• ABD Sunrise Park once again was windy, hard, fast, competitive, and did we mention windy? Thanks again to Jim Nowak and the ABD team for putting on another great event. As always all the results you are looking for are linked here.
• Up next the CCC heads a little farther West to Campton Cross. Its the day before Halloween, so take that for what you will.
• Speaking of upcoming events… this just in from our Friends at Big Marsh, “Save the Date for these upcoming events at BIG MARSH! You’ve been waiting… patiently… really really super patiently… and the time has come for the BIG MARSH BIKE PARK OPENING! Join us on Sunday, November 6 @ 11AM CT for a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with the Mayor! (If you’re not racing CCC, of course.) This date marks the official green light to ride all the awesome park features. The following Saturday, November 12 there will be tours covering the ecology, recreation, history and future of the park and its surroundings. And a larger grand opening event is being planned for Spring 2017. MORE

Our friends at Verve hooked my training rig (CAAD10) up with a 175 mm InfoCrank set in January of last year.  The InfoCrank is a hyper-accurate crank based power meter with independent right and left power readings.

The initial experience was an eye opener; the left leg was pushing 40-45% of the overall power while the right side was doing 55 – 60% of the work.  As a cycling coach this situation offered a unique opportunity to see how much performance can be gained simply by evening out power in the right and left sides.  It took a full year to get within a couple of percentage points of 50/50!     MORE

• #ABDcx  Remember to check out the standard preview page here.
• Preliminary staging will be posted here.
• 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.
• 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).
• ABD will be awarding a Women Cat 3 payout the same as the Men Cat 3.
• Payouts will be held until Campton Cross. Any payouts not claimed after Campton Cross will be donated to Bartlett Park District Foundation.
• North of the Border will be serving Mexican and American w/ veggie options.
• Kiddie race is at 2pm!
• Weather: The forecast is calling for 100% chance of awesome and file-treads. Get those bikes cleaned off from Carpentersville ASAP!
• No alcohol.  Sorry Park rules.
• The Course: Very similar to last year (yes, the map name is correct). As always the course can change between now and Sunday.

• Looks like everyone had a great time in the mud at the this past weekend’s Carpentersville event. Thanks to everyone who helped and thanks for everyone’s patience as we had to switch venues at the last minute. Feedback from the village of Carpentersville and area residents has been positive and given the construction and changes at Carpenter Park we may be back at the Woodland school again next year. Check back next summer for details.
• Results from this past weekend are here except for Overall Standings which we’ll have up shortly.
• Snowy Mountain Photography went to great heights to take some great pics which are here.
• John Gatto has another video for everyone at: vimeo.com/187789731
• Speaking of results… we’re very sorry the One2Go emails weren’t delivered until later in the day on Sunday. Apparently Gmail put One2Go in the penalty box for sending out so many emails this weekend (they were also at the GP of Gloucester which had 1k pre-reg’d riders both days) and wanted to check they weren’t spamming half of the CX racers in the country. We’re working with One2Go to avoid this scenario in the future, but in the meantime, get yourself on Twitter where results are also tweeted in real time and there are no such restrictions on the number of tweets sent out. You can also follow along on LiveLynxResults.com.

MORE

LOCATION CHANGE!! LOCATION CHANGE!! LOCATION CHANGE!!

In case you have been living under a rock we will be at 770 Navajo Dr at the former Woodland Elementary School… Still in Carpentersville, but NOT Carpenter Park and NOT Randall Oaks Park. Please let all of your friends still using Netscape know.

• This is another new venue for everyone, so please take it easy and help out if and where needed.
• Even though its not actually in Carpenter Park we’re going to revert to and use the hashtag #carpenterCX since we’re back in Carpentersville.
• Preliminary staging will be posted here: https://goo.gl/OQdkfC
• Numbers will still go on your left.
• Kiddie Cross at noon! Parents need to sign a waiver. Ages 10 and under. 5 age groups: 2 and under, 3-4 y/o, 5-6 y/o, 7-8 y/o, 9-10 y/o.
• Sorry, no petting zoo this year.
• Food offerings: Dave’s Slow Food and Jim’s Dogs and Brats.
• Drinking water is on site.
• Weather: The forecast says overcast and 20% change of rain during the day, but rain the night before and after. Temps in the mid 60’s, so please plan and dress appropriately.
• No Alcohol permitted on the property.
• Parking: The school has a small lot so an area will remain open for tent drop off, plenty of street parking surrounding the school – please respect the posted parking signs. If need be, the Sunny Hill School lot is available on Helm Rd.
• The Course: Runs clockwise. The Squatches over at Main Street Bicycles have managed to put down their beer cans for a long enough period of time in order to lumber around every inch of this modest territory, once reserved for small children, and bring you an adult sized course full of woodland adventures.  It’s sure to grow a thick coat of fur on those finely shaven road legs. Course map below should be unlocked soon.

