– This Sunday stop #3 of the CCC heads to Chicago’s South side at Dan Ryan Woods. Hosted by Beverly Bike-Vee Pak with support from Region Racing and food from Strack and Van Til. There is no theme this year so leave your white sequin jump suits at home.

– Food: BBVP will have free chicken tenders, PBJ sandwiches, and bananas from a generous food donation from Strack and Van Til courtesy of Region Racing.

– Water: However, BBVP and RR will not be supplying water (saving the world with less plastic). There are two water fountains on site but hydration might be important with the warm weather forecast. CarboRocket will be on site in the morning with coffee and mix.

– Neutral support from Beverly Bike and Ski will be at registration.

– Parking: Parking is free and the best spots are off of the 8500 S Western Ave entrance to the park… follow parking lot to the South.

– The Chicago Marathon is being run on Sunday so please plan your travel times to and from the race accordingly.

– Speaking of running, our friends at Spidermonkey Cycling are apparently runners too and will be attending the marathon. There is an outside shot we will have the 2011 CCC series shirts for distribution, but if not you’ll be able to pick them up next weekend at Psycho CX or Carpentersville. CCC Mad Alchemy Embro will be available for pick up. Socks are still on schedule to arrive at ABD Sunrise Park.

– Online pre-reg on BikeReg.com closes tonight at midnight. Please remember on site registration closes 30 minutes prior to each race’s start time. Why you ask… see below.

– Staging: Yes, the rumors are true and starting this weekend at DRW and going forward all CCC races will have a new Staging Procedure. Here are the details.
  1. Order of staging is by CCC Overall points, then by UCI points (you know, in case JPows or Stybar shows up unannounced), then by CrossResults.com points, then by order of registration.
  2. CrossResults.com points are only applied to pre-reg’d riders. If you do NOT have CCC overall points AND you do NOT pre-reg you will be staged at the back of the field.
  3. If you have CCC overall points and register day-of you will still be staged according to your CCC overall points. This only applies to the race you are registering for. For instance, masters points do NOT apply to categorized races and vice versa. That being said, please pre-reg as it saves you and the reg desk volunteers lots of time, not to mention saving you a few cash dollars as well.
  4. Since the CCC uploads all races to CrossResults.com, most if not all riders will have at least some points. Please visit CrossResults.com to check on your points and report any errors (to them please, not us).
  5. Riders doubling up and racing back to back races will have their staging spot held for them by their friendly neighbor, but only if they alert the staging volunteers/officials/CCC directors ahead of time. In the event a “double upper” does not arrive before the start of their 2nd race, all riders lined up directly behind the empty spot will move forward one row.
  6. Since there are so many One Day licenses (and its really just for fun anyway) the Cat 4B race will NOT be staged beyond the usual top 10 CCC points. Sorry, now go have fun.
  7. The CCC and promoters reserve the right to assign special call-ups at their discretion (think Halloween).
  8. Huge thanks to the volunteers who have stepped up to make this happen… and continue to race. We could always use some extra help though, so if you can read English and have a loud voice please let us know if you can help.
  9. Staging this many riders is new to us too, so please work with us and your fellow competitors to work out any kinks. We’re trying to make the series better for everyone.
– Here’s how the new staging procedure will work for each category:
  1. No more than 10 minutes before each race start time all riders report to staging. We’ll also make an announcement over the PA. So don’t line up 30+ minutes before your race. However, make sure you are at staging no less than 10 minutes before your race. If your name is called and you are not at staging your spot will be given to the next rider and when you do arrive you will be staged at that point in the grid. No one wants that so please be there on time.
  2. The top 10 riders in the CCC overall (5 for Juniors and 50+/60+) who are present at the race wait on the side of the course for their announced call-ups over the PA, Megaphone, or other loud voice.
  3. The staging volunteer will call out names one at a time from the staging sheet (already sorted) until they get to the end of the list.
  4. When your name is called enter the starting grid and choose one of the ten 75cm wide starting lanes lining up directly behind the rider in front of you. No overlapping wheels. Note that UCI regulation is 8 starting lanes.
  5. After brief CCC announcements the USAC chief referee will give the entire field their starting instructions. Please listen to these instructions.
  6. Whistle blows… race starts… everyone’s happy… bacon. 
– UPDATE: Preliminary staging positions (obviously w/out day-of entries so these can and will change) will be posted here by Saturday.
– The Course: Runs anti-clockwise. More straightaways and power sections than turns. Energy management will be key. Also, new single track on the Western side of the park.