Posted By: mugwumpI think for a 45-minute 2/3 race, we can have a very good team.

I won't disagree with you in principle. I'll keep an eye out to see if those guys are interested in racing and make my own decision last minute. So there you go folks, JP wants to crush it in his backyard and he's looking for a team. Are you man enough to dislodge Gavin Robertson, BH-Comedy Central and all the other NYC jamokes?

Posted By: mugwump
(and the Zepplin race is $30 for 20mi, but I won't tell anyone's spouse or squeeze)

zing!

Posted By: eragotJan is not kissena

Was he ever? Double zing!

I kind of want to do it.

I signed up.

Me too

I'm out officially. Sarah reminded me that that is the day of our childbirth class at the hospital.

I'm contemplating this. My family want to come see me race (or so they say) and this is an easy way of them doing so. Any historical experience on the "crashiness" of the Cat 4 race? I've heard rumors.

Thank Marc B for the following e.mail message from John Eustice of Sparta, promoting the Harlem Skyscraper

From: <jde@spartacycling.com>
To: <mugwump@panix.com>
Subject: Racing in Harlem this Year
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:58:57 -0400
X-Virus-Status: No

Hello all, a rider from one of last year's amateur races wrote me to say that their race had been reduced to 30 minutes and that they felt that it was unfair. I agree, and am glad that it was brought to my attention. The amateur races are 40 minutes this year, not so long, but, with all of the premes we have, and we do have a pile of them for all the classes, the action should be fast and furious. What I can do is promise you that the minimum you will race will be 40 minutes, and that we are looking for ways to extend that time. For 2013, I am lobbying the city to extend our permit for an hour so that the amateur races will be an hour each. So this is a chance to race in a pro atmosphere, with great staging, sound and production, all in the middle of Manhattan. We've added the Master's for this year, and are looking to really make the amateur experience at Harlem a great one. We will ask you all to pay attention to the staging instructions that will be coming, which are, in
essence, "get on the course quickly and off even quicker" so that there is almost no dead time between events. So help us there, and we'll get you more racing time. And thanks for the feedback, it's the only way we can learn how to improve things. All the best, John

my little claim to fame...as a spectator of the 2008 harlem crit: i'm in the blue stripped shirt and sunglasses gasping as Barlevav crashes hard and wins it!

skip to 2:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Nwsd6a_2s

Classic!

Oh man that rules!

"I have never seen that..."

haha yea...i was like holy crap! pretty unreal!

Yeah.. nothing compares to a "Holy shit" facial expression in slow motion.

Such an odd crash> WTF?

In teh 2/3's Looks like myself, Keith, Vlad, and Daniel Hubbard are signed up.  76 entries thusfar of 120.  Rene is on fence.  Anyone else in?

Rene- get off the fence and come wine another with us!

I just registered looking forward to this race.

Any cat 4s beside Whitey planning to do this? I'm think I'm going to give it a go.

Jeff - I just registered. Should be fun

ok cool. I'm going to reg today. Trying to get Alyosha to join us too.  

Pre-Reg closes tonight 6/13/12.

That is some crazy carnage at the end... mad zigzag by Brauer.  Can't believe he stayed upright.

who was the kissena rider on the ground?
im reg-ed btw. should be lots of fun!!

Jan micko

I'll be out to cheer you guys on!

Good luck to everyone racing Harlem tomorrow. Patrick G, asked me for some course advice and I'm afraid like a dog surrounded by squirrels, I got distracted and gave him little more than coarse advice. Apologies. Here's the run-down.

1. This race is not going to challenge you aerobically or muscularly. It will be fast, and a challenge, but one of handling, confidence and FINISHING strong.

2. That said. Get a good warm-up. It's 4-corners, and you'll probably be able to fake it through the first 10 minutes even if you start cold, but why go through that? Hop on over to the avenue (JP knows the name, Malcolm X, I think), head down to Central park and do a couple of short laps of the Harlem Hill end. That will give you a good 1-minute lactic acid inducing effort to jump start those legs.

3. The start. You are going from fairly wide to narrow street in just a few pedal strokes. If you don't get a good start and aren't at the pointy end of the field, chillax, and work your way to the front in the next couple of laps.

4. First turn is "fussy." In addition to the crush of riders going for limited lines, there's an inconveniently placed crown in the road that throws a lot of folks off, because you are leaning, turning and cresting all at the same time. Don't let it freak you out. Like good bike handling, stick to the line you start with, look to where you want to go, hands tight on bars, arms loose and you'll be fine.

5. Second turn things open up a bit. Nice chance to move up here, but be quick about it, because turn three is coming up quick.

6. Third turn is wide to narrow again. Going for primes, and the final sprint. This is going to be a critical turn if you want to bring home the cash-money. I'm not saying you need to be 1st to 5th wheel going through turn 3, but if you are 15th wheel, you can pretty much forget about placing.

7. Last turn, barriers, food vendors, this one shouldn't be too much trouble, but if you are wide, just be aware of the metal barriers on your right. They are, uhm, unforgiving. Like Somerville, I often find the best place to be on these types of turns, is NOT all the way on the "outside," rather going through the turns with one guy on your right. I like having that buffer and it's practically as fast.

8. Lastly, spend some laps riding different lines so you know what your bike is going to do. Because, invariably those final laps, after cruising comfortably in your chosen lines, you are going to be stuck in some crap trajectory, and you want to know how to handle that.

Go Team!

To add to Marc's excellent advice.

Thanks for the great advice guys!

results bros?

i am le hurt...crashed twice, got up the first time. crashed at the exact same spot the second time (right out of turn 3), took handle bars in the mid-axillary 5th or 6th rib. this was with 3 to go. i spoke to nyvelocity guy after the race at the support tent and said he was in same crash, he looked really rough, said some rider cut him off going from out to inside and wheels touched before tipping over the outside. his bmc frame was cracked and he was pretty bloody. i had a little time to break before i hit the deck and some rider came behind me and added weight to the fall. feels like a contusion, maybe a fracture. prob will go to the ER tomorrow and get an xray for good measure. i also need painkillers, drank a bottle of wine by myself to relieve the pain...its working for now. Condon also got pretty badly hurt. Think Patrick got 11th.