• Wow! What a weekend. A double weekend of State Championships and Groundhogs.
• Wow! What a weekend. A double weekend of State Championships and Groundhogs.
• Thanks to Keating Law Offices (also a series sponsor) for being the presenting sponsor of the Illinois State Cyclocross Championships in Woodstock, IL hosted by PSIMET Racing. The Illinois Cycling Association along with our amazing MC Kenny Labbe presented 23 state champ jerseys on a cold and windy buy sunny day. All results are posted on USA Cycling‘s website and IL State Champions are here on the CCC site.
• Then we did it all again, but in reverse, on Sunday at the 7th round of the CCC at Groundhog PSI-clocross, also hosted by PSIMET Racing. For those following along at home this was the 3rd CX race hosted by PSIMET this year. Links to all series results, lap times, and CrossResults.com are over here.
• Mike Nauman was out again but is still recovering from the double weekend CX hangover. Mike has some photos from Sunday up here, but look for more from Saturday later in the week. Snowymountain was busy hosting racers state champions and catching up on sleep.
• Next up, the CCC travels East to Wheeling for Wheeling Heritage Park CX hosted by the Northbrook Bicycle Club. Though this event has changed locations many times over the years, it was more or less the original CCC event way back when. Look for the normal course preview on Thursday morning.
• Here’s another friendly reminder/PSA that you can train and workout all your want, but you’re not going to have a good race if you don’t take care of your bike(s)! Get them into your local bike shop for a clean and tune so you can race the best you can. We have many, many great local shops in the area, many of which are series sponsors, who are ready, willing, and able to keep your bike(s) in tip-top running shape.
• And finally… we don’t really need to tell you its cold outside. But it is. Winter has come early to Chicagoland this year. Please, do what you have to do to stay warm and safe. Stay inside. Ride Zwift if you have to (GASP!!!), but be safe. We want to see all of you at the races, preferably without frostbite. See you all on Sunday!

Why is this race called Groundhog PSI-clocross? Well, in 1992 the downtown square of Woodstock, IL was used to film the movie Groundhog Day. Rob Curtis and the PSIMET crew have carried some parts of the movie into the venue.

• If you’re interested in looking over the filming locations for the movie there is a great map for self-guided tours here: woodstockgroundhog.org/pages/tour.html
• Remember to use #psiCX on Twitter and Instagram.
• As a reminder on SATURDAY PSIMET is hosting the Keating Law Offices Illinois State Cyclocross Championship which is NOT a CCC series event but still well worth your time to race. See that course preview here.
• Preliminary staging for Sunday will be posted here on Friday. We’re going to try and upload results from Saturday’s IL State CX Champs to CrossResults so they affect Sunday’s staging, but the turn around will be tight and so no promises.
• There is plenty of parking throughout the park. As with all previous years there is NO PARKING ON THE GRASS. This is the strictest rule the park and city have for the facility.
• This park has “always” had a “no alcohol” policy. So when you bring in cups for your soda and lemonade PSIMET asks that you pack out what you bring in. It helps PSIMET make sure the park doesn’t think we’re a drinking series with a cycling problem if there aren’t a lot of juice boxes laying around.
• Food: Dukes Blues n BBQ from East Dundee, IL is back. This isn’t your average BBQ setup – this is competition award winning BBQ that happens to also do events. dukes-blues-n-bbq.com – Dukes may not have Vegetarian and Vegan options, but there is a Vegetarian specific restaurant on the square downtown only 0.8 miles from the course.
• Speaking of food, PSIMET will have “pie primes” for the first rider in each category who gets the hole-shot.
• Equipment Pits will be single width and backwards as we will be running the course counter-clockwise. There will NOT be any water or washing facilities at the race though, so if conditions look to be getting worse then please plan your own support accordingly. There are a couple of water spigots around the park that may or may not be in service . Mambo Car Wash is right down the street.
• In order to help cut down on pit traffic – PSIMET will also be issuing Pit Passes for the time slots of the Men Cat 1/2/3 and Women 1/2 & -3/4 races. If you are planning on having a pit support person and/or bike then let them know at registration so that you can receive your pit pass. Pre-registered racers will be assigned pit positions first. This also applies to the Women 3/4 race as it is during the same time slot as the Women 1/2.
• There won’t be much if any daylight left after the last race ends, so please plan accordingly. Also if you can, please help PSIMET and the Northbrook Garner teams tear down the course so they aren’t doing it all in the dark.
• Kids Race will be hosted by Parker and Andrew Curtis and held at 2:00pm. Competitors will be asked to (have a parent or guardian) sign a waiver and will receive hot chocolate after the race. Ask at Registration for the location of the race but fill out the waiver at the kids race itself.
• As another reminder, if you are pre-riding while anyone is finishing up, please make sure you are NOT inadvertently riding in front of people still racing. Just ride slowly behind them and offer words of encouragement or ring a cowbell. Thanks!
• The course: Run anti-clockwise meaning we will be descending Heckle Hill.

