welcome mattie!

i like those orange glasses!

I'm Gideon.
I joined Kissena in 2008. I started racing college after I stopped rowing. I work full-time as a structural engineer and am getting my master's degree in the same part time. This is me during my unsuccessful solo breakaway at Harlem this year (2.5 laps on my own, was caught with 0.5 laps to go...) but the pic looks kind of badass:

Hello everyone. My name is Tom Gonzalez. I've belonged to Kissena for two years, but unfortunately have not been able to participate too much in the way of training and racing due to a super crazy schedule. I am hoping that the 2011 year will allow me to be a more productive member of the club. I would categorize myself as a mountain biker in terms of cycling interests. A big thank you to all those responsible for creating this forum! :thumbup:

Hello,
My name is Andy Da Silva. I'm new to the club(joined in August), and racing as well. 2010 for me consisted mostly of track with a healthy amount of cross mixed in there too. Real excited for next season, and some winter group rides!

ps. the forum is awesome!

Yacks...Yack-fu...or Chris,

I ride the road exclusively, thanks to a gimpy back. I'm pretty fast, when I'm skinny. I've been known to attack at the worst possible moments and can give a wicked lead out. I like pina colada's and taking walks in the rain.

and holding hands

(welcome, chris)

Howdy, I'm Norm. I like hills --exclusively the going-up part of 'em (learning to love the other part). I have just a single road season in the saddle, so I'm quite new to all of this.

Looking forward to riding with you!

Ciao,
Norm

(photo caption: me and my bike --Amelia-- atop Mt. Washington).

Norm is a stud in the making.

I love that you named your bike Amelia.

I'm thinking about marching down to the Municipal Building and changing my bike's name from Sir Romeo Cupid Cannonball to Prudence, or Chastity, or Mildred or something

Welcome to the Forum, dude!

My turn I guess...

I'm Eric oRiginal (Ragot). I've been a member of Kissena since 1998. It was the first club I joined as I started racing that year. I was encouraged to become involved quickly and ended up promoting the club championship races that year - TT, RR in Prospect, Crit at Floyd Bennett Field. Then wouldn't you know it I became President and have remained involved ever since.

I am a Cat 3 on the road, 2 in Cyclocross, and 1 on the track. I can't express just how much I have enjoyed racing with my teammates over the years. I've watched so many great riders come through our ranks and either - retire or move on to better things. Who knows who is next, so I try to ride and meet as many members as I can.

Kissena is a great club. I am surprised that I didn't name my kid Kissena.


P.S. Norm is a stud, so is Joe Muller.

Eric oRiginal

Michael Perlberg here. I joined Kissena last March. I really enjoying riding my bike and learning to ride my bike faster. I have a lot to learn, but I feel like I've made some progress in the past year thanks to the help I've received from my teammates.

Cross was lots of fun this year.

See you on the road!

Hi, I'm Ryan Johnston.

I was a triathlete in my 20's (now almost 34) but around age 27 I abandoned that and spent about five years drinking heavily and smoking tons of cigarettes.

In 2008 I started getting back into shape as a way to quit smoking. I rode my spinner as hard as I could for as long as it took to blow off enough steam to not need a cigarette. Then I was sort of in shape and thought, why not try bike racing?

I had never done a bike race until I joined Kissena for the 2009 season. Now its a huge part of my life and I don't know what I'd do without it. I've enjoyed being in Kissena for its abundance of serious racers who do not take themselves too seriously.

Here's a picture of me doing the Alpine time trial last year. As you can see, I like to sing while I race.

True fact:
In that photograph Ryan is singing "Toreador" from the opera Carmen.

Bonjour. I'm Stephen Geist, a.k.a. Stéphane. Racing in the masters, (in the 55+ age group when I can, my racing age will be 59 in 2011 and the strong 50+ racers appear to me more and more like experienced juniors), I intend to do as many out-of-town races as I can in 2011, including some of the BUMPS (Bike Up the Mountain Points Series) if my winter training goes as planned.
Living in Forest Hills, I often ride on L.I.
Love to do slow/fast, short/long rides, alone or with teammates. I love climbing in the mountains : here is a picture of me taken at the end of a long climb last September, in France (I had not closed my jersey, not only because I'm not used to winning races, but also because after the climb, I was trying to dry before riding down the mountain to Saint-Jean de Maurienne; nevertheless, you can see that, as Eloy advises us, I was proudly wearing my Kissena kit while riding in France and Italy)

Howdy. I'm Neil Ross. I've member of Kissena since 2005. My racing age in 2011 will be 49--I'm getting old. I live in the south slope. I work as a lawyer in the music busines.
I'm often out riding in Prospect Park after 9PM.

I messed my leg up in a snowboarding mishap two years ago which screwed up my ability to train or ride with any intensity since then. (An x-ray worthy of a Heavy Metal album cover showing the permanent titanium [for Yak's benefit] implant in my leg is attached.) I still do a good deal of riding but have not been in racing shape since then (or before then depending on who you ask). I did do one token MTB race this summer which only served to prove how far I have to go.

