Aug 03, 2016 at 06:27 PM
Anyone need a ride to the Jersey Devil this weekend? My race is around the same time as the Men's Cat 5. https://www.bikereg.com/31670
Jersey Devil
Aug 03, 2016 at 07:00 PM
I won't be in town 
Aug 05, 2016 at 02:00 PM
Yo Jill - I think I want to go. Can I tentatively hold a place in your car? Room for my bike? Jeff racing 4's?
Aug 05, 2016 at 02:29 PM
I am racing the 4s, though I'm pretty skeptical I'll be able to last to the sprint. It's basically 10x very steep hill repeats very close together.
Aug 05, 2016 at 02:43 PM
The course looks tough - not sure how I'll stack up
Aug 05, 2016 at 05:02 PM
Aaagh, that sucks I wish I could be there! I am sure you guys will kick some ass though! Good luck
Aug 08, 2016 at 02:09 PM
Race Report for W4 field
Our start was delayed about 45 minutes, so at 1:30 when we began it was getting pretty hot out. The course is a 4.4 mile loop that we did 6 times and it starts with a little kicker that gets up to 12%, then flattens out and then pitches up for a long grind for the next couple of miles. I decided to climb my own speed on the first uphill and then got a pretty good gap after the first lap, but as I was coming through the start finish the second time I was startled to see that there were two women on my wheel. Apparently, 3 had organized a chase and were working well together to catch me, but the 3rd woman got dropped. So, we worked together until the second to last hill when the strongest climber of our group went ahead. I started to feel my legs cramping and my back burning on the last climb and lost the woman that I was working with. The three of us ended up coming in solo and I ended up 3rd.
Our start was delayed about 45 minutes, so at 1:30 when we began it was getting pretty hot out. The course is a 4.4 mile loop that we did 6 times and it starts with a little kicker that gets up to 12%, then flattens out and then pitches up for a long grind for the next couple of miles. I decided to climb my own speed on the first uphill and then got a pretty good gap after the first lap, but as I was coming through the start finish the second time I was startled to see that there were two women on my wheel. Apparently, 3 had organized a chase and were working well together to catch me, but the 3rd woman got dropped. So, we worked together until the second to last hill when the strongest climber of our group went ahead. I started to feel my legs cramping and my back burning on the last climb and lost the woman that I was working with. The three of us ended up coming in solo and I ended up 3rd.
Aug 08, 2016 at 03:17 PM
yes!!
Aug 08, 2016 at 04:19 PM
This was a brute of a course.
I might have raced it in the distant past, as the place we staged looked mighty familiar. Might have done crits there back in the day and probably some road races, too.
I kind of blew the race before it started by getting lost en route from Middletown, NJ to the race. So the hour I was expecting to have to warm up disappeared. Further slowing things was the slow bathroom line. People were getting undressed and dressed and live tweeting their time in the portapots. No warmup.
While I didn't remember the course, I did see the profile, and did have a little knowledge. The short 66 mile state championship distance for the 1/2/3 men reflected the course difficulty. There was a masters race here last year, and one of the guys starting rolled off at the start into a two-up break which lasted most of the race.
The hill is like 250 meters after the start. We attacked out our the parking lot. I could tell the first time up the hill that I wasn't warmed up. But High Gear had several riders and was attacking every chance they could. Remember, first lap.
Three miles in, it already seems like a break is forming. I figure I'd rather be up there with High Gear then have to deal with constant attacks. And there would be High Gear riders behind blocking. So I kill myself to get up there. We finish the lap too quickly and hit the hill again. Not feeling good. Into the 28 pretty fast. One of the high gear guys reflects to me that he's not feeling so good. I tell him I'm not sure how long I can hold on. By the top of the steep pitch, I'm dropped.
I figure I have some time before the field is on me. They're on me before I know it. I try to slot in on the back. I do that. But it's a false flat and I'm not recovered. I get dropped. Then a chase group comes. I follow them for a while. And I'm dropped again.
Kept pedaling. Eventually, I'm lapped. Keep pedaling. I'm with a chase group sitting at the back. No idea if this is everyone or just stragglers from behind me or what. I sit on them for a lap or two. Then we're caught by another group. One of the guys from that first chase is next to me on the steep hill. He announced he thinks this is th last lap for him. Then, a few seconds later, I hear him gurgle. "I just threw up." he announces. "I'm done," he says and just does a u-turn and goes back to his car.
I got pulled with three to go. Ended up 19th.
High gear had three in the move of six that started on the first lap. They took second through fourth. The winner had bridged from the field and had ridden away solo by three minutes. Fifth was five minutes behind fourth. (another rider in the break was disqualified) Sixth, the first in the field, was another minute and a half behind, ten minutes down on the winner. Seven guys comprised the field. 13-19 were pulled and placed. I was 19th.
Want another shot at this race.
I might have raced it in the distant past, as the place we staged looked mighty familiar. Might have done crits there back in the day and probably some road races, too.
I kind of blew the race before it started by getting lost en route from Middletown, NJ to the race. So the hour I was expecting to have to warm up disappeared. Further slowing things was the slow bathroom line. People were getting undressed and dressed and live tweeting their time in the portapots. No warmup.
While I didn't remember the course, I did see the profile, and did have a little knowledge. The short 66 mile state championship distance for the 1/2/3 men reflected the course difficulty. There was a masters race here last year, and one of the guys starting rolled off at the start into a two-up break which lasted most of the race.
The hill is like 250 meters after the start. We attacked out our the parking lot. I could tell the first time up the hill that I wasn't warmed up. But High Gear had several riders and was attacking every chance they could. Remember, first lap.
