It’s official… while watching the Elite Men’s CX World Championship this morning the CCC official found out it will be hosting a 2 day UCI C2 race on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (12/31/2011-1/1/2012) at the Hilton Indian Lakes Resort. We’ve been working on this event for a while (okay, only since October/November) but we’ve been thinking about doing it for a long, long time. The CCC New Year’s Resolution will be organized by the CCC but hosted with the help of several clubs, teams, and local businesses. The race will be a perfect warm up for locals (and out of towners and pros) looking to perform well at CX Nationals the following week just up the road in Madison, WI and CX Master’s World Championships the week after that in Louisville, KY.

More to come as we receive details from the UCI and USAC, but suffice it to say we’ll need some help hosting this event. If you’ve like to be involved please email us at [email protected].

The Bonebell and Robots <3 have secured viewing time at The Globe at 12 noon on Sunday (1/30/2011) to watch a replay of CX Worlds (both men and ladies). Come hang out, have an adult beverage, and watch the worlds best compete in Sankt Wendel.

Photo: Amy Dykema

– Thanks to everyone who came out to EJ’s Place and for the 2010 CCC Awards Dinner. Special thanks goes out to the entire staff of EJ’s for inviting us in and letting us use their restaurant during non-business hours on a Sunday for our little event. Everyone here at the CCC enjoyed seeing you the riders, racers, hecklers, supporters, etc one last time for the season… especially in a nice warm restaurant (we didn’t even need embro to stay warm). Amy Dykema was in attendance and nice enough to grab some snaps of the awards presentation. You can see them all here.

– Better late than never… the ChiCross Photo Collective (Liz Farina Markel, Chip William, and Luke Seemann) recently made a $70 donation to World Bike Relief from the profits of the 2009 coffee table photo book. Books will continue to be for sale on Blurb and now that the CCPC is in the black $10 from each purchase will go directly to WBR: Visit www.chicrossphoto.com for more or head right to the online store here.

– As we head into 2011 remember now is a great time to renew your USAC license and/or apply for that pesky upgrade. The fastest and easiest way to do both is in the My USA Cycling section of the USAC website. Just look for the “Purchase/Renew License” link in the upper/middle left.

– Yes, the rumors are true… no one at the CCC won the recent $350 million Powerball jackpot… but we do have some exciting things in the works for 2011 AND 2012. Those of you at the awards dinner heard a little bit about it, but the rest of you will just have to wait until we hear back from certain people in a small neutral country in Europe.

– And finally… this will likely be the CCC’s last post for a while (yes, realize Brian Conant’s image will be the first thing people see when they visit the site for a few months). We’ll have some news to share at certain points in the spring and early summer, but you’ll have to wait until at least July (maybe even August) for regular weekly dates. So until then, ride safe and have fun… and we’ll see you all soon!

– Welcome to 2011… we hope everyone had a safe, fun, and Happy New Year. From what we’ve seen and heard on the innertubes many of you rang in the new year in style… and then got up early the next morning to ride you bikes… no rest for the wicked!

– We’ve also heard from a few of you that you really miss cyclocross season and can’t wait for September. Well, we won’t disagree with you, but we would like to suggest that you get on your bikes and start training now. Besides the fact that CX Nationals is practically in our backyard (Madison), Masters Worlds isn’t too far away either (Louisville), we’ve seen a boatload of Cat 4’s and Cat 3’s (both men and ladies) upgrading, and there are several new Chicagoland CX projects currently in the works that will extend the season, make it more fun, and faster at the same time. We won’t spill the beans yet, but we’ll post notes as more info becomes available.

– But just in case you’re looking for more CX and a party at the same time, remember the CCC Awards Dinner is this Sunday at noon at EJ’s Place in Skokie. If you plan to attend, please pre-reg here by noon on Friday so EJ and his crew can order enough food. Thanks. We’ll have music, door prizes, and of course CCC cowbells and awards for the overall winners. We hope to see you all there.

– Still need more CX? Look who has a new blog.

– We’re still looking for a full recap of last weekend’s CAMBr Fundraiser which featured Jason McCartney, Christian Vande Velde, John Vande Velde, and Robbie Ventura. But from the few pictures we’ve seen the event was well attended.

– UPDATE: The CCC was mentioned in today’s WBR blog post here.

– And finally, CCC series sponsor The Bonebell has been posting some great content recently, including an interview with Barry Wicks and New Years Toast. While the CCC site sees plenty of traffic during CX season we’ll go dormant in a week or two while some of us ride around in smaller circles on the pavement. So for all your dirty news head on over to see what el Maya, Stiggity, Nevada Dave, DaDoubleG, and Julia Goolia have to say. And if you don’t want your roadie and trackie friends to know you hang out with us CX’ers while they’re watching large men play with oblong balls made of animal hides, keep Chicago Bike Racing open in your browser just in case.

Not much else to say here. The CCC wishes everyone health, happiness, success, mud, dirt, vuvuzelas, cowbells, and heckles in 2011.

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… and we especially hope someone gets Mike Kirby some Mad Alchemy and a pair of cycling shorts.

