• Oh man, was that yet another exciting Montrose Harbor / Illinois State CX Championship or what?? So many great races, so many stories to tell, so many state jerseys and series overall titles that went down to the wire. We hope you all had as much fun racing and riding as we did watching it all unfold. All the links for all the results you are looking for are at the bottom of the page here. Overall series and state champ winners are all listed here.
• There are a limited amount of Montrose posters still available (we realize some people did not want to deal with artwork in the mud). Also a couple prize checks were not picked up. Email [email protected] for info on both.
• If your bike touched the ground at Montrose, make sure to get it cleaned up before heading to the next race or hanging it up for the season. We’re sure every local shop has specials going on right now. Series sponsor The Pony Shop let us know they have a deal right now that completely tears down your bike to the frame, waxes the frameset, cleans all parts in our safe ultrasonic cleaner, repacks or replaces all bearings, cables, tape, and hydro fluid. Perfect for Road, cyclocross, and mountain bikes. The complete overhaul is 200.00 plus parts. All parts are 10% off with the special.
• While the CCC season may be over we still have some end-of-the-year things to do:
  • First, while its still fresh in your head, drop us an email and let us know how we can make the series better next year. We’re always looking for ways to make the CCC the Best Amateur CX Series in the Country.
  • B. We’ll have our awards party in January, probably the 2nd or 3rd weekend. We’re still working out the details, so stay tuned.
  • III. We are still collecting donations for our series causes, Blackstone Bikes, West Town Bikes, and Big Marsh. If you’d like to make a donation through the series send us and email, or you can donate directly through the links above.
• Speaking of West Town and Blackstone, this coming Sunday the last CX race in the Chicagoland area takes place at Afterglow, hosted by the Chicago Cuttin’ Crew and back in Douglas Park. Come out and race, have a great time, and support the youth of Chicago.
• If you’re looking for something more racey, racey… the MidWest Regional CX Championships hosted by L5 Racing are being held the day before on Saturday up in Sun Prairie, WI.
• And speaking of Championships, the USA Cycling National CX Championships are being held next week in Louisville, KY. Good luck to everyone heading down to race.
• And finally… with the holiday season coming up very soon, if you have the means, please support our series sponsors when purchasing gifts for your loved ones.

• Here we go! The 11th and final event in the 2018 Chicago Cyclocross Cup and the 2018 Illinois State CX Championships Presented by Rapha at Montrose Harbor hosted by Spidermonkey Cycling and Ten27 Cycling Club!
• Online pre-reg on BikeReg closes tonight. Preliminary staging will be posted here.
• In order to win a USAC State Champion jersey you must be:
  • A USAC annual license holder
  • An Illinois resident per your driver’s license or state issued ID (or passport)
  • A citizen of these great United States of America
• The Masters 45+/55+ starting wave is closed and has gone on a waitlist. We will follow the waitlist protocol described at the bottom of the this page. Remember we cannot charge your credit card at the venue so please bring money. Waitlisted riders who prereg online and make it into a race will still be staged by their CrossResults.com points. Riders registering Day Of will be staged at the back of the pack. So make sure to pre-reg for the Waitlist if your category is closed.
• A reminder from One2Go to please, please, please pin your number properly (see the image below) and put any long hair up in pony tails. If One2Go can’t see your bib number you won’t be scored properly. 
• Also, since this is the State Championship our USAC officials will be pulling riders out of contention early at the finish line. If you are told you are being finished early, please exit the course, you will be scored appropriately. Thanks!
• The weather looks great but be mindful that the wind off the lake is no joke, so please secure your tents.
• George Armstrong will be at the event taking rider portraits. Have a look at his work from the Intelligentsia Cup this summer.
• Here’s your friendly reminder that Montrose Harbor is a public city park where people who might have no idea what cyclocross is might be wandering through. Yes we’ll be celebrating another great season of cyclocross with drinks and food and more dranks, but please be on your best behavior and show the city what a classy bunch we are.
