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.

– And we’re back… The CCC took a short little break this past week to sleep in, watch some really, really fast guys and gals race, and to catch up on all the really important non-CX things we’ve missed since the middle of September… Did you know they found Fraggle Rock in Chile and more importantly Snookie is writing a book?

– We’ll have at least semi-regular updates but with a little less detail than during the season here on the CCC site until the middle of January, at which point we’ll crawl into our caves and hibernate until next August.

– First up, now that all the IL State Champion jerseys have been won, and even the National Champions have been crowned, its time to have a nice low key event. So who else but Half Acre and the Chicago Cuttin’ Crew could bring us the Afterglow – a Cyclocross Race. Online pre-reg closes tomorrow night at 5pm CDT and the ‘races’ are on Saturday (NOT Sunday) in Humboldt Park. Its not an actual CCC race, but its CX in Chicago… so of course we’ll still be there to cheer, heckle, and recruit for next year (we even made a special race specific playlist). Look for the usual course preview at the normal time right here on Thursday morning.

– Plenty of parties on Saturday as well. One up the street to benefit West Town Bikes and another at the Elbow Room w/ Los Borrachos to benefit old punk rockers singing rock songs in Spanish. The CCC will have its final ‘official’ party of the season on Sunday January 9th at EJ’s Place in Skokie to award the overall series winners… and give out plenty of door prizes. We hope to see you all there! As of this writing a time and place to gather and watch the St Wendel CX World Championships on January 30th has not been set.

– Its not technically CX, but online pre-reg for the Barry Roubaix is now open. We’ll hand this one off to our friends at The Bonebell for all the details.

– And finally… we’re terribly sorry this got caught in the CCC site’s spam filter (thanks Eastern Europe)… but a local vidoegrapher with mad editing skills (soon to be more famous than Antoine Dodson) documented an epic battle waged on the shores of Lake Michigan 2 weeks ago that few of us even knew about. So without further adieu, we present Andre Odendaal vs. The Chicken…

– A final thanks to Chuck Judy, Chris Mailing, and everyone at Turin Bicycle for hosting the 12th and final race of the CCC and yet another great Illinois State Cyclocross Championship at Montrose Harbor. Temps were freezing for most of the day, and the snow, ice, and sand made for a challenging course, but we still had the largest CCC race ever with 565 starters. We had several riders make it to the podium for the first time and it was great to see such sportsmanship and camaraderie before, during, and after each race. Even the down-staters had a good time. Thanks also to Todd Busteed for sharing the mic and calling out all the action.

– Congratulations to the 11 Illinois State Cyclocross Champions that were crowned jerseyed on Sunday. The competition was fierce and we had many races that were completely undecided until riders came around the last turn on the final lap… which always makes for exciting racing. Thanks for keeping all of us on our toes until the very end!

– Congratulations also to the 13 Chicago Cross Cup Overall Winners. Eight of those categories were undecided going into the final race and made for even more dramatic racing. Awards, prizes, and general showering of admiration will be presented at the CCC Awards Dinner on Sunday January 9th at EJ’s Place in Skokie. Great food, better friends, and even door prizes will greet everyone who attends.

– Weekend Update: The weekend update is taking a bit of a break this week as there are more than enough comments here to describe what happened this past Sunday. However, for those that weren’t there and are too lazy to read all the comments this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and who can forget this, this, and this (?) pretty much sums up the what went on at Montrose… oh yeah, and there was a bike race in there somewhere too.

– Speaking of all things CCC, if you want a 2010 CCC series t-shirt you’ve got less than 48 hours. REKLAIM apparel will be shutting down the printing presses at midnight tomorrow night (Wednesday) and won’t be making any more. Thanks to everyone who has already bought a shirt… all proceeds go directly to our year end World Bicycle Relief donation. We’ve already hit our goal of $5,000 but we’re still tallying up the t-shirt sales. Thank you again to everyone who has donated and/or purchase a t-shirt!

