This is the big one, folks. Save the dates: Sept. 2-Sept. 5.

Best stage race in the Northeast. No debate.

There will be team housing, organized by me.

Jeffrey White said:

This is the big one, folks. Save the dates: Sept. 2-Sept. 5.

Best stage race in the Northeast. No debate.

There will be team housing, organized by me.

count me in.

Me three. Easily most fun four days I had racing last year

I'm hoping to race at least 2 of the stages, hopefully with some sort of form by then.

Who is going to GMSR and who needs housing?  So far I know of:
@Jeffrey White
@Scott Kuhlke
@niallsmart
@AliceBoyce
@David Yang
@JillWhite

Also, you can't choose which stages you do at this race, you have to pass the previous stage to go to the next.

Jeff will organize housing if we can get commitment from the above people.

If I can catch a ride I'm super down, though I don't have a TT bike. Will I be laughed out of the club for riding my Tarmac in a ITT?

No, TT bikes are not allowed at GMSR and not necessary as the time trial starts with a climb.  Our car is full, but I'm sure that you'd be able to hitch a ride with someone above.  Let us know asap!

Ok I'm in 

Any of you going to do tour of the hilltowns next weekend?

Who's been practicing their wheelies? 

Oh and btw – I only have one set of team kit… is my idea of just washing it every night insane? Should I beg/borrow/steal for more? It's the summer kit, so I'm expecting it to disintegrate by the end of stage 4.

OK n00b of the year is having some trouble understanding stage 2… let me see if I've got this straight: 19.9 mile course, except that the finish and sprint points are at 13.9? Or do we do the circuit multiple times?

Lastly but not least, and then my commentary for the evening has come to a close… that climb in the middle of stage 3 = 

 

@BenFinoRadin
Last year I only had two sets of kit and washed them every day.  You should get a second set.  What size are you?  Stage 2 is a circuit race, but I don't think they have posted the updated map yet, last year the loops were 19 miles the start and finish are not in the same spot.  And lastly, it's not the middle climb you should be worried about, but the last 500 meters that are going to kill you.  Check out that gradient.

@JillWhite who's worried >:)

I'm a small jersey, medium bibs

Results!
http://velocityresults.com/results/654

YEAH KISSENAS GET RAD!!!

...Race reports?

RESULTS MOFOS, YEAH.

ZOUNDS!!!!

I cannot remember the last time we had seven (!) Kissena's at this race, spanning so much experience.
#chapeau's one and all!

Nice work Sean.  5th place GC, what a hell of a result.

Can't wait to read/hear reports from everyone.

so much hotness....and ain't none of it cross related...amen brutha's 

David Yang said:

Nice work Sean.  5th place GC, what a hell of a result.

Can't wait to read/hear reports from everyone.

GOD DAMN SEAN!

Bloody impressive.

What a banging weekend.  Top weather conditions, crew, event.  A must for those ever on the fence, and an absolute training/race goal for end of the season.  Shout out to Jeff and Jill securing a badass house at Sugarbush.  Everyone pushed hard and raced hard, mad props for Sean finishing 5th overall and Jeff taking 4th in the 4/5 Masters Crit.

More things to write (including a personal race report) but I must return to the work dungeon for the rest of the day ...

The Green Mountain Stage Race: what a way to cap off my first ever road racing season, which began exactly six months prior in the freezing cold at Branch Brook Park in Newark. My results here were some of the worst of my season, and I wish I could have been of more help to Sean, but I wouldn't have rather been anywhere else. 

My time trial is a total mess. I make two boneheaded mistakes. Then I have a mechanical with 500m to go. First mistake: I can't stay upright and clipped in at the start line, because I don't think to hold my brakes! So dumb. Here in NYC I've spent entire traffic-light cycles with my road bike in a track stand, but it didn't occur to me to grab the levers in this situation. The clock continues counting down. After a few big wobbles the official and I give up on it, so I start with one foot on the ground, like a mass-start road race. Yeah, that was pretty embarrassing. 

3-2-1-go! Early on the climb I see my heart-rate jump to the top of Zone 5. Don't go out too hard! I dial it back. Having a power meter instead of relying only a HRM--or having more TT experience--would have been helpful here, right? I knew my HRM would take a minute to accurately reflect any change in my effort, but I didn't trust my senses enough to risk blowing up. So I hold back, probably too much, until my Garmin showed BPMs at just above threshold. Two riders pass me. (They would place 16th and 10th in the TT.) I'm finally finding my groove in the final 6km of a 9km course, and a third rider passes me. I know he's strong (I recognized him from local races, and in fact he went on to finish 7th in the GC) and I'm pleased to be able to match his pace.

