• The CCC returns this weekend to Hopkins Park in Dekalb, IL. Online pre-reg closes tonight on BikeReg. Still plenty of room in all categories.
• Sorry for any confusion we may have caused at Labagh Woods but the Single Speed category will start before the Jr 15-18 at Hopkins and for the rest of the series. Slower single speeders, please make way for the fast juniors in a way that does not affect their race.
• Be on the lookout for all those Pactimo Series Leader Jerseys that Kenny Labbe awarded a few weeks back at Labagh Woods.
• Speaking of wearables, Comrade Cycles will be selling limited edition Hopkins CX t-shirts as well. Men’s and women’s sizes will be available. 
• Preliminary staging will be posted here. Numbers (always) on the LEFT!
• Alcohol is NOT ALLOWED at Hopkins Park. Please respect this DeKalb Park District policy.
• Dave’s Slow Food will be rollin’ in hot and heavy with BBQ and vegan chili so pack your appetite.
• Other Brother and Heritage will have coffee for you in the morning.
• One2Go Event Services will be keeping lap times and emailing results with live results onLiveLynxResults here.
• Kiddie Cross at 2pm! Parents need to sign a waiver. Ages 10 and under. 5 age groups: 2 and under, 3-4y/o, 5-6y/o, 7-8y/o, 9-10y/o.
• Do Not drive on the grass.
• No Parking in the parking spaces right by the playground, see map. No Parking in the lot right outside the shelter where registration is, see map.
• Use the park entrance that is south of the light at East Dresser Road, you will not be able to get through the park on East Dresser Road because the course crosses it.
• There are three large parking lots highlighted on the map. You can park along side the road where you see the white pylons.
• Other Brother Coffee and Comrade Cycles Racing have teamed up to provide separate payouts for the Cat 3 Women in the Women 1/2/3 race following the same payout schedule as the Men Cat 3 race.
• The course: Runs clockwise. Plenty of flow with not a ton of changes from years past… with the notable exception that the CCC’s original flyover is gone and moved on to greener pastures (read: Michigan). Course designer and race director Josh Arends is also taking us through the SouthEastern portion of the park where we’ve never raced before. Quadruple the number of barriers from last year (there will be four including a telephone pole) and the classic hill is out.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), also known as Tabata, has had resurgence within the fitness realm. Among other benefits, HIIT may improve VO2 Max as well as Anaerobic Capacity. HIIT is particularly good for cyclocross training because the efforts mimic the hard punches out of corners, attacks and the first lap of a CX race. HIIT is also beneficial when you have a busy week of “real life” without much time for training.

I use the term “Tabata” when referring to the HIIT workouts. Japanese Professor Izum Tabata incorporated high-intensity intervals when he trained speed skaters. The muscles that are put to work when skating are similar to the muscles used in cycling. Izum Tabata had his speed skaters use exercise bikes for their short interval training.

Tabata intervals should be performed at maximum effort. They hurt, in a good way. Burning legs, a fiery chest and a pukey feeling at the end of a set are all signs that you are doing this right. You may implement Tabata on a hard training day (3-5 sets), or throw in one or two sets on a medium-intensity training day between your Z2-Z3 efforts.

Here is a good go-to Tabata workout, but keep in mind the length of the intervals and recoveries may be adjusted:

• Warm up for at least 20 minutes. Implement two 15 to 30 second hard efforts in the last 5 minutes of the warm up.
• As mentioned above, 3-5 sets will make for a hard workout when done right.
• Start each interval like you’re on the start line of a CX race. Since you’re going all out right off the bat you may as well work on your race starts as well.
• One set is a 4 minute session of riding for 20 seconds at maximum effort with a 10 second recovery before hitting it hard again for 20 seconds. Repeat until your 4 minutes is up.
• Keep your legs spinning during the 10 second recoveries. Complete recovery between sets, which usually takes 3-5 minutes depending on your fitness level.
• Warm down for at least 15 minutes, eat and stretch.

Post Tabata

Give Tabata a try! I won’t take it personally if you curse me during this particular workout.