So for those of you still following along at home, we have some really big news to report today!

What does the number 53 represent? No, its not the number of day, weeks, or month until the next CX race… its the total number of bicycles the racers, hecklers, promoters, and sponsors of the 2010 CCC just donated to World Bicycles Relief.

And what does the number 106 represent? With WBR’s anonymous donor matching all donations dollar for dollar through 12/31/10… that’s the total number of bicycles we’re all responsible for this year! The great folks at WBR tell us that’s enough bikes to outfit an entire school of children.

Through direct donations at races, series t-shirt sales, and series sponsor & promoter donations, we as a community raised $7,102 for World Bicycles Relief. At $134 per bicycle that equates to 53 bikes… all between September and December. That’s more than double what we raised last year and well exceeds our 2010 goal of $5,000. So cheers and thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who raced, donated, bought a t-shirt, or supported the CCC and WBR in any other way.

Photo: Nathan Schneeberger

– And we’re spent… thanks to Half Acre Cycling and the Cuttin’ Crew for hosting one last ‘cross race in Chicago. Temps were low but spirits were high, the sun as well as plenty of smiles and high fives were out to help warm everyone’s souls. HAC has a recap here. Congrats also to Natalie Evans & Mike Kirby (xXx Racing) who raised >$400 for West Town Bikes by “racing” in the tandem category and Mike Young who hosted the afterparty.

– No course preview to look forward to this week… but we’ve got some great big, big news about the CCC coming out this Thursday. Swing by at 9am to read what all the fuss is about!

– Already looking forward to 2011? CAMBR’s Cocktails with Christian event will be held on January 2. People can hobnob with Christian Vande Velde and Robbie Ventura at Tin Fish in Tinley Park and help CAMBR South raise funds for building trails. Details are at here.

– Speaking of upgrades… we’ve been seeing plenty of Men AND Women CX Cat 3 upgrades coming through… looks like 2011 will be much faster than this year! Congratulations to everyone who has requested and received their upgrades. For those of you sandbaggers who still haven’t upgraded… we’ll be watching!

– Is it the end of this IL CX season of the beginning of the next? Team Mack released their flyer for the Tour de Groundhog near Springfield.

– Now that the Chicagoland CX racing season is finally, totally, completely, 100% done… time to fuel up for next season!

– Congratulations are also due to Half Acre and xXx Racing for both being named Club of the Year by USA Cycling. Yes, both teams do lots of other cycling related activities, but just in case you weren’t paying attention this year, both teams helped to host two CX races each (Relay, Jackson Park, Hopkins Park, & the Afterglow). So kudos to HAC & xXx on some well deserved recognition at the national level.

– And finally… a short (really short) video from the Afterglow.

– Just when you thought it was safe to hang up your knobbiy tires and settle on to your trainer for the winter… Half Acre and the Chicago Cuttin’ Crew go and decide to host one last cyclocross race for 2010… the Afterglow. There’s no cash on the line nor any Cross Cup points… so keep it lighthearted and fun and let’s end the year on a good great note.

– Very important!!! HAC has been changing around/combining some start times to keep everyone warm and having fun (and to let the Masters sleep in a wee tad bit more). See the revised schedule here and all the updates here.

– Online pre-reg on BikeReg.com has been a little lite, but is still open and will close (this afternoon) Thursday at 5pm. Day of reg and bib # pick up begins at 9am in or near the Beach House.

– Rest rooms are also in the Beach House, but a second set of restrooms is located near Lil Cubbies Field on the SW corner of the course.

– Parking: Parking for competitor is along Luis Munoz Drive (the curvey road on the outside of the course). Please do not park in front of the Beach/Boat House… this is for volunteers and officials ONLY please!

– Weather… duh, its cold and getting colder. Wear something warm and then put on another layer.

– Neutral Support provided by Element Multisport with help from West Town Bikes.

– Food: There are usually a few street food vendors in and around Humboldt Park (mmm, tacos and Churros)… otherwise there are several options all up and down North Ave and Division Ave.

– Parties: Cousin Mikey hosts an afterparty at 3246 W Le Moyne, shortly after the 4B race! More details here.  The Bonebell.com will be auctioning off one of their blingbling wheelsets with all proceeds going to West Town Bikes‘ juniors program (expect to see a gaggle of them out for the Juniors race)! For those of you heading North, Los Barrachos goes on at 8pm at the Elbow Room.

– The Course: Humboldt Park is one of the great diamonds in the rough and in our opinion unknown treasures of the Chicago parks system. There’s a little bit a of everything from grass, dirt, mulch, sand, trees, hills, pavement, and water hazards that when combined in the right fashion all have the potential to create a fantastic CX course. HAC certainly does the park justice and includes a little bit of everything to make not only a fun but also challenging course. The course runs clock wise starting in front of the Beach House and has a double wheel/bike pit. Next is sand, some trees, pavement, and the Humboldt Park hill more or less twice. Wrap around a few more trees and baseball diamonds and you’re back to the finish after 1.5 miles.