Then I hear honking behind me. The course is open to traffic, I remember, so it must be a car about to pass. I nudge over to the edge of the pavement. But it's a moto official that revs up beside me, and I can barely understand what he's saying. He's saying I'm drafting. I nod, not really knowing what to do, and he falls back. I figure I'm about forty or fifty feet behind the rider in front of me. Surely I'm not drafting? My legs are burning. I don't feel like I'm drafting. And here lies my second mistake: I should have read the USAC rules for time trials. Which say: "No rider shall take pace behind another rider closer than 25 meters (80 feet) ahead or 2 meters (7 feet) to the side." Another honk, loud and long, and the moto pulls up again, this time within touching distance. I barely manage to avoid going into the ditch. Again he says I'm drafting. If I'd read the rules, I'd know what to do. But all I can think of is that the race guide says because the road is open to traffic, riders must stay to the right of the road or receive a 30 second GC time penalty. It feels like ages pass as I try to figure out what to do. Does he really expect me to just sit up and bleed time? No way. If he'd have said "Just move two meters to the left, you newbie" I would have gladly done so. On the other hand, I never asked? At this point I've completely lost focus, and slowed down considerably. And I've lost sight of the rider who was in front of me. 

The course dips and I accelerate through the final hill in the small ring, passing the 500m banner as I pull onto level ground. I need a bigger gear, so I push my lever and...all the resistance leaves my cranks. The chain is off, stuck between the inner chainring and the frame. I have to get off the bike to put it back on. I'm devastated, trying to sprint the last 400 or so meters of the course from a standing start. I finish in 19:36.44. My ambitious goal was sub-17:00 or Top 20, which I missed by a whopping 2:40.

On Stage 2, Saturday's circuit race, I'm off the back on lap one of two along a brand-new course that features a few punchy climbs and rollers. I feel like I'm fighting my bike and my body. Yesterday's events nagged me all night, and I don't feel as fit as I have earlier this season. GMSR's results page says the average speed was 23.32 mph. Strava shows that we hit a 10% pitch on the first KOM at nearly 25kmh (15.5 mph). I come in tenth to last place. I enjoyed the scenery though. Perfect weather. 

Everything leads up to Sunday's Stage 3 road race. I enjoy long, point-to-point races where the road goes up. The pace up Middlebury Gap is blistering, and I join a strong chasing group on the descent that includes the green jersey and a few riders who were in the top 10 overall when the day started. I touch 85 kmh on the descent and then we crank about 38 kmh on the flats. We swell to about fifteen riders and work pretty well together for about 50km, picking up a few people and dropping others along the way. I'm proud to say I never skip a turn. Channeling my good form at Battenkill, I lead the group down the two-mile gravel descent. I start to eat a bar at the base of Baby Gap and lose contact. Doh! Then the cars pull through. I ride the final 10km, including App Gap, alone. My official time was 3:19:08, which in years past would have been at top 20 result, but I'm racing this year, and this year it's good for only 36th place. In any case, I met the modest goal I'd given myself that morning: top 40. I regret not going as hard as I could on App Gap, just to see what my body could handle, but that's difficult for me to do without the delicious motivation of trying to outdo a rider in the final minutes after you've worked with him all day. 

On Monday's Stage 4 criterium I watched Jeff's impressive fourth place finish (congrats!) before taking the line in my own race. I hear the whistle, turn my pedals a few times and sit up. Though my legs and lungs feel fine, my spirit isn't in it. Anyone else have one of those days, where it turns out you just don't want to race? I cruise a couple laps before they pull me.

The decision to quit began tasting pretty sour when I realized I wouldn't have another chance to race until next March, but I guess there's my motivation for the coming off-season. 

Had a F***ing blast. This race is very well organized, the courses are fun, and spending four days chilling in Vermont with Kissenas is also pretty rad. Everyone should seriously consider it for next season – the place we stayed in was fantastic, and can sleep several more racers.

Here's the newbie's travelogue / race report:

Boarded the Whitemobile around 8:30 Thursday morning, seated with Señior Taco.





By the time we got to Albany the rain had cleared up. Had lunch in some random suburb close to the highway. LOOK HOW EXCITED THESE TWO ARE ABOUT LUNCH!



The drive into VT took us right through the end of the Queen stage's route, so I got to preview Baby Gap and App Gap. Jill and Jeff had to keep telling me to brace myself as the best/worst was yet to come. The road curves left on App Gap reveals the absolutely delicious final KM of climbing where the gradient kicks up a couple more notches just to twist the knife.



