Time to Race: WWK Begins March 14

Daylight savings time began early in 2007 and so will the weekly WWK battles. Following tradition, racing begins March 14 this year. More info below.

What is it: To add a little cycling culture to the local scene, the weekly training race is referred to as WWK on this site, as in Woensdag Wereld Kop (A direct Flemish translation of Wednesday World Championship or WWC).  Although we do not have the cobbled 18% climbs and delirious fans characterizing hard-man Spring classics in Belgium, we do have rough roads and wind which are part of the formula.

Schedule: Race occurs every Wednesday through September. Everyone welcome.* (Dependent on weather, although even with rain some riders still show up.)

Location: Race loop is Northeast of Urbana (click map for larger image). You can drive from U-C by taking 150 E to Mayview and then North out of Mayview. See blue route on map for further details. Course is approx 4 mi square denoted in red on the map.

Parking: Park at the Southwest corner of the course on the North side of the road (labelled 'park' on map). The landowner at that location allows us to park, but please don't park across the drainage ditch as that erodes the ditch.

Start Time: Rollout is 5:15PM with one warmup lap. Everyone races together. You can jump in with no penalty if you join the field at the end of the warmup lap.

Race Length: Race will be 4-5 laps Spring early season, longer during Summer 5-7 laps. (If you want more mileage, consider riding out and back. Course is approximately 14 miles from Urbana-Champaign.)

Rules: If you get dropped, you can roll until the field comes around again or backtrack to meet them. If you get dropped, please stay out of the breaks and stay out of the sprint. Riders are here to 'train' so interfering with their effort to stay at the front is inconsiderate. If you are just sitting on, please call it so you don't fracture the group. If you have a 'mechanical' or flat, fix it and get back in when the field comes around again.

Suggestions for New Riders: If you are new to the race, expect the speed to pick up quickly at some point. If you get dropped from the front group, find others to ride with and form a chase group. You should be there for 'training' so make the most of the situation, even if it's not going your way. Even the pros finish off the back sometimes.

* This race is not explicitly organized by anyone and participation is voluntary. We take no responsibility for any personal injury from participation.

WWK 2007 Likely Starting March 14

With the four week extension of daylight savings time in 2007, we spring forward on March 11, so expect to start the weekly WWK races on March 14, about two weeks earlier than usual. Time to get fit!

Here are the details for the WWK Training Race:

Schedule: Race occurs every Wednesday through September. Everyone welcome.* (Dependent on weather, although even with rain some riders still show up.)

Location: Race loop is Northeast of Urbana (click map for larger image). You can drive from U-C by taking 150 E to Mayview and then North out of Mayview. See blue route on map for further details. Course is approx 4 mi square denoted in red on the map.

Parking: Park at the Southwest corner of the course on the North side of the road (labelled 'park' on map). The landowner at that location allows us to park, but please don't park across the drainage ditch as that erodes the ditch.

Start Time: Rollout is 5:15PM with one warmup lap. Everyone races together. You can jump in with no penalty if you join the field at the end of the warmup lap.

Race Length: Race will be 4-5 laps Spring early season, longer during Summer 5-7 laps. (If you want more mileage, consider riding out and back. Course is approximately 14 miles from Urbana-Champaign.)

Rules: If you get dropped, you can roll until the field comes around again or backtrack to meet them. If you get dropped, please stay out of the breaks and stay out of the sprint. Riders are here to 'train' so interfering with their effort to stay at the front is inconsiderate. If you are just sitting on, please call it so you don't fracture the group. If you have a 'mechanical' or flat, fix it and get back in when the field comes around again.

Suggestions for New Riders: If you are new to the race, expect the speed to pick up quickly at some point. If you get dropped from the front group, find others to ride with and form a chase group. You should be there for 'training' so make the most of the situation, even if it's not going your way. Even the pros finish off the back sometimes.

* This race is not explicitly organized by anyone and participation is voluntary. We take no responsibility for any personal injury from participation.

Info on WWK Training Race

Here are the details for the WWK Training Race beginning Wednesday April 5 2006.

