My New 611 Cross Bike

If you were at NAHBS then you've probably already seen my new cross bike, sitting proudly in the excellent Six-Eleven Bicycle Co. booth as one of the five amazing bikes that Aaron brought to the show. If you weren't there, here are a few pics:











I can't wait to race this thing next ChiCrossCup season! It's way more bike than I deserve, and I can't thank Aaron enough for making me such a beautiful frame.

Photos are from the NAHBS page.

Chicago CX

Check it out, a new Chicago cross team and website! Cross in Chicago has really been blowing up, and now we're going to have a UCI race as part of the ChiCrossCup season. Can't wait!

Details on the new team at Chicago.CX.

TPCX

Team Pegasus issue cyclocross sweatshirts. Love 'em!

Thanks to Sage and Andrew for the sweatshirts, and Amy for the photo.

New Six-Eleven Bicycle Co. Cross Bike

Sage just got this ridiculously nice cross frame from Aaron at Six-Eleven Bicycle Co., and I am jealous. Aaron won Rookie Builder of the Year at NAHBS last year, so definitely check out his booth in Austin in February, it's going to be great!

More photos of Sage's bike here and check out Six-Eleven Bicycle Co. here.

The Afterglow Afterparty

Tomorrow is the Afterglow cross race in Chicago, and after the Afterglow is the Afterparty. BE THERE!

The Afterglow

Chicago Cuttin' Crew and the Half-Acre Cycling think that you could do with more cross in your life. One last race before the season ends. Saturday, December 18th, Humboldt Park, Chicago. Pre-registration is up at BikeReg. See you there!

Illinois State Cyclocross Championships

Yesterday was the last race in the ChiCrossCup calendar, and it was also the Illinois State Championships. The temperature was well below freezing, the course was covered in snow and ice, there were more racers than at any other race this year, and it was a blast! Even though I fell on the ice so much that I can barely feel my legs this morning, it was definitely worth it. If you haven't raced cross then you're missing out.


The 4As set off.


Running the treacherous corner/hill that took out a lot of racers, including me.


Powering towards the bridge in one of the few straight sections.


The Chicago Cuttin' Crew Professional Heckling Squad.


Andrew and Sage of Team Pegasus with the team flag. Noticed attached dollar bills.


Professional ping-pong player and part-time cyclocross badass James LaLonde. Came second in the 1/2/3s on a single-speed. A lot of hyphens in this caption.


The crowd at the bridge.


Riding the ice.


Fishing for cyclists.


I have a lot of photos of this hill. Deal with it.


Almost caught one!

The good news is this wasn't the last race in Chicago this year. Details on the Afterglow to follow.

Cyclocross Bingo

This is great. I've definitely seen all of these things at the ChiCrossCup races this season.

Thanks to Sage for the heads-up. He saw it over at Tati Cycles.

Cave Catastrophe!

Party for Indian Lakes cross weekend, thrown by the Chicago Cuttin' Crew. Indian Lakes will never be the same again...

LA Cross Clinic

Juice Cycling Club and So Cal Cross are running a cyclocross clinic in LA tomorrow with Ryan Trebon. Meet up at Orange20 at 4.30pm, head to the course for the clinic, then back to Orange20 for pizza and beer. The pizza won't be as good as Pequod's, but I'm sure it'll still be a good time.

ChiCrossCup Billboard

Yeah, cross is kind of a big deal here in Chicago. ChiCrossCup details here.

Mud

Some cool cyclocross shots up on Rapha's flickr right now. Check them out here.

Hallowe'en Cross

Luke and Yoda training on Dagobah. Probably my favourite costume at yesterday's ChiCrossCup race. Photo by Luke Seemann.

Swamp Cross

Seeing as Tracko and Prolly have both recently posted vintage cyclocross stuff, I thought I'd better get on it too. Here's a vid from the 1987 Masters National Championships. That's a lot of mud!

Carnage in Carpentersville

Chicago's cross season continues, and the race this weekend in Carpentersville was a blast. A lot of people endo'ing on the pump track! Photos by Bill Draper.

Team Pegasus Cross Race

Pain

Here's a photo of me "enjoying" cyclocross last weekend.
We're now three races into the Chicago Cross Cup, and I'm "loving" it.

Photo by Bill Draper.

The Cyclocross Meeting in Chicago

Hey, Chicago, some good people have arranged for a special showing of the cross documentary The Cyclocross Meeting at the Music Box on October 25th at 7.30pm.

The film's director, Brian Vernon, and cross pro Barry Wicks will be there for a Q&A after the film. This is expected to sell out, so book your tickets in advance from brownpapertickets.com. See you there!

Here's the trailer:

Jackson Park Relay Cross

Somewhere between an alleycat and cyclocross, the Relay Cross race was a blast, especially the co-ed race, which had huge numbers of competitors riding the course and dodging the sofa crew's heckles and buckets of water. Well done to Adam and everyone at xXx Racing for putting on a great race!

Mass start, alleycat style.

Nico of the Chicago Cuttin' Crew won a couple of the categories. Damn son, leave some for the rest!

Andrew Yeoman of Team Pegasus, clearing a barrier.

Avi gets ready to race with his daughter in the co-ed category. Chicago Cute Crew, amirite??

Chaos in the handover area.

BenVC of Team Pegasus, riding in the dust beside Lake Shore Drive. Ben is 41 years old today.

Weaving through the trees.

The rowdy couch crew. Funnest part of the race.

Unofficial course design consultant Andrew Nordyke felt the race wasn't muddy enough, so...

Fellow Irishperson Maria Larkin shouldering her bike through the crazy corner.

Henry Loud of Team Pegasus gets ready to pass some dudes. Race face!

It still wasn't muddy enough for the couch crew...

Henry tussling with/passing Chris Jensen of Half Acre. Elfin Nordyke watches approvingly from his tree.

Another of the day's winners for the CCC, Christina Peck.

Sage put up some videos of the race here and here.

Prize Bags for Relay Cross

These luchador themed bags from Seagull are just a part of the ridiculous prize haul you could win at Relay Cross. The flier is here. See you there!