• We didn’t receive many reports from deep within Big Marsh, but we’re sure Half Acre Cycling’s CX Eliminator went well on Saturday. If you have pics please post them here.
• Sunday at xXx Racing’s Relay Cross was fun with another great turnout to also get the CX season underway. Please also post pics here.
• Next up, the official Chicagoland CX season begins at Caldwell Woods. Online pre-reg is open on BikeReg.com here.
• Our friends to the north are again kicking off their CX season with the 4th annual Avalon Pontoons Alma Grand Prix of Cyclocross & 5K Trail Run on Saturday, 9/9/17! Alma is a pretty quick drive from the Chicagoland area and might help you open up your legs for the first Chicago series race on Sunday. In Alma, the Pro/Elite and Sport women (presented by Arbor Move) are racing for $750/5; the Pro/Elite and Masters 35+ men (presented by F3 Cycling) are racing for $500/5. Early number pick up on Friday night is at the Alma Brewing Company in downtown Alma, from 6-8 p.m. Camping is available at the race venue! Registration information for both the CX and 5K races is available HERE.
• If you’re not traveling to IA consider Patriot CX on 9/17/17. In its 7th year running the event will have a Relay category at the end of the day. .
• And finally… thanks again to everyone who came out to the CCC Kick Off Party at the Rapha Clubhouse. Big, big thanks to all the donors/sponsors who pitched in with raffle prizes. Through sales of raffle tickets we raised $1,000 to be split equally between West Town Bikes and Blackstone Bicycle Works. AMAZING!!! Let’s keep that community spirit going straight through to December and have a great season!

• Hopefully you used proper eye protection yesterday watching the eclipse and are reading this instead of sitting in the optometrist office. Seriously, safety first. Speaking of… if you’re riding your bike without a helmet on (its is a USAC rule) at a CCC event you can be disqualified.
• We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday at the Rapha Clubhouse for our CCC Kickoff Party. See you there!
• The Half Acre CX Eliminator at Big Marsh is on Saturday and the xXx Relay Cross in Jackson Park is on Sunday so brush up on those CX skillz
• Online pre-reg for all CCC events is hosted on BikeReg.com. All events with the exception of Melas will be up on BikeReg later this week. A few notes:
  • Pre-reg for Caldwell Woods will open next Monday 8/28 at 9am.
  • All remaining events except for Melas will open the following Monday 9/4/17.
  • With the category changes this season we had to make quite a few tweaks and we’re only human. So if you see something we missed, shoot us an email at ChicagoCrossCup at gmail so we can fix it. Thanks!
  • Please pay attention to field limits as some have changed this year based on field sizes last year. We do our best to accommodate everyone and give everyone a chance to race without having overly enormous field sizes. When a field limit is reached its waitlist will then open. You are not charged an entry fee for a race until you are moved off that waitlist, which could be the day after online pre-reg closes (once we clean up the data). If you don’t receive an email before race day saying you got moved into the race from the waitlist, come to the race ready to pay since the race promoter can NOT charge your credit card through BikeReg at the race.
  • In cases where 2 categories are on course at the same time there is a combined field limit. Once that combined field limit is reached, both categories are closed and the waitlist for both open (see above).
  • Up until now CCC race promoters have absorbed the cost of all service fees (BikeReg is a business after all and their employees have to finance their cycling gear and racing too), baking those fees into the cost of the race. Starting this season rather than raising entry fees outright those BikeReg service fees (<$3) are being passed through to you when you pre-register. Yes, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation is low, but it still occurs and CCC entry fees have remained the same for many, many years. None of our race promoters are retiring to St. Maarten with the money they make from hosting an amateur pedal bike race. But one of our series goals is to have all race promoters stay out of the red so they can host their race again and again and again for many years to come.
• We’re still looking for series sponsors and volunteers. Email us at ChicagoCrossCup at gmail if you are interested.
• And finally… with all that’s going on in the world remember we’re all here to have fun and ride our bikes. In the words of Bill and Ted, “be excellent to each other.“

• Lots of CX events coming up. But if you haven’t checked out this site in a while, please have a look at our 5/30/17 post outlining the changes we’re making to this year’s series.
• Thursday 8/24 CCC Kickoff Party at the Rapha Clubhouse
• Saturday 8/26 Half Acre CX Eliminator at Big Marsh
• Sunday 8/27 xXx Relay Cross in Jackson Park
• Also remember the Trek CXC Cup (WI) and Jingle Cross (IA) are both in September and both are UCI World Cup events this year. We purposely do not have CCC events on these weekends so you can go and see these big shows.
• Want to be involved with the CCC as either a series sponsor or a series volunteer? We have plenty of room for anyone and everyone in both. Contact us at ChicagoCrossCup at gmail so we can discuss details.
• And finally… today we are officially and sadly saying goodbye to the green machine, the Village-Verdigris CX team after 11 years of being a part of the CCC. From Juniors to Women to Masters, VVCX has produced some of the best riders in the CCC both on and off the bike. But fear not as Tim, Vince, and the guys have recast the mold, in eye searing orange, as Team F3 p/b 7 Miles Cycles. You may already know F3 Cycling as the group that brought us FormMount (and more to come) and 7 Mile Cycles is the rebranded Village CycleSport in Elk Grove (Note the Arlington Heights and Barrington VCS locations are still there and separate owners). Look for this team to pick up right where they left off last season.

