6 turn 1K, flat fast course.

http://www.bikereg.com/events/Register.asp?EventID=12870

1st year event, so who knows how it will turn out.

I'm paid and entered, but now cannot attend. If someone wants to race: let me know and I'll talk to the promoter and see if they will swap my registration across.

The promoter Carlos "Los" Rogers, is a long-time racer. Used to be partners in the Bicycle Therapy Shop, lived in NYC for a spell, and is now back down south. I figure he knows what a good crit is and it seems like he designed one.

Here's what he told me about the course: "Could take train to Trenton, then Riverline which stops right in Riverton. Driving is fairly easy directon wise. Course goes through strictly residential area. Flat, smooth (ish), and yes it's technical, guessing mostly single file. Cash premes for every race. Kids race too. Bike has the prize list..$300 for the win in the 1/2/3... I think it's a great prize list for a small first time crit."

@Dan and @JP...Hey are you jamokes trying to take riders away from my crit racing workshop?

Seriously though, I'm flexible this weekend and if folks want to race on Sunday, I could move the workshop to this Saturday.

Marc,
Funny how life tosses up the rare technical criterium the day you plan on doing criterium drills. I'm not trying to depress turnout for your clinic, which I'm sure will be excellent. However, this race could be the place (if you go) to do it all in one big bundle.

Did anyone do this race last year? It's happening again this year on June 10.

Jeff, All,
Rene did this race last year. Perhaps he can comment on it.

I can't recall what Rene said about it, but the old-timers I know who did it liked the course.

https://www.bikereg.com/Net/15554

If you scroll up, you'll see what the promoter said about getting there and the course itself.

ping!

Ooh, forgot about this one. Six corners in .8 miles. Fools better strap on their pain fenders cuz it's gonna spray.

I would definitely do this race if I had a teammate or two.

I'm planning on doing Riverton race, along with the Nutmeg crit on Saturday. Riverton is a 1/2/3 race, so that offers up lots of interesting possibilities for teaming and scheming!

Driving through New Britain, CT, I feel at home. Like a thousand other "bike race towns," its main street is a motley assortment of bodegas, boarded up-store fronts, Chinese take-away (that's for you Brits on the club...my next post I will refer to all Indian food as "Curry," regardless of whether or not there is curry involved), and an old-fashioned hobby shop that reminds me of my dad.

Tucked away, past 100 year old house porches with rotting steps, apartment building windows with sheets for shades, is one of Frederick Law Olmsted's lesser known works. Walnut Hill Park, like Central Park, dips and dives, winds and whips and even has a "jogger's lane." Unlike CP, the loop is 1 mile even, and the course completely closed. Like many cyclo-cross courses, the wide open fields allowed for excellent site lines, and watching the race unfold from one side of the course to the other was exceptionally easy.

Our only obstacles in the road race are deceptively tricky turns. An off camber descending 110 degrees, a sweeping 80 degree left-hander with inconsistent radii, a square slab of plywood covering a hole of some sorts that is inconveniently located where everyone wants to run their wheels. And for about 5 laps there is a broken carbon fiber water bottle cage that was sheared from someone's ride and is getting "tiddly-winked" through the field like a Chinese throwing star. I'm starting to appreciate the extra side panels on my Rudy Project glasses.

The races start early and go all day and into early-bird supper time. 5 women's races, master's categories in 5 year increments, plenty of opportunity to double or triple your racing fun. Inside the road racing loop, there's little league baseball action on field #1. Field #2 is empty and as I lay in the shade for a pre-race nap, I drift off admiring the fact that the field has a diamond of infield grass normally reserved for big league ball parks. And in the distance there's a playground filled with the happy sounds of kids enjoying a sunny Saturday afternoon.

The Pro 1/2/3 race is 80+ riders strong and features, in addition to the usual NYC sprinter types, a few formidable New England teams including CCB and Embrocation Cycling Journal. This 40-mile race had three $100 primes, and was fast. Fortunately, it wasn't the first time I've taken on this loop. This race wasn't about watts. It was all about position, avoiding the swarm, and fighting for 40 laps to stay up front.

In the race to the start line, I lost and was buried too far behind. No matter, I knew the first turn well, and I knew what would happen. Somewhere between a full on gentle sweeper and a hard 90-degree right, I let all the studs fight for the inside line. And while breaks were screeching, bodies bumping, I slingshot around the outside advancing my position 20+ riders without breaking a sweat.

And so went the rest of the race. I was mostly near the pointy end of the peloton, but every now and again, I got shuffled too far back. I was trading positions with the likes of GS Mengoni's Eugene Borronow and Jared Bunde for much of the first 1/2 of the race. But by the end, those guys, along with 9 others had slipped away in a break that would never come back. Not sure how I missed that move, but like I've said before, many crits are easy to finish, hard to place. This was definitely the
case today. A Burrows brother and a Foundation rider (thick, white guy), attempted to bridge. Big time fail. I see that and know that I have to hope the break falls apart or focus on training my weaknesses (namely "end-game") back in the chase-pack. In the end, I'm not able to contest for a top twenty, but I'm not too far behind either. Progress.

On my way back to the car, with fatherhood just about 6 weeks away, I couldn't help but to stop to chat with two mom-types who were sitting on a blanket keeping a watchful eye on their adorable 8-month old boy. Turns out, they didn't have a racer in the field! No, they had never been to a bike race, but these local ladies stumbled upon the circus and set up to enjoy the day in the sun, sitting in the grass, watching racers go by. I can't wait to get my post race hugs from my baby boy after finishing a race.

Great report Marc!  Never knew that "Tiddly Wink" could be a verb :P