– We are pleased to announce The Pony Shop will be the 2014 Chicago Cyclocross Cup Title Sponsor. After 5 great years Iron Cycles is handing the reigns to the gang at the Pony Shop. Shop owner and CX team manager Lou Kuhn is no stranger to the Chicago CX scene and has been a mainstay in the CCC series since its inception 11 years ago. The team has had multiple series overall winners and state CX champions over the years in nearly every category from masters to men to women from Cat 1 to Cat 4. Swing by one of the multiple Pony Shop tents this season and say hello to the guys and gals who call The Pony Shop home. From Lou, “The Pony Shop is honored to be a part of the CCC and help it continue to grow as one of the premier cyclocross series in the United States.  The Pony Shop has been in Evanston since 1969 and is proud to be recognized as one of the many Chicago area shops that truly specialize in and love cyclocross.  Our team has continued to grow for 2014 especially in the junior ranks, and we look forward to seeing these kids develop the same love we all have for cyclocross!”

– Saturday September 6th Spidermonkey Cycling and SRAM are bringing Pete Webber & Meredith Miller to Chicago for the latest installment of Cracking the Code, a CX mini camp and clinic. Leave your pledge pin at home and come learn CX from 2 of the best in the business. Register here.

– Also on 9/6/14, the Michigan CX season kicks off with the Alma Grand Prix of Cyclocross p/b Eclipse Cycling, which is the first race of the Tailwind series.  As a special offer for Chicago racers the race promoter has again created a coupon on the USAC registration page good for $5 off your pre-registration ($25 pre-registration, $30 day-of).  This coupon code expires on Sunday, August 31 at midnight EST and is limited to the first TWENTY uses.  E-mail Brian ([email protected]) for the coupon! There are a handful of hotels in the area in Alma and Grand Rapids (80 minute drive…) and double up with a Kiss Cross race on Sunday(September 7) in downtown G.R. on your way back home. Early number pick up on Friday night is at the Alma Brewing Company in downtown Alma. Spy photos of the course (and a history of the venue) are available on the Facebook page. More information is available at www.AlmaGP.blogspot.com or www.Facebook.com/AlmaGrandPrixOfCyclocross. Any questions please e-mail Brian: [email protected].

– The CCC 2014 minimum payout schedule is here.

– Just a reminder the xXx Racing CX Relay race is less than 3 weeks away. Online pre-registration opened on BikeReg yesterday and the team name competition is just getting started.

– Speaking of xXx Racing-Athletico, if you hadn’t already noticed on the Schedule page, the Jackson Park CCC series race is moving venues this year to Caldwell Woods. Since xXx Racing had no other options for using other parts of Jackson Park they up and found a newer, bigger, better, location just North West of the city, still easily rideable to via Milwaukee or Elston Aves. However, even though we’re sure you all can’t wait to hit the dirt in the new location, xXx Racing urges all racers and teams to refrain from practicing at Caldwell Woods between now and race day.  By avoiding Caldwell Woods until late September we are assisting the Cook County Forest Preserve District in their land use management plans. Thank you for your understanding.

– For all you newbies out there, CX National Champion Jeremy Powers explains “What is Cyclocross“.

– And finally…  the organizers of Illinois Women Cyclists in collaboration with the Illinois Cycling Association and xXx-Racing are hosting the first ever Women’s Team Open House at Relay Cross! The group would like to offer a bridge for women navigating through the rush of finding a team that they can call family and Relay CX is the perfect setting! If your team would like to participate, please fill out this survey by Saturday August 8.

– So its almost August, road season is basically over, the Tour de France ending has all the roadies in a funk, and we’ve already fielded multiple emails from newbies asking lots of questions, so it makes sense we should have a big update. Look for more important updates over the coming weeks.

– First up, after 5 years of essentially the same race day schedule (except for the addition and jostling around of the SS category) the CCC is having its first major race day schedule change in a while to both accommodate the increases in rider performance and help everyone be more competitive at the local, regional, and national level. Due to everyone wanting to race and not enough daylight in December, there are no easy decisions when it comes to deciding on a CX race day schedule, but thankfully we have plenty of historical data to guide our choices. We looked at total rider counts and even the age and category breakdowns for every race in last year’s series to help us decide what is best for everyone… riders, race promoters, officials, parents. spectators, parks, pet greyhounds, you name it. So we put our heads together and spent literally weeks analyzing the data, thinking about where we’ve come from, where we’d like the series to go in the future, and after about 80 or 90 emails came up with the following race day schedule. We know we can’t please everyone all the time, but we managed to keep all categories from last year while adding some new features. The major changes are as follows:

