Happy Halloween to everyone!

Don’t forget to vote for you favorite t-shirt design. Polls close tonight at mid-night!

Really quickly… don’t forget the IIT Swap & Hop is tomorrow (Saturday 10/31/09). Details here and pre-reg for the clinic is open here until 6pm tonight. Now back to our regularly scheduled course preview…

Back again for 2009 is the hilly St. Charles / Campton CCC race hosted by Bicycle Heaven. 308 of you are scheduled to toe the start line in your best Halloween regalia.

• First and foremost… remember Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday…  that give you all (unless you live in Indiana) an extra hour to sleep-off your Snicker hangovers. No one gets a pass for showing up late on Sunday… so be on time!
• St. Charles is one of the “further away” from the city venues so give yourselves plenty of time to get there. Here’s an idea… don’t set your clocks back and use that time to get to the race and watch the earlier categories! There are plenty of food and caffeine vendors along Randall Rd on the way out, so stock up as there isn’t much food close to the park.
• In addition to whatever the Cuttin’ Crew decide on for handups this week (we saw an X-Box game at Bartlett!?!), promoter Rob Kelley will be handing out $20 primes for the winners of the first lap of every race. Its a gamble to go out so fast, but if you do, you will be rewarded.
• This year’s St. Charles course will be nearly identical to last year’s with just a few modifications (see below for an estimate). As always, the course can change on race day depending on conditions. Update: The course goes anti-clockwise
• Speaking of conditions… according to the current weather forecast it looks chilly still another fabulous day for a CX race. Whoever has been making sacrifices to the weather gods… please keep what you’re doing!
• Don’t forget we’re giving special “best costume” call-ups after the top 10 series overall. Here’s a sneak peak at what the rest of you might be up against.
• Where will the best spectating spot be this week? We’re guessing near kids playground equipment… but we’ll let you decide. There is more than enough legal parking for everyone, so please use it.
• Also, don’t forget to vote for your favorite t-shirt design (below the map). Please only vote once and polls close tomorrow (Saturday) night at midnight.

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay, but we finally had a chance to update and more importantly automate the team standings. This made for a little extra work this evening, but we’re now be able to update the team standings as soon as the individual standings are updated.

While we were at it we added a few other statistics for you. You’ll notice there are now 5 additional columns on the “Team Overall” tab. In addition to the Team name and Eligible Total we’ve also added the number of teammates contributing to that total. Remember we only count the points from the top 5 teammates and we don’t count duplicates. See the full series and team standings rules here. This now allows us compute a “Team Depth Ratio” (Eligible Total / Eligible Teammates) that shows which teams are earning lots of points with fewer riders… basically the higher the ratio the better.

In addition we now also show the total number of points earned by a team (above and beyond the top 5 but still not counting duplicates) and the number of riders that contributed to that total. Similar to above we show the “Team Depth Ratio” (Team Total / Total Teammates) so teams with few riders rank better.

Have fun with these new stats but remember the Eligible Total column is still the only number that matters in the end for the team competition.

Sheriff Lou Kuhn’s Pony Shop is still in the lead, but Verdigris is hot on their heals. xXx Racing, Flatlandia, and SRAM FACTORY round out the top 5.

Just when you thought Carpentersville’s pump section was tough…

Don’t forget St. Charles / Campton online pre-reg closes tonight at midnight.

Also, don’t forget to vote below (only once please) for you favorite t-shirt design.

• Big thanks again to Jim Nowak and ABD for putting on another great race (with even better weather) in Bartlett… the CCC’s 2nd largest race of 2010 by # of riders. If any of you web geeks are counting… the CCC site had over 6,000 page views yesterday (our highest one day total). We should start advertising…
• Up next is the St. Charles / Campton CCC race hosted by Bicycle Heaven. This race showcases more elevation gain than any other CCC race and a fun wooded section with drainage bars that always keep things interesting. Keeping with this year’s theme of surprises, promoter Rob Kelley tells us he and Bicycle Heaven will have a few fun things in store for everyone. The course will be similar to last year with a few new twists, and a great spectating area near the playground (let’s see what name you all can come up with for the this week). Check back Friday for the usual preview.
• Also don’t forget about the special Halloween callups this weekend in St. Charles. Here’s another idea for you.
• Don’t forget that Rob Curtis (from the St. Charles neck of the woods) is building, renting, and selling nice carbon CX wheels with tires already glued. Check him out at http://www.psimet.com and his blog here.
• Before heading out to St. Charles, make sure to check out IIT’s Swap and Hop this Saturday. For the “Swap” bring old bikes and parts and pick up something new… or at least new to you. If you’re a vendor go here. For the “Hop” the clinic is being run by coach Randy Warren and online pre-registration (for the clinic) is open until Friday at 6pm. Randy will be covering lots of great CX knowledge including bike handling, training, & tactics. See Randy’s full schedule here.
• USAC has announced preliminary call-up info for nationals. CX Magazine has it posted here.
• A quick note on spectating at CCC events… We want everyone to have a great time and we ourselves enjoy watching the level of enthusiasm all riders have brought to this year’s series. However our (and everyone else’s) first concern is/should be the safety of all riders. Dollar bill, $2 bill, $20 bill, hotdog, bacon, and yes, even X-Box game hand-ups are okay… but spectators should never, ever, ever interfere with a rider’s forward movement during their race. CX is supposed to be fun, so get close, get in riders’ faces, heckle all you want… but under no circumstances are glass, metal, or dangerous objects allowed on the course at any time. Glass is okay directly next to the course if said glass is wrapped around a carbonated beverage, perhaps from a local business. You all have been doing a great job so far, so let’s just keep it clean, fun, and enjoyable for everyone involved. The last thing we want is to send someone to the hospital with a lawn-dart stuck in their leg.
• Don’t forget to vote for you favorite CCC t-shirt design in the side bar on the right (==>) or in the original post here. Voting polls are open until midnight this Saturday (10/31/09).
• The Hilton Indian Lakes CCC race is fast approaching. Race promoter and South Chicago Wheelman VP Mike Kelly (better known as Super Girl) sent us this tentative list of extras to expect. Indian Lakes will be the 2nd (and final) new CCC venue for 2010 and already sounds like a ton fun… before we even see the course.