Reminder this is the 2019 Illinois State CX Championship. You can’t be the best in the state unless you win this Saturday.

The race is being brought to you by Keating Law Offices. Keating Law Offices represents victims of bicycle crashes and the bicycle community throughout Illinois.

The race is not a part of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup so your series points won’t be impacted. It also means that staging will be done solely by CrossResults.com ranking. Preliminary staging will be posted here.

Schedule times are the same as the CCC Series, but there are more podiums and State Championships. Example: there will be a Women’s 45+ and 55+ State Championship as well as a Men’s 65+. State Championships are awarded in every category listed on the flyer as long as 3 Illinois residents compete. Must be an Illinois Resident in order to win a State Championship.

Kids Race hosted by Parker and Andrew Curtis will be at 2pm. Competitors will be asked to (have a parent or guardian) sign a waiver and will receive hot chocolate after the race. Ask at Registration for the location of the race but fill out the waiver at the kids race itself.

In order to cut down on traffic issues in the pits – Pit Passes WILL be presented and required during the Women Cat 1/2 & W3/4 and Men Cat 1/2/3. You can have a maximum of 2 per rider. Ask for passes at registration. No one will be allowed in the pits during those races without a pit pass.

We will also be attempting to have business cards available at registration that you can take and give to any local business you visit while in Woodstock. It’s a little way of letting them know the race is what brought you into their city.

If all goes according to plan, Results from Saturday will be uploaded and impact CXR points and staging for Sunday’s race. This may not happen, but at worst your result from Saturday will not negatively affect you Sunday staging.

Location: Emricson Park – 1313 Kishwaukee Valley Rd, Woodstock, IL 60098

There will be a cut off for Junior 9-14 and no 2 lap cap on them (meaning they might do 3).

Food: Duke’s Blue’s and BBQ – http://dukes-blues-n-bbq.com/ – will be out again this year for both days serving tasty delicious BBQ.

You can park anywhere in the confines of the park as long as it is in a parking space. Teams may offload and set up in multiple locations but a section near what will most likely turn into tent city will be open for drop off. Simply drop and move the vehicle when you can. The road through the park will be closed at the bottom of heckle Hill as well as the top. If you enter from South Street you can still park in the lower lots. Otherwise you can enter from either of the 2 North via Kishwaukee Valley Rd / Jackson St.

Registration will be in the parking spots adjacent to the top of Heckle Hill.

Absolutely no vehicles on the grass at any time. This is the biggest requirement of the venue. Any vehicle on the grass can and will be ticketed.

This park has “always” had a “no alcohol” policy. So when you bring in cups for your soda and lemonade PSIMET asks that you pack out what you bring in. It helps PSIMET make sure the park doesn’t think we’re a drinking series with a cycling problem if there aren’t a lot of juice boxes laying around.

Social Media Tags: #ilcxchamps #psicx

Course: While PSIMET’s intention was to run the same course as the preview race last year they found that the venue, like most others this year, is too at risk because of water to allow them to use the same layout. Instead the course will be vastly superior and will remind many of some of the better Woodstock courses of the past. Included is lots of off camber riding and turns, Heckle Hill with a twist, new and challenging routes through the woods, flowing lines through the ancient tent city area, and more climbing than you can shake a stick at. The sand is flooded as are the routes to and from it that feature has been a last minute removal from the course

• Another Halloween and another great Campton Cross. Thanks to everyone who braved the cold temps in the morning, the mud throughout the day, the wind in the afternoon, and the spooky costumes all day long to race, cheer, really cheer, find their friends, and give muddy hugs!
• Links to all Results are here.
• Pics from SnowyMountain Photography and Mike Nauman are up.
• Next up, racing takes us to Woodstock for the Keating Law Offices Illinois State Cyclocross Championships presented by PSIMET Custom Wheels and Begyle Brewing Co. This race is not part of the CCC series, but obviously guaranteed to be rad. Please make sure to read the event notes over here on BikeReg. Look for a special course preview tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. You may remember PSIMET coordinated the third race of the series at Indian Lakes (the 3rd time), and they are also hosting…
• The 7th race of the series Groundhog PSI-clocross takes place this coming Sunday, also at Emrickson Park in Woodstock, IL. The usual course preview will be up on Thursday, but you’ll be able to see most, if not all of the course Saturday at the IL State CX Champs.
• And finally… Get.those.bikes.cleaned.up. Its been a very wet and muddy CX season and we’re barely half way through. Go on git your bikes into your local bike shop and get ’em cleaned up and ready for our first (kind of) double weekend and the rest of the season.