• Thanks to our generous sponsors for helping make the Illinois State Cyclocross Championships presented by Rapha Chicago possible:
  • Rapha Clubhouse Chicago
  • Chicago Chiropractic and Sports Medicine
  • The Autobarn of Chicago, Evanston and Oak Park
  • Heritage General Store and Larry’s at Lawrence House
  • GayleForce Healing Massage and Bodywork
• Speaking of Rapha Chicago, pre-reg riders should head there on Saturday to get your bib number early and enjoy free refreshments while talking smack with that person just ahead of you on the overall — as well as getting 25% off purchases (which may be necessary depending on the weather!). Please RSVP to let them know you are coming for food planning. And it should go without saying, make sure you put bib number somewhere safe. If you lose your number between Saturday night and Sunday we may not have a extra number for you.
• Speaking of food, there will be THREE food truck options this year with Big Mama’s soul food, Aztec Daves tacos and the Chicago Pizza Boss, so come hungry.
• And come thirsty as Heritage General Store will be on site early with COFFEETS and then adding BOOZE at 11:00 a.m. with Larry’s at Lawrence House hosting a beer/cocktail garden, including beers, pre-made cocktails and Malort/Fernet bumps!!! (Oh my.)
• And now let us pause for a message from the fun police … ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NO HAND-UPS OR DRINKING/BRINGING ALCOHOL OUTSIDE OF THE BEER GARDEN AREA. It is placed next to the course on Simonds Drive for your viewing pleasure, but we CANNOT have any alcohol outside of the designated area. We knowwwwwww it will be SO TEMPTING to hand a Malört shot to that teammate passing by who is begging you for it, but RULES IS RULEZ. Seriously, Spidermonkey and Heritage had to jump through many hoops to make this happen (including one on fire) and we want to be able to do this in years to come. Please, help us help you.
• Speaking of alcohol, the park is a Chicago Park District property and alcohol is by default not allowed.
• Simonds Drive is closed to thru-traffic and parking within the barricades is restricted to officials, food trucks, Autobarn Volvos/VWs, porta-pottie deliveries and the like. Regular parking will be along Simonds Drive and Montrose Drive, entering and exiting the way you came in. Per the Park District, NO PARKING ON THE GRASS, ANYWHERE! Please adhere to volunteer requests regarding your vehicle parking and movement.
• Speaking of parking, parking spaces within the barricades (near the finish) are again available on BikeReg to help defray increased permit costs. Entry is from either side on Simonds drive — check in with the nice volunteers and show your receipt. (If you have a trailer please count that as a second space).
• Equipment drop-off on Sunday will ONLY be allowed before the turn-around on the south-end of Simonds Drive near the staging grid, and the driver must remain with the vehicle to expedite unloading and keep traffic flowing, just like at the airport  It’s usually a high-volume operation at the same time so help your teammates.
• In addition teams are welcome, nay encouraged, to drop tents and other large items on Saturday afternoon! There is hired security for overnight watch (though of course SMC, et al. cannot take responsibility for what things like the weather could do to items left overnight so make sure it’s secured/tied down). And hey, stick around to lend a helping hand with course setup!
• New this year, CCC racer Maria Larkin is hosting Doggocross to support Team PAWS! What is Doggocross? It’s a 3-lap time trial with you and your doggo. The fastest team will be crowned the official 2018 Doggocross champions and will receive some PAWS goodies. Starting at 10:00 a.m., it’s $5 per attempt and you can try as many times as you like. PAWS volunteers will also be on hand to take your donations if your doggo is not available to assist you to glory. Or you can donate directly to Maria’s page.
• Kiddie Cross at 2:15pm weather permitting.
• We understand the desire to pre-ride, especially with so many CCC’ers living nearby. However, we kindly request you DO NOT RIDE the course this week, especially on Saturday, to enable course construction AND to keep it in nice condition for game day. Again, drop the bike and pick up some course stakes and tape to help — it takes a village!
• Once again the course is a similar footprint to previous years, but as has become custom, the direction will be reversed (now clockwise), so Cricket Hill comes before the sand dunes. However, Spidermonkey has included a fun tough short long sand trough before the hill to whet your appetites. 
• The Junior 9-14 and Men & Women’s Cat 4/5‘s will have a cut-off section to bypass some sand sections. Please be considerate while the course is being constructed on Saturday.

• We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend and had a chance to catch up and spend time with your family and loved ones.
• Our man with the mic Kenny Labbé went to Region Riot CX with Torch and even though he was off the clock, he still tweeted out pics of all the podiums. Congrats to everyone who raced and kept the engine running.