1. All Day, all you can eat buffet for $13.95.  This won’t be a crap buffet your grandfather would like, but good food: burgers, chicken, soup, fruit.  Probably open at 11 AM and go to about 6 PM.
2. $2 Pints of Fat Tire Ale (New Belgium Brewery is a sponsor of the event).
3. Room rates $79.  Up to 5 people can stay in one room at no extra charge.  Roll away beds provided at no extra charge. Contact the hotel here and let them know you’re with the CCC. Room rates apply for Friday or Saturday night… so spend the night before the race and sleep in on Saturday, or keep the party going after the race and avoid driving home in the dark. At least one CCC director will be spending the night on Saturday and wouldn’t mind hanging out with some CX’ers.
4. Outdoor patio seating with open fire pits burning all day long.
5. Indoor heated pool.  All ages welcome.  Drop off the kiddies at the pool and double up… err, make sure someone’s watching them before you race!
6. Indoor locker room.  Change in the warmth.  Take a shower after your race.
7. Spa, including steam room and jacuzzi.  Real nice after a long day of racing.
8. Christian Vande Velde autographed jersey raffle; as well as other prizes.  All proceeds to benefit the SCW Junior Development Program.
9. Live Band.  Probably start at 3ish and playing until 6ish.

• Here’s three last pics from “Heckle Hill” at last weekend’s Bartlett / Sunrise Park race…

Timeless… there are so many things that are right about this photo… the anticipation, the excitement, the cheering, the clapping, the bullhorn, the teddy bear, the SuperGirl… every single person in this photo can’t wait to see the next rider make it up the hill or fall down trying. But the great thing is it doesn’t matter either way what happens… everyone will cheer no matter what!

Photo: Luke Seeman

Case in point…

Photo: Luke Seemann

And finally… then there’s this guy (sorry we still don’t know your name yet Greg Teiber) who has participated in every CCC race this season. He doesn’t win… he’s not even close… he was wearing jeans and a flannel button-down shirt until Barlett… but he’s having a great time… and so is everyone else. Look at all of those cowbells, look at all of those arms in the air… look at the excitement on SuperGirl’s face… hell, look at the sheer giddiness on everyone’s face… this is what makes CX racing our little party each and every Sunday afternoon… and we hope you’ll all be there next week!

Photo: Luke Seeman

The entries are in and its now time for you to vote!
Thanks to everyone who submitted designs… but unfortunately only one t-shirt can win.

See the designs below or follow this link to the Picasa page. We’re having a little trouble with the online formatting for entry #14, but we hope to have that fixed soon and uploaded. Also, for #8 the stars should be red and the barriers blue… silly Picasa!

Please review the designs carefully and pick your favorite… and the one you’d want to wear. Then vote below or in the side bar to the right –>. You’re only allowed to vote once (yes, if you figure out a way to get around the super-secure interwebs security we want you to do the right thing and still only vote once), but the polls will be open until midnight this Saturday (10/31/09). Remember to click the yellow “Vote” button when you’re done to save your vote. Anyone can vote, but if you get all of your friends, random strangers, long lost uncles, and pets to vote… they have to buy a t-shirt and wear it too!

We’ll have the shirts for sale on BikeReg for $15 (so you can earn points on your credit card) and they should be ready by Northbrook, but no later than Indian Lakes. We’ll also have a limited number for sale at each race (bring exact change in cash) and (if there are any left) at the banquet in January.

Good luck to all of the contestants, and Happy Voting!

More big numbers for the CCC… 403 starters today at Bartlett!
Thanks to everyone who came out to do it in dirt mud. Can you believe we’re already half way through the CX season?

Full results here.
Overall standings are here.
Per usually, please give us a day or two to compile the team standings.

Photo: Liz Farina Markel www.tippingpointphoto.com

This just in… a little more media coverage for the CCC.

SRAM‘s Scott McLaughlin and xXx Racing‘s Jeff Holland grace the cover of the Nov/Dec issue of Chicago Athlete Magazine!

–  Thanks to Sheila Burt for the great article with comments from the CCC’s Jason Knauff, the Pony Shop‘s Lou Kuhn, and Iron Cycles Brandon Elliot and Katie Isermann. Check out the full article starting on page 28.

– The Daily Herald also has an article about Carpentersville here titled “Challenging Cyclocross come to Carpentersville“. Thanks to Steve Zalusky for the insightful article!

– Speaking of Scott… it might be difficult… but see if you can spot him on the front page of SRAM.com. If you ride mountain bikes at all you’ve probably heard of SRAM’s new XX grouppo. Not only is Scott a ridiculously fast and talented CX and MTB racer, but he’s also a brilliant engineer who was instrumental in bringing the XX concept to market. Read all about it here.