I'm down with 3/4 - should be able to get a solid group together. Track would be cool for testing out tactics and we can do a course recon and drills day - in the safest possible way.

Also if you're feeling masochistic, the masters 1-4 field is at 11a and that is usually brutal.

Finishing 3 Grant's Tomb races would be a feat in itself.

I would lean towards the straight up category 4 race at 10:10am -- 
Over the years, I've started Grant's a few times, have never finished it. It is a truly hard course.

There is glory to be had there lads... just reach up and grab it

https://www.oneimagingphotography.com/Cycling-Races/Cycling/Grants-Tomb-31012/Cat-4/i-dSNG9dX/A

@JohnMalcolmson

So far it looks like it's just me and Kev interested. Time slots below to make it easier to coordinate, but I'm leaning toward the 4 or 3/4 field. Unless JP you want some company to try to podium again in the masters field!

https://www.bikereg.com/70847

Saturday June 28

• 7:20a - Cat5 (35mins)
• 8a - Women's Cat4/5
• 8:40a - Cat4/5 (40mins)
• 9:25a - Women's Cat3/4/5
• 10:10a - Cat4 (45mins)
• 11a - Masters 45/55/65+ Cat1-4
• [Juniors racing between 11:50a - 12:45p]
• 12:50p - Cat3/4 (50mins)
• 1:40p - Women's 2/3 & Masters (all ages)
• 2:30p - Cat2/3 & Men's Masters 35+
• 3:20p - Elite Women P/1/2/3 (60mins)
• 4:20p - Elite Men P/1/2/3 (60mins)

I am planning to do this but haven't signed up yet, cat5

I really would like to do this race and highly recommend it, but pending some 4th of July travel I am not sure if I'll be in town.   If I am, may just go for the straight 4's, don't think I have two races in me.

I signed up for 5s today

I love this race.  It's fast, somewhat technical, and has enough hard-riding sections that it's not easy for anyone.  

Bumping this one up - I'm leaning towards Masters 45/55/65+ @ 11am.

If we have a group racing M4/5 @ 8:40am I might join for that as well!

Why is there a Cat 4/5 & a Cat 4 race? I signed up for the 4 but might place better in the 4/5...

I was also confused by that, but I think I'll probably do the 4's race not the 4/5.

I am in 5’s now but thinking about doing 4/5 instead 

I'm signed up for a double header: Cat4 10:10a straight into M45+ 11a (fixed).

Let's get a plan together.

I'm gonna keep myself in the 5's and see if I can get crack top 10 for this. considering upgrade to 4 towards the end of the summer with ~3-4 races left 

With the Category 4 field, I think we have a pretty good chance of getting a rider on the podium.

While there could well be a successful breakaway, I'm guessing that it's more likely that there will be a field sprint.  Since there aren't many riders entered at the moment, it's hard to tell.  But check back on Friday to see who the hitters and teams are.

In the first half of the race, I'm thinking the most important thing is to avoid getting gapped off the back by riders who aren't confident cornering.  This race puts a premium on good turning skills and good positioning.  Being able to ride hard and fast into turn three, the left off of Claremont and onto 122nd is important--the people who can't do it, or aren't good about keeping their momentum going up the short hill, are going to hold lots of people back and lots will be dropped this way.  

What makes the finish complicated is that the road between 122nd and the north end of the course, and the north end of the course and the finish are pretty wide (this second sector is about 500m long).  Because of where these sectors come, it isn't surprising if the people at the front sit up in the hopes of encouraging htose behind to take a pull--and when the field gets wide, positioning is harder to predict.

The lap is also long enough that if we're only three riders, it's a bit too far for just two to take control of the front until 200m to go.  

There might be a way to attack at the sound of the bell, make much of the lap hard, and goad the field into taking our protected rider to 200m to go.  

The thing is that the first four turns--onto 120th, onto Clarement, onto 122nd, onto riverside, are fast and narrow enough that either attacking or setting a hard tempo can string the field out pretty nicely.  