– Good luck to anyone and everyone heading out to Bend, OR for CX Nationals this week/end. If you still haven’t had your fill of CX after that, come hang out with Half Acre and the Chicago Cuttin’ Crew at the Afterglow on Saturday December 18th in Humboldt Park. And if that isn’t enough for you… there is a Benefit After Party for West Town Bikes (details here, please RSVP). And if metal/rock songs sung in Spanish is more your thing, Newt Cole and Los Borrachos are playing later that evening at the Elbo Room (no RSVP necessary!).

– The CCC has the 4B’s, the Cross Crusade has the Clydesdale Cyclocross Champions of the Universe. If you happen to be in Bend this week(end) for CX Nationals… check it out and takes some photos.

– Ever wonder why the CCC isn’t a UCI series? USA CX godfather Adam Myerson gives us a clue.

– And finally… a special shout out and congratulations to Mike Young for being awarded this year’s 3rd Annual Official Illinois State Cyclocross Awesomeness Champion presented by Half Acre Cycling and HRS/Rock Lobster. Mike won the award for not only supporting riders within the CCC, but more importantly for his work with West Town Bikes. Mike joins a veritable pantheon of CX awesomeness including the first winners, the Chicago Cuttin’ Crew, and last year’s winner Super Girl. Congratulations Mike, and thanks for being awesome! If you’d like to help Mike in his work at WTB please donate here.

See here for the top 15 call ups this Sunday at Montrose. Please note we’ll call up the top 7 for both age groups in the combined juniors start wave. If you think there is a problem please contact us at [email protected] ASAP.

Due to wind (unknown) and course direction (anti-clockwise) bib numbers will likely go on your right. We will let you know for sure Sunday morning. Also, due to the cold and snow we anticipate many of you will be wearing warming outer layers (that you don’t plan to race in) right up until the start or your race. Please help our USAC officials identify you, and each other, at check in while waiting in the starting grid. Also, since Montrose is the state championship 100% accurate scoring will be imperative… and with so many pre-reg’d riders the USAC officials request that you properly pin your bib number. See here for correct placement (note this picture shows the bib # on the left… but numbers may go on your right). Any riders with a misplaced or badly-positioned number will be forced to start at the back of their starting wave.

Photo: Luke Seemann

– This is it! The big one, the big enchilada, the big bopper… Turin Bicycle once again hosts the last stop in the Chicago Cyclocross Cup… which just happens to also be the Illinois State Cyclocross Championships at Montrose Harbor. You all have been racing all season long with plenty of ups, downs, highs, lows, podiums, crashes, heckles, and whatever the heck this was… and we’ve finally made it to the finalé. We at the CCC and Turin again ask everyone to bundle up, bring your cowbells and cameras, and make a day out of Montrose… which means the Cat 4’s should show up early and heckle the 40+ field, and the Masters should stick around and cheer on the Cat 4’s. Lots to review below, so buckle up…

– Registration: We’ll be running reg the same way as every other CCC race. Please allow all 40+ and 30+ racers to reg first since they have to get ready first. If you’re coming out to race for the first time (great!) just follow the lead of one of the local yocals. Both Cat 4 fields of 100 are full but we’ll run wait lists starting Sunday morning. As of this morning there are 436 of you pre-reg’d (thank you!) and online pre-reg closes tonight at midnight… so if you’re not yet reg’d, do everyone (yourself included) a favor and reg now! Ballpoint pens don’t work so well in 26 degrees.

– Call Ups: Since we know down and mid-state IL riders can’t make it up to Chicago every weekend but may still be racing outside of Chicago, this year we are instituting a new call up procedure that is slightly different than the usual top 10 call ups we do at all other CCC races. We will call up the top 15 riders in every category. However we will also factor in standings from CrossResults.com. If any pre-reg’d IL resident has a better CrossResults.com points standing than riders with top 15 CCC overall series points, than that rider will receive a call up in that position. For example, someone from downstate has a CrossResults score better than the 9th place CCC overall rider. That downstate rider will receive the #9 call up, the #9 CCC overall rider will receive the #10 call up (and so on to CCC #14), but the #15 CCC overall rider will NOT receive a call up. In this way every top 10 rider in the CCC should still get a call up while also awarding riders from down and mid-state for racing closer to home (but still driving a long way to participate in the state championship). Note however that riders in the CCC overall who have more points on CrossResults.com than other riders in the CCC overall will NOT move up in position… you keep your overall CCC position. We will post tentative call up lists here on the CCC site no later than Saturday.

