Real quick… The Friends of Big Marsh crowdfunding campaign ends THIS Friday night! If you haven’t yet participated, it’s not too late to get on board to help build Chicago’s FIRST URBAN BIKE PARK!! So many great options to show your support – check it out! http://igg.me/at/bigmarsh

• #HopkinsCX
• See general info on the preview page here.
• Preliminary staging will be posted here. Numbers on the LEFT!
• First and foremost, alcohol is prohibited in Hopkins Park so please respect that DeKalb Park District policy.
•  Dave’s Slow Food will be out all day with BBQ and vegan chili.
• Alexandra Barnes from Morning Bird Studio will be out to help with post race stretching.
• Heritage Bicycles will be there with coffee and their cool RV as well as Other Brother Coffee.
• Our friends at Podiumwear are coming down from MN.
• First Aid is next to Officials Tent at Start/Finish.
• One2Go REvent Services will be keeping lap times and emailing results. Watch actual live results on LiveLynxResults here.
• Comrade Cycles takes pity on the Cat 4/5’s and is kicking in swag for the top 3 finishers in that race
• Kiddie Cross at 2pm! Parents need to sign an Axletree waiver. Ages 10 and under. 5 age groups: 2 and under, 3-4y/o, 5-6y/o, 7-8y/o, 9-10y/o.
• Sorry in advance for any confusion we may have caused at Caldwell Labagh Woods but the Single Speed category will start two minutes before the Jr 15-18. Slower single speeders, please make way for the fast juniors in a way that does not affect their race.
• The course: similar figure-8 as in previous years but we get out to the tennis courts again. The course will run clockwise (except for the small loop around the flyover), same as the past couple years, but using some sections of the park we haven’t used in years. The course designers are going all UCI and having a paved start, so there will be no parking on the dead end road that goes back to the baseball diamonds. The flyover is back for it’s last race, at Hopkins Park anyway. So if you haven’t experienced the first, and now only, flyover in the CCC you won’t want to miss it this year. Equipment Pit access is shortly after coming down the flyover and again shortly after the finish line.

Dan Ryan Woods is right around the corner and with it come some hills.  Throw in CamptonCX, Melas, etc and even here in the flat midwest they’re worth some preparation.  They might not be too bad on the first go around, but by your last couple of laps they’re gonna hurt!  They aren’t very long or incredibly steep.  But when you add in the cost of going all out to the base of each hill they become more substantial and will have an effect on the outcome of your race.

As with sprinting on the road you’re wise to simulate the total cost of the effort during your training, and not just the relatively short trip from bottom to top.  The training can be done on the road or off road.  They are tough, so consider this one of your hard days on the bike.

Warm up for at least 20 minutes in zones 1-2 heart rate/power

This is one interval, and do as one continuous effort: From a standing start ride at 100% effort for 200 meters, just as you would for a race start. Then settle into CP30/ftp HR (this is your best 30 minute power or ftp heart rate) and hold it for 3 minutes to the base of a 200 meter hill (longer if you have access).  100% effort up to the top of the climb.

3 minutes recovery between intervals.

X3 intervals = 1 set.

Take at least 8 minutes off between sets.

Warm down with at least a 20 minute spin in zones 1-2 heart rate/power

Do 1 or 2 sets if you are doing the category 4/5 races, 2 or 3 sets if you’re doing the cat 3 races, and 3 sets for the 1/2/3 bunch.

Peter Kelley

TRAINING BIBLE CYCLING

• Really short update this week since the CCC series took last weekend off.
• Racing up North in WI this past weekend.
• Big racing on the East coast this past weekend both on and off the road.
• This coming weekend the CCC heads to Dekalb for Hopkins Park. Reg closes Thursday. Look for the course preview on Thursday at the regular time.
• And finally… if you want to see how a professional videographer covers a major CX event, check out what BigBikesThom does with DirtWire.tv.

As mentioned in this forum last week not all training rides can be full tilt.  You need easy recovery and moderate tempo as well and those are good days to make the most of your time in the saddle by working on skills.  A skills day workout should be a 1 hour and 30 minute ride maximum. Push yourself not in terms of physiological cost, but rather in the handling department.  These are a few basic tenets of the sport with some super cool videos that cover the basics of each:

Turns:

Set up a course with turns to the right and left and at varying angles…..90, 45, 180, etc.  This is a great chance to try varying tire pressures as well.  Nice thing about working turns on a skills day is that you can hit them full speed without too much effort so you get the true feel that you’ll have on race day.  Push it and see how fast you can go.  It’s never fun to crash, but sliding out on grass once in a while is the price you might have to pay to find your thresholds.

