UPDATE 3 – 9/19/2015 at 4:30pm
The rains have passed and a new course has emerged at LaBagh Woods. The situation is improving by the minute and we are all systems go for racing tomorrow at LaBagh Woods. See the tentative course map below. A bunch of the turns will be different, but reg, staging, the finish, and the equipment pit will not change. Enter the park from Cicero Ave. Parking is a little tight and the park road is small, so please drive slowly and be excellent to each other. Also, you’d never know it from Caldwell, but LaBagh is actually dry right now. Don’t just bring your mud tyres. Seriously, its flat and dry. See you all tomorrow! #CXishere

UPDATE 2 – 9/18/2015 at 4:46pm
We’re on the move, quite literally. The Chicago Parks District and Forest Preserve have decided there is too much standing water in Caldwell Woods for our event. But fear not, our fantastic xXx Racing race director and team have been on the phones all afternoon and secured another venue just down the street at LaBagh Woods. Some of you will remember LaBagh woods as the location of xXx’s Wednesday evening practice crits this summer. More details to come over the next 24 hours and we’ll be sending out an email via BikeReg, but please let everyone know the event is still on. All details below are still valid besides the course map (obviously). Also, given the conditions please DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PRERIDE THE COURSE. Doing so could materially impact xXx Racing’s ability to secure a venue in the future. Thanks!

UPDATE 1 – 9/18/2015:
There is a fair amount of standing water in Caldwell Woods as it is in the floodplain of the North Branch River. xXx Racing and the CCC are working together with the Chicago Parks District and Forest Preserve to reroute the course around sensitive areas and be good stewards of the park. Stay tuned here and on Twitter for details. The situation is fluid (pun intended) and xXx Racing will communicate changes concerning the event through email before Sunday. To be clear as mud (again with the puns…) the course map below will almost certainly change by Sunday.

• Alrighty then… #CXisComing is finally turning into #CXisHere in Chicago… the 2015 Chicago Cyclocross Cup kicks off at Caldwell Woods hosted by xXx Racing-Athletico.
• Live results by One2Go_Results will be here: http://www.livelynxresults.com/  Watch races scored in real time!
• Online pre-reg on BikeReg closes tonight, so get to it.
• 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.
• The CCC has returned to the old Tyvek bib numbers, but our officials and One2Go 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!) .
• 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), renew you annual USAC license, etc. Wait list orders are here. All of these lists will be updated again with final reg data no later than Thursday evening.
• Results will be posted as soon as possible on 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.
• The standard 2015 CCC Payout Schedule is here.
• Porta-potties will be located in the small parking lot nearest Devon and Milwaukee adjacent to registration.
• Teams can set up tents anywhere, but xXx Racing recommends doing so in the field North of the reg pavilion for viewing the finish line or the field to the North East for viewing the hill.
• Main parking will be at Aquatic Center with pedestrian/racer access to course along north side of Devon Ave.
• The equipment pits will be double sided.
• Chicago Pizza Boss will again be in attendance and serving up fresh, hot, pies.
• Additional info over here on the static preview page.
• Remember to use the hashtag #CaldwellCX so everyone at home or in other parts of the country can follow along.
• The course. See above, we’re moving to LaBagh Woods so the course is TBD for as of Friday night  xXx Racing has made a few improvements from last year including a smoothed out start, slightly shorter length, and double sided equipment pits (of course staffed by SRAM NRS). New tentative course is below. Reg, staging grid, finish line, and pit are all on the SW corner of the park.

Cyclocross is upon us!  The ChiCrossCup is a demanding series.  Save 1 break over Thanksgiving (not including week #2), you’re on it every week.  Most of us know how to get on a bike and ride hard.  The key though is in retaining mental and physical strength throughout the entire season.

Back in the day we all pretty much over-trained on a regular basis.  You just came to grips with the fact that the end of the year was a fairly horrible slog of races.  Now we know better, and the goal is not to make it through but rather excel in the last few races of the season.

