Okay. Here it is. The NACCCs were
mental. I'm still in pieces. I got sunburned to within an inch of my life, and my liver may never recover. Consequently, I'm not really up to writing a big report. Instead, you should head over to
Dispatch101 and read Julio's race and event reports. I will say this though, the NACCCs were a
huge success. Props to Augie and all the organizers for putting on an incredible weekend of racing, partying, and partying. The main race was amazing, on a crazy double-loop course, some of which resembled a giant pothole, and all of which demanded an insane amount of skill and power.
Powering in. Saw lots of pedal strike but no wrecks on this corner. Messengers got skills
Racers making their picks and drops at one of the checkpoints.
The start of one of the qualifying heats. 300 racers were cut down to 50 by the end of the first day.
Julio rocking it out. Check out his report
here.
One of the heat groups approacing the first corner.
Chas,
killing it in quals. So fast.
Heading to a checkpoint. The route is about to get rough. Really rough.
Sharkey from Portland, I think. This dude is tough as nails. He flatted twice and still qualified.
Damien from PDX, navigating the corners one-handed, at speed.
Stanley "Crazy Eyes" Schultz, riding like a man posessed. He came 1st non-messenger. Get it, son!
The manifest in the mouth was a common tactic. Phillip SixtySix from Kansas City, MO.
Final results for the top 20 places. Austin from NY beat Fergus from SF by less than 6 seconds. Damn. Kym from NY got 1st female messenger. Stan from Chicago got 1st non-messenger.
The trackstand comp.
The Chicago NACCC Bike Polo Championships were huge in their own right.
Chicago's Simon Lach
des-troy-ing everyone at the skids. He went so far he skidded out of the park and into traffic. Way to suck at stopping, White Simon!
1st Female Skid champ bag from the always awesome
Seagull Bags.
The crowd.
All in all, it was a great weekend. It was great to see so many people out enjoying the races and having fun, and I think the organizers did a great job welcoming people from all over to Chicago. Check out the full results on the
NACCC page, read Julio's report on the
Dispatch101 page, and check out more photos on
Flickr.
Powering in. Saw lots of pedal strike but no wrecks on this corner. Messengers got skills
Racers making their picks and drops at one of the checkpoints.
The start of one of the qualifying heats. 300 racers were cut down to 50 by the end of the first day.
One of the heat groups approacing the first corner.
Chas, killing it in quals. So fast.
Heading to a checkpoint. The route is about to get rough. Really rough.
Sharkey from Portland, I think. This dude is tough as nails. He flatted twice and still qualified.
Damien from PDX, navigating the corners one-handed, at speed.
Stanley "Crazy Eyes" Schultz, riding like a man posessed. He came 1st non-messenger. Get it, son!
The manifest in the mouth was a common tactic. Phillip SixtySix from Kansas City, MO.
Final results for the top 20 places. Austin from NY beat Fergus from SF by less than 6 seconds. Damn. Kym from NY got 1st female messenger. Stan from Chicago got 1st non-messenger.
The trackstand comp.
The Chicago NACCC Bike Polo Championships were huge in their own right.
Chicago's Simon Lach des-troy-ing everyone at the skids. He went so far he skidded out of the park and into traffic. Way to suck at stopping, White Simon!
The crowd.
YES! This is SOON! Not this weekend but the weekend after that! And I will be in Chicago, and I will probably race, and I will definitely finish close to DFL if I do race! Who cares!?! Everyone should be coming to this, it's going to be a blast. Here's the word from the official site: "just to get it out there and clear up any confusion, everyone is welcome to participate in the race. Non-Messengers are encouraged to compete, and will be placed in their own category for ranking and prizes. Oh yeah. Bring a helmet and plan to wear it. You should already know this, but just in case..." Get all the details you need, register, and buy a sweet NACCCs edition Chuey brand cycling cap, over on the main NACCCs page.
So true.
There's going to be a big bike polo tournament at the NACCCs too, just in case you don't get enough excitement from all the racing and drunken shenanigans. Go here for more details and to register.
"The 4th annual Chicago Messenger Prom (brought to you by PBR, 4 Star Courier Collective, and Chrome) will be held in conjunction with the NACCC. Hell. Yes. This years Prom will be held Saturday August 30th at the Bottom Lounge - 1375 W Lake (Lake east of Ashland) from 8pm - 2 am. Free entry to registered racers, volunteers, and sponsors. Non-participants, same as always, $15 solo/$20 per couple, dress to impress. That means suits, ties, sexy dresses, bike caps and giant banana costumes."
The North American Cycle Courier Championships this year are in Chicago, and it is going to be insane. Go here for all the details about registration and accommodation.