We arrived at the house – a totally rad ski home with a great view of the Sugarbush ski slopes.













We dropped our bags, and head out to recon Friday morning's ITT course, and pick up our packets. 



Not much else went on that night other than a grocery run and some dinner. The rest of the crew had started to arrive in the meantime. The next morning there was much bike fiddling, getting things dialed in and looking sharp for the ITT.



Day 1: The Warren Store Individual Time Trial
The 5.7 mile ITT course began with a pretty gradual 2.3 mile climb, followed by an almost symmetrical descent, with a short, sharp, fast descent followed by a kicker at the end. Felt good about my result. Was my first TT (not to mention GMSR was my second race), so I didn't really have much to gauge my results on other than feeling like I was going to puke all over my top tube, and that I had maybe come out of the gate too hot. Got passed by two really strong dudes, and just kept telling myself not to let Max pass me, as his start was 1:30 behind me, so seeing him would have been a very very bad sign. I didn't see Max, but unfortunately this may be owed to the fact that he dropped his chain towards the top of the last kicker, maybe 700m from the finish. Shit luck.



The team mates tasked with dinner that night grilled up some delicious steaks, chicken, baked potatoes, and salad. Much food was eaten.

Day 2: The Bridges Circuit Race

Saturday morning was when the real fun began – the circuit race. The course was a 17.4 mi loop, with a 4.7 mile opening section. The course was decent – from what I hear not as good as last year. The KOM was barely a climb. Definitely a sprinter's course. I was in the 4/5 field with Max and Sean. Our field was to do two laps after the opening, so 40 mi. I truly had no idea of what to expect. My main goal across the board for all of the stages was to just be able to stay with the main group and not find myself in the gruppetto. I started out strong, in the top 1/3 of the pack, feeling good. I stupidly wound up gassing myself on the KOM just trying to keep the pace (which was probably a dumb idea since I had no intention of contending). A small descent after the KOM, followed by a kicker, and I found myself dropped. Nothing in the tank. I had no intention of riding the rest of the race alone, so I got myself together, picked a wheel in the distance (who had also been dropped), and dug in until I was on his wheel. We worked together and slowly gobbled up rider after rider, eventually forming a gruppetto of about 8 riders by the end of the first lap. A few of these dudes were sloppy as hell, and doing stupid shit like attacking each other only to wear themselves out. We lost one. Eventually they calmed down and we got a nice pace going. Eventually we pick up Max and another rider, and they whipped the group into shape and we got a pretty decent rotating paceline going. At the end of the day our pack finished 10:39 off the leader. While I didn't meet my goal of keeping with the main pack, and I had some pretty dark moments of doubt, at the end of the day I wound up having a total blast, and was glad to have found some company the back. That first wheel I caught after getting dropped was this guy Anthony, who would reappear later in the stages.

That night the Whites and I prepared dinner for the hungry troops: skillet pasta with mushrooms, pancetta, and wilted greens, grilled chicken, and salad. Look at Whitey's pro plating technique:



#thymedoping

Day 3: Mad River Road Race
Oh the pain. Glorious, delicious, awesome pain. This 64.34 mi course includes 6,269 ft of climbing, which doesn't sound too bad until you look at the climbs in question. The first is Middlebury gap – about 2 miles averaging 8%, kicking up to 18% towards the end. Yum. This is followed by a totally rad descent – almost 1.6 miles and just as steep as the climb. From there, it's more or less downhill for another 8 miles. Another 10 miles of some rollers, and kickers and KOMs, and eventually you find yourself at Baby gap (just under 4 miles, avg 4% and tops out around 10%), followed by the piece de resistance: the Appalachian Gap – aka App Gap. 2.3 miles, average 9%, with several points where you'll see scary double digit numbers such as 25%. The advice I heard from everyone was this: get to Middlebury with the pack, and you're home free from there. Once you get to app gap, it's everyone for themselves. So again, my goal was just to stick with the pack as long as possible – namely Middlebury. This turned out to be relatively easy – the pace all the way to Middlebury was pretty chill. The biggest challenge was the road conditions – lots of huge cracks, and a fair amount of flats and mechanicals as a result. I maintained a position in the front 1/3 all the way there, but about halfway up the climb my dreams were shattered. I found myself rapidly slipping back, and before long, it was just me and the road. Just when my mind started to go to some dark places, I heard some words of encouragement from behind me – it was Anthony, same dude whose wheel I had chased down to form our gruppetto yesterday. Looks like today I was his carrot, which I was thankful for, as I'm not sure I could have made it over the top of the climb without his words of encouragement. Over the top we go. Bomb the descent, regain oxygen, spin the lactic acid out of the legs. Broke my speed PR here:



Now it was time to hunt down some wheels and regain some ground. We wound up picking up two more guys, one of which was stronger and feeling fresher than the rest, which gave us a nice little boost. Eventually we lost one, so it was just me, Anthony, and this other guy. Over the kickers that comprise the two KOMs before the real climbing. Some gravel sections, which is totally my jam so I bombed through these. Got a mini Coke handup from some nice folks who assured me I would need it. At some point before Baby Gap, the 4/5 Masters caught us, but we were amazed to see how shattered the field was – a solo break, with two chases of about 6-8 guys, with @niallsmart in the second chase, and @Jeffrey White close behind (he successfully bridged to the chase). That was essentially all we saw of the masters. We get to Baby Gap, and climbed up side by side, shooting the shit while keeping a respectable pace, all dreading what lay ahead: App Gap. We make the turn that marks the start of App Gap, and bid our farewells to each other. In the words of @Jeffrey White, App Gap is where you die alone – you can't take anyone with you. I felt pretty strong on the climb. Running a 36 x 32 helps. I just dug in, and tried not to flip backwards off my bike at any point. Didn't have to paperboy it! At one point I hear from behind me "BEN YOU'RE KILLING ME", and through the daze I see the words are coming from someone in Kissena kit. Turns out Whitey had stopped to take a pee, and seeing me from the window of the port-a-john, hurried up and got back on his bike, but didn't quite like the pace I was tapping out (he was saving himself for the crit). The top of the climb was rad – replete with chalk scrawlings, and adoring fans. Anthony and I wound up arriving here at the same time, and @JillWhite yelled at me to GET HIM, but I just shook my head and smiled. Being such a noob to racing I didn't realize that it didn't matter that he had helped me, and it didn't occur to me that I had helped him, so although I totally had the legs, I let him finish a wheel in front of me. They had people catching and pushing riders at the finish line, which was very much needed. Once everyone had finished we got a group photo, rode back to the cars (more climbing!), and headed back to home base.



If you buy the summer kit, you too can have see-through jersey like mine! Not the best look, but very very glad I had it on this day. A late lunch of Tacos, followed by failed attempts at napping, followed by PRE CRIT PIZZA PARTY!




Day 4: Burlington Criterium
Monday morning we packed up the house, and bid farewell to our lovely mountain Kissena home, and drove up to Burlington.



So long, misty mountains.

Did I mention GMSR was my second race ever? Well, this was my first crit. Much was made of how technical it was, but I felt pretty comfortable. There were six corners, most of which were relatively tight. 



The corner at Pine and Main st was super fun (or dangerous, depending one your perspective), because you bomb down the descent on Pine, and as you can see from the aerial, Main st is super wide, so you can come in on the corner real hot. It was a .62 mile lap, and our field had 25 laps. Everyone's advice was to tell myself that I was going to lead the pack – go full gas from the very start, and try to hang in there on the front because after about 4-5 laps the pace will let up and I'll be able to cruise with the pack and get some rest.

So… that's what I did.



^^ That's what I look like going full gas. The guy in front of me took third. You'll notice the lack of grimace on his face. I managed to stay on front for at least three laps, but started to slip a bit, and when the points sprint came around, I was just completely spent and slipped further back. In the end I got seven laps in before being lapped / pulled. After watching the other fields, I felt pretty good about this result considering it was my first crit. This course absolutely shattered every field – I would say that consistently other than the breakaway (if there was one) there were only 10-15 ever left in the main field by the end.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, on to the star of the show: Sean! He was the only Kissena in our field to finish the crit (I think there were only 8 in the main pack left), but his 5th GC is all the more impressive considering the racer who took GC is a "professional" triathlete, and was one of the many Canadian sandbaggers that were at the race. Sean dominated, and made it look easy.



Got some video of Scott, Niall, Whitey, and Jill tearing it up: https://player.vimeo.com/video/181660368

The real star of the crit though was Taco… he was shattering dreams left and right.

To sum it all up: had a great experience – learned a lot, have some very concrete goals for training this Winter, am super stoked on racing a ton next season, and will absolutely be at GMSR next year. I can't recommend it highly enough – seriously awesome race.

congrats, team. so much hotness. honest.

Great report Max. A four day stage race is no joke and it's hard to describe the level of fatigue (mental and physical) you accumulate with back to back racing.

Lots of good lessons learned - I'm sure they'll all serve you well next season, and as motivation over the winter.

Bravo!