Doing tough, anaerobic intervals takes discipline and recovery is the same. When your buddy asks you to do an awesome bandit race on the wrong day for your schedule it’s important that you say no and stick with your overall plan.  Since we almost always race on Sunday a typical “on” week should look like this:

Monday – off

Tuesday  – strength training with a 30 minute recovery spin afterward, or just a 1 to 1.5 hour recovery ride 

Wednesday  – skills ride with 30 minutes of tempo

Thursday  – hard ride.  Bandit race, anaerobic intervals, Vo2max intervals or lactate threshold intervals are a good idea.  You want to finish feeling not as spent as after a race, but close.

Friday – off

Saturday  – opener ride.  1 hour 15 minutes long with 2 intervals 30 seconds in length at max effort, a couple of starts and 3 to 5 minutes of ftp pace followed by a good warm down (at least 15 minute’s worth).

Sunday – race

It’s OK to flip the Wednesday and Thursday rides around if a hard day on Wednesday works better for you.  The main thing is to not have too many tough days.  The above schedule represents 2 very hard days per week if you include race day and that’s about all a person can handle without eventually hindering their performance.  More on month to month recovery later…..

See you Sunday.

Rob Kelley

Director of Coaching

TRAINING BIBLE CYCLING

• CX racing everywhere over weekend… IL, WI, PA, etc, etc, etc…
• CCC series racing kicks off this coming weekend at Caldwell Woods. More info on Thursday in the course preview, but in the meantime, please review the #CaldwellCX preview page… and while you’re at it, take another look at the CCC series rules. Remember you are NOT allowed to race outside your USAC CX category, and yes we check… everyone, so please don’t make us have to write that email.
• But before our local racing starts up, top riders from around the world (okay, really just the US and Europe) descend on Fabulous Las Vegas for Cross Vegas on Wednesday night, which is the first ever CX World Cup event to take place on US soil.
• Back closer to home, and in a few weeks… The Cuttin’ Crew is at it again and organizing a Junior Girls and Women’s Cat 3/4 CX clinic at the Trek CX Cup just outside Madison, WI on Friday 10/9/2015. Details are here and registration is free, but limited to 20 riders.
• One more series sponsor (re)joined the circle of trust this week. The CCC is happy to welcome back Nuun (pronounced Noon) the first company to separate electrolyte replacement from carbohydrates. Before Nuun, if you wanted electrolytes, the result was a bottle full of sugar. With Nuun’s simple, self-dissolving, sugar-free electrolyte tab, sports drinks are revolutionized forever.
• Tomorrow!!! Looks for Rob Kelley and Training Bible Coaching back with another season of Coach’s Corner.
• And finally… it seems we have to remind at least a few of people every year at this time the difference between heckling and just being a jerk. Let’s be clear… don’t be a jerk. If you need a refresher, see the CCC’s guidelines, Psimet’s post, or Ryan Kelly’s words of wisdom. Its totally cool if you and your friends call each other POS’s in private, but when you’re out in public, where young kids and people not familiar with CX are present, doing so makes you look obnoxious at best and the rest of us like fools at worst. We’re not saying don’t heckle. But when the best you can do is “You suck!” or some variant, do us all a favor and just don’t say anything at all. Instead, ring your cowbell haarder and come back next week when you have something more creative, funny, supportive, funny, crowd pleasing, or yes… actually funny to say. So in short, more cheer and less jeer. K? great… let’s have a lot of fun and race our faces off this season!