Peter Kelley

• Lots of great racing over the last week. Congrats and well done to everyone who raced, supported, drove, spectated, heckled, and took in the big shows at Trek CXC Cup, Cross Vegas, and Jingle Cross. Lots of results, videos, interviews, picture, etc all over the interwebs so too many to link here.
• The CCC picks back up this coming Sunday 10/2/2016 in lovely Dekalb, IL at Hopkins Park. Online Pre-reg is still open until Thursday.
• For those of you who like to travel, remember this Saturday 10/1/2016 is the Beer City Growler Cyclocross and 5K Steeplechase in Wilcox Park in Grand Rapids, MI! http://www.usacycling.org/register/2016-2085
• Up North across the WI border we received this note yesterday from the race director about their race NEXT Saturday:
  • Grafton PumpkinCross is Saturday, October 8, 2016 at Lime Kiln Park, 2020 S. Green Bay Rd., Grafton, WI. We’re proud to announce Grafton PumpkinCross is back for 2016 and more rad than ever! We will have ridiculous payouts and awesome course features: a several hundred meter paved start & finish, PRO only section, a grueling sledding hill climb with a DJ hillside, a stretch through the beer tent to quench your mid-race thirst, and lastly, the death grip slalom descent!
  • Local food vendors, Hop In Smoke BBQ, Blue Cow Creperie, Slow Pokes Slow Food & Grocery Store will be serving up deliciousness and our title sponsor, Body Renovation Physical Therapy will be on hand in our expo area providing injury evaluations and pre & post race tune ups!
  • If that’s not enough the FIRST TWO riders to use the promo code: “TOLL” gets free entry to PumpkinCross. Take our prize money! If you weren’t quick on the draw, “CCC” gets $5 off entry fees.
  • Flyer & Registration: http://www.usacycling.org/register/2016-2558 Technical Guide: goo.gl/VzVlxH
• And finally… wouldn’t that be grand?

Thanks @TrekCXCCup @CrossVegas @JingleCross @ChiCrossCup . See you next year. pic.twitter.com/VcG2lQp7qZ

— Sven Nys (@sven_nys) September 26, 2016

• Quick update for another off/rest week.
• Yes, we are aware the results from LaBagh still need some fixing. We’re working on it and will have everything squared away by Hopkins Park. Sorry for the delay.
• We saw some great results from CCC’ers up at the Trek CXC Cup. Congrats to everyone who raced. Lots of videos up from the weekend here.
• Cross Vegas is tomorrow (Wednesday 9/21). The live stream starts at 9:15pm CDT here.
• Jingle Cross is this coming weekend. Safe travels and good luck to all Chicagoland racers, parents, support staff, etc heading out to the event. Being a World Cup event there should be a live stream as well.
• The CCC starts back up next weekend (10/2) at Hopkins Park in Dekalb.
• And finally… a quick word about passing etiquette and behavior during a CX race. Yes we’re all excited and its totally fine to race aggressively. However, it is NOT okay to use foul/abusive language, throw elbows, or lord forbid purposely hit someone. That’s not only NOT cool, but you risk being suspended, fined, or someone calling the real police. We all get hot under collar sometimes once the adrenaline starts flowing, but let’s keep it civil and fun. Okay? Now please enjoy the rest of the CX season.

CX is Back!

Setting up your week of training for the race season is one of the many important aspects in accomplishing your CX goals this year.  Too much volume and intensity will result in a tired body on race day (per Rob Nichols – “don’t use up your race legs on Wednesday!”), while too little will undermine your ability to go deep into the season and get better as it goes along.

You need to work on intensity, skills, endurance and recovery in a way that allows you to bring it all together for race day.  Keep in mind that going hard on any given day will actually make you slower for the next 24 to 48 hours at least.  It is the “supercompensation” that can only come after a tough ride followed by proper recovery that makes you stronger, and more on that from the Master here.

A typical week

Monday – off, or strength maintenance in the gym

Tuesday – easy active recovery ride.  1 – 1.5 hours in zone 1-2 heart rate/power.

Wednesday  – tough ride.  This is a great day for anaerobic intervals or bandit CX.

Thursday – active recovery and skills.  Have a nice easy warm up to give the legs a chance to recover from the Wednesday ride.  Hit some turns at speed, do a few short starts, mounting and dismounting….etc.  Get the reps in while maintaining an easy to moderate effort.

Friday – off completely

Saturday – Opener.  1-1.5 easy ride with a few short (30 – 60 seconds) and intense efforts.  Do a few more short starts and easy barriers as well and get a good long warm down in.

Sunday – Race

If you are racing on Saturday then simply take Thursday off completely and do your opener on Friday.  Recovery weeks are also a necessary piece of the puzzle, but more on that later.   You may respond better to a hard day on Thursday rather than Wednesday, and the only way to figure that out is to try both.  The most agreed upon gap between a hard workout and your best performance is 72 hours, but with at least one race every weekend in this series save Thanksgiving my opinion is that an extra day of easy prior to the weekend is best.  It also seems that the younger you are the more likely you’ll be feeling good again after 72 hours of recovery.  Bottom line is that not everyone is the same and so it is important to experiment to find what works best for you.

One of the great things about cyclocross is that the preparation doesn’t require too much time on the bike.  You can get away with 8-12 hours per week depending on your category and be totally prepared for the effort.  The key is in your progression throughout the off-season and race season, and going into each day with a specific goal.  That goal can vary from keeping the legs up and doing nothing to help with recovery, to riding at your absolute limit.  The art of coaching is in piecing these aspects together properly as they will be the difference between reaching your goals and not.

Game on….

Rob Kelley

• Thanks to everyone for coming out to LaBagh Woods and helping us kick off the 2016 CCC season in style with xXx Racing-Athletico. We picked up right where we left off last season with plenty of fast racing, good times, and great friends.
• Official results are on USA Cycling here, our Overall Standings GoogleSheet is updated here, lap times as provided by One2Go Event Services are here, and CrossResults.com has general ranking points (which we use for all staging after the first row). Or you can just go to THIS PAGE where we have links to all of the above and more.
• Remember OFFICIAL results are always on USAC, not the emails you receive or tweets you may see on race day. We want results to be correct and posted as soon as possible on race day even more than you do, but we can also correct them after the fact. That being said, please always check the results posted at the race and if there is a problem see the USAC chief judge (in charge of scoring). If you forget to check at the race because you spent too much time in the beer garden, email us at ChicagoCrossCup at gmail. Your tweets and comments here on the website might not be answered as promptly as you’d expect.
• Remember CCC series points are NOT USAC upgrade points. There are rules for all that kind of stuff. We know you all are smart and know how to read. So see USAC CX rules here (see 1E.6) and our CCC rules here. Still have questions? Shoot us an email at ChicagoCrossCup at gmail.
• We know our good friends and series sponsor Snowy Mountain Photography will be busy processing photos from Sunday for a while, but look for pics on their site here soon.
• Prefer video? John Gatto is back to his drone ways: https://vimeo.com/182485508
• We had a mix up in the schedule and incorrectly started the Junior 15-18’s  before the Single Speeds. We’ll flip-flop those categories and start the Single Speeds first for the rest of the series.
• Up next, the MidWest CX scene heads to Waterloo, WI for the Trek CXC Cup this Saturday AND Sunday. Good luck to everyone heading North for the big show. The event is partnering (again) with the Chicago Cuttin’ Crew to offer a junior girls pre-ride clinic with Kaitie Antonneau. There will also be a similar pre-ride clinic for Cat 4 Women. Pre-reg ends tonight Tuesday 9/13 at 5pm.
• Then next Wednesday all the big guns head to fabulous Las Vegas for the Cross Vegas World Cup.
• And then if that wasn’t enough travel, all the pros have 2 days to get themselves and all their gear back to this part of the country for the next World Cup at Jingle Cross in Iowa City, IA from 10/22 – 10/25. Yikes, all that traveling makes us glad our farthest-away race is only in Dekalb. Good luck to all the CCC’ers heading to one or all of these events.
• Speaking of Dekalb… the CCC series picks back up in a little under 3 weeks at Hopkins Park in Dekalb, IL hosted by our friends at Comrade Cycles (see what we did there?). Online pre-reg is open on BikeReg. We’ll see you all there!
• And finally… just in case you didn’t stick around for the Cat 4/5 race on Sunday at LaBagh Woods and/or you aren’t on Twitter, we may or may not have had something to do with introducing the Svens to Chicago Style Handups. Thanks for being great sports about it and so generous with your time.

Introducing @sven_nys @svenvth to #handups #labaghCX pic.twitter.com/4B0SydENtA

— ChicagoCyclocrossCup (@ChiCrossCup) September 11, 2016

Enjoying #labaghCX w/ Chicago style handups @sven_nys @svenvth #handupsarenotacrime #atleastnotifyouareaworldchamp pic.twitter.com/JwCQtzJdFt