– Cash prizes totaling $2,165 will be awarded with the support of E.J.’s Place and the Kenda Pro Cycling Team. The winners of the Masters 30+, 40+, 50+, Women 1/2/3, and Men 1/2/3 will also receive a $200 dining card from E.J.’s Place (in addition to their cash prizes) to celebrate their victory in style. Merchandise prizes for the Juniors and the Category 4B Men are donated by Lake Cycling and Craft. Lake will have a tent at the race so stop by to preview the new line of 2011 shoes.

– State Champion Requirements: In case you didn’t read the paragraph above, the Montrose Harbor race not only acts as the final stop in the CCC but also the Illinois State Cyclocross championships. The CCC along with Turin and the ICA will be presenting CX State Champion Jerseys (on the podiums) to the first IL rider to cross the finish line in every category (except the 4B’s). This means Juniors 15-18 AND Juniors 10-14… boys AND girls. Remember that in order to win the state championship you must be a permanent Illinois resident (we’ll be checking ID’s), a US citizen, and hold a valid 2010 USAC license before the start of the race (yes, we’re looking at you Cat 4’s). UPDATE: There must also be a full podium of IL riders (that means 3) to win the state jersey. This should not be a problem, except possibly in the junior ranks. In addition we’ll present podiums for the race (top 3 in the race) and for the IL state championship (top 3 IL riders in the race). So pay attention after your race, we may be calling your name!

– While a few riders have already locked up their CCC overall titles, there are quite a few very, very, very close categories still to be decided on Sunday. We’ll do our best to announce the overall titles when we can crunch the numbers fast enough, but all official overall series awards and recognitions will be presented at the CCC Awards Dinner on Sunday January 9th at EJ’s Place.

– Like last year, “holiday” (is it still not PC to write Christmas?) themed costumes will receive call ups after the top 15 (see above). Santa, the Grinch, Chanukah bushes, big colored balls… just keep it tasteful and while we appreciate a nice Santa hat, no… that alone won’t get you a call up. We may also have a few special call ups.

– Neutral race support will be provided by Turin Bicycle, adjacent to the registration tent.  Turin Bicycle will also be selling the latest Jay Ryan poster commemorating the 2010 race and a limited selection of other merchandise. Turin will also be grilling up Hot Dogs from about 11-3 and will have hot chocolate, coffee, and soup to take the chill off.

– More than any other factor, the weather usually makes this race. Right now the forecast is clear but cold… so bundle up, dress appropriately, and come prepared with extra warm (& dry) gear. We’ll bring the podium warmers.

– CCC Founders: Join the CCC founders for their reunion party at The Globe tomorrow night (Friday) from 7 to 10pm.  See details here. Many of the founders will also be at Montrose racing as well as displaying a slide show. They even made a video! What’s funny is if you change the jerseys, just a few faces, and add more people… what we have today basically looks the same… people having fun riding bikes and enjoying each other’s company. So swing by at Montrose, make a new CX friend, and don’t forget to say thank you to the Founders for getting this ball rolling. Check out photos from 2004 here and here.

– West Town Bikes and Ciclo Urbano will also be out in full force supporting Chicago youth and adults on bicycles.

– Parking: Unlike last year, the parking lot at the east end of the park is closed. Parking will be on the street only along Simonds Dr. Several parking spaces near the restrooms and registration will be roped off (for officials, etc) so please do NOT move the cones and park there. We need this area clear for pedestrian and bike traffic.

– The Course: The final course route is still TBD but will be based on last year’s layout. The starting grid, finish line, wheel/bike pit, and registration will still be in the same general area. Feel free to set up your tents near by. The course itself will be longer (~3.5K) than last year to accommodate the CCC’s ever expanding field sizes. The course will have longer than usual grass and path routes and will feature some new lengthy sand runs. Tradition standing, the weather always plays a key role at Montrose and will affect the course design right up until Sunday.