– By looking at the  photos coming back from Iowa it looks like a bunch of CCC regulars had a great showing at this year’s Jingle Cross. Congratulations to everyone who braved the cold and mud and bikinis to get in 3 more days of CX racing! Full results are here.

– The 2009 CCC Awards Banquet will be held at EJ’s Place in Skokie on Sunday January 10th 2010, most likely from noon to 4pm (so we can have the entire restaurant). We’ll have a tasty buffet along with a cash bar and door prizes… and of course the Individual and Team Series Awards presentations. Please save the date now. Tickets will be $30 for adults and $15 for Juniors in advance (on BikeReg). More details coming soon.

– This Sunday is our 10th and last race of the 2009 season at Montrose Harbor. Host Turin Cycles is pulling out all the stops including some fantastic extra prizes for this year’s race. Come back Friday morning to find out all the juicy details! Remember online pre-reg closes this Thursday night at midnight (don’t get stuck waiting in the cold).

– Our USAC officials have asked when pinning your number to your jersey at Montrose this weekend that you position them as in the photos below. Since the officials are NOT on a platform or stage they can’t read your number if its high up on your back (or on the wrong side). So please help the officials out so they can score everyone correctly. Thanks!

– The CCC and more specifically the 4B’s recently got some press in CX Magazine here. We thought the 4B’s were called “The Carnival”… but “The Circus” works just as well. Big thanks to Julie Popper for writing the article.

– The CCC has officially reached its goal of raising $1,000 through direct donations on BikeReg.com… but that’s no reason to stop giving! If you haven’t yet registered for Montrose, please donate a buck, or two, or twenty when singing up.

– We’ve closed down the t-shirt sales on BikeReg. If you ordered a shirt online we’ll have it for you at Montrose somewhere around the start/finish/registration area. Please pick up you shirt(s) at the race as we will NOT be shipping the shirts. If you can not (or forget to) pick up your shirt(s) please email us at [email protected] to work out a hand up in Wicker Park. If you didn’t order a shirt online and still want one, limited quantities will be available at The Pony Shop, MOX Multisport, Main Street Bicycles, and Tati Cycles.

– Speaking of Tati… you still have a few days left to take advantage of their Cyclocross Season Pass Promotion.

– As promised, Liz Farina Markel of Tipping Point Photo has updated her website to include info about purchasing digital files and prints from the 2009 CCC. Here’s a link to the page: http://www.tippingpointphoto.com/TippingPointPhoto/chicrosscup09.html. However, it’s not accessible via the rest of her website navigation, so you’ll have to bookmark this link. If you haven’t been following the comment sections Liz is also working with Luke Seemann and Chip Williams (both of whole we’re sure would be happy to sell you their photos as well) on a 2009 CCC coffee table book. Look for more details soon.

– While we’re all racing here in Chicago this weekend, a big GOOD LUCK to all of you heading out to Portland to swim in mud. We know of at least two guys heading out that way. Have fun and show all those west coasters what they’re missing here in the mid-west.

– Even though the “Official” end of the CCC season is this Sunday at Montrose, there’s no reason we all can’t still get together and have a good time. CCC Cat 3 stud Newt Cole’s band Los Borrachos are playing  Dec 19th at Elbo Room in Lincoln Park. Imagine… Black Sabbath, Van Halen, and AC/DC all in Mambos and Sambas in Spanish… good times indeed. We’ll consider this event, the “Unofficial” end of the CCC season for 2009 (at least until the Awards Dinner in January 2010). Newt is trying to work out discounts at the door for racers and love ones… and a drink deal (oh my!).

– And finally… those Dane’s really know how to light up a tree! We wonder if Joachim Parbo will help out?

We know several of you were at Jingle Cross, and even though its not part of the CCC, we’d still like to hear and see what happened. Feel free to post pix, vids, and race reports here.

Its fitting that today is Thanksgiving and this week’s Thursday CX video is all about a family. In a day and age when many families can barely find time to spend 5 minutes together on a regular basis, Paul Michna shows us in his third video documenting the 2009 Chicago Cycloross Cup how one family is doing more than that, and spending an entire day racing cross together. Many of you know or have watched various members of the Thom family race this year in the CCC… and we can’t think of any better way to bring a family together than to spend a day at a CX race.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone… and good luck to all of you heading out to Jingle Cross.

If you’re traveling this holiday season, remember that Google is providing free WiFi in 31 US airports. See the details here.

This is a long one, especially with no race this coming weekend… but there’s lots of important info, so please read it all…

– Another big thanks to Dr. Jim Kearns and all of the volunteers who helped to make Woodstock a success and the 2nd largest race of 2010 (based on # of starters). 418 racers toed the line for hills, woods, hills, grass, more hills, and some very creative hand ups. Oh, and the Dr. raised a boatload of money to help fight Leukemia and Cancer! We also witnessed the first ever dollar bill hand-back! Luckily our CCC hecklers knew just what to do (see below).