• Next up, the CCC finishes up with the grand finalé and Illinois State Championship at Montrose Harbor. Just like every year, let’s make a day of it. Come out early, stay late, and let’s finish up the series in style.
• Spidermonkey Cycling is continually adding information about #MontroseCX to its landing page, but look for the full race preview here on Thursday.
• Please help Rapha Chicago plan for the number pick-up party refreshments by RSVP’ing. Also note that you will not be able to register at the Rapha party, but still can on race day. But register online now to avoid the hassle!
• Parking spots at Montrose are going fast. We will try to accommodate paying for parking on race day, but guarantee a close spot by adding to your checkout when you register on BikeReg by Thursday night.
• At Montrose we’ll have George Armstrong taking rider portraits (for free). George was at the Intelligentsia Cup this summer and you can check out his work here.
• While the series will be over and the series overall winners will be determined on Sunday, we’re going to push the end of season awards party back until after the holidays (final date TBD). With USAC CX National Championships being held 12/11 – 12/16 in Louisville there just aren’t enough weekend hours to fit it all in before the holidays. We’ll look to have they party sometime in January, perhaps somewhere in the city. More details as soon as we figure them out.
• And finally… while the 2018 CCC series racing will be over after Sunday there’s still one very important (perhaps the MOST important) CX event… Afterglow – AlterNats! This year the event returns to Douglas Park Sunday on 12/9/18 and online pre-reg is now open. Be there!

• Grandpa always said, when life gives you lemons, make orange juice… or something like that. Without a ton of terrain to work with at Pheasant Run the South Chicago Wheelmen built a fun course and along with a “helping hand” from mother nature the weekend turned out to be one of the hardest of this year’s series. Thanks to everyone who came out to race and see the spectacle. Links to all the results you’re looking for are at the bottom of the page here.
• In the Overall Series Standings GoogleSheet riders in yellow have already secured their overall series titles by accumulating enough series points so they are >60 points ahead of the next placed rider, making it mathematically impossible to be caught. That being said, many categories are very, very, very, very close going into the final race, in some case less than 5 points separates the top 3 riders! So Montrose should be just as exciting as ever!
• But before we get to the last race, the series takes a quick pause to give thanks and spend some quality family time with the people we may or may not have seen since early September. So no matter how you celebrate Thanksgiving, please enjoy this coming weekend off the bike.
• If you’re in town and still want to keep the racing edge sharp, our Region Racing friends just over the border in Indiana are hosting Region Riot Cross on Sunday. Online pre-reg closes Friday.
• And then the week after the CCC returns and finishes up with 2018 Illinois State CX Championships presented by Rapha at Montrose Harbor in downtown Chicago. Plenty of details to discuss, but we’ll get to those next week. If you want brush up see the static race page here.
• Please RSVP for the Rapha number pickup party the day before the Illinois State Championship p/b Rapha Chicago and come to the race with your number already pinned! There will also beer beer and food, as well as 25% off the store for all pre-registered riders.
• Also for Montrose, there are still some paid parking spots available right next to the start and finish areas. Close parking is somewhat limited at this venue and with the possible weather conditions, being close to the start and finish, before and after your race is nice. Guarantee this spot will be available at any time. Purchase spots on BikeReg when you register. Larger teams can purchase multiple spots for trailers, RVs, etc … by contacting Spidermonkey Cycling directly. [email protected]
• And finally… Just a quick comment about poorly positioned bib numbers and long hair obscuring bib numbers. If One2Go and the USAC officials can’t see your number, at best it disrupts scoring and makes generating results longer, and at worst you don’t get scored and may get fined real, actual money. Please, please, please follow the example of a properly pinned number in One2Go’s pre-race email and please make sure to put that long hair in a pony tail. Thanks!!!

A second year venue to the series Pheasant Run Resort (#PRRcx) is hosted by veteran race promoters, the South Chicago Wheelmen, one of the region’s and country’s oldest cycling clubs.

• Pheasant Run Resort located at 4051 E Main St. Saint Charles, IL 60174. Please don’t go to Indian Lakes.
