AND WE BACK! Cyclocross racing returns to Humboldt Park!

Once upon a time, a scrappy race team threw a bike race in Humboldt Park.

Photo courtesy of Levi Baer. RIP Flickr. 

We're still working out the course details, but after a five year absence, we're thrilled to bring cyclocross racing back to Humboldt! You don't even need to read any further to know that you should go to bikereg and register right now.

Mark your calendars for Saturday December 10th. We can't guarantee that winter is going to make an appearance, but we're doing everything we can to make this a top-notch affair:

• InsaneDeOmnium competition: race every category you're eligible for. You get a point for each lap you complete, and new this year: a half point for each racer you beat, so do your best not to finish DFL!
• Grudge Match! You and virtually any other racer of any category/gender can sign up, state your wager, and start elbow-to-elbow. The post-race photo op is up to you. Sign up below. Feel free to place your bets on who will win the Ella vs. Avi showdown. 
• We know many of you need to express yourselves in ways that most bike races can't handle. As such, we will have categories for: Fatbikes, Tandems, Cargo Bikes, and new this year, Fixed Gear CX. Naturally there will be a full UCI jury, chip timing, and finish line cameras to guarantee the category sorting, placing, and accuracy in these categories. Or not.
• As always, this is a fund raiser for local youth groups West Town Bikes and Blackstone Bike Works. For most of the West Town squad, it's their first chance to race in their local park, so bring your cowbells and get ready to make some noise. Don't forget to throw some donation dollars down while you're registering at bikereg. We have been known to reward generous individuals with callups to the front row. We will also have a cash donation box at reg, so bring some dollars. We ain't exactly selling coffee and donuts, but you might get some free and feel compelled to donate, nahmsayin?
• There will be some fly medals. Payouts? haha, ur funny
• Fine tune your skillz before Midwest Regionals the following weekend. 
• aw hell, it's a race, you're a racer, it's in the fine city of Chicago, do you really need any more reason than that?
• We can't guarantee an Afterparty at Cousin Mikey's house, but feel free to take a trip down memory lane and see what Afterglow looked like back in 2010 and 2011.

GRUDGE MATCH INSTRUCTIONS:

Find a score to settle, challenge a racer, negotiate a wager, fill out the form below, but most importantly, don't forget to reg at bikereg! Wagers will be published on the internet prior to raceday, which we all know counts just like a legally binding contract.

Why are you still down here reading this? Register already!

Michael Kirby awarding the Intergalactic Championship belt to Jason Fergurson after Grudge Match 2015.

#INSANEDEOMNIUM2015

IT'S BACK.

INSANE.
DE.
OMNIUM.

Rules of Engagement:

1. Register for as many races as possible. 
All riders are welcome to participate!

2. Bring cycling clothing donations and/or ca$h donations to the registration table.
All donations go directly to West Town Bikes & Blackstone Bikes youth programs!

3. Race your legs off.
Doc Morell will keep track of how many laps you complete throughout the day. Riders who participate in the TANDEM sub-category of Fatbikes will both get to count laps completed. 

4. Bring your podium steez.
'Nuff said. 

After the Afterglow

Illinois Cyclocross has never been better.

We have a neighborhood and Park District who trust us enough to give us free reign of their golf course for a weekend.

We have our favorite Knauffles who proves that you, too, can enjoy #doughnuthandupsarenotacrime AND smoke the rest of your field.

We have women and men willing to register for up to 5 back-to-back races to vie for homemade medals. Final count: 1) Sophia Robinson, 24 laps; 2) Kristen Hosey, 23 laps; 3) (tied) Kelly Clarke and Brent Wegscheid, 22 laps; 5) (tied) Lucas Seibel and Steve Biedron, 17 laps

We have youth testing themselves over barriers and up hills for the first time. We also have plenty of grrls who represent their own junior podiums.

We have two teams and an organization competing to donate the most dollars to youth cycling programs (Pony Shop won, by the way!).

