• 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.

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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

Hi all, super quick and short update… USA Cycling Cyclo-cross Nationals are happening this week in Hartford, CT. Good luck to everyone racing. This year’s 45+ series overall winner JW Miller from Madison, WI already won today’s 50+ non-championship race!). USAC is all over the Twitters, Instagram, and the Facebook with real time updates and One2Go is providing the same live results as we use during our series over on LiveLynxResults.com. USAC will also live stream the Elite races on Sunday on their YouTube channel. If you don’t have Internets or just want to hang with a bunch of local Chicago CX’ers to watch all the action, join the Rapha Chicago Clubhouse for their US Cyclocross Nationals Viewing Party from 12pm to 2pm on Sunday January 8th. Rapha will be providing snacks and beverages while showing the racing action live on their TVs. See you there!

• Thanks to everyone who came to the 2016 Awards Party at EJ’s Place on Sunday. We had a good time sharing stories, more than a few laughs, and a great recap of the season. We can’t wait to hear those series winner bells ringing next season.
• Congrats to everyone who raced on Saturday up in Madison at the MidWest Regional CX Championships. Results are here and it looks like 2 Chicagoland riders took home jerseys!
• If you weren’t at the Elbo Room to see Los Borrachos on Friday night, you missed out. It was a stellar show and so much fun to catch up with so many of you off the bike.
• Good luck to anyone and everyone heading to Hartford, CT for the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships. We’ll be watching and listening between 1/3/17 and 1/8/17 to see how everyone races.
• And finally… this website will be settling down for the long winter as we retreat into the CCC evile lair to plot out next year’s awesomeness. While we won’t be posting anything new here for a while our email address is always open and active, so if you have any suggestions, criticisms, praise, or just want to chat don’t hesitate to drop us a line.
• And finally, finally… we here at the CCC wish everyone a very Merry Christmas (or however you may celebrate the holiday season) and Happy New Year! Whether you’re spending time on the (fat) bike, racing into and through January, or just chillin’ and drinking eggnog every night for the next 3 months… please enjoy the off season with your family and friends and we’ll see you again next September for the 2017 Chicago Cyclocross Cup!

• Before we get started, Happy Birthday to Dr. Nathan Schneeberger, the man behind the lens of Snowy Mountain Photography!
• Afterglow was a bunch of fun and relaxing. The weather didn’t show up as expected, which was a good thing after Montrose, but the Cuttin’ Crew still knows how to throw a party. Thanks to everyone who race or donated to benefit West Town Bikes & Blackstone Bicycle Works. We also handed off the accumulation of our season long donation collection in the form of $700 each to West Town and Blackstone to help them move forward into 2017. So THANK YOU to everyone who donated this year.
• Tickets are now on sale on BikeReg for this Sunday’s 2016 CCC Awards Party at EJ’s Place in Skokie. Doors open at noon and we’ll be finished by 4pm. Besides the sweet winners’ cowbells we’ll also have prizes provided by SRAM, ABUS, Main St Bikes, The Pony Shop, Smart Bikes Parts, and others. We look forward to seeing you all there.
• Also at the awards party, unfortunately Tyger Johnson will NOT be joining us as he has some family matters to attend to. Still please read about his fantastic story here and we will try to get him out to party next year.
• Speaking of parties, don’t forget Los Borrachos hit the stage at the Elbo Row this Friday at 8pm.
• And finally… it is with great sadness for us but loads of excitement for her that we say goodbye (for now) and safe travels to the CCC’s media coordinator extraordinaire Kelly Clarke as she leaves town and heads West to accept a position at USA Cycling in Colorado Springs, CO. Kelly came to us several years ago saying she wanted to help and be involved in some way. She then proceeded to take over our Twitter feed to capture every.single.podium.ever., write press releases, heard more than a few cats, and do more behind the scenes work than we can remember. We’ll miss you a lot a lot but can’t wait to see the work you’ll do at the national level.

Its not a CCC series race, but hey its our website so we can do what we want. From the race organizers…

• Please use #AfterglowCX, very important to remember the “CX”.
• The weather forecast looks like Montrose+. So dress appropriately, for a CX race that is.
• Preliminary staging, as if you really care, will be posted here on Friday.
  
• The Chicago Cuttin’ Crew has once again partnered with the Chicago Park District to bring the ‘Glow back to Humboldt Park!
• When registering to race, please consider donating those extra dollars you’re saving on the cheaper reg to the wonderful and very important programs at Blackstone Bicycle Works and West Town Bikes. Not racing? Help cheer the youth in the Juniors, Single Speed, and Cat 4/5 races! We will also have a donation jar at registration for you to throw in your change.
  
