Mar 08, 2013 at 03:05 PM
High of 38 today with continued precipitation. 50-50 this will turn to rain and wash all the snow/ice off the course.
Grant's Tomb Criterium
Mar 08, 2013 at 03:20 PM
Floris Backer van Ommeren, @John Malcomson (I wish this thing would do @'s with names with spaces...) i'll be riding up from brooklyn. my start (and Floris') is 7 am, so I'll aim to leave from the brooklyn bridge at ... 5:30? 5:15? cat 5's must check in by 6:45, with registration opening at 6:15.
is this race still happening? i am new to bicycle racing: do they hold races if the road is covered in salty slush? will they sweep the roads or something? does the pack just slow? hardcore snow now followed by freezing temperatures overnight. at 7 am, when my race starts, temperature will be freezing without accounting for effects of 12 MPH wind. ice skating on wheels?
two questions:
- can/should i borrow bigger tires from someone? the only tires i have are 23mm (contintental 4seasons). looking outside at this blizzard, i can't help but think that racing on them would be dangerous and irresponsible. i've only ever ridden 23's, so i defer to the collective kissena wisdom on this move. does anyone have some 25mm's that i can borrow for the 25 min cat 5 race at 7:00? i can switch the tires out right quick once i finish. i've also heard that 28mm's will fit on my caad10, which has non-series sram brakes that accomodate 28mm tires.
- does anyone want me to bring my rollers for them to warm up on? if so, i'd need a ride to the venue to get them there.
Brendan Rigby
(774) 219-4511
rigby.b@gmail.com
rigby.b@gmail.com
Mar 08, 2013 at 03:28 PM
they'll cancel if there is actual snow/ ice on the course.I don't think there will be, call me a dreamer.
Mar 08, 2013 at 03:44 PM
I think the snow/ice is not going to directly be a problem...but the real question is whether they can get the city to tow cars in sufficient amount to hold the race. This is always the culprit when the cut the long course and I've done the race with a few cars "coned off" of the short course. But not sure what the threshold is for organizers/officials here.
Mar 08, 2013 at 05:28 PM
Good point Marc - this is usually the cause of a late start too. Come wearing enough clothes to stand around and wait beforehand. There will be teammates to leave jackets with.Marc Bertucco said:
I think the snow/ice is not going to directly be a problem...but the real question is whether they can get the city to tow cars in sufficient amount to hold the race. This is always the culprit when the cut the long course and I've done the race with a few cars "coned off" of the short course. But not sure what the threshold is for organizers/officials here.
Mar 08, 2013 at 05:49 PM
Think positive, y'all - I'll be in snowy upstate NY sending a prayer for raceable conditions.
Mar 08, 2013 at 05:50 PM
FWIW, crca will be doing more of the heavy lifting this year as opposed to Columbia, they may be slightly better at gettin er done.
More importantly, do I bother shaving my legs for tomorrow? I know the knees will be covered, but not sure if the calves will be flying free in the breeze.
Mar 08, 2013 at 05:55 PM
Mattie, THINK OF THE PHOTO FINISH
THE PHOTO FINISH
Mar 08, 2013 at 10:49 PM
Guys. My one bit of advice. If you're confident and feeling good towards the end. Make sure you get up front and stay there. Your teammates will try to help as best they can,but if something happens and they get caught out,take charge remembering that you can and will finish it.
Good luck.
Eric
Good luck.
Eric
Mar 08, 2013 at 11:05 PM
I will not be racing tomorrow. However, I am planning to drive up to support the squad. Would leave Brooklyn at 6. Anyone want a lift?
Mar 08, 2013 at 11:50 PM
I'll take a lift if you've room and plan to arrive in time for the 7:00 race. Address is 205 State St. I can meet you at the Brooklyn Bridge if that's how you're going.
Brendan Rigby
(774) 219-4511
rigby.b@gmail.com
Mar 09, 2013 at 12:08 AM
Hi Brendan,
If you want to ride in a 7 am race, you want to be there by 6:15. You will need time to get registered and warm up. I will come by and get you at 5:40.