I'm trying for the first time to train in organized fashion this winter in the hopes that by next spring I may be recovered enough to do a couple road races, TTs, and MTB races. I truly miss doing 'cross races but it will be some time (if ever) before I do one again. The last photo attached is from a snowy 'cross race that Eloy and I did a few years back.

I'm looking forward to a few group rides this winter as well as our Wednesday night computrainer sessions. Greetings to all of the new members I haven't yet met.

Best,
Neil

Hello,
I'm Rene Herrera , looking forward to my 2nd season with Kissena. I'm a cat 3 on the road.

Hey all,
I'm Konrad. I joined pretty recently (September) and am loving everybody on the team so far. My racing age in 2011 will be 21. It'll be my second year racing, and I hope to do a lot more road races. Like Andy, I primarily raced track and then cross because.. well, because it's awesome.

Here's a picture of me at Hillbilly, making the only face I apparently know how to make on a bike.

Hey everybody,
I'm Joe Iberti. I joined this past year but haven't had a chance to join in on any club activities as yet.
I've just completed my 3rd year of serious riding, all road, and Eric Robertson has been helping me train over
the last year. I hope to get more involved in club activities and rides in 2011 and be able to meet more of you.
I've attached a pic of my ride up alpe d'huez this past July. Spent a week climbing French Alps and chasing the Tour.
Awesome.

I guess my jpg is too big to post and I'm not real savvy in this stuff so don't know how to add the pic.

Hi Everyone,

I'm Bryan, I joined Kissena in 2006. I mainly race on the road with a little bit of 'cross throw in for kicks. The pic is from this years GMSR at the top of App Gap, the 'high' point of my exploits on a bike so far. My wife and I have a baby on the way so 2011 might be a year of mostly social riding for me. In any case, I'm looking forward to the upcoming season. Each year with Kissena has been better than the last.

Posted By: Bryan Doughertythe 'high' point

GGGGGRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN.

heh.

(sup bryan!)

Hi Guys!

My Name is Frank Dionisio. I've been a member of Kissena since around 2002 where I started racing Track at Kissena Velodrome.
Since then I fell in love with cyclo-cross. The last few years I've focused on 'cross but I still like to come back to the track to train and race.

Last year (2010) and in 2008 I went to Trinidad and Tobago to race track in April - great racing, great fun, great people and good food.
Summer and Fall 2010 were low key seasons for me but I hope to back in 2011 for the Track in the Spring and the 'Cross circuit in the Fall.

Hope to see you guys around! - Frank

welcome to the forum, frank!

Hey all - My real name's Matt, but most folks in the wonderful world of bikes call me Tito (it's a long story).
2011 will be my second season with Kissena - I used to race track, and now I mostly race road. A Cat 4 in both.
I started grad school this past fall, so it remains to be seen how much racing I'll have time for this season but I hope to race and train as much as possible.
p.s. My beard is much trimmer now.

http://www.cyclingcaptured.com/2010-Cycling/Track/Kissena-2010-Opening-Day1/Kissena2010-Day1225/854959332_BMZxB-M.jpg

Hi all,
I'm Brian, I just joined the club and haven't met anyone yet, so I thought I'd introduce myself here. This will be my first full season doing cycling "full time," though I've done 3 of the Saturday morning Prospect Park races in the past as an independent, testing the waters of this bike racing thing. I've spent the last 3 seasons doing triathlons, and found my cycling getting faster and faster, while my running got more and more injury-laden. Also, I hate swimming. Anyway, I had some success in my limited bike racing so far, so I thought it was worth putting all my eggs into the cycling basket for a full season to see how it played out. Looking forward to it, and to meeting Kissena people! Here's a photo of my at the Lake Stevens half-ironman last year, sorry if the resolution is terrible.

wassup brian!

looking forward to meeting you in person.

fyi - i don't want you to get your hopes up, so i'll say this now:

don't expect the road racing scene to be any less dorky than the triathlon scene

in fact . . . we may be even worse

Shhh William, he has to find that out for himself.

Ha! I didn't think anybody could be more dorky than triathletes. I try to keep it as non-dorky as possible, note in that picture the distinct lack of a powertap, or even a cycling computer. For triathlons my strategy was to go purely based on how I feel. I do have a computrainer, though, and am growing somewhat used to this notion of "watts." I have a feeling the road racing scene might move me further into techno-ville...

Hello - I just joined Kissena. Recently moved from the city to Princeton, but will join the team for the occasional Nyack run and PP race... I'm a Cat 5 that will hopefully upgrade this season. Anyone else based in the Princeton area feel free to reach out.

hi joel,

look out for my friend anthony cross who rides for the princeton U team.

there's some great riding out your ways.

best,

-william

Hey!
My name\'s Dave. I work at Bicycle Habitat, and this is my first season on Kissena. I grew up racing mt. bikes, raced road some in college, and haven\'t been racing too much since. Just a random race here and there. This season I\'m starting as a 5 on the road and a 2 for XC mtb. I plan on doing a lot more racing with Kissena this year, both on the road and trails. I\'ve seen William naked more times than any of you.
Love,
Dave