Schedule: Race occurs every Wednesday through September. Everyone welcome.* (Dependent on weather, although even with rain some riders still show up.)

Location: Race loop is Northeast of Urbana (click map for larger image). You can drive from U-C by taking 150 E to Mayview and then North out of Mayview. See blue route on map for further details. Course is approx 4 mi square denoted in red on the map.

Parking: Park at the Southwest corner of the course on the North side of the road (labelled 'park' on map). The landowner at that location allows us to park, but please don't park across the drainage ditch as that erodes the ditch.

Start Time: Rollout is 5:15PM with one warmup lap. Everyone races together. You can jump in with no penalty if you join the field at the end of the warmup lap.

Race Length: Race will be 4-5 laps Spring early season, longer during Summer 5-7 laps. (If you want more mileage, consider riding out and back. Course is approximately 14 miles from Urbana-Champaign.)

Rules: If you get dropped, you can roll until the field comes around again or backtrack to meet them. If you get dropped, please stay out of the breaks and stay out of the sprint. Riders are here to 'train' so interfering with their effort to stay at the front is inconsiderate. If you are just sitting on, please call it so you don't fracture the group. If you have a 'mechanical' or flat, fix it and get back in when the field comes around again.

Suggestions for New Riders: If you are new to the race, expect the speed to pick up quickly at some point. If you get dropped from the front group, find others to ride with and form a chase group. You should be there for 'training' so make the most of the situation, even if it's not going your way. Even the pros finish off the back sometimes.

* This race is not explicitly organized by anyone and participation is voluntary. We take no responsibility for any personal injury from participation.

WWK Training Race Starts in One Week

Tighten up your shoes, start your motors and clip in. It's time for the weekly training race to begin on April 5.

New Image: The weekly training race has a new image on this site. Previously called WWC (for Wednesday World Cup), the race is now referred to as WWK. That's WWK, as in Woensdag Wereld Kop (direct Flemish translation of WWC) to add a little cycling culture to the local scene. The WWC moniker has been adopted by some other clubs, so time for a change. Although we do not have the cobbled 18% climbs and delirious fans characterizing hard-man Spring classics in Belgium, we do have rough roads and wind which are part of the formula.

Weekly Winner's Jersey is Back: For those who remember the last year on the 'old' course, we are resurrecting the winner's jersey. (Recall the season long shootout between Rocket and Faull for the overall points jersey.) The winner of the previous week's race will have the privilege of wearing a visible jersey and sure to be marked extra hard. The jersey comes back the next week (washed, of course) for more rough treatment.

Race Summaries: Volunteers wanted to provide a short weekly summary of the racing. These will be posted on the website under 'WWK' in the categories section.

Get Your Kit Orders In - Deadline is Here

Today is the (first) deadline for placing kit orders. Below is the current order status.

If you have ordered, please confirm sizes/quantities on this chart. Otherwise, if you intend to order please do it ASAP as we need to get the order in and we are still running short of minimum numbers for both jerseys and bibs. If we don't reach minimums, there will be no kit order!

Contact Mark to place and order or for more info.

Last Name	First Name	Jersey Qnt	Jersey Size	Bib Qnt	Bib Size
Althouse	Mark	1	L	1	XL
Crapse	Karl	1	L
Hanson	Chris	2	XL
Klahn	Matthew	1	M	1	M
Michalove	Sharon	1	S	1	XS
Sills	Mark	1	M	1	M
Stone	Ethan	1	S	1	S
	Luke	1	L	1	L

Team Kit Orders Now Open - March 28 Deadline

We have finalized design and quote from Louis Garneau for the 2006 team kits.

Please submit order by Tuesday March 28. You are required to pay half your total when the order is place. You will received further details on confirmation and payment when you email your order (Please submit your orders via email to Mark).

We are also requiring $15 team membership dues along with the order.

Here are the details and prices:

Jersey $70.00 (Raglan Short Sleeve, PRO Fit, Diamond Square fabric, full zipper, square collar, side panel, sizes: XS-XXXL)

Bibs $65.00 (Elite Wrap 9" panel, Signature Lycra Mat, Comfort chamois, 8 panels, sizes: XS-XXL)

Please submit your orders via email to Mark.

