The race we have all been waiting for is finally just one week away. On Sunday December 7th, the Chicago Cyclocross Cup Series will culminate with the Illinois State Championships. Some of the overalls have already been locked up, but the Womens 123, Womens 4, and both the A and the B of the Mens 4's is still up for grabs. Look for the racing in those races to be particularly aggressive in an effort to clinch the overall title to what has been a great season up to this point. With a chance for snow several times this week look for Montrose to live up to its expectations and provide us with a sloppy and freezing cold course again this year.
I would also like to pose a challenge to all teams in an effort to give back to Chicago and its hungry this year. Turin is teaming up with the Greater Chicago Food Depository again to help erradicate hunger for Chicago's homeless by sponsoring a food drive at the race this weekend. Lets see if we can get Chris at Turin to offer a prize to the team that donates the most food, based on weight. Of course some teams are larger than others so this might not be exactly fair, but if they could calculate based on a percentage of total team members then a smaller team might have a chance at beating a team like xXx. Lets show the rest of the cycling community what a bunch of scrappy 'cross racers can pull off and donate over 1,000 lbs of food products.
Based on the results from Woodstock there were roughly 200 racers. If each person would bring just 5lbs of food products we could meet that goal of 1,000 easily.
If you look at it in terms of cans, I am only asking you to scrounge up 5 cans from your kitchen cabinets, or just one bag of rice for that matter. How much are those five cans worth to you? Probably no more than $7 or $8, yet to someone who doesn't have the means to provide a meal for themselves or their children it is priceless.
So I implore everyone to dig into their cabinets, or take their kids with to the grocery store. When they ask what you are doing, tell them you are helping to make a difference.
