All,

For those of you not making the drive to race cross in Providence on Oct 8th and 9th (and if you are, jealous) Rich and I are planning to do Town Hall Cross in Bethlehem PA on the 8th. Sounds like a tough and fun course with a bunch of elevation change and some other lovely features.

I have two more spots in the car, leaving from Brooklyn 5:30ish.

I need to be back in Brooklyn by early afternoon so either the C or B races would be fine (9:00 and 10:00 respectively). Not sure which one I'm doing yet.

Jim

anyone thinking about doing this? I'm itching to get out there and race. Especially before the ass whooping I'm about to get at Grangogue.

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=13910

I'm on the fence, but if I go I'd race the 3/4 and then the 1/2/3. If somebody wants a ride I'd be down to get there an hour earlier so you can race the 4s as long as you double back in the 3/4 race

OK I've got the go-ahead.... any takers?

It looks like I'm in for the 3/4's. I'll probably leave from my place (106th and CPW) between 6 and 6:30 AM and then head back shortly after the race.

Todd
ftmclo@hotmail.com

Rich and I are heading out for the 4 race at 9am. I have room for one more in the car going out. Catch is that I'm heading upstate NY when race is over and Rich is staying in town and taking the bus back on Sunday. But maybe you can wrangle a spot back with Todd or Mike (and let them sleep an hour later). So if you're interested in the early race let us know. Leaving Brooklyn 5:45ish and heading through lower Manhattan on the way out.

Cheers,
Jim

Hi,

I'd like to do the cat 4 race. Catching a ride down with Jim & Rich and back with Todd/Mike does sound ideal -- what do you say guys? Thanks.

Cool with me. The spot is still open. Mike/Todd, you have any room coming back?

Derek, where are you located?

I'm in the w village, 11th & Bleecker. I can travel a bit to meet you if you like.

I just signed up for the 4 race.

Bring your lederhosen: http://www.artsquest.org/festivals/oktoberfest/

Short report from Town Hall Cross this morning:

5 Kissena's lined up for the 4 race; Rich, Jules, Jeff W, Derek, and myself. Rich had a good position in the 3rd row. I was in the 11th. The rest of the crew were in the back. About 90 registered but I think only 75 or so started.

The course snaked around a nice little town park. It switch backed and forth up a steep hill with a ride/run up at the top and then came down in big fast sweeping turns. The rest was technical turning and twisting with a few power spots and two sets of barriers. Mainly wet grass with some gravel sections.

Start was pretty slow, almost directly onto the switch back hill. Passing people was a matter mostly of taking the better line. I did a decent job of passing folks the whole race, especially on the hill which seemed to really daunt people. It was a really fun course with a lot of fast sweeping turns.

I ended up 19th, a result I'm happy enough with. First top 20 this season. Aiming for a top 15 next.

The rest of the guys did really great with everyone finishing in the top 50%. Rich had an especially good ride for 6th, and Jules was also impressive with a 9th. I think Derek was 26th and Jeff 36th.

Mike and Todd had great rides in the B race. I believe they were both top 10 (9th and 10th I think). Dave Stokes also had a good race in the masters. I think he scored himself a 3rd place in the 55+.

Good showing for Kissena all around.

Next weekend Granogue!

Is it possible for
Jules to have a bad ride with that bike?

Rock! Jealous again. Good job all, post pics.

Short Report From Me.

Drove in with Stokes in time to catch some C-Men action. Guys were rocking it as described above.

Pre-rode the course a few times and thought it was going to be a blast.

Had a good start and was in the top 10 early. I miss-rode the down hill and the top 6 guys gaped me by a lot.

Was riding with a group behind me and crashed on a gravelly section, but used my bike to prevent anyone from getting around me.

On lap 2 I started going into the red really hard. Was getting passed here and there. Falling back. Crashed again on the exact same gravelly section.

At this point I was about 15th but was starting to recover. Luckily the group up ahead didn't get to far away. Picked them off one at a time and got myself back to 10th. Todd was one of the folks who passed me in my move backwards through the field and I couldn't quite catch back up to him.