Quick update for a hot and humid still-Summer but #cxiscoming update.

• Half Acre hosts the CX Eliminator on Saturday 7/26 at Big Marsh and registration is open.
• xXx Racing hosts Relay Cross on Sunday 7/27 in Jackson Park and registration is open. High Fives!

• Join the Chicago Cyclocross Community for a season kick off party at the Rapha Chicago Clubhouse in Wicker Park on Thursday 8/24/2017 at 7pm!

1. The party starts at 7pm, and everyone is invited, but please RSVP here.
2. Mingle with and hear from series and race directors about the series and upcoming season while raising a pint.
3. Meet and chat with sponsors such as SRAM, ABUS, PSIMET, Pony Shop, SnowyMountainPhotography, Illinois Bicycle Law, Clif Bar and more.
4. Raffle of $5 per ticket with 100% of all proceeds going to West Town Bikes and Blackstone Bicycle Works!

• We’re back at it again! Now that officially #roadisdead we’ll have more regular updates leading up to and into the CX season.
• But before we get there, and possibly half way in between, check out the Chicago Cinder Classic on Sunday August 20th, hosted by ActiveTrans.org. Four racers. Two single speed bikes. One cinder track. Should be lots of fun. If you’ve ever watched the film “Breaking Away” or seen the cinder track relay race at Indiana University, you know how fun and exciting these races can be. Each team of four racers will ride 100 laps (25 miles) on identical single speed bikes.
• Speaking of events, Half Acre’s CX Eliminator (8/26/17) and xXx Racing’s CX Relay (8/27/2017) are just over one month away. These are not CCC series events, but a great way to ease into the season. We’ll have BikeReg pages for CCC series events set up sometime in August. In the meantime, the updated event and race day schedule as well as lots of other dates are over on the schedule page.
• And speaking of xXx Racing, the club is hosting the Return of the Svens for another year here in Chicago. Check out details and sign up for the clinics here.
• And finally… if you haven’t already, now is the time to start getting ready for the CX season. Get the bike in tune and those tubbies glued up… or better yet take it to one of our great local bike shops, renew you USAC annual license (and make sure your CX club/team is correct), upgrade to a higher category if you feel you are ready, practice you bib number pinning techniques, read and re-read the USAC rulebook and the CCC series rules, and most importantly get your family and friends ready to either join you or at least used to you being gone all day every Sunday in the Autumn. See y’all soon!!!

Just a quick note that Katie Compton will be in the region for the Katie Compton Cyclo-cross Skills Clinic for Women p/b Wisconsin Women Cycling

Details
Tuesday June 27, 2017
Lime Kiln Park, 2020 S Green Bay Road, Grafton, WI 53024

More info and register here:
https://www.wiwomencycling.com/katie-compton-women-cx-skill-clinic

• The Pony Shop Juniors are having an all Chicago area Juniors World Bicycle Relief (WBR) meet and greet, ride and picnic, this Sunday, June 11th at Big Marsh. Eat at noon, ride before and after. They will have a buffalo bike there and explain what WBR to help get kids connected and involved.

• We hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. The weather is finally getting better and road racing is in full swing, so… time to talk CX, right?
• First up, no changes to the event schedule. The CCC series is again (tentatively) 11 events. All tentative dates are updated here on the CCC schedule page.
  • Caldwell Woods hosted by xXx Racing is back as the first race, hopefully no floods this year.
  • The Carpentersville event will again be at the Woodland Elementary School.
  • The Indian Lakes Resort (ILR) shut down last year, but the South Chicago Wheelmen (SCW) have secured a 2 day venue at Pheasant Run Resort (#PRR?) not far from ILR.

MORE

Special Thursday Edition!

This summer, in conjunction with Friends of Big Marsh, SRAM is hosting a series of 4 Short Track races at Big Marsh. on June 1, 15, 29, and July 13. The first race is next Thursday! The intent of these races – aside from having a bunch of fun – is to get people down to Big Marsh and racing on the site and ultimately start feeling out what a cyclocross event would look like at the park. These short track events can be raced on a mountain bike or a cross bike. See the flyer below.

Knock, knock, knock… is this thing still on?

Hi all, its finally Springtime and we’re clearing the cobwebs and peering out into the sunlight. We’ve been hard at work and toiling away deep in the the CCC evile lair over the winter, but we finally have some updates and news for you. Our fingers are still cold though and our typing skillz need some polish, so you’ll have to wait until next Tuesday. Check back then so we can start up the 2017 season conversation. #crossiscoming