Hi all, 

I'm planning to take it "easy" for most of the 2/3 race, and see what the legs have got in the last couple of laps. Happy to help out and do what I can in the 1/2/3. I can certainly point to who will be the brake away men on GLV (Green Line Velo).    

You're going to have a nice little layover between races Jake. Might want to bring some reading material or perhaps a puzzle or something.

JohnMalcolmson said:

@Marc If Jake has form, he would be the one to support in the 2-3's. He has a lot of crit racing experience.

True, except as I mentioned, I rode with both of them this past Sunday, and Craig is currently stronger, in my opinion. Or at least that's what showed on the road. Jake could have been holding back I suppose. Anyway, no one has hired me as DS, but I'm happy that folks are "talking" about the race.

Bump

Weather forecast shows rain from late Friday night into all of Saturday.  Are teams/clubs allowed to set up tents?

David Yang said:

Bump

Weather forecast shows rain from late Friday night into all of Saturday.  Are teams/clubs allowed to set up tents?

I don't know if there's an official policy, but in the past I've seen folks set up around the course on trainers. Notably by the church on the sidewalk on the outside of the course, and at the bottom of the homestretch on the outside of the sweeper.

It would be great to offer a dry spot for folks to warm up, leave bags, etc.

I've seen a tent at some cross races in the past. I always assumed Jules was the keeper of the tent. Did not see one pop up last season though.

I had a plain white tent for a while but lost track of it after Supercross.

I think we found the tent.  Here's the deal: I'm not racing, but happy to get there early and help set it up and grab jackets/vests, etc. for a bit, but have to leave early-ish.

Can anyone break it down after the race and hold onto it until at least the next day?

David, thanks for the offer. Not sure if anyone else can handle the tent post race, but I can't. The logistics of me getting me, my bike and a tent back home with no car are too much for me to handle. At this point, it looks like I'll be doing my warm-up in my apartment and then just riding the 2 miles to the course just before my race.

A few last minute tips for those braving the rain.

• Consider going with a few less PSI in your tires for a more forgiving contact patch.

• Also, metal grates won't necessarily be "ice rink" slick, but you should give the turn that has a big grate at the bottom of the climb a run or two before your race to see what the traction is going to be like there. It's easy enough to avoid, but chances are most will be avoiding it and if you don't have to avoid it, that gives you a pretty fast line up the hill so that you can move up/rest as required taking advantage of the momentum coming down the false flat descent on the backside.
  
  
• YOU MUST WARM UP COMPLETELY and be ready to go, HARD IMMEDIATELY. The smart/experienced riders will take advantage of the rain and get rid of the timid and/or cold. This will especially happen in the Pro 1/2/3 race.
  
  
• Related. GET TO THE FRONT AND STAY THERE. Every year I watch lots of big motors getting shredded on this course.
  

1. Michael Margarite	CRCA/The Weather Channel Giant Cycling Team	225.53
2. Stalin Quiterio Cuello	CRCA/Dave Jordan Racing	225.86
3. Will Cooper	QCW Cycling p.b. Breakawaybikes.com	233.44
4. William Dugan	CCB All Stars	237.11
5. Sam Rosenholtz	GREEN LINE VELO driven by Zipcar	239.23
6. Chase Goldstein	The Weather Channel/Giant Cycling Team-CRCA	241.84
7. Allan Rego	CRCA/Lupus Racing Team	243.87
8. John Durso	High Gear/Trek/WW	246.06
9. Thomas Detwiler	PA Masters RC p/b Piscitello Law	248.32
10. Juan Pimentel jr.	Champion System Stan's NoTubes	248.58
11. Jayson Jacobs	The Weather Channel/Giant Cycling Team-CRCA	248.79
12. Scott Savory	CRCA/Lupus Racing Team	251.99
13. Lisbon Quintero	W.S UNITED/MANGOSEED RESTAURANT	253.07
14. Abraham Soler	CRCA/Foundation	253.10
15. Stephan Dioslaki	Metra/Cycles 54 Cycling Team	254.23
16. A.J. Moran	GREEN LINE VELO driven by Zipcar	256.84
17. Alejandro Guzman	CRCA/Foundation	259.83
18. Cole Archambault	GREEN LINE VELO driven by Zipcar	265.69
19. Gavriel Epstein	Champion System Stan's NoTubes	265.98
20. Dave Warner	GREEN LINE VELO driven by Zipcar	267.94
21. Ross Baldwin	Lupus Racing Team	268.08
22. Roger Parmelee	CRCA/Health Warrior p/b RK&O	268.54
23. Neil Bezdek	CRCA/Foundation	270.17
24. Kevin Molloy	CRCA/The Weather Channel Giant Cycling Team	270.48
25. Dominic Caiazzo	GREEN LINE VELO driven by Zipcar	270.60
26. Daniel Chabanov	CRCA / Foundation	271.98
27. Michael Black	QCW Cycling p.b. Breakawaybikes.com	274.95
28. Nick Rogers	QCW Breakawaybikes.com p/b Felt Bicycles-JLVelo	280.00
29. David Dawson	Amore&Vita-USA Racing	282.27
30. alex sanborn	CRCA/Foundation	283.31
31. BARIS AYTAN	CRCA / e2Value	294.81
32. paskal lamour		297.18
33. Lewis Fellas	CCB	298.31
34. Andrew Walsh	CRCA\Health Warrior p/b RK&O	301.93
35. David Baar	POC+Ritte	303.59
36. Nick Iacovelli	High Gear/Trek/WW	305.67
37. Chris Shaw	CRCA/Rockstar Games	309.92
38. Luke Lukas	D3devo P/b Airgas	310.46
39. James Stevens	The Weather Channel/Giant Cycling Team-CRCA	311.11
40. Gerald Adasavage	CRCA/The Weather Channel Giant Cycling Team	314.22
41. Karl Rahn	The Weather Channel/Giant Cycling Team-CRCA	315.18
42. Eric Diamond	Integrated Sports Medicine p/b Brown’s Subaru	316.33
43. J.P. Partland	Kissena Cycling Club	317.78