– Up next (and sadly the last CCC race of 2010) is Montrose Harbor hosted by Turin Cycles which also serves as the IL State Championships. Turin is looking for volunteers with course set up and breakdown, so please contact them directly if you’d like to help and get a discounted entry fee. We’ll have the usual full preview next week, but as we mentioned to the group on the hill at Woodstock… anyone dressed up like Santa (beard required), Misses Claus, or a Christmas tree (Chanukkah bush if you swing that way) will get a special call up after the top 10 in the overall standings.

A few notes on Race vs. CCC Series (individual and team) vs. State Champion scoring.

– Like any race in the series the winner of each Category or Age Group race will be determined by the first person to ride around in circles faster than their competition and cross the finish line first (duh).

– CCC Individual Series winners are determined by your points earned according to the rules posted here at the beginning of the season. Some racers have already locked up their respective overall competitions, and they don’t need  to even race at Montrose to pick up some tasty schwag… but we have a pretty good idea they’ll be there to race anyway. On the complete other end of the spectrum, some categories are still totally up in the air. The Cat 3 Ryans are only separated by 9 points, while Janette and Courtney in the Women 4’s are separated by 14 points. The top 4A’s and 4B’s are separated by a few more points, but anything can happen at Montrose and nothing is for sure until you cross the finish line. Point breakdowns can be found here or on the ‘Points Breakdown’ tab here.

– CCC Team Series winners are also determined by points earned by each team according to the rules posted here.

– State Champions will be determined by the first rider to cross the finish line who is a.) an Illinois resident, b.) a US Citizen or permanent resident, and c.) holds a valid and current annual road or mtb USAC license. State of residence is determined by what is listed on your USAC annual license (or drivers license/ID card if you’ve recently moved). You must satisfy all 3 requirements to be named IL State Champion at Montrose. If you’re a master or cat 4 without an annual license and think you have a shot at the jersey, we’ll have annual licenses on sale at registration for $60. We’re going to try and hold some sort of podium ceremony immediately after each race, so if you finish in the top 3 please make your way back to the reg/finish line area as soon as you finish. Actual jerseys will be distributed to you from the ICA at some point in the future.

– Unfortunately we do not award a state champion in the 4B’s, so if you’re a Cat 4 and want to win a jersey, you’ll need to race the 4A’s. Somehow we don’t think too many of you that race in the 4B’s are worried about a jersey anyway. However, what you may be interested in is a little tradition Ben Popper started last year… but we’ll let him explain.

– Turin has once again commissioned a race poster for the Montrose Race (this year by artist Jay Ryan) which is on sale now here.

– Speaking of things on sale… you can still pre-order a 2009 Joe Kallo designed CCC T-shirt on BikeReg here until Midnight this coming Sunday (11/29/09). We will NOT be ordering extras, so if you want a shirt, order it now and we’ll have it for you at Montrose. After that, they’re all gone! All proceeds go to World Bicycle Relief and helping the CCC in 2010.

– The Annual Awards Banquet and series prize distribution will again be held at EJ’s Place in Skokie on Sunday January 10th. More details will be posted soon and we will again pre-sell tickets on BikeReg.com but please save the date on your calendars now.

– We were going to make a list of all the great hand-ups we saw at Woodstock… but there were simply too many to remember. Feel free to post in the comments below what your favorites were. For Montrose we’re expecting a fantastic end to the season… candy canes, sugar cookies, dreidels, gefilte fish, hot chocolate, hot toddies… we can’t wait to see what you all come up with.

– Another good luck to all of you heading out to Jingle Cross this weekend. Whether you’re racing CX or eating turkey, safe travels to all and Happy Thanksgiving!

– Fill up turkey, stuffing, and cranberry this week because we’re making a special request from all of you at Montrose. Many of the Masters racers don’t stick around to watch the 4B’s… and many of the 4A’s and 4B’s don’t show up early enough to watch the Masters. We at the CCC want to see what you all are really made of… so clear your schedules all day for Sunday December 6th. We want to see the course lined with spectators hecklers all day long. Yes, that includes all the 40+, 30+, 50+ Masters AND all of the 4A’s and 4B’s. Let’s blow out the end of the season with a bang and make it a big party… and no, that does NOT mean driving to Indiana for illegal fireworks! Its been such a great season and we’d like to get everyone who has participated in one place at one time and see what happens.

– Finally, we were all deeply saddened to hear about fellow CCC’er Sean Callahan of Team Pegasus who passed away last week. We will doing something special for Sean at Montrose. Please stay tuned for details.

– You all are taking some really, really, really great photographs of this little circus we call the CCC. We wish we could highlight them all, but here are just a few that caught our eye from Woodstock…

It only took 9 races… but SPAM finally made it to a CCC race… and Steven Tyler was there to hand it out… wrapped in a handed-back dollar bill.

