order through apple. They are, however, a bit expensive to order.
The pdx cross book is a work of true art but a little steep.
Would people pay, say, $15 for a photo gallery in magazine format? I have a thought. Liz and chip, I’ll be emailing you.
Sounds great Luke. I’ve been thinking about this for a couple weeks but wasn’t sure how to proceed, other than thinking Blurb might be a good option. Looking forward to hearing your ideas. liz.farina@gmail.com is the best way to reach me.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I would definitely put down money for that. Perhaps if we do a preorder only format like we did for shirts, it would minimize inventory overhead.
FYI, I’ve source that can print 500 35pp 12×12 glossy booklets for about $8.00 each. The same size but 68 pages would about $18. each. I’d be glad to collaborate. petrahof_gmail.com
Newt, thanks for planting the seed.
I think this is a great idea, but I’d like to gauge the expectations for a photo book about the 2009 Chicrosscup season. What would be the desirable price point for something like this for you potential buyers? Would you be willing to spend $35-$40 for a substantial 40-60 page hardbound photo book? Or $20-$25 for a soft bound version? We need some feedback because there’s a lot of work involved as you can guess. The PDX “Dirty Books” reference and link is a good one and sets the gold standard. It’s more akin to what we’d be interested in working on and producing. Less a CCC 2009 yearbook cataloging everyone and more of a visual document and well designed coffee table book about the CCC cyclocross culture and energy buzz you all are drawn to every Sunday?
Also, we could use some quotes from the Chicrosscup community to help guide us and who knows, they might even make it into print? What do you like best about cyclocross or what draws you to the races every Sunday? Also, what was your favorite moment from the 2009 season?
Any responses and feedback would be much appreciated.
I’d be a lock for something like:
More historical reference of CCC 2009, and less over done coffee table book
Pre order only
$25
60 pages (100 images?)
Insightful forward
Soft bound
I am a go – either way.
I’m in for either. Slight preference for the soft bound less expensive only because that format may work better for the year after year after year CCC wrapup you guys are unknowingly setting up…or maybe you do know.
OK, looks like this project is a go. Liz, Chip and I will be working hard over the next few weeks to put together a worthy keepsake to honor this season.
As Chip said, we first need to determine what kind of quality and format to go with. Print-on-demand is the direction we’re going — we can’t possibly deal with inventory, sales, distribution, etc. The question is what price point all y’all will tolerate: $12? $25? $50?
For those who have offered your photos, thanks! Please help us with the editing process by sending links to your 10 or so favorite shots. We’re looking for a diversity of shots — crotch shots of barrier leaps are always winners, but you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Pick out your one-of-a-kind shots, the ones that capture a feeling and a moment. Feel free to e-mail me at bikesarefun@gmail.com . Flickr links are ideal.
Also keep in mind that we may not be able to include everyone who offers. There have literally been tens of thousands of photos taken this season. We’re probably looking at culling a hundred or fewer for this project. Don’t be offended if you don’t make it.
Really a great idea. So many talented photographers come to the races each week. Who here hasn’t spent hours Monday morning looking at these images then sending favorites to friends?
I think a $12 book would be a disservice to our talent; I can’t imagine the pictures would look so good on cheaper paper.
$25 is probably the way to go since you’ll sell more of them but I’d love the opportunity to buy a $50 version.
I’d pay $40-$50 for a hard bound book.
I’d be up for having my images in there if anyone wants ‘em.