• Online pre-reg on BikeReg closes tonight. Remember there are 2 separate reg pages, Saturday and Sunday
• Preliminary staging for Saturday only will be posted here Friday morning.
• Saturday Results will affect Sunday staging. Preliminary Sunday staging will be posted here early Sunday morning. Please pay attention.
• New bib numbers each day. Please do NOT where your Saturday number on Sunday.
• NO coolers or grills allowed on the golf course, PRR has a restaurant and there are several others nearby. PRR has also asked us not to bring outside food or drink to the course or into the common areas of the hotel, so please be discreet if you’re bringing something.
• There is a gymnastics tournament taking place this weekend at the resort which will have a snack bar set up in the Mega Center lobby. Cash only (no credit cards), and the hours are 8AM-8PM Saturday, 8AM-6PM Sunday.
• After your race, if you’re staying at the hotel, please please please do NOT wash your bike in your room and do not take towels out of guest rooms to wash bike outside. There is some snow in the forecast for Saturday so please plan accordingly.
• NO walking or riding on putting greens or tee boxes. NO warming up on fairways. This is standard at any golf course CX event.
• This is another “No Drone Zone” due to the proximity to the DuPage airport.
• For guests staying overnight, checkout is at 11am on Sunday. Late checkout at 3pm is available for an extra $25.
• Kiddy Cross TBD this weekend depending on the weather.
• Parking is limited, satellite parking will be west across the street by Target (Kautz Road).
• Don’t forget the Ultimate PB&J Women’s Event Saturday afternoon in the Ultimate Pro Bikes tent.
• There will be even less daylight left at the end of the day than last week after the last race ends, so please plan accordingly. Also if you can, please help the South Chicago Wheelmen tear down the course (on Sunday) so they aren’t doing it all in the dark.
• The Course: Last year the course was on the West side of the property, but this year it is on the East side, next to the airport. Still very much a work in progress, but the SCW never disappoint and the track should roughly follow what’s below. As always, the course may be different and change based on weather conditions.

• Thanks to everyone who came out to race, cheer, and eat candy at a chilly yet sunny Wheeling Heritage CX. Links to all the results you’re looking for are at the bottom of the page here.
• Next up the CCC heads to Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL for the series’ only double race day weekend hosted by the South Chicago Wheelmen. There are 2 separate event pages on BikeReg (Saturday & Sunday), so please make sure you sign up for the correct day if you aren’t racing both days (although we’re not sure why you wouldn’t just race both days?!!?!). Online pre-reg will close at the regular time Thursday evening. Look for the course preview here on Thursday morning.
• If you’re planning to spend the night at Pheasant Run Resort, there are discounted room rates of $92 per night. Call Pheasant Run at 630-584-6330 and use code “cyclocross”.
• Also at PRR. We’re a little short staffed this Saturday and need help taking podium pictures for Twitter. If you have a mobile phone with a camera and can help out, please email us your podium pictures as soon as you take them. Thanks!
• There are only 3 races left in this year’s series, but still no one in any category has locked up their overall titles. That means the racing will be fast and exciting all the way until the State Championship at Montrose Harbor.
• Speaking of Montrose, the host club Spidermonkey Cycling just announced our friends over at the Rapha Chicago Clubhouse will be sponsoring the event and having a pre-race soiree at the clubhouse. Look for more details to come.
• If you’re not traveling for Thanksgiving, our friends just over the Indiana border are hosting Region Riot CX on 11/25/18 in Crown Point, IN. Details for USA Cycling’s CX National Championships in Louisville, KY are updated, and the Afterglow hosted by the Chicago Cuttin’ Crew is happening Sunday 12/9/18. Links to all these events and more are over on our Schedule page.
• And finally… another reminder the 2nd annual Women’s Networking Event hosted by UPB Juniors will be held Saturday 11/17/18 at 2:15pm in the UPB tent at Pheasant Run Resort. As part of this event, UPB will also hold the Ultimate Pro Racer Raffle to benefit a Women Cat 3/4/5 at Montrose. Proceeds will go towards the 2019 Juniors CX Camp. The raffle tickets will be on sale 9a – 12pm Saturday and Sunday as well as during the networking event. Warm drinks and treats at 2:15 pm on that Saturday. All women racers are welcome to come and visit. UPB’s juniors are hosting and will be mingling.