Hi everyone,

We hope you’ve been enjoying the loverly Spring here in Chicagoland and even though its only the beginning of road season we’ve already been thinking about and planning for the upcoming ‘cross season and wanted to give you a few updates.

  1. First the CCC will be making a few schedule changes in 2014. Masters will no longer need to wake up at the crack of dawn, the Cat 4’s and 5’s won’t be last, and the Elite Men and Women fields will be in the prime time slots.
  2. Next we’ll have a few new categories, each with their own start times; Juniors will be split into 2 year age groups 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, and 17-18… all with separate boys and girls fields. We’ll also have expanded Masters categories 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, and new for 2014 60-61, 62-63, 64-65, 66-67, 68-69+. But don’t think we forgot about the ladies… we’ll run the same age groups for women as well, run separately of course.
  3. Speaking of women, not only will the Women Cat 4’s have their own start time and the course all to themselves, but we’ll also have a separate Women Cat 3 field as well as separate Women Cat 2 and Women Cat 1 fields, all with their own start times and with no one else on course at the same time.
  4. And since we want to be as pro as possible each race will feature a 20 minute course inspection prior to each and every field… so please, do not warm up on the course while the previous race is finishing up, you’ll have plenty of time see the track.
  5. Speaking of being pro, every race director has already committed to having a full size UCI equipment pit, complete with power washers and neutral support.
  6. And to be fully pro, the CCC has also contracted with One2Go Event Services for finish line timing at each event and will be handing out Google Glass to everyone who wants a set so you can get your split times during your race and results before you even finish.
  7. And to get ready before your race and cool down afterwards each venue will also have heated and wind-proof warm-up tents large enough to accommodate 85 riders with brand new Lemond turbos, licensed masseuses, beer and frites vendors, vegan everything, and fully stocked bike wash stations directly adjacent.
  8. Staging will be slightly different than last season, but 100% fair with everyone receiving a front row call-up.
  9. And finally… because every race must have an end, we’ll also have expanded podiums for 2014 and increased payouts across the board (both higher in dollar value and a deeper number of places). We’ve already had some big name sponsors sign on so all categories will be paid out equally and the total purse payout at each event will increase to $250,000 raising the total purse for the entire series to $3mm. We’re confident this increase in payout will attract all the best riders from around the world.

We know that’s a lot of changes, but we feel the CCC is ready for them and will only make the entire series better. How will we successfully make all of these changes? Well, we’re not really concerned about that… we’re sure someone will figure it all out. Have a great April 1st!