(thnx to gtran for the collabocopy help)

We had a nice break from the almost-freezing temps for this year’s Sunrise Park, sponsored by ABD.

A few debuts for the 2011 season! Daphne as Spectator Supreme with Cat 2 Cheers, James with her first cross race since Relay Cross, Christina with her new geared ride, aaaaaand the wonderful Mizz Walter Morell!

The lil lady just needs herself a nice CCC bandana, I’d say!

Results:

Womens 1/2/3:
Christina - 6th
James - 16th

Cat 3:
Morell - 22nd
Nico - 24th

See you in Campton! I expect some realllll good costumes for those cherished call ups!

Heyyy, so there’s this race coming up…

It’s really fun!

And I know you might think all those cool kids are really intimidating, but I can guarantee that the crew throwing this is suuuuper welcoming! They’re really great at incorporating well-know places and fun activities in the route with the nicest people running the check points. All proceeds go to the Chicago Women’s Health Center, so you know they’re good people.

And they’re super organized! SO organized, in fact, that PRE-REG is already set up! We can totally save $10 just by signing up today.

And you wanna know the best part? It’s a STYLE ride—-we can glam it up proper, so even if we’re not the fastest couple, we could definitely contend in the LOOKIN’ GOOD & FEELIN’ GOOD category!

So…whaddya say?

Wanna go to Sadie with me?

Courtesy of Prolly @ http://prollyisnotprobably.com/

Hey, grrl, heyyy!

Give it up for our lady bringing home first female for AUSTIN NACCCs!!!

We’ll get more stories as soon as the fam brings it on back to the Midwest. Til then, peep the final results!

Photo Courtesy of Velogrrl! Click for more wonderful photos from Hopkins Cross

‘Tis the season for yet another NACCC, and Austin, Tejas is proudly hosting this year’s round of debauchery.

Nico and Christina are off to win and defend some titles! If you see them, wish ‘em good luck!

Snip Snizzle!

Many thanks to Robots, North Central Cyclery, and HA for doing it up for another successful Hopkins Cross! After a day full of spectacular weather, a gallon of cider, and eight year-olds making fun of us, we stole away with some solid results. Here is the palmarès of the day:

Womens 1/2/3:
Jannette - 10th
Xtina - Most Aggressive Rider à la flatting out and breaking a chain in one race

Cat 3:
Snaxwell - 8th
Nico - 22nd
Morell - 25th
Jannette - Biggest Smile

Womens 4:
Marie - 12th

Cat 1/2/3:
Snaxwell - 21st

OUILSSSCXC:
Xtina - 1st! She gets to represent out in San Francisco for the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships!!!
Avi - 7th, Most Tape Collected During Race
Snax - 25th, and strong member of Team Triple Up!
Nico - Best Hair / HOLE SHOT

Again, thanks to all of the sponsors! (Especially Sir Jensen for makin’ these sweet gifs and rulin’ at organizing!)

Edit:

Because I cannot get enough, here’s another, courtesy of Paul (check out his other fantastic photos)!

Chicago cross season is finally underway, and what better way to begin than with actual cross weather in good ol’ Jackson Park!

Courtesy of Nathan Schneeberger

Nico and I departed northside ‘round 9, showing up just as our 1/2/3 ladies were in full force. Christina rocked her solo speed as her and Jannette rolled through some light rain with the best of the women. After a few accidents and mechanicals, C and JRho finished 14th and 16th, respectively (8th and 10th out of the 3’s)!

Courtesy of  Bill Draper

Nico suited up with Mike and Max and proud member of Team Double Up, JRho, for a full 3’s field. Ben, who had stepped up from the waiting list to compete in the 30+ race during the wee hours of the morn, joined me and the fabulous Betty Morell on the sidelines to cheer our boys on. The start was as expected with a field of a hundo, in which Max unfortunately got tangled up in a crash. Not letting lost ground or a newly dented top tube get him down, Max managed to snip snip his way past over sixty people to finish 34th. Mike came through with the 24th position, and Nico SS’d his way to a solid 17th! J was pulled with a lap to go, but it wasn’t without a huge smile on her face.

Courtesy of Eric Goodwin

Both my race and Ella’s followed the guys, Ella doubling up with a morning soccer game. With 52 racers a piece, Ella and I were going to have to pull out some ballaaa moves from the get go. I had  some luck as my number was pulled for the final call-up, so I lined up smack dab in the middle. Whistle blown, and I was off to hold a top five position til a detrimental crash that busted my brifter, leaving me single speedin’ by proxy and my rear brake rubbing for a solid 2/3rds of the race. Another slide out on the asphalt during the second lap gave me a layer of road rash – somehow, however, I managed to once again grab that final call-up position with 10th place.

Click Above to Watch the Women’s 4 Start, Courtesy of xXx

Ella faired very well against combined juniors fields, holding her own against some pretty fast adolescent boys and girls, and throughout the rest of the day people shared with me how impressed they were with Ella’s technical skills, including something that I’ve been struggling with: re-mounting. Heroes in Every Size, I say.

Courtesy of Eric Goodwin

Because the 3’s field filled up, Josh jumped in the Pro 1/2/3’s with our third SS rider of the day, Avi. The rain was constant, thus the course continued to change upon each race. As Avi put it:

The highlight for me was just battling some solid riders: I traded spots with Luke a few times, something we haven’t done in a couple of years. Mostly, I was going one on one with Jack Lionberger for the top cat 3 spot, but eventually my skinny, semi-slick tire up front caught up with me, and I slid out one too many times. By the last lap, I was struggling to find lines outside of the slippery mud and I barely held on to finish ahead of Luke.