Starts:

This is not a good day for 200 meter or more “sprint” starts.  It is great day though to work on form a bit.  So take it slow and easy and focus on the little things that you can’t when going all-in.

Try starting with your hands on the hoods and in the drops.  Left leg forward versus right leg forward.  Try slightly different gearing.  You may find that you’re more comfortable with something you haven’t tried yet. With any adjustments in style though be sure to get in at least one full-on session of CX starts first before race day.

Click Here for Super Cool Video on CX Starts

Barriers:

Start very slowly, walking pace.  If you can’t do them slowly you’ll definitely not be able to do them at speed.  Try both sides also so that if a weird corner into a barrier (think Indian Lakes) or a crazy situation (think just about every CX race you’ve ever done) crop up you’ll at least have a frame of reference.

See you in Dekalb!

Rob Kelley

Director of Coaching

Training Bible Cycling

Photo: SnowyMountain Photography

• Well, that was an interesting 48 hours to relocate an 800 rider CX race and still have a great start to the CCC season. We hope you all had at least as much if not more fun than we did on Sunday at Caldwell LaBagh Woods. Results are up online all over the place, find links here: https://goo.gl/A88B7T
• We hope you enjoyed the quick and live results from from One2Go on LiveLynx Results. The rest of the series will follow the same format, but please remember official results come from the (wait for it) USAC officials. So please see the officials if you have protests of questions.
• The CCC takes this coming weekend off but a good friend of the series up above the Cheddar Curtain tells us… “The Cross-Shooshko Cross Race looks to be a lot of fun this year. Big party in the parking lot, improved course, $5 off pre-registration.” Read all about it on the internets here.
• And then the next weekend (10/4/15) the CCC is back to Hopkins Park in Dekalb, IL. Its a bit farther to get out there, but
  • the course is always rad,
  • the CCC’s first ever flyover was born, raised, and still lives there,
  • Brian Conant also lives just around the corner, and
  • sources tell us we’ll have at least one special guest appearance.
• And finally… while switching venues at the last minute was hectic and stressful to say the least, we think everyone from xXx Racing and their volunteers, to the USAC officials, to One2Go, to the Forest Preserve, to our uber MC Kenny Labbe, to the vendors (hey the porta-potties even showed up at the right place), to SRAM NRS, and especially to you the riders, spectators, fans, and supporters handled it all with aplomb. We’re always so proud of how, in times of need, the Chicagoland CX community comes together to make these little weekend parties happen.
• And finally, finally… many of us are too young to even know that Chicago cyclocross more or less started in LaBagh Woods many, many years ago, so Sunday was a bit nostalgic and a coming home of sorts for some old-timers. But thankfully cameras had already been invented back then and we have photographic evidence. Apparently aero helmets were already en vogue and the only thing larger than the field sizes were the crowds of spectators.
  

  Photo: JP McCarthy

  

  Photo: JP McCarthy

Please post links in the comments to you pictures, videos, and race reports.

UPDATE 3 – 9/19/2015 at 4:30pm
The rains have passed and a new course has emerged at LaBagh Woods. The situation is improving by the minute and we are all systems go for racing tomorrow at LaBagh Woods. See the tentative course map below. A bunch of the turns will be different, but reg, staging, the finish, and the equipment pit will not change. Enter the park from Cicero Ave. Parking is a little tight and the park road is small, so please drive slowly and be excellent to each other. Also, you’d never know it from Caldwell, but LaBagh is actually dry right now. Don’t just bring your mud tyres. Seriously, its flat and dry. See you all tomorrow! #CXishere

UPDATE 2 – 9/18/2015 at 4:46pm
We’re on the move, quite literally. The Chicago Parks District and Forest Preserve have decided there is too much standing water in Caldwell Woods for our event. But fear not, our fantastic xXx Racing race director and team have been on the phones all afternoon and secured another venue just down the street at LaBagh Woods. Some of you will remember LaBagh woods as the location of xXx’s Wednesday evening practice crits this summer. More details to come over the next 24 hours and we’ll be sending out an email via BikeReg, but please let everyone know the event is still on. All details below are still valid besides the course map (obviously). Also, given the conditions please DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PRERIDE THE COURSE. Doing so could materially impact xXx Racing’s ability to secure a venue in the future. Thanks!