Prices are based on an order of 20 pieces. If we order more, prices will drop $2-3 per item.

If you don't know your size for Louis Garneau items, please check with other team members who have last years kit to try on. Otherwise, contact us and we can find an appropriate size for you to try. We have to forego ordering a fit kit due to time constraints. Generally this is tight 'race-fit' (Euro) sizing. If you have questions please email Mark.

Note: The full order will be confirmed before we sign the contract. Once that's in there will be no additions until we consider a second order later in the year.

Mini Training Camp on March 11-12

To make the Training Camp experience available to as many teammembers as possible we are planning a 'Mini' Training Camp on the weekend of March 11 & 12, 2006. This is will be be held in Champaign and offers a chance for riders to get in some long miles at a comfortable pace in preparation for the full camp on March 24-27. If you have never done a 100+ mile ride, here's an opportunity.

Tentative plans are as follows (please check back on details):

Ride date #1: Saturday March 11 - 100+ miles, route depends on winds; comfortable pace. (Optional short loop of 60-70 miles)

Ride date #2: Sunday March 12 - 60+ miles, route depends on winds; may ride organized moderate pace line at times.

Ride time: 9:00AM (both days)

Ride location: IMPE (both days)

Notes: Ride time grace period of 10 minutes. Generally, we won't ride if the roads are icy but otherwise is up to you to decide if you are comfortable with weather conditions (i.e., rain, wind).

Team Helmet Order - March 6 Deadline

Karl has kindly arranged to get a nice deal on team helmets. A picture of the Bell Sweep R is show at left and you can see more detail at: http://www.bellbikehelmets.com. Color will be the black/Ti version shown.

Price for club members is only $59.00 for a new helmet with full warranty.

To order one contact Karl by March 6th.

Feb 8 Meeting Notes

For all that missed the first team meeting of 2006, here are the important notes:

Thanks to Tom for hosting.

Turn-out – Pretty good, 17 folks showed up. Jon, Tom, Christopher, Luke, Lindsay, Karl, Richard, Mark A., Josh, Maria, Grant, Ethan, Martin, Jamie, Rich, and Mark T.

Team goals – we’re more concerned with giving people who want to experience racing a team to ride with.

Team rides – Mark A. let everyone know that we will be attempting to plan a monthly ride for all team members to get together so we can stay acquainted with everyone and build some team unity. Also, the Wednesday night race was discussed.

Team race – There will be no C-U hosted race this year so more time should be spent on team-building and development.

Team kit – A manufacturer hasn’t been chosen yet, but there is interest in getting a new team kit. Mark will be working on that in the next couple of weeks so we can get the order out as soon as we can. We should have kits by mid-season if we stay on that plan.  Also, if there is enough interest in helmets, Karl mentioned that we could work out a team deal with Bell in Rantoul.

Team Dues – No team dues prices were discussed, but the topic was discussed. Mark mentioned that C-U Racing is going to cooperate with Pra! irie Cycling to combine efforts to support cycling in the area.

Team website – Mark A. is going to keep this site updated. We are still at www.c-uracing.net . We’ll be able to post to it to keep members abreast of races, rides and other information. New members need to let Mark know your email addresses so you can also receive a team note occasionally. Check the site for team info!

Team Training Camp – Rich discussed it, but I was out of the room so I didn’t get the info.

Indoor TT – Champaign Cycle has one more scheduled. Call the store to get signed up. Slots fill up fast.

Karl's Birthday Ride

If you are interested in a group ride this weekend, you can join Karl for a Birthday (52) Ride at 10AM Sunday Feb 12 at Kickapoo. His description ride:

"I'm planning a road ride sunday at 10 at the top of the hill at Kickapoo, its a birthday ride, doing my age in miles so it will be at least 52 miles. I'll be marking the road on sat so that we can zoom right through it."

If you are interested in more info, contact Karl by email