• The Illinois Cycling Association is holding Board Elections, developing a new ICA Website, and making a call for officials! Amateur cycling races in Illinois don’t just happen by themselves and the ICA and USAC need help to make them happen. Please seriously consider getting involved if you want to see cycling races continue to flourish and grow here in Illinois.
• This coming weekend is the last weekend before CCC series racing starts up, so make all those last minute adjustments, dial in your nutrition, and get ready for another great season.
• If you’re looking to get started early and in for a road trip, this coming weekend, former Chicago resident Brian Parker checks in to let us know… “The KISS Cross series opener is this Saturday 9/12/15 at Lakeside Park in Caledonia, MI.  Sponsored by Gap30 Cycles and Founders Racing. $20 old school Cyclocross racing, no license required, $10 second race if you want to double up. A, B, and, C categories, with Masters and kids races. Races start at 11:00am (10:00 CST) so you don’t even have to wake up super early to make it. A keg of Founders (beer) will be on hand for thirsty racers, and the grill will be cooking up some brats and dogs for after the race. Course design by former Jackson Park race director and The Bonebell rider, now full time Michigander, Brian Parker.”
• A little closer to Chicago, race promoter and ICA Member at Large Karl Crapse tells us… “There is a great Cx race this Sunday (9/13/15), only 1.5 hours south of Chicago at Patriot CX. The course is nothing like you might expect in the downstate corn fields. The course goes around a good size pond in Heritage Lake Park, Rantoul. We have steep hill repeats on the dam, a lot of off camber turns, a long straight with logs to bunny hop, barriers, sand pit, a DJ and more. Also beer is allowed. Grab a friend or 2, car pool down, gas is cheaper than it has been for a long time. We also have enough categories that most should be able to do 2 or more races. All profits go to a local Rails to Trails project.” https://www.bikereg.com/patriot-cx
• CX racing also begins this weekend in Wisconsin. Note the WCA has split their schedule into 2 categories; Super Cup and BRO (Bragging Rights Only).
• And finally… Just in under the wire the CCC has another new series sponsor in Mark Niemiec – State Farm Agent – Mark shares a similar view in that he wants to be there for his customers not only NOW but into the FUTURE. He goes the extra mile to make his customers’ experience with State Farm an exceptional one and one that can last a lifetime.

• Hey everyone, its September… so series CX racing is right around the corner. As of right now pre-reg for all CCC series events is open on BikeReg. Remember to have your USAC annual license number in your rider profile or you will be automatically charged $15 for a One Day license. Also, if you are trying to reg for a category you aren’t allowed to race in you’ll need to write in a reason before pre-reg’ing.
• If you’re reading this on the Internet and not through an RSS reader, you’ve probably noticed the CCC site has a new look. We have lots of fantastic photographers and figured since everyone is riding carbon bikes with disc brakes, one-by drivetrains, and electronic shifting that it was time for a site upgrade as well. Let us know what you think in the comments below. Don’t worry, you can still leave all the comments you want and all the historical content is still available. At the very bottom of the page either click the ‘Older posts’ link, use the ‘Search’ box, or use the ‘Archives’ drop down.
• Calling all sponsors, if you want to be a 2015 CCC Series Sponsor we need to know by 5pm today, at least if you want your logo or name on the t-shirts. Contact us at [email protected]
• Speaking of sponsors, we had a few companies officially join the CCC family this year.

– From the mind(s) behind the first and second ever CX billboards a new venture is lighting up, quite literally, the Chicagoland landscape.

– Ultimate Pro Bikes is a full service shop located in Countryside, nearby Palos Forest Preserve where most of us have spent at least a few hours climbing hills or shredding trails.

• And for those of you keeping track at home, nearly all of last year’s sponsors have returned in one form or another.
• And finally… for all you slacker patient riders who have been holding off to purchase or renew your USAC annual license, USAC has a special offer for the 2015 and 2016 season.  So now you really have no excuse not to own an annual license.

#CXRelay CoEd Open Podium – Photo Tyler George

• Looks like everyone had a great time at the CX Relay. Thanks to xXx Racing-Atheltico for hosting another fun event. Results are here, but fear not, these results will NOT count towards your CrossResults.com ranking.
• Speaking of CrossResults (CXR) since move people are now looking at this website, please review the updated staging protocol we posted back in July. Lots of other good details in that post as well. We’ll have the Series Rules and FAQ page updated soon, but one important thing to remember is you must pre-reg to be staged by CXR ranking, otherwise you’re in the back.
• Speaking of pre-reg’ing… all 11 events in the 2015 CCC schedule are now up on BikeReg.com. Take a look any and bookmark the page, pre-reg will open at 9am CST on Tuesday 9/1/15.
• The crew at BikeReg has been busy adding new feature to their site, many of which are transparent to you as riders, but are very helpful to us as event organizers. Three of which are:
  • Category Restrictions – All CCC races are USAC sanctioned which means you are not allowed to ride outside your CX category. If you try reg’ing for a category you’re not supposed to BikeReg will warn you and you’ll have to supply a reason before being allowed to reg. If you ave a legitimate reason (upgrading, license is messed up) that’s cool. But remember we also double-check all the reg data before each race so let’s be reasonable adults. Also, BikeReg matches your annual license to the USAC database, so make sure you have renewed (do it now!) before attempting to reg.
  • One Day Licenses – Speaking of licenses, if you are reg’ing for a Category where you can actually race on a One Day license (any Cat 5 men or Cat 4 women race) and if you do NOT have an annual USAC license, BikeReg will automatically charge you $15 to be applied to a USAC One Day license. So if you have an annual license… get it in your BikeReg rider profile now!
• And finally… the CCC wants to wrap up our 2015 series sponsor drive so we can get to racing. If you still want to be a 2015 series sponsor, please review our 2015 sponsor proposal and email us ASAP at [email protected]. We are closing the sponsorship window, at least if you want your name on the 2015 Series t-shirts, on Tuesday 9/1/15.

– Some people already got their season off to a start at Half Acre’s CX Eliminator.

– Next up, the always fun, always hard, always inclusive, always nutty, always almost tossing cookies… xXx Racing CX Relay. The Junior and Coed fields are already filled and there are a few spots left in all other fields. The team names are some of the best we’ve ever seen.

– If you haven’t heard (are you under a rock?) Chicago is getting its own bike park… Big Marsh. But, since there is no such thing as a free lunch… “An anonymous donor has offered up to $1,000,000 toward building Chicago’s first urban bike park in a 2- for-1 challenge grant, says Chicago-based non-profit Friends of Big Marsh. Friends of Big Marsh has launched a crowdfunding campaign at bigmarsh.org/build to leverage the grant that could provide much of the funding needed to open the first phase of the park in Spring 2016.” So contribute if you can.

– And since the CX is nothing without its riders and courses, the CCC has decided to switch gears this season and keep our focus local. So instead of collecting money for World Bicycle Relief (still a very worthy cause) we will forward all donations to Big Marsh AND West Town  Bikes & Blackstone Bikes at the end of the season.

– And finally… The nice folks on the other side of the pond are getting ready for the season as well… “On Saturday, September 12, the Michigan ‘cx season once again kicks off with the Alma Grand Prix of Cyclocross p/b Velocity USA, which is the first race in the new Michigan Bicycle Racing Association Cyclocross Series of events. There are a handful of hotel options in the area and this year there is also camping available at the race venue for Friday night. Also, please join us for the early number pick up and “meet the pros” at the Alma Brewing Company on Friday night (September 11). Pros, you ask? Yes! This year we’re excited to have four professionals from Australia in attendance. Joining us from the Focus Australia ‘CX Team are Chris Aitken, Tom Chapman, and Jack Hogan. On the women’s side, Josie Simpson from the Flanders Nemesis race team will be leading the charge. More information, including the race tech guide and spy photos of the course, is available on the website: www.AlmaGP.blogspot.com. The race Facebook page is:www.Facebook.com/AlmaGrandPrixOfCyclocross, and on Twitter @TheAlmaGP. If you have ANY questions please don’t hesitate to e-mail Brian Hancock (race promoter /at/ gmail.com) or find him on Facebook on the race page.”

– We’re getting ahead of the curve this year with the 2015 CCC series t-shirts. Look for a link on the store page to pre-order this season’s shirt. We’ll even have ladies cut and long sleeve shirts for 2015.

– Want to get involved with the CCC to make it even better and race for cheap? The CCC is looking for series volunteers. You just need to be able to attend most CCC races and help out for a few hours. Positions vary, inquire within by sending an email to [email protected].