Photo courtesy of Snowy Mountain Photography

The Chicago Cyclocross Cup, with exceptional help from people like Paul Swinand and Lou Kuhn from the PonyShop, has done something spectacular.  It is not unusual to see 100+ juniors line up at any given race!  It gives a lot of hope for the future of our sport and CX is finally feeling a little less fringe.

According to Paul Swinand “Kids want to have fun.  If it is not fun they’re gone”.  The Pony Shop crew doesn’t have structured training for their juniors, but rather rides and events.  It keeps them interested because it keeps it fun.

Chris Lombardo, father of the fastest kid to come out of the cup, shared much the same sentiments.  “Even when David was showing a strong interest and ability in the sport we kept it light.  We did do training at intensity at a certain point, but we’d be laughing while trying to beat each other up a hill”. Chris also points out that too much intensity can actually stunt a child’s ability to grow and develop to their full physical potential.  And not only is David Lombardo an amazing bike racer, he also goes through life with proper balance and that is a testament to parents who helped him keep the big picture in mind.

Oh ya, they’re serious

Interest is at least as important as talent.  Odds are that the most naturally gifted endurance athlete in the world is hanging out somewhere right now not thinking about endurance sports. There are many at the top of their respective game though that were mid-pack in the beginning.  Music, academics, sport….whatever.  Kids that love something can become great at it.

One of the challenges you face as a parent is that there are not always a group of fellow juniors to ride with.   In this case you’ll walk a fine line between fun, encouragement and preparation.  We’ve created a schedule for this very situation that blends skills, fitness and fun together.

Monday – off

Tuesday – skills.  Easy ride with some work on starts, barriers and cornering.  All fun, no hard efforts unless they want to do them.

Wednesday – bandit CX if available.  Otherwise just a fun ride on a challenging course.

Thursday – off

Friday – off

Saturday – Kid Opener.  Essentially the same as Tuesday’s skills ride.

Sunday – CCC race

Keep in mind that this is an example of the most training that we would recommend in a week.  Wednesday turns into more of a fitness oriented effort and Sunday is the hard ride. Two days with some intensity is plenty and keep them fun.  Regardless of the schedule that you have in mind, an important part of the mix is to listen, learn and change things up if that is what your child needs.

Kids are awesome!

• Wow, who’d a thunk Dan Ryan Woods would be muddy? What is already one of the series’ more challenging courses turned into an outright tractor pull. Thanks to everyone who came out to race, run, climb, & swim… and everyone who stuck around all day to cheer on all our riders. All the results you seek are linked here.
• Speaking of results, for those of you who are new to the series, and a reminder for you old timers, we put up a “Pics, Vids, and Race Reports” post on each race’s page the day of each event. Apologies if these pages have gotten buried in the new website design. Please use these pages to post links to all the great photos & videos you are taking throughout the day as well as race reports and comments. We can’t manually scour the web to curate all the content out there, so please give us a hand. Everyone enjoys seeing themselves on Monday morning.
• Speaking of comments, keep sending them our way. We read all the comments on the CCC website & Twitter and reply back to every email within 24 hours… usually much faster. The CCC only gets better based on constant rider feedback.
• Next up the CCC travels Northwest out to Carpentersville… or at least somewhere very nearby. An 11th hour construction project at Carpenter Park will have us moving to another (hopefully) temporary location up the road. We’re still working out the final details with race director, CCC series director, Main St Bikes owner/operator, Belgian beer connoisseur, and all around great guy Jeff Provisor. But if anyone knows how to pivot on a dime and pull an event together its Jeff and his Main St Sasquatch Squadron… squad. Stay tuned for details and look for the updated course preview at the regular time Thursday morning. In the meantime tell all your friends who never visit this website to come here and read this website.
• And finally…  if you’re looking to get involved with the rad ladies of Chicago Women’s Elite Cycling next season, please attend their “Get Involved with CWEC in 2017” event tonight at BFF Bikes in Bucktown. See more info on their The Facebook page here.