1. The race day will start 15 minutes earlier and end 25 minutes later.
2. The Women 123 will have their own dedicated 45 minutes of course time immediately before the Cat 1/2/3 race.
3. Added a short 15 minute course inspection time immediately before the Cat 3 race.
4. Changed the Masters categories age minimums from 30+, 40+, and 50+ to 35+, 45+, and 55+. We reviewed the data from last year and found there were not as many 30-34 year olds as we assumed. See here.
5. Masters races are now shortened to 40 minutes.
6. Masters 35+ will start off the day by themselves (since older masters can always race down in age).
7. Masters 45+ will lead the 2nd start wave of the day followed 2 minutes behind by the Masters 55+.
8. Lengthened the Junior 15-18 race to 35 minutes while shortening the SS race to 35 minutes. Fitness and skill wise the Junior 15-18’s are closest to the majority of Single Speed racers so it made sense to combine these 2 categories.
9. Keep the Women Cat 4 and Junior 9-14 together.
10. Cat 3, Cat 1/2/3, Cat 4, and Cat 4/5 race lengths remain the same.

So after all of that the 2014 CCC race day schedule looks like this:

08:30 am   Masters 35+  (40 minutes)
09:25 am   Masters 45+  (40 minutes)
09:27 am   Masters 55+  (40 minutes)
10:20 am   Junior 15-18  (35 minutes)
10:22 am   Single Speed  (35 minutes)
11:10 am   Women Cat 4  (30 minutes)
11:12 am   Junior 9-14  (30 minutes)
11:40 am   Course Inspection  (15 minutes)
11:55 am   Cat 3  (45 minutes)
12:55 pm   Women Cat 1/2/3  (45 minutes)
01:55 pm   Cat 1/2/3  (60 minutes)
03:10 pm   Cat 4  (30 minutes)
03:55 pm   Cat 4/5  (30 minutes)

We’re putting this schedule out now so no one is surprised at the first race of the series at the end of September… so tell your teammates, tell your parents, tell your team managers, tell your shop owners, and be on time for your category’s race. Payouts are also changing and will be updated next week.

– And finally… the xXx Racing-Athletico Jackson Park TagTeam Two Person Relay Cyclocross Race is scheduled for Sunday August 24th, less than 4 weeks away. This is a great way to get ready for the CX season and always brings a few more crossers into the mix. So secure your teammates soon and get ready to high-five!

– Hey there! How’s everyone enjoying July? After the winter we had we didn’t think temps would ever get above 80° this summer, but we’re sure glad they did. While you may just have started thinking about CX season, the CCC series directors have been tinkering away in our evile lair and are just about ready to unveil our latest creation… but we’re going to make you wait until next week!

– In the meantime, make sure your BikeReg rider profiles are up-to-date and most importantly include your USAC racing license number, which should also be up-to-date.

– What we can share with you now is the updated schedule page. Unfortunately Psycho Cross in Wauconda will NOT be back for the 2014 season. Given the CX season is already long enough as it is the CCC will NOT be replacing this race and therefore the series will include 11 races instead of 12. Please plan accordingly.

– The CCC is always looking for a few good men and women to be series volunteers. If you would like to be involved and race at a very hefty discount, please contact us at [email protected].

– The CCC is also starting its 2014 series sponsorship drive. If you or your business want to be part of the CCC family, let us know.

Hi everyone,

We hope you’ve been enjoying the loverly Spring here in Chicagoland and even though its only the beginning of road season we’ve already been thinking about and planning for the upcoming ‘cross season and wanted to give you a few updates.

