Results, bros?

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=13806

reg is open now, closes Friday, September 23, 2011 at 12 noon (EST).



last year's writeups from folks included:

- riding off course and then taking mega risks to pass 30 folks for 3rd place

- "less barfing"

- "I've never had such a good time falling twice, dropping a chain, and then braking the chain; resulting in a smashing of my ankle on the chainring and a massive bruise. Total race: 1.5 laps. I suck! Hahaha. More please"



helmet cam vid from 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPxhbkV3f8A



From the race site ( http://www.guysracing.org ):

- full access to the Asplundh Field House on race day

- full access to its rest rooms

- full access to its HOT SHOWERS.



- Food concession will be available

- serving hot and cold food, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.



THIS IS A DRY RACE\CAMPUS - NO BEER ALLOWED.



Getting there:

about 85 miles \ 1 hour 50 min from GAP in Brooklyn.



For those of us without cars and not wanting to rent another zip car (or even those with a car looking for a change)

- a couple of folks found last year that you can take a NJ transit train NY Penn to Trenton, switch to a Septa (Philly based local) for a few more stops, and then ride ~7 miles over to the course.



bonus items near by\family excursions?:

* philly cheesesteaks as a recovery sandwich can probably be found in the area (there is a Steve's Prince of Steaks 3.5 miles away, one of my favs from when I was in Philly a lot)

* You could go to Red Robbin for a burger\chicken\salmon sandwich and bottomless fries on the way home (in the mall at route 1 and I276)

* Parx casino is also nearby (maybe not a family excursion for this one)



09:00 AM Race - Cat 4 Men

10:00 AM Races (125 combined field limit)

- Cat 1/2/3/4 Master Men 45+

- Cat 1/2/3/4 Master Men 55+

- Cat 1/2/3/4 Master Men 60+

11:00 AM Races (125 combined field limit)

- Cat 1/2/3/4 Master Women 45+

- Cat 3/4 Women 40 minutes

- Amateur U19 Men 40 minutes

- Amateur U19 Women 40 minutes

12:00 PM Races (125 combined field limit)

- Cat 1/2/3/4 Master Men 35+

- Elite U19 Men

1:15 PM Race - Elite Women/Master Women 35+

1:45 PM Kids Race - FREE / Medals for all

2:30 PM Race - Elite Men

3:45 PM Race - Cat 2/3/4 Men

Don't underestimate the benefit of hot showers and a proper locker room to making a race better. I took a shower after my race and it was so much better than wiping down with a few baby wipes and declaring yourself clean. I swear all CX races should have such excellent facilities.

Granted the dry campus thing does make recovery beers kind of a problem. I am willing to exchange that for a well run race on a nice location and a challenging course. Those short steep rises really do take it out of you there

Yeah, this was a goodie. Didn't Whirly feature the Cinnabon of Death (TM) ?!

Posted By: rhenningYeah, this was a goodie. Didn't Whirly feature the Cinnabon of Death (TM) ?!

Yes the Cinnabon of death, it just makes me a little motion sick in the middle of being sick for being at my limit for 45 minutes. It just makes one want to hurl even more.

Cinnabon of death?

More like the Thunderdome - I received more elbows in that thing than the lAst time I did all you can eat ribs at the cracker barrel. that said, you can also throw a few with little to no repercussions. Therapeutic in that sense.

Hey all,

If you're planning on doing either the 4 race or the Masters 45/55, I have one more spot open in the car for Whirlybird on the 25th. Leaving from Brooklyn and making a stop in lower Manhattan.

Leaving Brooklyn at about 5:30am and returning by about 2:30.

Jim

Love this race.

Hey all,

Just bumping this up to let everyone know that if you plan on doing the 4 race or the Masters 45/55 I still have one open spot in the car going to Whirlybird this coming Sunday (25th).

Leaving from Brooklyn and making a stop in lower Manhattan.

Leaving Brooklyn at about 5:30am and returning by about 2:30.

Jim

@Jim: I have a ride over with Jules, but if you have room on the way back, I might get in on that. He has to skeedaddle pronto.

Anyone interested in the masters race?

