Mar 09, 2013 at 10:51 PM
Congratulations Brendan! (Not too surprised having seen you sprint a bit on group ride a couple of months ago. Sorry about the sheisty medal.)
Grant's Tomb Criterium
Mar 09, 2013 at 10:56 PM
Mar 09, 2013 at 11:13 PM
That was a great effort on everyone's part and great to see you guys out there racing and supporting the team.
I saw Sharon Nord out there taking photos and looks like she's posted them on her FB account. I see KCC riders in the pictures
Mar 09, 2013 at 11:18 PM
https://www.facebook.com/TeamSixcycle also take lots of pictures
Mar 09, 2013 at 11:19 PM
Photos HERE fuck those other guys... so to speak 
Mar 09, 2013 at 11:44 PM
wicked photos
Mar 10, 2013 at 12:09 AM
these photos are awesome. thanks everyone. when is the mentoring session on "proper positioning for photo ops"? many of you could teach it.
Mar 10, 2013 at 12:26 AM
@rene herrera WHAT JOB OFFER DID YOU GET?
Mar 10, 2013 at 12:49 AM
@WilliamDC salesperson for echelon cycles .
Mar 10, 2013 at 12:51 AM
Completing my first race as a Kissena member, considering that I placed nearly last place, I had an absolute blast. I am a competitor and strongly dislike losing, but there were so many fantastic elements to the day that really impressed me. Kissena team members showed with both their words and actions what great teammates they are. As John and Brendan mentioned, mad props to General Bertucco and CENTCOM Jules for their help. Bertucco took us through the course and gave us great insight on some key elements. McKay gave Brendan and I a ride, showed great support with a whole bunch of other Kissena teammates and riders. Hanging out the rest of the day and learning from veterans was fantastic. Bruce was there to support us all. Much respect for Brendan finishing third. Looking forward to many more races. Racing is fortunately something that you can get better at with hard work. Having a great team to ride for is not always in your control and I feel extremely grateful to be part of this team.
Mar 10, 2013 at 01:01 AM
I'm biased, but I thought it was a great day for Kissena's across all categories. Very pleased to see not only so many racers, but a lot of guys came out in street clothes just to cheer and spectate. When they could have been sleeping, eating and/or snuggling with their honeys. Instead they stood around and cheered and tolerated my obnoxious yapping/play-by-play, etc. That's just eff'n awesome. Worth the price of admission. Kissena makes me proud to be a part of the club.
I got to the course a little later than planned but with tow-trucks still in action, it was clear the start would be delayed. Which allowed me to ride a few hot-laps with Brendan, Floris and Chris. The two Jeffs, getting ready for the Cat 4 race where there zipping around too. Ice on the outer edges of the course, forced organizers to place metal barriers such that the normally super wide roads were now just regular width.
Cat 5's kicked it off. Good positioning for all our guys early on. Chris gets the hard-man award for racing in short sleeves. Floris used his MTB skills honed in the Netherlands and avoided getting his head chopped off by flying sheets of ice off of the totally unnecessary pace vehicle. And of course Brendan, as you read, gets 3rd after a good sprint in what I think was his first race ever.
You know what happened to me in my first race 21 years ago? DFL. Dropped. And it took me a whole season of getting dropped before I finally finished a race in the field.
Cat 4s were next. Jeff White and Jeff Condon after a ride from Brooklyn, were ready to rock. Whitey got out strong and fast, riding at the front of the pack. Condon's start less good, but still safely within the pack. Condon moves up and with 2 laps to go, he was sitting 21st wheel. Not too shabby. White fighting off some illness retired from the race after looking super pro in the beginning.
Cat 3s were ready to tear it up. Lots of strong guys, all over the front, like cock roaches over a piece of prosciutto that fell on the floor. A break of two gets away, with no Kissena's represented. Here's were the aforementioned communication breakdown shows up. There were some individual efforts to chase back the move, but no focused, concentrated effort to sacrifice a 3 or 4 of the guys to leave 3 or 4 fresh for last lap moves and/or sprinting. The guys are clearly strong, and will be a force to reckoned with. Will be good to race with the 1/2/3s in the park. Because, you know, JP and I are pretty good/bitchy about shouting out instructions etc. In the end Vollbach sprinted for 9th, and Mattie, Mueller and Snyder for 14, 15 and 16th respectively.
The Pro 1/2 race fielded was for JP to shine. I was out because I thought no day-of registration, but as I milled about the starting grid there were many guys who were absolutely not pre-registered. Of course by the time I realized this, no time for me to get signed and pinned up. And maybe it was just for special guys like Mengonis and one of the dude's who was in the 3 rider break that nearly lapped the field. The pace was FIERCE from the get-go. Strong guys up front were clearly looking to create gaps and get their splits. And it worked. About 10 guys, including pros Scott Ziwanski (Optimum), and "semi-pros" Michael Chauner, Dan Chabinov, Micheal Margarite and Nick Rogers split from the field. JP was comfortably riding in the strung out pack, but too far back to when the major split happened. With 1/2 lap to go, he was 3rd wheel in the chasing peloton that was sprinting for 11th place. He reports getting swarmed in the end to miss out on a top 20, but all in all, he still had a pretty good race. It will infuriate him to know that Greg Olson scored 11th place on the day.