1. First the CCC will be making a few schedule changes in 2014. Masters will no longer need to wake up at the crack of dawn, the Cat 4’s and 5’s won’t be last, and the Elite Men and Women fields will be in the prime time slots.
2. Next we’ll have a few new categories, each with their own start times; Juniors will be split into 2 year age groups 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, and 17-18… all with separate boys and girls fields. We’ll also have expanded Masters categories 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, and new for 2014 60-61, 62-63, 64-65, 66-67, 68-69+. But don’t think we forgot about the ladies… we’ll run the same age groups for women as well, run separately of course.
3. Speaking of women, not only will the Women Cat 4’s have their own start time and the course all to themselves, but we’ll also have a separate Women Cat 3 field as well as separate Women Cat 2 and Women Cat 1 fields, all with their own start times and with no one else on course at the same time.
4. And since we want to be as pro as possible each race will feature a 20 minute course inspection prior to each and every field… so please, do not warm up on the course while the previous race is finishing up, you’ll have plenty of time see the track.
5. Speaking of being pro, every race director has already committed to having a full size UCI equipment pit, complete with power washers and neutral support.
6. And to be fully pro, the CCC has also contracted with One2Go Event Services for finish line timing at each event and will be handing out Google Glass to everyone who wants a set so you can get your split times during your race and results before you even finish.
7. And to get ready before your race and cool down afterwards each venue will also have heated and wind-proof warm-up tents large enough to accommodate 85 riders with brand new Lemond turbos, licensed masseuses, beer and frites vendors, vegan everything, and fully stocked bike wash stations directly adjacent.
8. Staging will be slightly different than last season, but 100% fair with everyone receiving a front row call-up.
9. And finally… because every race must have an end, we’ll also have expanded podiums for 2014 and increased payouts across the board (both higher in dollar value and a deeper number of places). We’ve already had some big name sponsors sign on so all categories will be paid out equally and the total purse payout at each event will increase to $250,000 raising the total purse for the entire series to $3mm. We’re confident this increase in payout will attract all the best riders from around the world.

We know that’s a lot of changes, but we feel the CCC is ready for them and will only make the entire series better. How will we successfully make all of these changes? Well, we’re not really concerned about that… we’re sure someone will figure it all out. Have a great April 1st!

– Hi everyone, we hope you are doing well and keeping warm during this 2nd blast of the polar vortex. We know you are all a hearty bunch, but if you are outside, especially on your bicycle, be safe and keep warm. If you’re inside on your turbo getting ready for next season, then good on you!

– Congratulations to everyone who raced at USAC CX Nationals a few weeks back. We counted 2 podiums for Chicago area riders and many more great rides and finishes. What a great way to round out the domestic season!

– But the pros are still racing! This coming weekend is the CX World Championships in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands. Our national champions Katie Compton and Jeremy Powers as well as a large contingent of other great riders will be competing for the Arc en Ciel. Watch the action here on the UCI’s YouTube channel or better yet, wake up really early and head to Heritage Bicycles to watch with your CCC friends.

– There’s also a #Sportsball  championship this weekend.

– And finally… the CCC site is going into hibernation for a few months, but mtb & road season is either on the horizon or already in full swing depending on how you look at it. Good luck, be safe, and most importantly have fun out there. We’ll start posting updates about the 2014 CCC season here sometime in late May or early June.

Happy New Year to everyone in CX land.

– CX season is pretty much finished here in Chicagoland. Thanks again to everyone for another great CCC series.

– Good luck to everyone heading to Boulder for USAC CX Nationals next weekend. Race hard and have fun.

– If you’re still on the fence about going to Coloardo, Pro Bike Express can likely still help with the logistics.

– And finally… while we’re winding down here at the CCC, BTB TV is still providing plenty of great CX coverage through the end of January. Check out all of the programs, including Cross Talk presented by Embrocation Cycling Journal.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 350,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 15 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

From all of us here at the Chicago Cyclocross Cup, we wish all of our riders, sponsors, families, supporters, hecklers, pets, bicycles, and… aww heck who are we kidding…  everyone out there… even if you don’t race CX… a very Merry Christmas. We hope Santa brings you all everything you want and deserve…

Photo: C. Norris

– Thanks to Robots <3 and the Cuttin’ Crew for another wonderfully muddy Afterglow. Results are on USAC.org here. Special congratulations to Mike Kelley for winning our hearts and minds, and taking Sweet Justice home again for another year.

– If you missed the CCC Awards Party at EJ’s Place on Sunday, well then you missed a good one. Cowbells, schwag, and good cheer. Thanks to everyone who attended and thanks again to everyone for making 2014 yet another memorable year of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup.

– One last thank you to all of the CCC’s 2013 Series Sponsors and in particular our Title Sponsor Iron Cycles for another great season. For those that don’t know, Iron Cycles has recently teamed up with Embrocation Cycling Journal to bring you not only great content but also great products. Check out their website and stay tuned for how ECJ is helping to bring you even more great CX coverage.

– And finally… a letter from Lindsay Knight who not only races fast but is also the Youth Program Coordinator for Blackstone Bicycle Works: