taking up this space to remind you of the tactics talk you'll find on this thread

Bear Mountain appears to be the NYS Championship race for many categories this year. It's May 10th.

https://www.bikereg.com/crca-bear-mountain-spring-classic-2015

Cat 3s and 4s; at some point you should probably start talking about this race, discussing your individual goals for the season; and then see if you guys can coordinate together approaching race day with the aim of getting a KCC jersey on the top step of the podium.

Grant's Tomb. Saturday March 14. There are many many many great reasons to do this race. There are a few terrible reasons not to. Usually a moderate KCC turnout at this early season classic.

https://www.bikereg.com/crca-grants-tomb-criterium-2015

Craig, Marc, etc.

Craig, Marc, etc.

I'm always up for Grant's Tomb.  Looks like we've got three for the I/II/III race.

Awesome. FWIW, I will only be doing the 1/2/3 race and not doubling up with a Master's and/or tripling up with the cat 2/3 race.

3/4 race for the win. I haven't been doing these 20 hour indoor trainer weeks and dieting like crazy for nothing.

Long training ride afterwards for any KCC's that care to join.

anyone going to the CT Nutmeg races?

Not currently planning on attending, but if there is no NYC Spring Series, and I need to race, I will consider driving out of town for this, or other spring series, on a strictly, "as needed" basis.

I will say, that I'm probably one of a very few Kissenas (maybe the only one?) who has raced at least once a year in Walnut Hill Park for the last handful of years. (But usually at a later summer event, not the Spring Series versions.) And I have to say, I'm a fan. This park was designed by Olmsted. And so like Central Park, it has a really nice flow to it. There are a couple of tricky sections that require heads-up racing. In my mind, this park course qualifies, as a legit crit course. What's nice about it, is that if you are down on horsepower a bit, but pay careful attention to your positioning, you can survive and finish and get a good day of racing in.

Tim I am thinking of going to these but don't have a car. I was possibly going to do a Zipcar or go and stay in CT Saturday night before the race with family. Prefer to commute up the day of though since the races are later in the day (9:30am Cat 4 and 1:00pm for Cat 3/4). Let me know if you want to carpool up and I'm happy to split costs. This is a great course. I raced here a lot years ago and would like to do them again.

These two CT Races are put on by the promoter of the now-defunct Bethel Series, so they should be very well organized.

I'm pretty psyched about the Trooper Brinkerhoff Series

These races are awesome and I highly recommend them.

Pending extreme weather, I'm planning to do the first one of these. I'll be away for the last two.

I am interested to do any of the trooper blinker off races. Never done them before and they seem fun. Don't have a car but can contribute to gas money/expenses.

I might be interested in one of these depending on if I have the time.  Google maps shows around a 2.5hr drive each way.  Anyone have insight on how long the actual travel times were last year?

2+ hours-ish each way seems about right. Worth it. Some of the best road racing you'll do.

Yeah it's definitely not close. I would say at least 2.5 hr each way. It's a full day for sure, but worth it IMO. 

2.5 hours as a straight shoot from Brooklyn. 3 hours with rider pickups and a coffee stop @ Plattekill services.

If I can fit just one of these in it would be great. Do you cat 3 guys race the 3/4 or 123?

I do the 123. I got dropped from all 3 last year. Rude awakening. 2 years ago I hung on.

I'm in better shape this year.

as a rider in the 3/4 and an observer of the 1/2/3 I would recommend doing the 3/4.

Thanks all, thats some good info. It would cool to get a posse of 4s to race together up there.

I'm pretty psyched about the Trooper Brinkerhoff Series

After reading about all the suffering and groveling, I find myself very interested in this series.

I'm in for the 4s, if we can actually make it through this winter, first, and practice bicycle riding outside.

I'd like to do one or two of these. They sound brutal.

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Craig, thanks for posting your tentative race schedule. For those looking for a good team racing experience, you know, "elite" style, it might be worth your time to hook up with Craig. Last year, Andy DS and Konrad both had good team building race experiences traveling to and racing with Craig for the better part of a month or more.

Related, fair warning Craig, google look for videos on the Lower Providence crit. If memory serves I got pumped about this remembering some interesting PA crits I did a few years ago, then I saw the video and noticed it is a four corner office park crit...which is hard for me to justify the rental car.

March 29, however, part of a ECCC race weekend, there looks to be a challenging crit on the Tufts campus. That course looks double legit and worth the drive for me.

https://www.bikereg.com/boston-beanpot-2015