Good race fitness wise, not so great technique wise. I wasn't hitting the corners as I'd like and basically wasn't be aggressive enough.

Recovered for awhile. Heckled the masters. Took pictures.

Raced the 123s. Very small field. Started slow out of necessity for survival. Was in a 3 way battle for last. Got away from one guy, was behind another who was bunny hopping the barriers and getting the crow riled up. He was very slow on the uphills but technically superior to me. Eventually, on the barrier by the start finishing I caught him while he was bunny hopping and ran past, opened up a gap and never saw him again. The little victories. Was eventually lapped and focused on following lines and trying to find a better way around the tricky parts of the course I was struggling with. It helped.

Fun day. I'll try to post some pictures of the masters later.

Pretty simple race report; this was my first day out on the new Whip - Van Dessel Gin & Trombones - which I have named "The Pork Chop Express."

I was a little late showing up because I took a wrong turn from the hotel, and had to ride over a mountain to get there, but basically I met up with the crew (Jim, Rich, Derek & Whitey) in the parking lot.

I had time for one warmup lap during which I realized I was overdressed, and then we lined up. Whitey & I were in the dead last row. He muttered something like "we aren't going to be able to do *anything* in this race, we're starting too far back"

My plan was to get a good workout in, nothing more. I've been travelling & working too hard for 3 weeks straight, including catching a cold (inevitable) and not getting nearly enough sleep. I've fallen so far off my training plan that I haven't even bothered to upload the 5 rides I've done in the last 3 weeks, or email my coach to tell him I'm doing NOTHING these days. Sorry Max!

The gun went off and our herd thundered along - no great hole shot for me but the start of the course was a nice grassy switchback hill followed by a steep kicker of a climb - which explained the 7am text I got from Whitey "Dude this course is made for you"

The pace in the overcrowded switchback was slow enough for the guys to be chatting and when we got to the kicker-hill it was faster to run because of the human horde clogging the path.

After that was the descent, which spread things out pretty good; I put my head down and hammered whenever I could, passing people and staying agressive on every single flat or even remotely straight portion.

I got a good laugh watching several guys up ahead fall head over heels on the backside of the course; there were two steep descents followed by sharp turns and steep (slippery) grass uphills; about 4 guys got crash courses (pun intended) in bike handling.

By the time we came back around to the switchback hill and "the kicker" things were MUCH thinner and I was able to ride up the kicker hill and pass a bunch of dudes - both runners and riders.

Thus went the race...

Lap 3 I ran up the kicker hill, and the last (4th) lap I overcooked a corner and slid out - falling on my right side - but was able to hop back on & continue without losing any real time.

The final lap I was pretty much on my own in the familiar "no mans land" that my old coach had named - ahead of the pack but behind the hard men. One guy tried to close on me in the final stretch but I drilled it into the final barriers and carried my momentum well; after remounting I hammered for home and he was never seen again.

I stopped just across the finish line laid down on my back in the soft wet grass; this lack of fitness left my pukey and dizzy.

SO MUCH FUN.

In the end it was good enough for 9th place; no times though so I have no idea how far ahead 1-8 were.

Postrace, we all climbed the hill to heckle/cheer the next heats.

The most notable heckle remains - for a guy riding purple anodized hubs -
"Hey, Buddy, 1980 called. He wants his hubs back."

some good pics of town hall up:

http://www.cyclingcaptured.com/2011CyclingSeason/CycloCross

what a fantastic race. i don't have a hell of a lot to add. sorry you had to ride over south mtn jules -- that;s the ride home to my in-laws every ride out from there.

mike there are some great pics in the cyclingcaptured reel. nice one of you, giving it everything!

i got a good start pos. in 2nd or 3rd row (35th starter) and was able to make up some time on the hole shot, landing w/in the first 10-15 going up the st. lukes staircase (aka the hellish switchback thing w/ run-up at the top). went down twice in the first lap! (ugh) and lost a few positions but nothing serious. although it was a really fun course, not too many places to pass... barriers were placed well right before/after turns so that it was difficult to carry speed but they were good for a couple passes here and there. all in all it was good for 6th. Thought I had 5th but couldn;t quite get up to the money. Yeah well. Biggest props go to Jules for a MASSIVE ride from the back row all the way the hell up to 9th. One hell of a job.