– Our 2015 series sponsor drive is currently active and will close August 31st. If you are interested in being a 2015 CCC series sponsor take a look here and then please let us know now at [email protected].

– And finally… as promised we finished calculating all the staging differences with our new staging methodology (individual event links below). In the linked GoogleSheets we show 4 different way of staging, CrossResults ranking only, CCC points only, CCC first row/CXR all others, CCC first 2 row/CXR all others. Look at the ‘Diff’ columns, specifically column “V”. A lower negative number means you would be staged better with the new system, a higher positive number means you would be staged worse. Since for every move up there is a move down the average difference across all races is zero, but… below is a histogram showing the average difference moves up/down by 8 place increments (i.e. one staging row) using the old vs. new methodology (as a % of all pre-reg’d racers) across all events. For the entire series ~40% of riders’ staging position would not change (i.e. 0 difference) while ~27% would move up no more than 8 spots and ~23% would move down no more than 8 spots. For those keeping score at home that means on average ~89% of all racers would be staged no more than +/-8 places in either direction. The other ~11% of riders would be staged by more than +/-1 rows difference (>+/-16 difference), and those riders being staged worse (i.e. large positive differences) are those without CrossResults rankings (i.e. 9999) and CCC points (think Cat 4’s and 5’s). The CCC believes these data further validate our decision to change the staging methodology for 2015 and hopefully go at least a little ways to assuage any fears some of you may have that you will be staged back in the cheap seats. However we are always open to new ideas too, and if you have a better way of staging roughly 700 riders every week that is fair to as many riders as possible we’d love to hear from you. And as always, we are only human and make mistakes all the time, so please always, always double check the preliminary staging sheets we publish online after pre-reg closes and let us know if you see a mistake. Note also that unless you have enough CCC points to be staged on the front row you MUST PRE-REGISTER to be staged by CrossResults.com rankings.

1. Hopkins Park
2. Dan Ryan Woods
3. Carpenter Park
4. ABD Sunrise Park
5. Campton CX
6. Indian Lakes – Saturday
7. Indian Lakes – Sunday
8. Psi-Clocross
9. Melas CX
10. Montrose Harbor

– For anyone counting, there are roughly 8 weeks until the CCC starts in Caldwell Woods, hosted by xXx Racing. So get your bikes in working order now(!) by visit your favorite local bike shop… but enjoy the rest of the summer weather while we still have it. #cxiscoming

– But before the CCC officially starts, the good folks over at Half Acre Cycling are having a Women’s CX clinic. The details: Go faster. Attack that barrier. Clear that obstacle. Have more fun. Cycle-Smart Solutions for Cycling and Half Acre Cycling are committed to helping Chicago area women achieve their racing goals. Focusing on intermediate/advanced skills, this clinic is designed for Cat 3s (and those planning to make that upgrade soon) as well as experienced Cat 1 and 2 racers. Half Acre is also very pleased that their clinic will take place at Big Marsh Chicago.  Big Marsh Chicago is on its way to being the premier bike park and eco-recreation area in the Midwest. For more information see the event page register: https://www.bikereg.com/hacwomenscxclinic. Topics include: explosive starts, dismounts and mounts, barrier work, bunny-hopping obstacles, cornering at speed, off-camber cornering, race strategy, training, and race preparation. Your coaches: Shaun Adamson (Cycle-Smart) and Kelli Richter (Vision Quest Coaching) .

– Also, because CX all.the.time… Half Acre Cycling is pleased to present the inaugural CX Eliminator: an elimination-style cyclo-cross race.
1) Race starts with a non-elimination round, one or more heats of eight racers who complete one 3km lap to determine heat placement for the first elimination round.
2) Next comes the elimination rounds, heats of eight racers again complete a 3km lap. The top four finishers move to the next round, while the bottom four are eliminated from competition.
3) And finally the championship round, the final eight racers will complete the lap, head­-to-­head, with the top three racers earning podium spots.
Check out the HACCXE website for all the details: http://cx-eliminator.blogspot.com/p/about.html.