We have a man who dresses as SuperGirl willingly accept that our local heroine is way better at cyclocross than he is.

We have a dude who travelled from Australia to race Afterglow on his way to Nationals, a club that brings their own waffle maker, inspiring teammates, a Women's Single Speed category, a Best Dressed Tandem Competition (above), a unicyclist, Santa, cargo bike friends who stay late to help out, and hundreds of riders and spectators trekking to our race in search for fun. And I think they found it.

We have $4,000 to give to West Town Bikes and Blackstone Bicycle Works. That's TWO. GRAND. E A C H.

So many thank yous! Thank you to Chris Jensen for providing steadfast knowledge of how to run a pro as hell bike race, thank you partners and wives and husbands and dude friends and lady friends and families who support us all year long, thank you sponsors for believing in us, thank you everyone who donated dollars to WTB and BSB, thank you anyone who has taken a kid under their wing to teach them the joy and freedom cycling brings to lives, thank you photographers for making pretty pictures often for the price of $0.00, thank you friends who bring the positivity to the environment, and thank YOU for being a part of our family.

Cheers to yet another wildly successful Afterglow - A Cyclocross Race. See you in 2015!

---

USAC results here.

INSANEDEMONIUM 2014

Are you signed up for INSANEDEMONIUM2014?

Rules of Engagement:

1. Register for as many races as possible.
All riders are welcome to participate!
If you have already registered and would like the $10-multiple registration discount, email us at chicagocuttincrew at gmail dot com and we'll give ya a coupon

2. Race your heart out.
We will be keeping track of how many laps you complete throughout the day. Riders who participate in the TANDEM sub-category of Fatbikes will both get to count those laps completed. Because <3 TANDEMS <3

3. Bring your podium socks (for sale at registration table).
The riders with the most laps wins! We will be presenting a podium with sweet prizes after the Cat 4/5 & Fatbikes Etc race. 

A F T E R G LO W pt V

For the fifth straight year the Chicago Cuttin' Crew presents Afterglow - A Cyclocross Race, taking over the Douglas Park Golf Course Saturday, December 20.

The shortest day of the year will feature cross action from dawn to dusk with races for juniors, masters, single speeders (separate races for men and women), fat bikers and the infamous two-up showdown with the winner claiming Sweet Justice. We welcome any and all season-long rivalries to duke it out, including Best Dressed Tandem.

For those hearty enough to tackle multiple races, the Insanedemonium category will reward the riders who complete the most cumulative laps throughout the day. All riders are welcome to participate! If you have questions about which categories you can register for, consult USAC or shoot us an email at chicagocuttincrew at gmail dot com.

Once again proceeds benefit Blackstone Bicycle Works and West Town Bikes, two organizations that continue to promote and facilitate youth cycling in Chicago. Call ups will be based on donations!

Bring your dollars, weird bikes, and smiles! & we'll try to bring da mud back.

Photos by Rod, West Town Bikes, Cory, Blackstone Bikes, and Lindsay

Off-Season Training

With Afterglow a mere 3 weeks away, let's check in with our contenders for Sweet Justice...

Looking Back, Moving Forward

In 2008, around this time of year, some unwashed friends were sitting around a table at the Hideout, hatching a scheme to put together a bike racing team. Either they didn't feel like they fit in on their current team, or they wanted to step up from alleycats, but they were making it up as they went along. They had a shop and a 'packet' - a ramshackle document they could pass around, soliciting funds to get a spot on the jersey. This is why you should sponsor a bike racing team. As we all know, there's a lot of love in the sport, as for Return On Investment...well, that's another story. It's a tough sell, but there were a few that were down from the start. A guy at the end of the bar asked the bartender what they were up to. They sent down a packet. Long story short, the guy sends down a check. A big check. We're talking Platinum-level, 'nobody's going to give us this much, but let's put it in there anyway' kind of a check. He didn't want much in return, and he really didn't even want his name thrown out there, but when pressed to put something on the jersey, he said "just put The Hideout."

