Hi all,

We’re sure you’ve all been wondering what’s going on with the Master 40+, Men 3, Masters 50+, and Women 1/2/3 results from Jackson Park.

  1. First off, we’re very, very sorry these results have been so delayed. The CCC directors and xXx put on what we thought was a great race and there was one small, albeit very important, piece of the puzzle that went missing somewhere around 11:45am on Sunday… that being timely results for the first 2 start waves.
  2. What Happened? Plain and simple… too many of you showed up! The CCC and USAC officials were planning on more growth in the number of riders in this year’s CCC, but we vastly underestimated how much more (130 more starters than in 2008!). Consequently we all were completely inundated with the number of riders. Thankfully pre-reg helped (a lot) and we got everyone started on time, but we unfortunately did not have enough officials to properly run the race that day.
  3. What Happened Next? After the 30+/40+ race there were a few protests in the 40+ results. Nothing new there… but that pulled away one of the 4 officials away from the finish line to deal with the protests. Already being shorthanded that left only 2 officials (1 official runs the race and does not score) to score the Men 3, 50+, and Women 1/2/3 race. These 2 officials did the best they could, but were overwhelmed by the 90+ riders who were on the course at that time.
  4. So then what? Luckily the next race was the Women 4 and Juniors (the smallest race of the day) and the officials got back on track, but the damage was already done for the 11am race.
  5. Okay, so now what? We’ve been in constant contact (read: every day since Sunday) with the USAC officials trying to rectify the situation and come to an acceptable conclusion. As you’re reading this all 4 officials are going back over their notes from that day and re-scoring the 11am races. As soon as they’re done (they all have day jobs too you know) the USAC IL Technical Director (Dave Fowkes) and the CCC Directors will compare all of the re-scored races and produce final results. Please be advise this will likely not happen until early next week… but will be done in time for Dekalb.
  6. What is the CCC and USAC doing to correct the problem? For the rest of the season every CCC race will have at least 5 officials. In cases where pre-reg hits 275 riders USAC will add a 6th official. The CCC promoters are also discussing splitting up the first 2 races of the day into 3 races. Something to the tune of 40+/Women 123, 30+/50+, and Men 3.
  7. What about chip timing? Chip timing is not the holy grail that everyone thinks it is. The CCC took a serious look at chip timing last year and determined it would cost at least $7 to $8 per rider, per race. Last year’s Montrose race did not cost extra because the company was demo’ing the equipment for us (with poor results). If however the CCC promoters were to purchase chips and run the system themselves, the biggest problem is not really the cost, but the manpower needed to distribute and collect the chips, the space needed to store them, and then the people to run the equipment. The CCC is still a small organization with limited resources. If we had the time, money, and human resources to have chip timing and a FinishLynx camera at every race we’d be doing it… but the reality is that’s not going to happen, at least not this year.
  8. Is there anything I can do to help the current situation? Yes! If you raced in one of the affected races and know where you placed, please email us at [email protected] and let us know the race you were in, your name, place, and bib # if you still remember (if not we can look that up). We will then compare these emails when we compare the results from the officials. We’re not letting you pick your own place though… if you think you got 4th, but all the officials say you got 14th, then its obvious where you’re getting place, so please only serious replies.
  9. What can I do to help going forward? Get involved! IL needs officials and will likely have an introductory seminar sometime this fall. Even though there are 60+ officials in the Chicago area, take a look at the start/finish line at every road, track, and cross race and you’ll see the same 7 or 8 faces every time. We can’t have 30% growth in racers without a corresponding increase in officials. Think its easy to score a CX race? Hang out at the finish line, introduce yourself to the officials, and give it a try… scoring CX might actually be harder than racing itself!

Thanks again for all of your patience and understanding in this matter. We’ve already received many emails about the race, and with only one or two exceptions everyone has started off by saying how great of a course (thanks Greg Heck!) it was and how much fun they had (big thanks to these guys!). We know we have to get that last mile covered and we’re on it. Believe us, if anyone is frustrated by the situation its us.

See you all at Dekalb!
CCC Directors and Promoters
[email protected]