UPDATE 1 – 9/18/2015:
There is a fair amount of standing water in Caldwell Woods as it is in the floodplain of the North Branch River. xXx Racing and the CCC are working together with the Chicago Parks District and Forest Preserve to reroute the course around sensitive areas and be good stewards of the park. Stay tuned here and on Twitter for details. The situation is fluid (pun intended) and xXx Racing will communicate changes concerning the event through email before Sunday. To be clear as mud (again with the puns…) the course map below will almost certainly change by Sunday.

• Alrighty then… #CXisComing is finally turning into #CXisHere in Chicago… the 2015 Chicago Cyclocross Cup kicks off at Caldwell Woods hosted by xXx Racing-Athletico.
• Live results by One2Go_Results will be here: http://www.livelynxresults.com/  Watch races scored in real time!
• Online pre-reg on BikeReg closes tonight, so get to it.
• On site number pick up and Day-Of Registration will be in picnic pavilion near start finish line. Remember reg closes 30 minutes before the schedule start time of each category.
• The CCC has returned to the old Tyvek bib numbers, but our officials and One2Go remind everyone to please not fold or crumple your numbers. If you do you risk not being scored. Numbers on your LEFT side (not your back!) .
• Staging for the first race of the series is 100% by CrossResults.com ranking. See here for preliminary staging and if you believe your CXR points to be incorrect please contact CrossResults. Also, please check the discrepancies page. If you name is on this page you need to either edit your BikeReg registration (and profile), renew you annual USAC license, etc. Wait list orders are here. All of these lists will be updated again with final reg data no later than Thursday evening.
• Results will be posted as soon as possible on the CCC’s 4 sided results board and for all pre-reg’d riders with correct/valid email address in their BikeReg rider profiles results will be emailed to you shortly after you finish. Also, One2Go will have its LiveLynx site updated in real time. Full results will be posted on USAC online Sunday night and series standings will be updated shortly afterward. This is the first race, so series standings are the same as the first 30 finishers.
• The standard 2015 CCC Payout Schedule is here.
• Porta-potties will be located in the small parking lot nearest Devon and Milwaukee adjacent to registration.
• Teams can set up tents anywhere, but xXx Racing recommends doing so in the field North of the reg pavilion for viewing the finish line or the field to the North East for viewing the hill.
• Main parking will be at Aquatic Center with pedestrian/racer access to course along north side of Devon Ave.
• The equipment pits will be double sided.
• Chicago Pizza Boss will again be in attendance and serving up fresh, hot, pies.
• Additional info over here on the static preview page.
• Remember to use the hashtag #CaldwellCX so everyone at home or in other parts of the country can follow along.
• The course. See above, we’re moving to LaBagh Woods so the course is TBD for as of Friday night  xXx Racing has made a few improvements from last year including a smoothed out start, slightly shorter length, and double sided equipment pits (of course staffed by SRAM NRS). New tentative course is below. Reg, staging grid, finish line, and pit are all on the SW corner of the park.

Cyclocross is upon us!  The ChiCrossCup is a demanding series.  Save 1 break over Thanksgiving (not including week #2), you’re on it every week.  Most of us know how to get on a bike and ride hard.  The key though is in retaining mental and physical strength throughout the entire season.

Back in the day we all pretty much over-trained on a regular basis.  You just came to grips with the fact that the end of the year was a fairly horrible slog of races.  Now we know better, and the goal is not to make it through but rather excel in the last few races of the season.

Doing tough, anaerobic intervals takes discipline and recovery is the same. When your buddy asks you to do an awesome bandit race on the wrong day for your schedule it’s important that you say no and stick with your overall plan.  Since we almost always race on Sunday a typical “on” week should look like this:

Monday – off

Tuesday  – strength training with a 30 minute recovery spin afterward, or just a 1 to 1.5 hour recovery ride 

Wednesday  – skills ride with 30 minutes of tempo

Thursday  – hard ride.  Bandit race, anaerobic intervals, Vo2max intervals or lactate threshold intervals are a good idea.  You want to finish feeling not as spent as after a race, but close.

Friday – off

Saturday  – opener ride.  1 hour 15 minutes long with 2 intervals 30 seconds in length at max effort, a couple of starts and 3 to 5 minutes of ftp pace followed by a good warm down (at least 15 minute’s worth).

Sunday – race

It’s OK to flip the Wednesday and Thursday rides around if a hard day on Wednesday works better for you.  The main thing is to not have too many tough days.  The above schedule represents 2 very hard days per week if you include race day and that’s about all a person can handle without eventually hindering their performance.  More on month to month recovery later…..

See you Sunday.