Does anyone have room in there car for a 3:30 racer?

email - Chris@bicyclehabitat.com

It looks like I am going to do the Elites. So, I may have room for an afternoon rider. It depends on my second bike status...

You can borrow the Redline as your pit bike. The collarbone separation means I won't be riding it for afew months.

its a separation now?

I will be leaving at 11 AM from 106th and CPW for the B Men's race. I have room for one, maybe two, racers. I'll start the return trip as soon as possible after the race. Email me at ftmclo@hotmail.com if interested.

Todd

Yup. Separation and broken ribs and torn muscles and ligaments. Yay.

Ugh. Sorry to hear that Jeff. Heal well and quickly.

Thanks man.

Seriously, if anyone wants a Redline as a pit bike you're welcome to it. It's obviously for a taller dude. It's a pretty decent ride and i've beaten the hell out of it, so there's no worries about "scuffing" it up or anything.

I just put on some pretty pink bar tape too.
xoxoxo

@ Jeff how did it go from nothing broken just lots of bruising to broken ribs? Did they see calcium deposits etc. on a subsequent xray?

Jeff,

Welcome to the broken/cracked rib club and a ruined CX season. I may be able to convince PT to ride up to the 'Burg on Sunday, especially if she'll get to hang with Leroy.

All this rain before each of the CX races so far it seems like this is going to a be a soupy wet season, especially some of those rises between the ball fields at WhirlyBird are going to be super slick and tough once they've been chewed up.

Heh, I haven't been riding (sick, f'd up bikes etc), so I didn't have high hopes for the cx season anyway. But it's still frustrating. BUT: I've broken the same clavicle before, so I'm glad it didn't refracture. It healed well.

@ Mike

Yeah, I wondered the same thing. I guess the difference between a young, possibly inexperienced ER doctor and an old specialist?

Sort of brief report from the AM Whirlybird races:

Did some practice laps in nice wet grass that quickly turned muddy in some spots. The day was humid and rather uncomfortable when the sun came out from behind the clouds. I tried to make sure I had taken on enough fluids yesterday but knew I would be thirsty during the race.

James G., Jeff W, Josh C., Rich H. and I lined up for the C race at 9:00. James and Jeff had decent starting positions in the top few rows. I was pretty much dead middle with Rich and Josh a ways behind. Whistle blows and I start to make my way through the crowd and move up about 20 spots before a section of off-camber bumps that strung it out into single file. Continue to pick off folks as they all seem to want to go slow on the straights. I lose a couple spots here and there taking less than perfect lines but settle in at what I judge must be about 25th place or so and concentrate on picking guys off one at a time. About 1/2 way through the second lap I feel a deep twinge in my back and my ability to put out power is severely reduced. Rich comes up to me and I wave him by, not sure what to do. For about 1/2 lap I couldn't do anything but turn the pedals over to keep on top of an easy gear. I contemplate pulling out but then Rich goes by me with some words of encouragement so I grit my teeth a little harder and concentrate on staying close to him. My back loosens up enough that I can pedal a little harder so I keep riding. I'm able to concentrate and pick some good lines, avoid a lot of crashes, and finish in what I guessed was about 30th.

Turns out I was 27th. My race number (and order of line up) was 54th so I made up exactly half the places in front of me. Rich scored some more MAC points with a 22nd (a great result considering he started in about the 11th row). Jeff came in the 30's with James and Josh not far behind.

David Stokes raced the 55+ and had another good race despite a 1st lap wipe out on the tarmac.

In all a great day at the races. My back is sort of f'ed up now but hopefully I'll get it sorted out.

Looking forward to a report from the afternoon crew.

Ouch

Jim Nelson, David Stokes, Jeff White & I rode together from the city to Whirlygigland in Bryn Athyn (Welsh for "very tenacious hill", sayeth Wikipedia), PA. I'm not so sure that the hills were tenacious, but the sopping wet grass sure did sap the energy from the old legs. After a handful of warmup laps, we knew it would be a tough race.

For the Men's C race, we lined up in order of registration, which put me somewhere around 75th. woo!

Due to late reg and quite a bit of soreness from a run this week, my plan was to ride for fun, pick up as many places as possible on the start, then make passes on the power/road sections and take good lines thru turns to hold position.