Whole lot of hurt here ^ Jake, I suggest you target the 2/3.

ouch.  How did I get to the bottom?  

more importantly, Will Dugan is an ex-pro and made the break happen last year.  At a race like this, he's better than fourth.  He's almost a sure thing for the break.

Margarite might have some form, but I'm doubting Stalin does; he usually starts the year slow.

That's just the top half of the field JP. Green Line Velo/Zipcar is Jake's old team, perhaps they'll help him/us out :^)

Bottom of the list, top of our hearts JP. Don't worry, I'm about to register for the race and I'll take over the bottom spot on the list. Seriously, the road-results.com rankings just aren't anywhere near as reliable as their sister site crossresults.com.

That said, I don't care if Margarite is "off form," that guy is rumored to have a high 300s, low 400-watt-ish threshold. He'll be a player. Weather Channel loves this race, they want to own it. It's basically the only race they do all year where you can find what looks like ALL of their riders.

And, FWIW, if you really care about your road-results.com rankings, JP? Then no end of race suicide moves. And you have to sprint for the finish, even it's for like 30th place.

Let's do a little TBT from 2006, shall we?

https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?permit=2006-484

Actually lets do better than that too.

Looks like a lot of the same players. I'm reminded that JP had a solid 23rd place finish on the day.

http://www.road-results.com/race/3846#cat37739

JohnMalcolmson said:

That's just the top half of the field JP. Green Line Velo/Zipcar is Jake's old team, perhaps they'll help him/us out :^)

Yup. Well, if JP gets in a break with Green Line, Weather Channel, and Foundation, I don't know how that won't stick. Especially considering the weather.

Dont think that I can bring the tent if someone can't claim it at end of race day. Bummer. I will still probably make it out for the 4 race to support Jeff. I'll bring umbrellas and hot coffee.

Dave, while that support would be SO WELCOME, I can't really guarantee 100% that I'll race Saturday. I think I'll have to look at the weather and make a game-time decision. A bunch of Cat. 4s getting together for their first race of the year and it's a rainy crit? Might be the wrong move.

Sounds good, keep me updated and let me know what I can help you with.

How small does the tent break down?  Will it fit in my tiny Corolla?

I wonder if the better bike handlers will come out to Grant's Tomb, the less better will head to Branchbrook or sit out altogether...

Marc Bertucco said:

Let's do a little TBT from 2006, shall we?

https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?permit=2006-484

Actually lets do better than that too.

I remember that sprint.  I was coming up along the left-hand barriers and Jeff King, eventual 9th place moved over enough to shut me down.  He was built like a house, probably 70lbs more than me, and it just felt like daylight had been extinguished.

Brendan it should fit in my little car so should fit in your little car.

Marc Bertucco said:

I wonder if the better bike handlers will come out to Grant's Tomb, the less better will head to Branchbrook or sit out altogether...

This assumes people are self aware enough to know if they are poor bike handlers.
Not the case in my experience.

^ Jim's point is valid, but I'd say they'll be at the back very quickly, and if they're that inexperienced, won't know they have to be at the front.

I say put the 25 Conti's on and go hard. The few crashes I've seen happened midway-> rear in this race. 

JohnMalcolmson said:

^ Jim's point is valid, but I'd say they'll be at the back very quickly, and if they're that inexperienced, won't know they have to be at the front.

I say put the 25 Conti's on and go hard. The few crashes I've seen happened midway-> rear in this race. 

John, we're going to miss you at this race. Watching you bridge up to the break in the master's race was a thing of beauty last year. Textbook correct racing. Hopefully we'll see you on the road soon!

@Brendan Rigby  - I don't think we can pull off the tent switcharoo by tomorrow.  Sorry guys, we'll hopefully be more organized next time.

Patrick R. - If you're reading - email or text me if you're definitely racing the 4/5 tomorrow and I'll try to get out there early to provide some sideline support. daveyang42@gmail.com  917-475-6422

Sadly, I will be skipping Grant's Tomb this year. It's one of my favorites, but I have zero racing in my legs and don't feel there is enough upside to riding a crit in the freezing rain at this point in the season. I'm bummed about it, but on the other hand I'm not letting down any teammates, so that helps.

My next two Saturdays will be at Branchbrook, and the Saturday after that I'll do Trooper Brinkerhoff. The weekend after that, as we all know, is Battenkill. 

Ditto

I'm going to make a game time decision about whether to weather the weather and race. Hopefully, the current 90% precipitation forecast will amount to mist or fog.

I'll assess course conditions and make my decision tomorrow. A cyclocross race in those conditions is one (fun!) thing, all grass and mud and low speeds and big tires, but a first-race-of-season crit with slick manhole covers in the corners...the risk might not be worth my race entry fee.

I do love Grant's Tomb though! We shall see.