— ChicagoCyclocrossCup (@ChiCrossCup) September 13, 2016

#labaghCX @sven_nys #worldchampionhandup pic.twitter.com/fdu1M9oVfS

— ChicagoCyclocrossCup (@ChiCrossCup) September 11, 2016

#labaghCX @svenvth #worldchampionhandup pic.twitter.com/1wjVC6sXTP

— ChicagoCyclocrossCup (@ChiCrossCup) September 11, 2016

• #CXisHere in Chicago… the 2016 Chicago Cyclocross Cup kicks off at LaBagh Woods hosted by xXx Racing-Athletico.
• Live results by One2Go Results will be on livelynxresults.com Watch races scored in real time!
• Online pre-reg on BikeReg closes tonight, so don’t delay.
• On site number pick up and Day-Of Registration will be in picnic pavilion near start finish line. Remember reg closes 30 minutes before the schedule start time of each category.
• Our USAC officials and One2Go Results remind everyone to please not fold or crumple your numbers. If you do you risk not being scored. Numbers on your LEFT side (not your back!), always.
• Staging for the first race of the series is 100% by CrossResults.com ranking. See here for preliminary staging and if you believe your CXR points to be incorrect please contact CrossResults. Also, please check the discrepancies page. If you name is on this page you need to either edit your BikeReg registration (and profile, most likely emergency contact info) or renew you annual USAC license. Wait list riders are here. All of these lists will be updated again with final reg data no later than Friday evening.
• Results will be posted as soon as possible on one of the CCC’s 4 sided results board and for all pre-reg’d riders with correct/valid email address in their BikeReg rider profiles results will be emailed to you shortly after you finish. Also, One2Go will have its LiveLynx site updated in real time. Full results will be posted on USAC online Sunday night and series standings will be updated shortly afterward. This is the first race, so series standings are the same as the first 30 finishers in each category.
• The standard 2016 CCC Payout Schedule is here.
• Parking: Please do NOT parallel park anywhere. There is limited parking in LaBagh Woods and all cars must be parked in marked spots.
• The equipment pits will again be staffed by SRAM NRS will be double sided.
• Kenny Labbe will be MC’ing the event and the entirety of the CCC series.
• Chicago Pizza Boss will again be in attendance and serving up fresh, hot, pies.
• Free beer garden for the 21+ crowd sponsored by Finch Beer Co.
• Teams can set up tents anywhere, but xXx Racing recommends doing so near-ish to the reg pavilion for viewing the start/finish line… and the beer garden.
• Additional info and archive information can be found over on the static race page. Just be careful when looking at the older Caldwell Woods info.
• Remember to use the hashtag #LaBaghCX on Twitter and Instagam so everyone at home or in other parts of the country can follow along.
• Tentative course is below. Reg, staging grid, finish line, and pit are all on the SW corner of the park. Still flat as the midwest can be, but with less twists and turns than last year. Also a Sven or two.

• Holy cow its September, all the Labor Day sales have passed, Road is Officially Dead, its still hot as 7 inches from the midday sun, and CX IS.FINALLY.HERE.!!!
• Reminder that the first race in the CCC series is THIS SUNDAY 9/11/2016 in LaBagh Woods hosted by xXx Racing-Athletico. Online pre-reg is open on BikeReg and there is still room in all categories, but please, please, please don’t wait until the last minute to reg. The weather looks great for Sunday and pre-reg is so much easier on everyone than reg’ing at the venue. Look for the course preview on Thursday.
• Speaking of online pre-reg… all CCC races are now open on BikeReg if you’d like to part with your hard earned cash dollars now.
• If you didn’t see the announcement on their website, due to a scheduling conflict xXx Racing-Athletico had to reschedule the cyclocross clinic with the Svens from Tuesday 9/13 to Sunday 9/11 (the Monday 9/12 clinic will proceed as scheduled). Immediately following the last race of the day on Sunday at LaBagh Woods, the Svens will host a skills clinic right on the race course, focusing on mounting and dismounting, cornering, picking fast lines, barriers, shouldering, equipment setup, and other techniques. All funds from the clinic go directly to the Pieter Ombregt Scholarship Fund at Columbia College with the Svens volunteering their time as a favor to the Ombregt family. The Sunday clinic will be 2.5 hours long (4:30-7:00 pm) and is $125. Limited spots are still available! Also, Sven and Sven will may be hanging out starting around noon, so if you want autographs or the Svens to be on the podium with you, this may be your chance. Still no word on whether they will racing the Single Speed category.
• CCC Alumnus and all around cycling enthusiast Christopher Jensen sends us this note from Michigan… Great fun coming up on October 1, at the Beer City Growler Cyclocross and 5K Steeplechase. $2500 in cash prizes (equal payout between the Open Men and Open Women), a beer garden, The (original CCC) Flyover, One2Go Timing and Results, and a 5km run in the morning Also a special prize for the fastest combined run and “open” category CX finish time for the men and women. October 1, Wilcox Park in Grand Rapids, MI  –  http://www.usacycling.org/register/2016-2085
• The CCC would like to welcome 2 new series sponsors partners to the CCC family:

Achieve Orthopedic Rehab Institute Sports Medicine – We pride ourselves in personal attention, through each step of the process. You literally feel the difference, every day.

Stio – Designed and tested in Jackson Hole, Stio clothing blends modern mountain style with technical performance. The Stio Mountain Studio™ at 1719 N. Damen Ave is bringing mountain soul to Chicago.

• And finally… before we get started with the season a quick PSA; its cyclocross, we’re all excited, we’re all competitive, there’s plenty of #hype… but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little lot of fun. Let’s keep the egos, attitude, foul language, and any behavior unfit for public display in check and enjoy the season with each other. We only have a little bit of time so we should use it the best we can. Now let’s race CX!