It's funny that Jeff is "meh" about Nittany, but loves Whirlybird. I find them to be very similar courses. A few more challenges, largely the same. Except the grass is faster at Nittany if I recall correctly.

I have come to love town hall and last I checked I am not sticky sticky figured.

Nittsny is first, which helps, but it is also run by my friends.

Whirly is just plain fun.

Ragot, since you are friends with Nittany folks, could you try and convince them to get some astro turf to cover up the gravel pits 20 meters after the start line? Yes, I got crashed and run over there, but there were many other accidents caused by that gravel across all categories. Several folks went to the hospital even.

The gravel adds a real technical element. I don't think I can get them to toss astroturf over the gravel. But I'll ask. Request sent.

eragot said:

The gravel adds a real technical element. I don't think I can get them to toss astroturf over the gravel. But I'll ask. Request sent.

I'm not talking about the long stretch of gravel after/before the climb/descent to the "upper deck" portion. That's fair game in my mind. I'm talking a wide "crosswalk" sized strip that hits the riders right out of the starting shoot. We're on grass for about 4 pedal strokes, then the gravel shit show (it's as wide as the course, and maybe 5 or 6 feet deep/long) then we're on the grass again shooting up the little hill to head behind the velodrome.

I realized what you meant and I sent the according email. I just didn't erase what I wrote.

I did alright today at the good old Bob Rodale Fitness Park in Trexlertown. After multiple failed attempts to make things happen in the 35+ race and despite the presence of some seriously fast dudes as well as not knowing if I had the legs, I got in the break in the 1/2/3 race.

A group of 6 solidified around 15 laps into the 35 lap race. We were killing it to stay away and the gap kept growing. The race paid 6 deep, so I felt like as long as I kept it going, this was promising move. Then about halfway through a group of 7 guys bridged. That group included Bill Elliston, John Durso, some kid on Airgas and other heavy hitters. That event changed the complexion of the break considerably and, while I was getting more rest, I knew that I would likely not be getting paid. We got within 200m of lapping the field but the group sat up because it seemed that the sprinters had other ideas. Mengoni's Karl Nelson tried to jump, but they/we kept him dangling and ate his lunch in the sprint.

I finished 13th. Last in the break, but I don't care because I got to go fast with some seriously fast dudes. Totally worth it; honor actually. Looking forward to beating them.

That park is a gem. Terrific loop. Everyone should race it.




http://instagram.com/p/rQBff1taBL/

Nice job Vlad, that's some good company. In hindsight what would you have done anything differently at the end?

Great question Johnny. I could have gone with Karl and perhaps bridged to the pack with him, but I wasn't as fresh as him (he was in the second group and sat on when it came together) and I think that the other 11 would not have let the two of us go as they did Karl alone. I think that I should have positioned myself better on the last lap so that I was closer to the front going into the final 500m. I could have done a better job of surfing wheels and maybe coming around some for a top 5.

Sounds like a tough proposition: you've spent a lot of energy in the early break, you're racing with 1/2's in the mix and they're hammering to catch Karl... given the company, I'd have suggested sitting in after the catch like Karl did, or at least no contribution to chasing Karl (sit in the last 5-10 mins), so you're fresh at the end to do something — put those TT skills to use and they might have let you go thinking you couldn't hold it.

Kayt, believe it or not, I've never really raced in Philly proper. I did a quick google/youtube search to see if I could find anything...no luck.

But with all crits, the more technical, the harder the turns, the more important it is to be parked at the front. So even if it's just a 4-corner crit, if a couple of those turns are tight and dicey, folks in the back are going to pay every lap with monster intervals coming out of the corners.

Good luck, you are going to be great!

Hi Kayt,

Oh, also, it's run clockwise, so all right hand turns. I suggest searching Youtube. There should be some race video and Go Pro's on there to give you some idea of what it's like. 

Is anyone doing the Basking Ridge race in NJ Sept 1st? For those of you NOT doing Green Mtn please contact me to arrange a ride down. Only 29 miles away and an awesome crit course. Worth doing if rentals car fees/carpooling can be figured out on the cheap. 

@Craig - is Basking Ridge even a real race? The Cat 4 is only 15 miles? the 1/2/3 is 25 miles? That seems short for a crit i think.

Phillip Maronilla said:

@Craig - is Basking Ridge even a real race? The Cat 4 is only 15 miles? the 1/2/3 is 25 miles? That seems short for a crit i think.

I haven't done Basking Ridge...but...from past experiences, there are some crits that you WISH were shorter a few laps in. It's the sort of thing that keeps some folks away from crits, or signing up to race 15 events in one day. "Oh look, it's only xx miles..." or "$5 per lap, fuck no, am I spending that kind of money!" If road races are like a 1/2 marathons of the running world, then park races might be a 5k, and crits are the 200-1500 meter events of the cycling world. Or something like that. Don't pick apart my analogy too much, you get my drift. I'm pretty sure JP knows this crit well and could weigh in here. #thelongest15milesofyourlife?

p.s. I swore for JP's sake. He likes it when we talk dirty.