McKay
If you want to ride in a 7 am race, you want to be there by 6:15. You will need time to get registered and warm up. I will come by and get you at 5:40.
McKay
Mar 09, 2013 at 12:15 AM
Bike path along the west side high way was cleared from snow but still v wet with (melting) snow on sides. As a Dutchman, I should appreciate ice skating but I think biking there in the dark is risky... So i'll be going by car from Tribeca / ~540am and have one more place on the rack. Let me know if you want to join.
florisbacker@gmail.com / 646 409 7266
florisbacker@gmail.com / 646 409 7266
Mar 09, 2013 at 12:46 AM
I heard Dave stokes has a free jacket to wear at the race!
Mar 09, 2013 at 12:51 AM
@McKay Duncan
Thanks for the ride. It's going to make tomorrow a lot better. I'll be outside my building, 205 State St., at 5:40. Holy shit that's early.
Should I bring my rollers? Just not sure how I'd get them back to my place but I'm sure someone's car would have room for them. I'll bring them if people want them around to warm up on. They have resistance.
Brendan Rigby
(774) 219-4511
rigby.b@gmail.com
rigby.b@gmail.com
Mar 09, 2013 at 12:59 AM
wow McKay! That's what I call service!
Mar 09, 2013 at 01:08 AM
Reminder for all racers, I'm going to be there from 6:30 through the time when JP throws up his arm in victory in the Pro 1/2 race.
All...looks like SRAM Neutral support this year. Leave your spare wheels at home!
Cat 5 racers, look for me and we can have a brief pow-wow, do a few warm-up laps, see which course they've set up, check out the corners, feel which direction the wind is whipping, talk about super-double-secret strategery etc.
Cat 4s and 3s...You both have HUGE fields for these courses. 100+ racers. If the roads are damp at all, you can expect wrecks and splits. Stay up front, stay up front, stay up front!
Cat 4s...looks like the two Jeffs are going to be representing. You guys are going to have to be more reactive, playing off the other big teams. 100 riders in your field. Double yikes. STAY UP FRONT.
Cat 3s...probably Kissena's best chance for a podium shot. 9 guys signed up. Lots of potential. Extreme caution though. You've got 110 racers in your field. STAY UP FRONT.
Pro 1/2...JP you're solo on this one again. I got caught out by "no day-of registration." In addition to the usual suspects, there are plenty of New England/PA college kids who usually don't race in NYC. One name I recognize Peter Vollers Jr. is the son of a New England legend who used to race with one of my collegiate teammates, and his son was rip'n shit up in New England cross season. I think it's interesting, that most of Mengoni's and WS United's aren't racing at all. Which on the one hand surprises me, but on the other doesn't surprise me at all. Borough is Mengoni's sole rep. Sydney Charles and Scott Savory for WS United.
All, I encourage you, if you can to hang out and watch the Pro 1/2 race. There are going to be a lot of very good racers throwing down, and JP has a legit shot at a top 20 here, and he's very good at race positioning. Learning opportunities galore.
Mar 09, 2013 at 01:42 AM
Won't be able to make it out tomorrow, but good luck fellas. Keep the rubber side down and bring home mad muffins, y'all!
Mar 09, 2013 at 04:21 AM
with no yacks, who's got the embro hook up
Mar 09, 2013 at 04:40 AM
Good luck tomorrow, Grants Tombers.
Be smart. And mean.
Mar 09, 2013 at 04:41 AM
,,,and safe!
Mar 09, 2013 at 06:11 PM
reports?
whappen?
Mar 09, 2013 at 06:50 PM
some of us with blown knees are hitting refresh all day trying to live vicariously throuh your exploits...you selfish bastards !
Mar 09, 2013 at 07:25 PM
Fantastic racing & spectating today. Guys if you missed this try hard for the next one. Watching was plenty exciting.
I'm going through about 800 photos now and one three things are for sure:
1) the 3's rode like a hungry pack of wolves - close together and angry - love it!
2) Mattie has a crazy pain face
3) they don't call him "handsome joe" for nothing
Peace,
J
Mar 09, 2013 at 07:33 PM
For those who want to see photos, check out our twitter feed or the KCC flickr group. I'll be uploading throughout the day.
