– The Afterglow team has scored a brand new location–Douglas Park Golf Course! When registering to race, please consider donating those extra dollars you’re saving on the cheaper reg to the wonderful people at Blackstone Bicycle Works right from the registration page. Look for all the Blackstone kids (along with our friends West Town Bikes!) in the Juniors and 4s, and cheer them on! Intelligentsia will also have that coffee you’ll need for your second race for sale to help support West Town Bikes. Registration closes tonight.

– Continuing the theme of giving, Greater Chicago Food Depository has paired with the team on a food drive at the event–everyone who brings a non-perishable food item gets a coveted CALLUP. And if that’s not enough motivation to lend a hand to the needy during this holiday season, a Team Competition is in place–the team that brings in the most amount of food BY WEIGHT wins a fabulous item to impress your friends for an entire year! Sign up for the team competition here. You have until Friday at 4pm to register for the team competition (but we will of course accept day-of donations!). The award will be given out after the Cat 4/FatBikes/Etc race. UPDATE: Please see RpbL for more information about the food drive.

– If you’re coming in from somewhere that doesn’t have easy public transportation (hint),  figure out your parking strategy now! There will be parking along S Thompson Drive (leading toward the fieldhouse). Please leave the fieldhouse parking lot for volunteers and park patrons, as we aren’t the only ones at the park on Saturday. There’s also parking along Inner Ogden Drive.

– Course runs ANTI-CLOCKWISE and numbers will be going on the RIGHT.
– RpbL & the Cuttin’ Crew WILL be accepting credit cards for on-site registration and one-day licenses. They’ll be using Square, which charges 2.75% for every transaction. That will be added to the charge and rounded up to the next cent (so $10 becomes $10.28).
– There will be food on-site, but maybe not enough for 250 people. Douglas Park is in a bit of a food desert. Learn about food deserts and what’s being done to help solve this problem here.
– The weather forecast is mid 40’s with some rain (and only a 30% chance of awesome), so bring appropriate clothing! The fieldhouse will be open, but it’s not officially part of the event and we ask that you respect the myriad other park users that may be using the facility.

– Please avoid warming up on the fairways and greens! There’s plenty of park around.

– Podiums will be presented shortly after each race. There’s not a lot of racers pre-reg’d so you should probably know if you’re on the podium or not. Go put some warm clothes on and get your picture taken!

– The course. Note the location of parking, the staging grid, and the equipment pit. Give yourself plenty of time to get your bib number, put your gear in the pit, and get to staging on time.