Tuesday CCC Updates
– Congratulations to everyone who raced at stop two of the 2012 CCC in Hopkins Park. Thanks also to our hosts North Central Cyclery, Axletree, Half Acre Cycling, and Robots Powered by Love. We understand there are a few results errors and we will have them corrected before the end of the week.
– Next up the CCC travels back to the South Side of Chicago for stop 3 in Dan Ryan Woods. Full preview on Thursday.
– If you want even more cycling goodness (and beer), the Illinois Cycling Association (ICA) hosts the 2012 ICA Banquest Saturday night at Goose Island Brewery. Full details and tickets are available here on BikeReg.
– Two quick notes on CX rules and proper etiquette…
1. While racing you are NOT allowed to exchange equipment (wheels, bikes) with anyone (teammates or otherwise) while on course. This violates two USAC rules:
5B1. Wheels or bicycles may only be changed in an official equipment pit
5C4. The exchanging of wheels or bicycles between riders shall be forbidden.
You may have team wheels or bikes that any teammate can use in the equipment pit, but the exchange MUST occur in the equipment pit (i.e. NOT on course).
2. Everyone wants to race CX and to fit everyone in while we have daylight we have to combine a few categories in the same starting times. This setup is not always ideal given varying fitness and skill levels, but it gives everyone a chance to race. Sooo… if another rider in a different category is trying to pass you (or lapping you), please do the respectable thing and let them pass you when it is safe to do so. These riders are NOT affecting your placings. If you are unsure how this works, read this. That being said, when passing another rider (whether they are in your category or not) it is NEVER okay to chop their wheel and cut them off. We realize accidents happen, but if you do such a thing on purpose it is poor sportsmanship and could get you DQ’d or suspended. Everyone on the same page here? Good… now lets race and have fun!!!
– The CCC still has merchandise for you to buy and wear and put on your legs and drink from (Warning! Not all at once).
Series Sponsor time!
When you’re on the North shore of Chicago there’s only one place to have a great dinner… EJ’s Place in Skokie. Established in 1997 EJ’s menu consists of prime aged steaks and chops, pristine seafood, and traditional Italian specialties. There is an actual EJ and he rides his bike all time. He’s even been know to do a few CX races. More than anything else EJ continues to support the local cycling community, especially Juniors, just as he’s done for many, many years. He also lets us host our end of the season awards party at the restaurant. Thanks EJ!
One of our new sponsor for 2012 NovaCare Rehabilitation is a full service rehabilitation provider with clinics throughout Chicago and the suburbs. Specializing in physical therapy and sports medicine treating sports injuries, orthopedic injuries and post surgical conditions NovaCare also has specialty services such as bike fits, video gait and running analysis, as well as Active Release Techniques (ART) and Graston. When you visit NovaCare to get fixed, make sure to mention you heard about them from the Chicago Cyclocross Cup!
Back for for another year Mad Alchemy has a full line of all natural body care products hand-made in small batches to ensure the highest quality product available. All the ingredients in Mad Alchemy Embrocation are from the earth, pure and simple. The Women 4 and Cat 4A fields will once again be racing for Mad Alchemy First Lap Hot Leg Sprints where the winner goes home with a tub of delightful Mad Alchemy Embrocation.
And finally… this!
A simple “on your left” or “on your right” is much appreciated if you are approaching a rider who’s field started in front of yours! Especially if your voice is a cue that they aren’t your competition 🙂
Announcing your category is also helpful.
Also if you are trying to pass someone and there is 1 foot between them and the course tape on one side and about 10 feet on the other, try to pass on the side with the ten feet. You would think this was what would happen naturally but i saw this weekend that it doesn’t always.
And yes please say on your left or on your right, sometimes on those twisty turny courses saying”inside” or “outside” leaves a lot of room for debate as to which is which.
What about having a faster group start first? Makes more sense, right? That’s what other races do…
That’s been debated on here before. Determining which field is “faster” isn’t always easy. Just because the masters/junior men are all over the front of the women’s fields quickly doesn’t mean the girls wouldn’t be jumping down the back of the juniors/masters fields in short order.
Not to mention the fact that the W4’s and W1/2/3 are out there racing their cat and trying for upgrade points. No shame in giving them a clean look at the course the first time or so around. Junior and Masters men have ample opportunity to do the same on a clean course in their respective Category races.
hey everyone! if you missed your payout pickup, i’ll distro them until the end of the week via PayPal or Chase Quickpay. after that, all unclaimed payouts are going to be donated somewhere local and bike-y.
email [email protected] by Friday!
Guilty of calling inside or outside. Sorry. I also have to remember that when I announce “on your left” that I need to pause because 6 of 8 times @ Hopkins park the rider being passed went left. Only the men. Women always knew which way I was passing. Thanks to all the hard work done by the organizers so we can play on our bikes.
I was watching the women’s 4 from a number of locations and was seeing a lot of the junior guys overtake the women. From my perspective all of the passes I saw by the guys were not overly aggressive/dangerous. BUT it’s all relative. I must have heard 3-4 occasions where women yelled at the boys for [dangerous] passing.
speaking of rules, can CCC link to the USA Cycling rulebook on CX?
Here you go… http://www.usacycling.org/forms/USAC_rulebook.pdf
Also, go to http://www.usacycling.org/ and search for Rulebook. Google also works great.
Also here for section specific rules: http://www.usacycling.org/rulebook
We just added this link on the Series Rules and FAQs page.
perfect, thanks for adding that to the FAQ page