– So its almost August, road season is basically over, the Tour de France ending has all the roadies in a funk, and we’ve already fielded multiple emails from newbies asking lots of questions, so it makes sense we should have a big update. Look for more important updates over the coming weeks.

– First up, after 5 years of essentially the same race day schedule (except for the addition and jostling around of the SS category) the CCC is having its first major race day schedule change in a while to both accommodate the increases in rider performance and help everyone be more competitive at the local, regional, and national level. Due to everyone wanting to race and not enough daylight in December, there are no easy decisions when it comes to deciding on a CX race day schedule, but thankfully we have plenty of historical data to guide our choices. We looked at total rider counts and even the age and category breakdowns for every race in last year’s series to help us decide what is best for everyone… riders, race promoters, officials, parents. spectators, parks, pet greyhounds, you name it. So we put our heads together and spent literally weeks analyzing the data, thinking about where we’ve come from, where we’d like the series to go in the future, and after about 80 or 90 emails came up with the following race day schedule. We know we can’t please everyone all the time, but we managed to keep all categories from last year while adding some new features. The major changes are as follows:

  1. The race day will start 15 minutes earlier and end 25 minutes later.
  2. The Women 123 will have their own dedicated 45 minutes of course time immediately before the Cat 1/2/3 race.
  3. Added a short 15 minute course inspection time immediately before the Cat 3 race.
  4. Changed the Masters categories age minimums from 30+, 40+, and 50+ to 35+, 45+, and 55+. We reviewed the data from last year and found there were not as many 30-34 year olds as we assumed. See here.
  5. Masters races are now shortened to 40 minutes.
  6. Masters 35+ will start off the day by themselves (since older masters can always race down in age).
  7. Masters 45+ will lead the 2nd start wave of the day followed 2 minutes behind by the Masters 55+.
  8. Lengthened the Junior 15-18 race to 35 minutes while shortening the SS race to 35 minutes. Fitness and skill wise the Junior 15-18’s are closest to the majority of Single Speed racers so it made sense to combine these 2 categories.
  9. Keep the Women Cat 4 and Junior 9-14 together.
  10. Cat 3, Cat 1/2/3, Cat 4, and Cat 4/5 race lengths remain the same.

So after all of that the 2014 CCC race day schedule looks like this:

08:30 am   Masters 35+  (40 minutes)
09:25 am   Masters 45+  (40 minutes)
09:27 am   Masters 55+  (40 minutes)
10:20 am   Junior 15-18  (35 minutes)
10:22 am   Single Speed  (35 minutes)
11:10 am   Women Cat 4  (30 minutes)
11:12 am   Junior 9-14  (30 minutes)
11:40 am   Course Inspection  (15 minutes)
11:55 am   Cat 3  (45 minutes)
12:55 pm   Women Cat 1/2/3  (45 minutes)
01:55 pm   Cat 1/2/3  (60 minutes)
03:10 pm   Cat 4  (30 minutes)
03:55 pm   Cat 4/5  (30 minutes)

We’re putting this schedule out now so no one is surprised at the first race of the series at the end of September… so tell your teammates, tell your parents, tell your team managers, tell your shop owners, and be on time for your category’s race. Payouts are also changing and will be updated next week.

– And finally… the xXx Racing-Athletico Jackson Park TagTeam Two Person Relay Cyclocross Race is scheduled for Sunday August 24th, less than 4 weeks away. This is a great way to get ready for the CX season and always brings a few more crossers into the mix. So secure your teammates soon and get ready to high-five!