Photo: Mike Norman

– Another big thanks to Jim Nowak, ABD, and everyone who helped make the Sunrise Park race another success. The rain and wind made things interesting, especially for the early masters races, the “4 Pack” was a hit, but the real show was of course on Heckle Hill. We’re always amazed how the riders and promoters of the CCC can take something like a little bump of a hill in a community park and turn it into a show for at least a few hours every year. We can’t wait to see what Jim and ABD do next year.

– Weekend notes: While more than a few CCC’ers headed south to the USGP in Louisville the racing was still hot and fast here at home. In the 40+ category, race promoter Jim Nowak got a head start, while  John Gatto swapped his metal legs for stars and stripes and ran away with the 30+ race win. Mike Naughton showed up on a mountain bike and podiumed not once… but twice, while series title sponsor Brandon Elliott from Iron Cycles went 14 rounds greco-roman style with his Focus. Jess Hill took a commanding win in the W1/2/3 race and Jeff Wat started the Cat 3 race in race in first and decided to end it in the same position for his first CCC win and the series lead. Jason Rassi told us his first CCC win in the 3’s at Psycho CX wasn’t good enough so he showed up and Sunrise Park and won the Cat 1/2/3 race… and later on his teammate sandbagged heavily to win the 4B race by 1:16:22 over 2nd place (we’re still checking to see how that was even possibly in a half hour race?). Some riders are getting really serious about aerodynamics while an Internet superstar got a call up, snagged some cash, and later gave Jacob from Half Acre a lesson on how to keep his donuts down. Even if you think you are, you are not this tough. There were a plethora of other handup options in the 4B’s, but in what we’re pretty sure is a first, Darth Vader endorsed spaghetti!

– Up next the CCC heads a bit further west to Campton Cross for Halloween. We’ll have the usual course preview on Thursday, but just a reminder that anyone in costume in any category gets a call up after the series top ten!

– Now that we’re half way through the series (already?) we’re going to have a weekly sponsor spotlight showcasing those great businesses, organizations, and people we’ve been talking to you about on the start line since Jackson Park and who help make the CCC possible. Look for future updates coming soon.

– Online pre-reg for Northbrook is now open on BikeReg.com. Paul Swinand reports in that there will be a kids race for the little ones. Please note the Northbrook race is unfortunately weather dependent. If the skies open up the week before we may have to cancel the race.

– Do you have comments about last week’s Psycho CX race? Fill out the promoter’s questionnaire here.

– We’ve heard great things already about last night’s screening of The Cyclocross Meeting at the Music Box Theater. If you have time (and who doesn’t these days) check out Brian Vernor’s other films Pure Sweet Hell, Where Are You Go, and We Just Work Here.

– Half Acre made it out to the SSCXWC10’s with a tricked out pair of what we’ll call wheels, but they might actually qualify as alien space ships. We also heard series sponsor Sheila Moon was in Seattle racing.

– Speaking of moving pictures, if you haven’t caught them yet, Jeremy Powers has a great series of videos called “Behind the Barriers” following him and the Cyclocrossworld/Cannondale CX team through the 2010 season. In the most recent installment (Episode 4) you can see the CCC’s own Mike Hemme in Gloucester at time stamp 7:43.

– Series sponsor REKLAIM Apparel has been busy saving the earth one recycled item at a time but has finally begun printing the 2010 CCC T-Shirts. They should be ready for delivery and pickup this coming weekend at Campton, but if not definitely by Woodstock.

– West Town Bikes, Ciclo Urbano, and Johnny Sprockets are hosting another Zombie Ride this Thursday at 7pm. Check out their Facebook page for details here.

– And finally… last year at the IL State CX Champs at Montrose Harbor the issue was raised to us that call ups for a state championship race should not be determined by a regional series (being the CCC) since it puts down and mid-state riders who can’t make it up to Chicago every week at a disadvantage. Although there are no USAC rules addressing this issue the CCC likes to listen to its riders (yes, all of you) and we always want to make the series the best it can be. We also want to honor the hard earned CCC series points you all have worked to accumulate throughout the season. Accordingly we’ve come up with solution we think will work for everyone. At this year’s IL State Champs at Montrose Harbor we will call up the top 15 riders (note we usually call up the top 10) in every category. However we will also factor in points on CrossResults.com (if its good enough for the GP of Gloucester it should be good enough for the CCC). If any pre-reg’d IL resident has more CrossResults.com points than riders with top 15 CCC overall series points, than that rider will receive a call up. In this way every rider in the CCC top ten should still get a call up while also awarding riders from down and mid-state for racing closer to home. Note however that riders in the CCC top 15 overall who have more points on CrossResults.com than other riders in the CCC top 15 overall will NOT move up in position. Email us with questions if you have them. [email protected]