Did you miss us? Its been a while since our last post (137 days to be exact) but the Chicago Cyclocross Cup is officially back and getting ready for the 2011 season. We’ve got a few ideas to improve the series again this year, but as in years past we can only put up the canvas… we rely on you the racers, spectators, hecklers, and supporters to paint the picture and make the CCC truly great. Look for more detailed updates over the next few weeks as we approach September. But in the meantime below are just a few reminders:

1. Schedule – The tentative schedule is up on the schedule page. Remember these dates and locations may change. Official race announcements and flyers are forthcoming. Online registration through BikeReg should be available (at least for a few races) sometime in early August.
2. NYR – The CCC is hosting the UCI New Years Resolution (NYR) race on New Years Eve AND New Years Day this season at the Hilton Indian Lakes Resort (ILR) as a lead in to CX Nationals in Madison, WI (the following week). See our post below or visit the new NYR page of the site here. Discounted rooms at ILR are available to be booked now (call or click) using the group code CYC.
3. Updates – The CCC does NOT send out an email newsletter. The best way to stay up-to-date with all things CCC is to add our site to your favorite RSS reader. You can see our Twitter feed over there on the right (–>) but if you’re going mobile, download the free Twitter app. Sorry, no Facebook.
4. Involvement – Do you want to do more than just race and/or heckle in the CCC? We’re always looking for volunteers throughout the season to help with all kinds of projects and little odds and ends. Everything from helping set up at each race to designing logos to baking cupcakes and churros to making coffee and donut runs. Drop us a line at [email protected] if you’d like to be involved during the 2011 season.
5. Sponsorship – The CCC doesn’t run on Twinkies and bacon alone. Series and NYR sponsorship information will be available next week. We’re already had several 2010 sponsors sign on again for 2011 but would love to make additions to the CCC family.

We here at the CCC are really excited to host another great season of CX and can’t wait to see you all out there playing in the dirt and grass, having a great time, and doing the amazing, crazy, nutty stuff you do. As always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, gripes, praise, embro flavor ideas, etc… send them our way at [email protected].

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.