Rob Kelley

Director of Coaching

TRAINING BIBLE CYCLING

• CX racing everywhere over weekend… IL, WI, PA, etc, etc, etc…
• CCC series racing kicks off this coming weekend at Caldwell Woods. More info on Thursday in the course preview, but in the meantime, please review the #CaldwellCX preview page… and while you’re at it, take another look at the CCC series rules. Remember you are NOT allowed to race outside your USAC CX category, and yes we check… everyone, so please don’t make us have to write that email.
• But before our local racing starts up, top riders from around the world (okay, really just the US and Europe) descend on Fabulous Las Vegas for Cross Vegas on Wednesday night, which is the first ever CX World Cup event to take place on US soil.
• Back closer to home, and in a few weeks… The Cuttin’ Crew is at it again and organizing a Junior Girls and Women’s Cat 3/4 CX clinic at the Trek CX Cup just outside Madison, WI on Friday 10/9/2015. Details are here and registration is free, but limited to 20 riders.
• One more series sponsor (re)joined the circle of trust this week. The CCC is happy to welcome back Nuun (pronounced Noon) the first company to separate electrolyte replacement from carbohydrates. Before Nuun, if you wanted electrolytes, the result was a bottle full of sugar. With Nuun’s simple, self-dissolving, sugar-free electrolyte tab, sports drinks are revolutionized forever.
• Tomorrow!!! Looks for Rob Kelley and Training Bible Coaching back with another season of Coach’s Corner.
• And finally… it seems we have to remind at least a few of people every year at this time the difference between heckling and just being a jerk. Let’s be clear… don’t be a jerk. If you need a refresher, see the CCC’s guidelines, Psimet’s post, or Ryan Kelly’s words of wisdom. Its totally cool if you and your friends call each other POS’s in private, but when you’re out in public, where young kids and people not familiar with CX are present, doing so makes you look obnoxious at best and the rest of us like fools at worst. We’re not saying don’t heckle. But when the best you can do is “You suck!” or some variant, do us all a favor and just don’t say anything at all. Instead, ring your cowbell haarder and come back next week when you have something more creative, funny, supportive, funny, crowd pleasing, or yes… actually funny to say. So in short, more cheer and less jeer. K? great… let’s have a lot of fun and race our faces off this season!

• The Illinois Cycling Association is holding Board Elections, developing a new ICA Website, and making a call for officials! Amateur cycling races in Illinois don’t just happen by themselves and the ICA and USAC need help to make them happen. Please seriously consider getting involved if you want to see cycling races continue to flourish and grow here in Illinois.
• This coming weekend is the last weekend before CCC series racing starts up, so make all those last minute adjustments, dial in your nutrition, and get ready for another great season.
• If you’re looking to get started early and in for a road trip, this coming weekend, former Chicago resident Brian Parker checks in to let us know… “The KISS Cross series opener is this Saturday 9/12/15 at Lakeside Park in Caledonia, MI.  Sponsored by Gap30 Cycles and Founders Racing. $20 old school Cyclocross racing, no license required, $10 second race if you want to double up. A, B, and, C categories, with Masters and kids races. Races start at 11:00am (10:00 CST) so you don’t even have to wake up super early to make it. A keg of Founders (beer) will be on hand for thirsty racers, and the grill will be cooking up some brats and dogs for after the race. Course design by former Jackson Park race director and The Bonebell rider, now full time Michigander, Brian Parker.”
• A little closer to Chicago, race promoter and ICA Member at Large Karl Crapse tells us… “There is a great Cx race this Sunday (9/13/15), only 1.5 hours south of Chicago at Patriot CX. The course is nothing like you might expect in the downstate corn fields. The course goes around a good size pond in Heritage Lake Park, Rantoul. We have steep hill repeats on the dam, a lot of off camber turns, a long straight with logs to bunny hop, barriers, sand pit, a DJ and more. Also beer is allowed. Grab a friend or 2, car pool down, gas is cheaper than it has been for a long time. We also have enough categories that most should be able to do 2 or more races. All profits go to a local Rails to Trails project.” https://www.bikereg.com/patriot-cx
• CX racing also begins this weekend in Wisconsin. Note the WCA has split their schedule into 2 categories; Super Cup and BRO (Bragging Rights Only).
• And finally… Just in under the wire the CCC has another new series sponsor in Mark Niemiec – State Farm Agent – Mark shares a similar view in that he wants to be there for his customers not only NOW but into the FUTURE. He goes the extra mile to make his customers’ experience with State Farm an exceptional one and one that can last a lifetime.