The gun was met with a slow start and clip-in, followed by a little sprint up the inside edge and a handful of brakes when i was [rightly] shut-out at the first corner, followed by another burst up the inside line and a little shouldering for position in the first straightaway after the turn. From here on in it was mostly tunnel vision, just moving up when possible and taking the smoothest lines possible around turns.

On the second lap in I heard Stokes yell "Top 40" which was a big pickup. With 30+ spots gained, I just fought for turf and kept trying to move up one person at a time and catch the next group. Blinders were on, focused on the next guy in front. "Easy breathing... Power in the straights, recover in the technical spots, but stay smooth.", I kept saying.

Along the way, met up w/ many of the guys in the club, giving a little push whenever possible. James, G, Whitey [who later asked if I ran over him :-/ Nope.] Eventually, finally got up to Jim N's wheel after following him for a good lap, he told me his back had had it and to go by. We rode together for a bit, then I kept on pushing, but slid out in an off-camber section. I gave him a push and the effort from moving up began to take its toll. "When will this be over" I started to ask... and then I was passed by the dude from Guy's Racing on a mountain bike during the last lap. WTF?! I managed to get that spot back and a few more, but was pipped near the line when I had nothing left to give in the sprint.

All in all, our efforts were good for Whitey around 30, Jim N. around 27 and me around 22 or 23. Very hard racing, well done by all in the club.

Not sure if Eric's ouch referred to my crash or Jim's back. But that is just what I felt when I found myself sprawled on the pavement after the first transition from grass. I had a crappy start and was trying to pick people off and work back towards the lead pack. I guess I leaned too hard on knobby tires meant to bite into mud, not asphalt. As a bunch of people passed me and I picked myself up with a sharp pain in my elbow and knee, I wondered whether my race was over. But then I said to mself, 'what would Boonen do?'. I jumped back on and set out to see what I could salvage from the race. I immediately felt better (and less winded from my little rest) and resumed picking people off. I rode well the rest of the race, picking good lines and eventually beating the guy who beat me last week. That's what 'croas is all about.

Re crashing: it is always faster not to crash, and I used to do that well. But I always wondered if I was being overly tentative on the technical bits. I would like to take my recent crashes as an indication that I am letting it all hang out (old expression that I think originates from Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in). Now I just need to maintain concentration, because today's crash was stupid.

Mike and I say ouch. We hurt. Mike crashed twice. Me no crash. Me drop chain and 3 min 1 min into the race(elites) . I almost caught someone at the end. In the money though.

Mike to busy sitting in passenger seat to type report.

Another tough day out there, but more encouraging than Nittany. I started 38th, so 5th row. Actually felt pretty damn good for the first lap and a half and was moving up, picking off riders, and sitting on the back of a group that included a guy from NJMTB.com who was one of the top C racers last year. So that was a good sign. I was actually moving better in the corners than the guys around me but loosing some ground on the flats. I tried to use some "course management" techniques to recover when I could.

Before the 2nd round through the whirly bird I started to crack a bit. I wasn't able to hold wheels and started to fade. I was having a tough time pushing a big enough gear and had to resort to just turning the pedals over. I conceded a few spots here and there, while only picking off riders who somehow managed to get top 15 starting spots but who were clearly struggling.

Towards the last lap there were a group of 3-4 riders up ahead. I was trying to move up and salvage a few spots. I cooked it too hard around a curve by went down pretty hard, luckily the entire left side of my body absorbed the impact so it was spread out a bit. I lost a few spots there but tried to get my act together. Coming into the final whirly bird I slid out once more, more a lapse of concentration and difficulty riding comfortably. Sucks.

Feeling pretty beat up now, but ready to race more!

nice battling out there, dudes

cross is an unforgiving activity

i've been getting pretty heavy into knitting lately - a bit more mellow, but definitely some thrills here and there

write me off-list if you cant race next weekend and want to darn that yarn together

fistpump,

-wm

Sounds fun! Good job all. Jealous I can't join in.

Hope you are alright, Mike.

I need to think of another way to participate like this guy from the Tacchino Cross, dressed as the eponymous turkey:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18185985@N04/6182770723/sizes/o/in/set-72157627628770811/