Mar 09, 2013 at 07:42 PM
Teamwork - more than 1/2 way through... the arrows are necessary because without the orange helmets nobody would be able to spot them 
Mar 09, 2013 at 08:37 PM
Well ... What happened?!?!
Mar 09, 2013 at 08:55 PM
well I had a comedy of errors. they were running late, as usual. at reg they announced a 40 minute delay. so I take 25 minutes to get a nice solid warm up after driving in. Roll into the reg area and see the field all lined up. I'm still in my jacket, with no jersey or LS base underneath. As I go to rip my jacket off they whistle them off. Fack. Got dressed, dropped my chain, caught the pack before the first left hand turn, last wheel. Died a million deaths. Really thought I was going to become unhinged in the first 1/3 of the race everytime we went up the false flat finish. Hang in there, start moving up. 7 to go, floating around top 15. Bell lap, got a little too forward after the power climb and find myself in the wind, 3rd wheel on the backside. Try and float a little bit to catch the wave before I get eaten up. Starting to get swarmed at the banked turn, try and jump wheels into a clean sprint, mainly find dead ones. Sprint for like 13th or something. Poo.
Mar 09, 2013 at 10:45 PM
Positives:
- free front tire from SRAM neutral (awesome!)
- fastest start—second wheel for first lap
- lasted the distance
- rode Vollbach's wheel a few laps to try and get my shit together
- neutralized one break by Six Cycles/FGX
- Held it together when guy fell sideways onto my handlebars (that was the big crash)
- got to sit in Jules's booster seat like big boys do!
- tried to get away 3 to go, strung the field out into 1 to go
Negatives
- tried to get away 3 to go, strung the field out into 1 to go
- Lousy pre/in-race Comm's (maybe we revive a thread on this—road captain, roles and responsibilities, best practices)
- too gassed and a tad sketched to organize chase (how hard was it out there?).
- struggling to hold position for much of the race (could see Keith's white legs though, ripping it up on the front!).
- about as prepared as a 9 year old going to school camp (thanks Jules and Whitey)
- no orange helmet!
Interesting:
- Watching P1/2 throw down what looked like 350+ watt hour—brutal race JP!
- arriving at the course to see a Cat 5 guy wash out on a patch of ice (fortunately it thawed before our race)
- Renee crashed, but got job offer. Guess that's a net positive!
Special thanks to General Bertucco and CENTCOM Jules for the support and guidance out there today.
Mar 09, 2013 at 10:45 PM
does anyone know where any of the photographers who were at this race and where their photos might be available? OTHER than jules, of course? i know where to find his excellent artwork.
cat 5 race was fun. first race of the day, the guinea pigs!
pace car didn't brush the snow off its roof, dumped some on the course in the middle of an early turn, and some people crashed out to it. floris's rear wheel got clipped but he was able to continue, though the disruption broke the field in two and i'm not sure it ever got back together. luckily the crash happened outside my line so i cruised by it while thanking heavens above.
siggi's/nyvelocity had a small army in the race. at one point one of their guys pulled off the front (i think it was after the crash). his teammates and i, with the emphasis on i, proceeded to chase him (only after one of his teammates yelled at me to do some work in the chase effort). by the time i got to him i was exhausted and couldn't even pull. group brought us back.
using bertucco's excellent recommendation of a wide line through the bumpy stuff, was able to move up the field after drifting back. in the final straight, i wedged myself half-wheel style between two unfortunate chaps on the final approach to the sprint, shielded from the wind but also blocked from sprinting. yelled at them to get out of the way when it became clear that they were not going to continue accelerating at a time when it needed to happen. thankfully they peeled off sideways a bit, allowing me to continue and move up to third. i think we were well behind the first two, oh well 
the real news story here is that the cat5 medals for grant's are shamefully shiesty. it doesn't even say the name of the event. i would've preferred a pair of tubes. even just one tube would be more valuable than this thing. all medals are the same color. maybe i will tell people i got second.
also cool was watching this dude tear it up in the p12. on the bike, he looked intimidating. on that website, he looks like a non-human cast member from Walking Dead.