Three miles in, it already seems like a break is forming. I figure I'd rather be up there with High Gear then have to deal with constant attacks. And there would be High Gear riders behind blocking. So I kill myself to get up there. We finish the lap too quickly and hit the hill again. Not feeling good. Into the 28 pretty fast. One of the high gear guys reflects to me that he's not feeling so good. I tell him I'm not sure how long I can hold on. By the top of the steep pitch, I'm dropped.
I figure I have some time before the field is on me. They're on me before I know it. I try to slot in on the back. I do that. But it's a false flat and I'm not recovered. I get dropped. Then a chase group comes. I follow them for a while. And I'm dropped again.
Kept pedaling. Eventually, I'm lapped. Keep pedaling. I'm with a chase group sitting at the back. No idea if this is everyone or just stragglers from behind me or what. I sit on them for a lap or two. Then we're caught by another group. One of the guys from that first chase is next to me on the steep hill. He announced he thinks this is th last lap for him. Then, a few seconds later, I hear him gurgle. "I just threw up." he announces. "I'm done," he says and just does a u-turn and goes back to his car.
I got pulled with three to go. Ended up 19th.
High gear had three in the move of six that started on the first lap. They took second through fourth. The winner had bridged from the field and had ridden away solo by three minutes. Fifth was five minutes behind fourth. (another rider in the break was disqualified) Sixth, the first in the field, was another minute and a half behind, ten minutes down on the winner. Seven guys comprised the field. 13-19 were pulled and placed. I was 19th.
Want another shot at this race.
Aug 08, 2016 at 04:50 PM
JP warned me vociferously in the parking lot to "get in as hard a warm up as you can and spin like a motherfucker." I usually don't hear such unequivocal language from him, so I took heed, cranking some serious wattage and cadence around the J&J office park loop before the start.
It was a good thing. We had 10 laps for 44 miles. The first time up the climb wasn't as crazy as in JP's race, but it still hurt like the dickens and made me question the nature of my next two hours' existence. On the first descent, five minutes in, the Jersey Devil bit a hole in Brian's rear tire. He was displeased, as was I.
I got through the first eight climbs with the field, then the Jersey Devil chomped into my left hamstring in the generally uphill stuff after the wall. I tried to pedal Him off, but His fangs were too deep and His jaws too strong. I simply had to pedal with my right leg, which couldn't get me to the descent in time to stay in contact. Niall was climbing much better and finished in the reduced pack sprint. I did the last lap and a half solo.
It's a good race and I'd do it again. I'd also arrange for a third bottle in the feed zone, as it was hot as Hades out there.
It was a good thing. We had 10 laps for 44 miles. The first time up the climb wasn't as crazy as in JP's race, but it still hurt like the dickens and made me question the nature of my next two hours' existence. On the first descent, five minutes in, the Jersey Devil bit a hole in Brian's rear tire. He was displeased, as was I.
I got through the first eight climbs with the field, then the Jersey Devil chomped into my left hamstring in the generally uphill stuff after the wall. I tried to pedal Him off, but His fangs were too deep and His jaws too strong. I simply had to pedal with my right leg, which couldn't get me to the descent in time to stay in contact. Niall was climbing much better and finished in the reduced pack sprint. I did the last lap and a half solo.
It's a good race and I'd do it again. I'd also arrange for a third bottle in the feed zone, as it was hot as Hades out there.
Aug 08, 2016 at 06:31 PM
Nice course, definitely hard. Hated to get a flat on first lap. A pre-race warning that the descent was lined with pot-holes on the right side of the road would have been wise, on the organizers part. 3 or 4 guys flatted out on the first lap. That said, if you are a punchy rider with a good bit of stamina, relative to field, this course is for you
Aug 09, 2016 at 03:20 AM
@Brian Miele that sucked about your puncture, I saw it happen right in front of me... they took out another 1-2 riders on that first descent, it was actually pretty dangerous... should definitely have been called out by the organizers.
For my part I was doing my best to position at the front as the field came to the steep section, I didn't have the legs to attack but wanted to maximize my chances of being able to follow anyone who did. A junior then a CRCA rider made some harder efforts on laps 7 and 8 but it wasn't enough to make any real gaps. I tried an attack just before the downhill started but didn't have the gas, so ultimately ended up rolling in with about 20 other riders. With about 500ft to go Ted from Waffles took what looked like a serious fall in the pre-sprint sprint but thankfully made it out with some cuts and bruises.
I have mixed feelings on the course... the climb is so brutish the rest of our race was fairly mute. If you were fresh and like that kind of punchy climb you could do a lot of damage
Would be a good one for @SeanMiles and I'm curious to see what
@Brian Miele can do next year too
For my part I was doing my best to position at the front as the field came to the steep section, I didn't have the legs to attack but wanted to maximize my chances of being able to follow anyone who did. A junior then a CRCA rider made some harder efforts on laps 7 and 8 but it wasn't enough to make any real gaps. I tried an attack just before the downhill started but didn't have the gas, so ultimately ended up rolling in with about 20 other riders. With about 500ft to go Ted from Waffles took what looked like a serious fall in the pre-sprint sprint but thankfully made it out with some cuts and bruises.
I have mixed feelings on the course... the climb is so brutish the rest of our race was fairly mute. If you were fresh and like that kind of punchy climb you could do a lot of damage
Would be a good one for @SeanMiles and I'm curious to see what @Brian Miele can do next year too
Aug 09, 2016 at 03:55 PM
Go Niall! 
https://youtu.be/a-9EA1MLSgw?t=7073
https://youtu.be/a-9EA1MLSgw?t=7073