"Independence" nee "Beacon" registration open. Nice long wide start, typically smaller fields, less critical to get a front few row start. But still...

  

Very much worth making a weekend out of independence cross and granogue.

I love Basking Ridge. Not for the faint of heart. It's a 123 race this year so giddy up!

Basking Ridge is on my schedule. Need a ride Vlad? 

Gloucester is either sold out or almost sold out in many categories. If this one is on your radar, better click on over to bikereg.com pronto.

@Marc/anyone else with experience... 

jesselash said:

@Marc/anyone else with experience... 

New to CX this year. When there's registration for the same Cat 4/5 race either on Saturday or Sunday, is there usually any reason to do one or the other? 

Any reasons to choose one over the other, is usually purely personal, related to whatever else is crowding your life. You have a family BBQ on Sunday but not Saturday? Bam, sign up for Saturday's race.

The courses and competition with a few small changes will largely be the same on big double race weekends.

Another reason to choose one or the other, is that frankly, racing 2 cross races in a weekend, is, well tiring. Again, like crits, don't let the relative short race time, typically 30-40 minutes for cat 4/5s. If you are doing it right, you will be shredded after a weekend of racing.

Thanks Marc, figured as much but didn't know if there were course conditions to take into account after a full Saturday of racing, or anything technical like that.

jesselash said:

New to CX this year. When there's registration for the same Cat 4/5 race either on Saturday or Sunday, is there usually any reason to do one or the other? 

Else, sign up for both days. Ride hard both days. Have a blast both days. If you don't win Saturday, win Sunday. Simple.

Agree with Eloy, the do sometimes reverse the direction of parts or all of the course. Courses like Northampton, will change the entry point into the upper deck roots of doom section, but the grassy ball field stuff is run the same direction.

As far as your "ruts" question, it's a good one, but mostly only relevant if the day before was wet and muddy and the next day dry and/or freezing/frozen (as it was at Sterling last year). Then yes, riding a frozen/dry rutted up course is significantly more challenging.

Chris Thater Memorial 2014 - Race Report (because Marc asked for one)




This is an NCC race. This is the real deal. Despite the 3:45 trip out to Binghampton, this is a highlight of my personal race calendar.

I registered for the 35+ and 2/3 races. They were both late in the day (2:20 and 4:15 starts) which made the ride up easier. I wasn't expecting rain, but that's what we got; lots of it. We drove through some storms and, although Binghampton was dry when we go there, that quickly changed.

This was a new course. Previously held around a park, this race was now in the downtown center. I love the vibe of downtown crits. There's a lot of excitement. Binghampton is weird though. It's depressed. Very sad actually with many homeless/crazy/poor/obese people (in equal amounts). Something felt out of whack. I was still excited to race it though.

By the time I lined up for the 35+ race, the course was drenched with big pools of standing water everywhere... and especially in the apex of the corners. The field was thin. I think a lot of people bailed. I took the holeshot and led out the first lap and a half to get familiar with the course.

The new course consists of a nice flat start/finish section into a sharp (<90 degree) corner whose entry is about twice as wide as  it's exit. Be careful that you don't get squeezed coming out of that one! That's followed by a sweeper and pothole/manhole laden drag on the back side. There is absolutely no line through that which isn't jarring. This and the start/finish stretch is where things got the fastest and most strung-out. That section leads into a 90 degree off-camber corner into an uphill stretch (nothing major) that levels off and bottoms into the final corner. This is another one that goes from wide entry to narrow exit. That's the one in the picture. When dry, this course seems manageable and fast, but the narrow exits keep it a little scary.

I discovered that I couldn't really scrub speed heading into the corners. It was too wet. I just had to hang on and hope that those around me did too. It was quite harrowing. I wasn't comfortable with any of the corners the entire race. After that brief stint at the front, I drifted back and tail-gunned so that I could get cleaner lines through the corners. Only one or two of the accelerations taxed me. I had no problems jumping around people getting shelled. It's just those corners, ugh... those puddles. It's remarkable that nobody went down. In the end I sprinted for 16th. I just wanted to finish upright and get some experience cornering in a monsoon.

That was enough for me. I bailed on the 2/3 race. I was drenched. I still feel wet. Waiting an hour for the 2/3 race just wasn't worth it. I raced and made it out ok. I didn't want to tempt fate. We packed up and drove back to Brooklyn. I watched the pro race on the internet. The course had dried up by then and those guys were flying. It was exciting to watch them do their thing on the same course I had just been on.

This is a great race. You all should consider doing it. There aren't many chances to participate in NCC crits around here. When you do, I guarantee you'll notice a difference.