Mar 10, 2013 at 02:24 AM
I'd like to give a big shoutout to all the Kissena's that didn't race or raced and stayed to support the racers. As painful as the race was, you gave me the strength to get through it and made it kind of funny too.... goes a long way.
Thanks guys.
Thanks guys.
Mar 10, 2013 at 03:19 AM
Wow - here is the last lap crash that took out Rene - Matthew was in the doomed break so he must have been completely gassed. Good lesson there; stay the f*ck away from tired riders in a crit... wait, that might be everyone...
Mar 10, 2013 at 03:27 AM
Matthew didn't cause the crash a black tie rider swerved into him.
Mar 10, 2013 at 03:34 AM
Mar 10, 2013 at 04:52 AM
I fully agree with Brandon and Chris' write up of the Cat5 race. Many thanks to Marc, Jules and the rest in supporting us during the early race. I was great to hear "move up!" while I was fighting my way back to the peleton after the indicent..was good to be road racing again for the first time in 15 years
Mar 11, 2013 at 02:28 AM
Marc,
Fairly accurate recount. A few things to add.
I was certain it was going to be a long break that took the race. I was also certain that Chauner (more of a faux-pro) and Zwisanski (a real pro) would be there. I also was certain that a NoTubes/Proferrin rider would be there, was expecting Margarite. And that a Champ-Sys guy would be there. I was expecting Greg Olsen. so I knew it was coming and still didn't get there.
the problem I had during the early part of the race was moving up. I've done the course many, many times, and the fencing/ice took out many of the lines I typically use to stealthily and efficiently move up. With the fencing on the right past the finish line, it was hard to go fast on the extreme right and fly through the first corner. The fencing on turn two meant you almost had to choose between riding some depressed manhole covers for the better line or taking a worse line on slightly better pavement. The Claremont straight was narrowed, so shooting down the right side was near impossible, the fencing at turn three left little room to take the turn fast unless you were the first one through. Then, on the road to the finish, I usually move up easily on the left side, but that was taken away by cones and ice.
So trying to move up without burning matches proved difficult, and I was patiently trying to figure out the best lines--and felt like I was getting a bit better. When I saw Zwisanski go, and I wasn't on his wheel, I knew it was probably too late, but I gave chase anyways. don't know if I would have made it with the right guys with me, but I had both a NoTubes and Champ-Sys guy on me and they shut me down after I had done a decent job closing the gap--and nobody countered.
I also blew it at the end. I got to the front right before the bell, got a little gap, but the field was closing me down. I took a breather on Claremont (still in the lead), and then as I got to 122nd, Pete Vollers Sr. came by with his charge in tow. I got on them. Presto. Third wheel. Felt pretty good. But as Vollers emptied his tank on the run to the turnaround at the top of the course, I could tell if I didn't get a little more rest I wasn't going to have any sprint. So I backed off, and backed off too much. Felt stupid about that. Still don't know if I would have had a sprint. Vollers' teammate was third or fourth in the bunch.
The winner, a college student and member of the Hincapie development team also won the Collegiate A race later in the day. He, Chauner, and Zwisanski live pretty close to each other, the second two in the same town.
Mar 11, 2013 at 02:57 AM
Good looking Brendan!
Mar 11, 2013 at 12:50 PM
I was just looking at the results. Did THAT many people DNF? Or did they no show?
Mar 11, 2013 at 01:09 PM
don't know to which race you are referring. If it's the P/1/2, the answer is yes. And I'm surprised it wasn't more.
Mar 11, 2013 at 01:20 PM
all the open races had huge DNFs. I was just wondering as its shocking.
Mar 11, 2013 at 01:41 PM
wow that is huge. does DNF in a crit just mean you crossed the finish after more than a specific amount of time after the winner? or do you have to actually fail to cross the finish line to get a DNF? USAC booklet uninformative https://s3.amazonaws.com/USACWeb/forms/rules/2013-USAC-Rulebook-Chapter3.pdf
malcolmson thanks for that. guy in the red on the left ended up coming in behind me, probably because he tried to sprint by himself out in the wind...
Mar 11, 2013 at 01:49 PM
I think those were all starters. Marc would have a better idea, as might Jeff White.
With the wind and narrowed course, it wasn't easy.
Mar 11, 2013 at 01:55 PM
Grant's Tomb = fancy lads stay home !...that is all
Mar 11, 2013 at 02:27 PM
Brendan,
Sorry I didn't answer your query.
Generally, riders are pulled when they are in danger of being lapped and they are out of contention for any prizes or placing. If you scan the results, you'll also see "P&P" which means pulled and placed. This means that the people were taken out of the race and given a placing because there were prizes still available to them. An example of this is if there are 10 paying places in a race and there are 9 in a group and one about to be lapped. That person who is about to be lapped is pulled from the race and given 10th place. there are some quirks. If one of those 9 crashes out, then that person is out of the race and the person pulled gets 9th.
On long courses, riders are sometimes pulled for the sake of the rider's safety or to bring the marshals home sooner. Here, it is becoming increasingly common to get P&P.
Mar 11, 2013 at 02:28 PM
Mar 12, 2013 at 01:57 AM
I stayed home I drink my water bottle with my pinky in the air. Besides I want to work on my muffin top a little more.
Mar 12, 2013 at 02:37 AM
Mar 12, 2013 at 02:40 AM
Mar 12, 2013 at 03:16 AM