…Luke is a class act on course. He let riders pass when he felt like he was holding us back on the opening laps, and when he did pass someone late in the race, he apologized for ambushing him and not announcing it properly.

Nothing tops being called out for being a nice guy! Avi worked his way for 2nd cat 3, 18th overall, and Josh grabbed 7th cat 3 and 29th overall. Fantastic job in the toughest men’s field of the day!

Courtesy of Tati

Just in time for some Cat 4 madness came the real downpour. Donning our rain gear, we staked some spectator property near the swamp with hopes that we’d witness someone take the turn too hot and slip into the pond. Though I didn’t get to witness this feat, Ella and Lang ended up in giggles after helping a guy fish his bike out. A billion crashes and hand ups later, we had our first cross race in the books!

Next jaunt is October 2nd at Hopkins Park featuring the Official Unofficial Illinois State Single Speed Cyclo-Cross Championship, and you bet your dollar we’ll have at least a couple people competing for the title! See yous all there!

We came into August knowing that the concluding weekend was going to feature not only the ever-incredible Cuttin Crew Classic , but Messenger Prom AND a Sunday of Relay Cross. Throw in a month packed with weekly State Championships at Northbrook, and you KNOW you got a long month of giving ‘er ahead of ya.

This will henceforth be known as the Palmarès Post of 2011. What can we say? August continued the theme of 2011 being the Best Year Ever..

– August 11, 2011 – State Championship Points Race –

The pressure was on. This team has had a state champion in some category or another every year since its inception and Avi loosened the screws a bit by taking the newly instated Men’s Category 4 State Championship in a classy sprint-off against the field.

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Shortly thereafter, Daphne and Christina teamed up with a full women’s crew to work a 2nd and 5th place in the Women’s Open State Points Championship.

– August 18, 2011 – State Championship Keirin sponsored by Johnny Sprockets –

The women kept rollin tough on the track across the board. Daphne claimed another 2nd place to the dominant presence of Team Bouledogue Tout Noir’s Valerie Brostromin the Women’s 1/2/3 Keirin. Christina improved upon her 5th the week before to claim 4th place.

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Marie rounded out the night to take 2nd in the Women’s Category 4 Keirin.

– August 25, 2011 – Elaine Nekritz Trophy Race / State Championship Scratch –

A freshly upgraded Avi completely upheld his role as team badass. He ended up sweeping the Category 3 races for the night and garnered himself the Men’s Category 3 Champion title in the Scratch race. Jeff managed a 5th place to cameo on Avi’s day.

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The ladies were certainly not ones to be outdone. On a big night, with big money on the line, the ladies of Cuttin Crew came through. Jamie, Christina, Marie and Daphne teamed up to really pulverize the field with blistering attacks and counter attacks. When all was said and done, Daphne hung it out for a hard fought 2nd.

– August 27, 2011 – Cuttin Crew Classic –

(photo courtesy of Chris Dilts)

The most reputable race through Chicago saw Stan make a return to glory for 2nd while Teeners got 2nd on the women’s end. Marie rightly worked her way into Dead Fucking Last. Andrew and Daphne rocketed their way into Alleycat Power Couple status with wins in both the men’s and women’s categories. (They actually tied for the overall win)

– August 27, 2011 – Chicago Messenger Prom to benefit the Cycle Messenger World Championships 2012 in Chicago. –

Everyone won.

– August 28, 2011 – Relay Cross sponsored by xXx Racing – Athletico –

Hangover shmangover. Ella made the rest of you into punks. If you missed it, just ask around and you can pretend like you were cool enough to make it out.

– September 1, 2011 – State Madison Championship (Technically not August but don’t be a dick about it) –

BIG night for the Chicago Cuttin Crew. Daphne teamed up with the previously mentioned Dr. Brostrom to lap 2nd place twice. Ol girl CRUSHED IT. The lady of the track got herself a nice new STATE CHAMPION JERSEY!!! That’s not to say they were the only ones to really give ‘er – Marie and Jamie made an exclusively Cuttin Crew partnership to net 3rd place in their first non-patty cake Madison ever! Bravo.

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Phew. Who’s ready for cyclocross?

We had a REAL nice team outing to the new Chicago Velo Campus velodrome Monday night! Things are progressing so nicely down there. Stay tuned for more great photos (shout out to Marie for the first pic and Sean Hopkins for the quick turnaround on these other photos.)

The G-Forces on this thing are an absolute trip! It got me gigglin’ enough to beat the band. I’ve raced on a few different velodromes with several varying bankings and the likes and this track will take a little gettin’ used to. As should be expected. She’s a custom-made beauty and the experience is an absolute must.

Peter Wilcock has taken a good grip over running the certification program and has a few aspirations to get a few events and races in before the weather makes it impossible.

This week (8/15-8/19) is scheduled heavily with certification classes at 4-6PM and 6-8PM. The classes do have a fee so be ready to bring down $10 or $12. They are also setting up a membership system but I’m not the one to check with for details.

It is encouraged that you contact Peter before heading down. The track does have a limit and he does not want to overbook. The good news is he’s accommodating and thrilled to get you out there and trying it.

To make arrangements for a class, contact Peter at LVW@chicagovelocampus.com

As for Tuesday, August 16, the bus will be going down from the West Town area. We will load up over by the old spot of 2030 W Hubbard around 5:00 PM. Departure is set for 5:15. Come to ride or just hop on the bus and check it out from a spectators POV, it’s well worth it. Join us! or. just stay tuned for more..