Photo: Liz Farina Markel

The Gobbler rides alone into the setting sun…

Photo: Michael Shea

… and then takes a quick break.

Mini

Photo: Luke Seemann

Thanks to Dr. James Kearns for hosting the race and the 418 starters who came out to race today in Woodstock!

Full results here.
Individual and Team Overall Standings here.

Good luck to everyone heading to Jingle Cross… and Happy Thanksgiving to all.
We’ll see you in 2 weeks at Montrose.

Also, many of you were asking and we will do one more t-shirt order which will be ready at Montrose. However we will NOT have extra shirts available beyond what is pre-ordered. If you’d like a 2009 CCC t-shirt, please pre-order it here on BikeReg.com

Finally, please mark your calendars for Sunday January 10th for the annual End Of Season Awards Banquet. We’ll be back again at EJ’s Place in Skokie. More details to come next week.

Gooble Gooble Gobble Gobble!

Back again for his sophomore effort Dr. James Kearns brings us the 9th stop in the Chicago Cyclocross Cup at Emricson Park in Woodstock, IL.

• The Woodstock race is actually the Ed Brophy Memorial Cross for Life race and all proceeds go towards Leukemia and Cancer Research. With 339 of you pre-reg’d cancer doesn’t stand a chance! Someone call Lance!
• Dr. Kearns is a naprapath which is a doctor that specializes in treating muscle and skeletal pain. Hmmm, coincidence that he puts on a CX race. Want to know more, see the Dr’s site here.
• Both EAS and K-bar will be at the race to service your nutritional (and perhaps hand-ups) needs.
• If recovery drink and energy bars aren’t your bag there’s plenty to see, do, and eat in nearby downtown Woodstock. Check out the Chamber of Commerce site for more info.
• There is plenty of parking at Emricson Park (see map below) so please use it.
• Registration this year will be in a pop-up tent next to the Start/Finish and NOT in the warming hut near the pond. The hut should still be open though just in case you get cold… but given this weekend’s weather forecast we doubt it.
• The Woodstock course (below) is very spread out, but CX rules still apply. If you suffer a mechanical you must go forward on the course and you cannot cut across the park. The wheel/bike pit will be in the same location as last year… just beyond the S/F.
• The course runs clock-wise.
• Please pay attention when you are racing on Sunday. We know many of you are deep in oxygen debt while racing, but there are 4 (four) road crossings on the course. There will be course marshals at each crossing, but please look both ways before crossing. Better safe than sorry.
• Even though the course is quite spread out and long (~2 miles), the last 1/2 mile or so should provide the most excitement for spectators with lots off-camber sections, twists, and turns. If we were betting CCC’ers, we’d bet the best spectating spots will be just after the U-turn after the final road-crossing. We will bet however that you all will be more creative and enthusiastic in your hand-ups than the people in NJ last weekend.
• Just like last week we ask that if you’re hanging around after the race, please help us tear down the course so we’re not working in the dark.
• Congratulations to David Dokko for being the first person to have his picture taken in front of the CCC’s first billboard. David races in the 3’s and will receive a call up after the top 10 in the overall standings. Big thanks again to Walid Abu Ghazaleh & Van Wagner for the billboard space, and Luke Seemann for the fantastic photo.
• Remember we’re also giving Thanksgiving call-ups to anyone dressed as a pilgrim, a turkey, or a big bowl of stuffing. Sure, its not Halloween, but we can still have some fun!.
• We’re still collecting donations for World Bicycle Relief too, and a few people who have gone above and beyond will get special call-ups. For this race alone you all pitched in a we raised $430.65 (enough for over 3 whole bikes!) so it looks like we’re going to have to raise our donation goal a year ahead of schedule. For those playing at home… we’ve now collected over $800 from direct donations and that’s before we count the t-shirt money.
• Speaking of… yes, we’ll have the t-shirts at the race this weekend. If you ordered a shirt before mid-week it will be there waiting for you after the 30+ race.
• Finally, while we’ve got your attention, we know a few CCC’ers are looking for ride shares out to Jingle Cross next weekend. If you have room, want some good company, and need gas money please let others know in the comments below. Thanks!

We thought about posting what Hipsters or Dirtbags are thinking in cyber-land… but this week instead of a CX video we’re playing a little game called “Find that intersection” in the real world.

Big thanks to Walid Abu Ghazaleh and Van Wagner for the ad space!

The first person to post a photo of themselves (in the comments below) in front of this intersection with the billboard in the background gets a special call up at Woodstock. Be safe (that means take the picture standing on the sidewalk… NOT riding your bike through the intersection) and good luck!

Okay, so we couldn’t post a Thursday CX video without at least one video… we bring you… “Bacon Alley“