• If you’re coming in from somewhere that doesn’t have easy public transportation (hint), please leave the field house parking lot for volunteers and officials. There is plenty of parking on Luis Munoz Marin Drive in the park, just on the outside of the course.
• Day-of registration and number pickup opens at 9am near the start/finish near the field house parking lot. 
• The field house will be open from 11am-6pm, but since it is not officially part of the event, we ask that you respect the other park users who may be using the facility. DO NOT bring your bicycles inside. Leave no trace!
• As with all CCC races and all proper CX races, bib numbers will go on your LEFT side.
• Just like Chicago politics, call-ups and staging will be based on how much money you donate at pre-reg/reg. 😉
• A wheel/equipment pit will be available, but we’re gonna let SRAM NRS have a break and party with us. Wheels/bike in, wheels/bikes out.
• Our top men and women Single Speeders will win free entry to Barry Roubaix, courtesy of a very special OG race director!
• GRUDGE MATCH/Fatbike/FIXED GEAR CX/Etc Open Category will allow any fun bike you want (BMX, tandem, cargobike, fixed gear cx, fatbike, unicycle, tricycle, et al). Registration fee is per bike, so both tandem riders will need to fill out USAC release forms and require USAC licenses. We will try to score categories separately, but no guarantees unless you race super fun/slowly. We will definitely figure out who wins each GRUDGE.
• You thought the snow and mud at Montrose was challenging? InsaneDeOmnium is back to bring the toughest obstacle yet: race all day races. Scoring and details located here.
• Podiums will be presented shortly after each race, and we will have limited edition 2016 Cuttin’ Crew gear for those victorious!
• Not only is Humboldt Park full of delicious Puerto Rican food trucks, Doughnut Vault will once again pay us a visit! Clif Bar will also have fuel and recovery snax for riders who pre-reg.
• As for the course, note the location of parking, the staging grid, and the equipment pit. Give yourself plenty of time to get your bib number, put your gear in the pit, and get to staging on time. The course runs CLOCKWISE.

• Well, that was certainly a day at the beach… Holy schmokes, we haven’t seen weather like that at Montrose since the day before Melas CX last year.
• In spite of the forecast (or perhaps because of it) thanks to EVERYONE who came out to race, spectate, take pictures, make videos, spend time in the hot tub, (yes, even the bagpipes) and make Montrose the fantastic, crazy, awesome day that it always is, regardless of what mother nature may throw at us.  As co-race director Chuck Judy commented to us late in the day, the Montrose event is like a stick of dynamite. He just lights the fuse, throws it out there, and sits back to see what happens.
• Links to official results, CrossResults, and laps times (provided by One2Go) for Montrose and the entire season as well as Overall Series winners are all here.
• That’s a wrap for the CCC series… but don’t hang up that mud and sand crusted CX bike just yet. Please, please, please clean you rig and/or take it to your local bike shop for some TLC… unless you plan on purchasing a new bike next year. Either way there are lots of local shops who will gladly help you.
• And there’s still a bunch of CX races throughout the region and nationally still to go. Good luck to everyone who races between now and then beginning of January!
  • This coming Saturday 12/10/16 at Humboldt Park the other CCC (Chicago Cuttin’ Crew) host Afterglow to help us unwind after a hot season and help some awesome kids get and stay on bikes.
  • Then on Sunday 12/11/16  Heart of Illinois CX (HICX) series has their last race at Miller Chill CX.
  • Next weekend on Saturday 12/17/16 our friends up North in Wisconsin host the Midwest Regional CX Championships at Sun Prairie.
  • The next day on Sunday 12/18/16 the CCC series officially finishes up with our annual Awards Party at EJ’s Place in Skokie. We’ll award the coveted cowbells, final jerseys, and prizes to the series overall winners, share a few drinks and laughs, and hand out enough door prizes to outfit a mid-sized pro-tour team. Reg details will be posted soon. We can’t wait to see you all there.
  • And then finally after the new year (01/03/17 – 01/08/17) USAC hosts the US CX National Championships in Hartford, CT.
• And finally… extra special thanks to Cat 1/2/3 Series Winner Dan Teaters and Team Wheel & Sprocket for generously donating all of his race winnings from the ENTIRE season back to the CCC and the groups we support with our year end donations. If you would like to make an initial or additional donation to the series donation please email us ASAP at ChicagoCrossCup at gmail.