• #CamptonCX is back for its 13th year, brought to you by Team Bicycle Heaven.
• Campton is one of the original ChiCrossCup races and both a CX AND Halloween celebration.
• Anderson Park in Campton Township (5N180 Brown Rd, Campton Hills, IL 60175). Need directions? From I-90: Randall Road South, to Rt. 64 West, past LaFox Road, turn right onto Brown Road and park is on your left. There are other Anderson Parks in the Chicagoland area, so please go to the correct one. The map on BikeReg is correct.
• We’ve been keeping an eye on the park conditions and communicating with the Township… It’s Game On!
• New Expanded Costume Contest! Prizes will be awarded to the winners of each start wave (combined categories), overall best costume and team category (think Marching Band in 2018).
• Free T-Shirts at registration.
• Remember pre-reg on BikeReg closes tonight.
• Preliminary staging will be posted here  on Friday.
• Kiddie Cross is on at 2pm!
• Sorry, but NO alcoholic beverages are allowed in the park.
• Dave’s Slow Food will be serving food this year.
• Remember Reg closes 30 minutes before the scheduled start of each race. If you’re late, you’re not racing. We’re even giving you an extra hour to sleep this year… again.
• Please do NOT warm up on/around the soccer fields to the East of registration. The village has asked us to keep off the areas visible when you pull into the park. If you carefully ride North on Brown Rd for about 200 meters you can hop onto the Great Western trail, which is a great place to warm up. Thank you.
• Weather; the forecast is in the low 40’s and will be even chillier in the morning… but it looks like the rain will stay away.
• There is plenty of parking on site. Please do not ride or drive on the grass surrounding the course.
• Yet another friendly reminder to please remove your bikes, wheels, gear, etc from the pits as soon as you are done racing. There are lots of other racers that need to use the pits after you and due to park constraints Campton’s pit is on the smaller side. Thanks!
• The course: Running anti-clockwise and very similar to last year. Some of the usual features with some new things to get your attention. This area isn’t call Campton Hills for nuthin’.

• Another great weekend hosted by ABD at Sunrise Park. A blue bird sunny day and a completely new course gave us all a little bit of everything… the original Heckle Hill, turns, power sections, dry grass, slippery mud, even a water “feature”. Thanks to everyone who came out to race with us.
• Links to all results are here.
• Photos should be up soon from SnowyMountain and Mike Nauman.
• Next up, the CCC heads a little further West for the 6th stop at Campton Cross which is our traditional Halloween themed race. Will someone or a group of someones be able to top the marching band from last year? We’ll find out on Sunday. The normal course preview will be posted Thursday morning and Reg closes Thursday night.
• We’ve received comments that some of you are NOT removing your bikes/wheels from the equipment pits after your race. Not all of our pits can be UCI regulation size, so please make a concerted effort to grab your gear from the pits to make room for others racing after you. Thanks!
• And finally… here’s your friendly mid-season reminder that we’re all just a bunch of local amateurs hanging out in the park on a Sunday riding our bikes around in circles. We can all be competitive, we can all get excited, we can all have opinions. But if you can’t be a positive contributing member of our little CX community (making us all more awesome) without WRITING IN ALL CAPS… then take a week off, calm down, and come back the next week. We’ll still be here racing our bikes and enjoying each other’s company, and we’ll look forward to seeing you again.

• #ABDcx The standard preview page is over here.
• Preliminary staging will be posted here.
• Remember pre-reg on BikeReg closes tonight.
• All riders need to show their USAC license at the Reg desk, yes… even if you pre-reg’d and everyone knows who you are. If they ask, you need to show it. Please be nice to the Reg desk volunteers. They are probably someone’s mom or dad and only do this once per year to help make our little races happen. Thanks!
• If you upgraded this week and want 1/2 your CCC series points to follow you to the next category, please contact us at ChicagoCrossCup at gmail by Friday. We will NOT automatically transfer your points. See the rules/FAQ page here.
• Parking on Foster Ave is allowed but on NORTH side only. There should be “No Parking” signs along the park (south) side. If not, please respect this. Also Parking is allowed on Struckman Blvd (better option), or at Sycamore Trails School (preferred).
• PLEASE no parking on grass.
• North of the Border will be serving Mexican and American w/ veggie options.
• Kiddie race is at 2pm!
• Teams can drop tents by using the bike path off Struckman Blvd. Enter the park but then you must park outside the park. Please, thanks!
• Due to Safety concerns NO TENTS on the Southwest portion of course along bike path. This is marked on the course map in Orange. If you put a tent there you will be kindly asked to move it somewhere else.
• No alcohol.  Sorry Park rules.
• Weather forecast is 100% chance of awesome.
• The Course: Brand new course at this year including; an uphill start/finish, new approach to the original Heckle Hill but with all the classic lines from years past and more, logs and barriers, a choose your own path of adventure. Course runs anti-clockwise.