– Not to be outdone, xXx Racing will again be hosting their Relay Cross back in Jackson Park on Sunday August 23rd. Loads of fund at this event and another great way to ease into the season. So grab a partner and get ready to high-five.

– Sadly, Psimet has informed us that Norge CX will not be back this season. So enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend to the fullest, eat lots of turkey, or tofurkey if that’s your thing, and get ready for the State Championship at Montrose the following weekend.

– And finally… as if we had to remind anyone, its still hot, and muggy, and hot, and did we mention hot(?) here in Chicago. So while out training either on the road or the trails (please go outside and stay off Zwift), make sure to stay hydrated and take breaks so as not to overheat. Heat stroke is a real thing and we want to see you all in the staging grids this Autumn.

– Back for another year the CCC will again have Pactimo Leaders Jerseys… this year with a women’s cut version for the ladies.

– In case you missed it 2 weeks ago the 2015 and 2016 CCC series will be “Powered by SRAM“.

– All 11 events in the 2015 CCC will have One2Go timing, lap times, and new for 2015 real time LiveLynx Results. Please make sure to search for LiveLynx Results and not just LiveLynx… just trust us on that one. Because of the increased accuracy of having a camera running all day long the series is also increasing the self imposed 100 rider field limits of a few categories. No this is not a money grab, we’re just opening up a few more spots for the fields that tend to sell out on BikeReg.com so there are fewer waitlists to deal with.

– Speaking of BikeReg, the individual race directors are working on getting their races permitted with USAC and we’ll have pre-reg pages up on BikeReg sometime around the end of July or beginning of August and open pre-reg for most if not all events at the beginning of September.

– All 11 events will also include SRAM Neutral Race Support as well as Kenny Labbe announcing all day long.

– Speaking of all day long, the CCC series directors thought long and hard and tried to figure out a better race day schedule, but without any luck. There are just too many people in too many categories who want to race CX from September to December where we have less daylight to work with. Despite a few predictions to the contrary we think last year’s schedule worked as well as any could have. Considering the new staging changes (see below) and raising of field limits we feel leaving the race day schedule unchanged from 2014 will work fine again.

– Speaking of same schedules, the same 11 events from the 2014 season will be back for 2015 with the exception of Carpenter Park. Due to construction at Carpenter Park the crew at Main St. Bikes and the Sasquatch Squadron are temporarily moving the event 3.5 miles to the West to Randall Oaks Park. Race director Jeff Provisor tells us Randall Oaks has more space and even though there may not be a corn field (or Chubby Spud) the racing will be just as rad. We’ll update the series Google Map soon.

– No changes to the series minimum purse. Some events may increase payouts if they have the means, but given the scoring upgrades, neutral support, announcing, etc… and the fact that entry fee prices have remained the same for at least the last 5 or 6 years, all riders in the series are getting more bang for their buck than ever before. Remember payouts for the Men & Women Cat 1/2/3 races already scale up with the overall number of pre-reg’d riders.

– If you are interested in becoming a 2015 CCC Series Sponsor please review our 2015 proposal and contact us at [email protected].

– And finally… we did some spreadsheet magic (see Hopkins and Montrose, all races to follow eventually) and found that CrossResults.com rankings are actually very indicative of where riders should be staged during the entire season, regardless of CCC points. That being said this is still a series with series standings so it wouldn’t make sense not to use them at all. We initially considered staging the first 2 rows by CCC points for the whole season, then all others by CXR rankings, but then we thought that staging mid/downstate riders no better than the 3rd row at Montrose didn’t make sense either. Since riders good enough to win the state championship could probably win from the 4th row (see 35 seconds in) we decided staging the first row by CCC points and all other rows by CXR rankings for the entire season was a good compromise. Long story short, if you’re fast but not racing the entire series and earning CCC series points (traveling to far off lands, injury, ate too much ice cream, etc) you’ll be staged no worse than the 2nd row. Also CrossResuts rankings already handle DNF’s so those of you who have asked over the years to have your worst placing thrown out kinda, sorta get what you’ve been asking for. The Series Rules & FAQs page will be updated soon.