That man was Daniel Blue. He passed away last week.

There are many stories about him, many generous, some unbelievable, and a fraction of which can be found here. The Cuttin Crew would have found some way to put this thing together, but it sure helps when a stranger helps jump start your little scheme.

And what a scheme it became. Cash it before he sobers up! Kits and licenses, rolling deep to their cat 5 debut at the Spring Super Crit. A blazing attack in the last lap! Everyone jumps on it...except for the five guys in the Cuttin Crew leadout train. They take the win and four of the top five spots. oh we got this.

Needless to say, it hasn't all been that easy, but there have been some bright spots. A bunch of State titles in Road, Track, and Cyclocross. A regional MTB title. National podiums for a current and former teammie. A few Illinois Cup and ChiCrossCup series wins, scholarship dollars to Lees-McRae, a North American Courier Championship, and a whole lotta good times.

Some of us have moved on to better things, and some of us will move on again, but for the most part, once you're on the Cuttin Crew, you're down for life. Thanks Dan. We would have done it without you, but you sure made it a lot more fun.

And so, here we are, in the final race week of our fifth year: Cyclocross Nationals. We're putting our two best guys on it, one of which is a thirteen year old girl. Ella's in a new age bracket, so last year's podium might be tough to repeat, but she's got a taste for Wisconsin mud.

There are only a handful of Chicago riders stepping up for the big show, THE Championship Race, up against the current champ, the fire-breathing Professionals, and the dreamers. Mumford will be there. Big truck driving, boot stomping, brick dragging, bunny hopping Mumford, laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth.

A Glowing Review

The Afterglow is many things epic, but this year really topped it all.

Not only were riders able to mud it up on a rainy 40 degree day in December, but they were also able to help serve hungry people across Chicago during this special holiday time.

Our dude Fred of the Greater Chicago Food Depository stuck it out all day to collect donations. In his own words:

You Guys, that was amazing!  The warehouse staff couldn't believe one bike race collected over 1 TON OF FOOD, and that the entire van was loaded by two guys (with a little help from a two year old). I can't tell you how much this means. People are turning up at pantries in unheard of numbers; every single item turned in yesterday will be redistributed to people who are in serious need.

If people still have things to drop off, they can either: - stop by the Food Depository, 4100 W. Ann Lurie Place, Chicago, IL 60632 M-F 7Am - 6PM - drop food in the Food Depository box on my front porch, 2416 W. Palmer. - call a pantry near them, some accept donations directly: http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/site/PageServer?pagename=member_need_food

Hats off and many thanks to you all!

-- Cuttin Crew & Robots

Avi's Words of Wisdom

If you haven't heard it from five of our mutual friends, here goes nothing: Why should you race Afterglow?1. It's a race, and you're a racer. That should be enough.2. You feel empty after State Champs and the ChiCross series.3. It's going to be in the 40s, and it's in the city. Ride there and save the planet.4. The Park District is letting us trash a small golf course. Wind it up on the fairway and catch air into the sand trap! You know you want to.5. If it were any cheaper, it would be an alleycat.6. There will be several coffee options, any of which would be the best coffee you've ever tasted at a bike race. You have multiple baristas competing for your love.7. There will be two grown men racing over the fate of a stuffed tiger.8. You get called up to the front row for donating food, and your team will win a trophy if you donate a lot.9. Men and women get equal payouts (zero), but there will be sweet prizes.10. All the money that we'd normally make on this race will be donated to West Town and Blackstone youth programs. They teach neighborhood kids to ride, wrench, race, and stay out of trouble, and they literally share bikes while most of you own five. Even if you can't make it, go ahead and register and invent some BS about how you threw your back out chopping wood.get yr pre-registration on here: https://www.bikereg.com/Net/17636(we will have a waiting list for the men's 4's)

The Evil Supergirl Rises

vs.

Support a TRUE PATRIOT and come out and cheer on Category: Sweet Justice!!