http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/christopheoncx.html

(via Tati Cycles)

check it out!

Winning races, getting on the podium, looking good and having fun are de rigeur. We’ve been up to much more however. On December 17th (this is a Saturday, btw) we are putting on The Afterglow with Chicago Cuttin Crew again!

We’re making some improvements this year that should make people happy. The course isn’t really changing but the format is. We’re starting an hour later than last year to give you Masters folks a bit more time to get up and a bit more daylight for us.  We’re also combining a couple categories into the same time slot so we can make the racing more exciting! 20 people on course isn’t that exciting.

Once again we’ll have our Single Speed Spectacular and NEW for 2011 is our Fatbike category. If you haven’t chatted with Chrisbot much lately, he’s bonkers for fatbikes (Pugsleys, Mukluks, Moonlanders). The beauty is that even if there’s no snow, the course will be perfect for fatbikes to cruise over the soft sand inside the drained pond. Lifting a 35-lbs bike over a barrier isn’t anything to sneeze at either. 3.5″ tires minimum!!

Prizes are the same, which are glory, some cool medals via Cuttin Crew and whatever swag people want to throw at us. This is the most important race of the season so winning is a prize in and of itself!

Registration is OPEN now at BikeReg! Check out the schedule for deets.

PARTY ON DUDES

The weekend was full of new things. Saturday morning, a whole bunch of ROBOTS <3 and Half Acres trekked out to DeKalb to start setting up, assited by a number of folks from North Central Cyclery. First order of business was to resurrect The Flyover. Many hands pushed and pulled it up like a good old-fashioned barn raising. If there’s one thing DeKalb and Sycamore has plenty of, it’s really great people willing to lend a hand to do good work. Eric Gunn was once again gracious enough to let us use his  truck and trailer to move a few thousand pounds of wood from the storage barn to the park.

Hopefully, you noticed how straight and uniform the course was. Hopkins Park was a bit of a test site to using some tools developed after USGP promoters Joan Hanscom and Bruce Fina taught a room full of top US cyclocross promoters how they make everything so professional at their races back in May.  We also prototyped some course crossings, and definitely look forward to feedback on them. It took perhaps a bit longer than usual to set the course up, but now that we have a process we hope everything will be much faster. The goal is to have a super-pro method of course setup by the time New Year’s Resolution gets here.

So, the single-speed race. Wow, 34 starters! We had some major heat going down in the first lap, with both James LaLonde and Mike Hemme from Chicago.CX in the field. Not content with letting them own the field, Nico Deportega-Cabrera from Chicago Cuttin Crew got the holeshot and led out the field until some 2nd-lap mishaps dashed his hopes of keeping LaLonde out of the jersey. Hemme and Dan Eiten went the wrong way at one point but came back strong. The Men’s podium sorted out LaLonde, Hemme and Eiten after some serious nonsense in the haybales. The Women had only 4 entries but they were all strong. Christina Peck (Chicago Cuttin Crew) dominated that race, and had perhaps the best endo ever. Holly Klug came out of retirement for a strong 2nd, and Leah Sanda rode the hay all 4 laps for third! Ellie Blick was on a track gearing but kept pushing it for fourth.

James and Christina are going to represent Chicago at SSCXWC on November 18-20 in San Francisco! We’ve registered them and will be flying them out. If all goes well they will be bringing it home for 2012!

The OUILSSSCXC wasn’t a USAC race, so you won’t see your results on USA Cycling. They live here.

Huge thanks to all of our sponsors sending us prizes! Johnny Sprockets put up some great prizes for the M and W Cat3′s. Lazer, Surly, Trek/Bontrager, Twin Six, Finish Line, Specialized,  and Half Acre Beer Co all came through with some great stuff. Pretty sure everyone went home happy.

On to AFTERGLOW!!

Women’s:

1. Christina Peck
2. Holly Klug
3. Leah Sanda
4. Ellie Blick

Men’s:

1. James LaLonde
2. Mike Hemme
3. Daniel Eiten
4. Tim Yuska
5. Russ Kuryk
6. Brad Keyes
7. Turd Fergusen (Avi Neurohr)
8. Steven Forss
9. Tom Flynn
10. Brendan Gocik
11. Paul Swinand
12. Teodoro Ramos
13. Ara Oggoian
14. Andrew Haala
15. Ed Bagley
16. Shawn Delk
17. David Pilotto
18. Brent Wegscheid
19. Keith Ortiz
20. William Olderr
21. Zach Thomas
22. Brian Boyle
23. Tim McGovern
24. Chad Mueller
25. Max Riordan
26. Dru Montague
27. Jason Meshberg
28. German Flores
29. Mr. Henderson
30. Mysterious Number 58

PS:
 

i got to see the most inspiring race ever

Ben Van Couvering (Team Pegasus Chicago) got this great footage from the CCC #1 race at Jackson Park. i realized two things as i watched this video:

One, Brian Parker (The Bonebell/xXx) makes some seriously sweet courses. the other promoters (ourselves included) will need to step up their game. most of this coure felt (and sort of ended up being due to the rain) like good singletrack.

Two, i totally love the fact that you can have just as much fun racing in the back as you can at the front.

regular speed edit:

DeKalb, IL
9/15/2011

North Central Cyclery, Half Acre Cycling and ROBOTS <3 are extremely
pleased to announce the prizes for top man and woman finisher of the
Official Unofficial Illinois State Single Speed Cyclocross
Championship! On October 2, 2011 at Hopkins Park in DeKalb, IL,
alongside race #2 of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup, racers with only one
gear will be competing on a grueling course full of obstacles and
shenanigans for a complimentary entry into the Single Speed Cyclocross
World Championship weekend being held November 18-20 in San Francisco, CA. In addition to entry, the OUILSSSCXC organizers are providing round-trip airfare to the winners, all inclusive!

This top woman and man will have the honor of representing the State
of Illinois, Home of Pizza, in a three-day event spanning the entire
Bay Area. CCC Series sponsor and SSCXWC promoter Sheila Moon will be
organizing a number of rides, events and parties all weekend long.

Winners are required to participate in the qualifying event, which
will choose the final start list of the main event in Golden Gate Park
on Sunday November 20. Air travel must be decided by October 15. Chris
Jensen of ROBOTS <3 will arrange travel on an individual basis. Bike
transport, housing and meals are ultimately the responsibility of the
winners, but the OUISSSCXC organizers will do what they can to help
make arrangements. If the winners of the OUISSSCXC are unable to
attend SSCXWC, they are encouraged to gift their prize to the
runners-up. The winner of the SSCXWC brings the race home for the next
year!

OUISSSCXC start time is 4:15pm on October 2nd. Registration for this
race is on-site only, and limited to infinite amounts of racers.

For more information, contact Chris Jensen of ROBOTS <3 at
robotspblove@gmail.com.

debut in style