It's possible for one or two of our riders to get into good position by the finish line with one to go, like in the first five riders, then blast through the first two corners to get to the third corner first, drive into that corner, get out of the saddle, blast up the hill, and make the turn onto Riverside.  The problem is what comes next.  Obviously, if there's a gap, the rider keeps going, but the open downhill to the turnaround is hard to hold the gap, and then the false flat after the turnaround even harder.  But maybe by leaving the field behind by a few seconds would force the better teams to chase our rider(s) down and keep the field strung out until either our out-front rider wins or gets caught and sets up our sprinter.

At least I'm thinking that's a possibility if the field is en masse for the bell lap.  

Attacks at other points we need to be ready for, but not sure how to play them yet until we know the players.  

(for those who want a deep dive, we've got years and years of race reports for this event.  Plenty of experience and wisdom to be found there)

We are now 27 with some bigger hitters entering.

If everything stays together and we have the legs is it worth Dave or I trying to gap off the front to work the others, allowing Max to sit behind & follow?

Race Report:

• Max, Dave & I in the 4's
• I went flat out from the moment the moto's pulled off, led the race for a lap, this was my highest 2 min power during the race. Obviously couldn't sustain so counted this as a warm up.
• Stayed at the front for the first half of the race, took some pulls and tried covering any moves, sticking close to Dave & Max
• 2/3 into the race a pair broke off the front, this took ~3-4 laps to pull back, naturally more than any groups of people working together
• The two guys that did reel them in went off the front almost the moment the first two were caught, they ended up hanging out there ~10 seconds ahead for the rest of the race
• One guy tried to bridge with maybe 4 laps to go, I tried to bridge to him with 3 laps to go but couldn't so I settled back in. Dave had a go going up the hill at one point but no other teams really made any effort
• Last lap made sure I moved up in the corners to get to the front around the last hair pin
• Ended up just behind Max to my right and Ivan Romero from Pedal Power ahead (I'm 0-3 against him in Nemesis terms)
• Sat behind him until 100m to go and passed him but another guy zoomed past on the left, I think he took 4th
• The break stayed away, 9s lead in the end, we were all in the bunch
• I managed 6th, last year I was 15th in the 4/5's

Some good representation from the Kissena team today, thanks for the encouragement from the side when we were going round!

Race report from the 5’s, and a 5’s race it was… 

• this was my third race in a row in the rain, it’s getting really old, but I’m also much more confident cornering on wet roads and having to cross painted lines/writing, and manhole covers. 
• I was between first and third wheel for the neutral start and felt like I was in a good position 
• When they let us go a few people attacked right from the gate and strung the field out immediately in the technical section. 
• I got caught behind the wheels of a couple less confident guys who were freewheeling between turns 2 and 3 before the hill, they all spread super wide and I ended up in a crappy line going into the hill. 
• once we hit the flat/downhill at the top of the hill about 6-7 guys had managed to get some distance coming out of the turn. I tried to get myself up to them but my HR was at 178 so I decided to cool off a bit and hoped we’d be able to bring them back as the race went on. 
• We slow rolled through the hairpin, the nerves were palpable as the rain was falling pretty hard still at this point, but came out of the turn and motored up the false flat. 
• The same scenario played out again on lap 2 going thru the technical stretch 
• That ended up being my ticket punched as the break maintained a gap that widened through the rest of the race. 
• I tried to work with a few guys but they were doing more freewheeling and bad cornering, so we’d lose speed after i had taken a pull which got really annoying. That + excessive road spray had me frustrated so I decided to stay on the front for most of the rest of the race. 
• Around 7 laps to go a few guys had come around me and were 5-7 seconds ahead. I was able to maintain that gap until the 4th or 3rd lap to go and decided to hammer it to finally close it. 
• By this point the break had 45 seconds so it was this group I was going to finish with for sure. 
• We stayed pretty tight and I sat on the wheel of the biggest guy in the group who was fairly strong, ended up helping me recover a bit. 
• We maintained a tight bunch for laps 3 and 2 to go, no funny business on the corners anymore. 
• After the hairpin on the final lap, I passed 3 guys to lead our group of 5 or 6 and kept the hammer down through the finish. Not sure how much distance I put between us as I didn’t look back. 
• One rider ended up beating me by about a wheel length at the line but I was super happy with how it played out in the end. 
• Crossed the line for 9th and my best finish to date. 

fantastic results, team!!