EDIT: also big ups to Stokes, who took our heckling to heart and rode the staircase like an animal every single lap.

P.S. if any of you ever wanna get out the MTBs or take the cross bikes out in the LV, let me know -- that's my old stomping ground

great day of racing, guys.

Heckling? I thought you were cheering!

http://www.cyclingcaptured.com/2011CyclingSeason/CycloCross/2011-Town-Hall-MasterMen-35-55/19399423_fF23JX#1520064278_VW8BQhK-A-LB

I'm pretty sure that "Perlberg Captures" Photography got some decent shots of the Heckers in Full Fulminant Glory...

You know, I felt like I was jeering most of the time rather than heckling or "Hecking." Not at Stokes, though. He thinks we were out there cheering because he was only one of two guys in his field in our kit.

Had he been in some other jersey it might have gone more like this: "THIS AIN'T FIGURE SKATING STICK BOY! QUIT IT WITH THE FIGURE EIGHTS AND PICK A LINE! OOOOOOOOOHH SO YOU WHEELIED ON ACCIDENT BECAUSE IT'S SO STEEEEP; I'LL PLAY BAND OF HORSES NEXT LAP! IGNORE THAT DOLLAR! DO NOT LOOK AT THE DOLLAR BILL!" Or some such.

forgot how much time I waste in the fall on:

http://www.crossresults.com/

Ha ... crossresults.com lowers my productivity almost as much as the TDF.

A quick race report from me:

I was close to Mike, either right in front or right behind, for most of the race. So... my race report is pretty much exactly the same as his.
Mike and I each had a good start. We were both in the top 10, ahead of the fray, by the time the course narrowed a few hundred meters into the race. I crashed on a steep drop towards the end of the first lap, lost more than a few places and spent the rest of the race breathing hard and working my way back up. All things considered, it was very fun.

I'm looking forward to Granogue this weekend.

Todd

23spt2013
townHall cx

so i see a couple kissenas Reg'd for this year's TownHall CX.

what are your plans?

this will be my 1st cx race&looking pre-race advice/insights for survival. i will be in Philadelphia so can either rent fro there or overnight in BethlehemPA &return w/team mate(s) if there is any room. otherwise will Boltbus Zip Boltbus.

please do shout out!
thanks,
-harryB;-)

hbolick@gmail.com

I may go down for the 35+ race. I'm registered. Will know Friday. Will be heading home to BKLYN, and will have room for 1.

26spt

@eric &others going 2TownHall CX,
i will b in philaPA, rental 2bethlehem &could either return to Airport in Allentown (7mi from race) or NewarkNJ.

prefer to ride home 2bkNY w/Kissena Teamates &share exp of return 2 bkNY:
a) eric would this work for you?
b) eric have you committed to attending race?
c) others?

-harry:-)
718 640 8680

@Harry - I am going, but not driving. 

hi ericR et all, understood...was replying to ericRobertson.

TownHall CX c2013, KCC line-up:

3/4
wdCapitman

4/5
jeffWhite
martinsNelson
rickPerner

mstr35+
ericRagot
ericRobertson

mstr45+
harryBolick
JamesNelson
daveStokes

...looks like fun!
-h;-)

Harry good luck in your first cross race. Be sure to have fun. Be aware that you have signed up for one of the most challenging racing categories out there. If you can, try and get near James and David...those guys are top bike handlers and you can learn a lot from them. Seriously, try and get there early, so at least you can race some hot-laps with them.

From Jules' footage, the course doesn't look ridiculous, but if you can dial in the wider grassy turns with less breaking and accelerating, you are going to be much happier. In the end of this race though, you should be destroyed.

Here's a good way to think about racing cross too. It's a series of hundreds of micro intervals. 30 seconds threshold, 20 seconds VO2, 10 seconds recover. Over and over and over again. MOVE UP AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY. DIG DEEP ALWAYS. Don't you dare put more than 40lbs of pressure in your tires. EVER. At your weight, with clinchers I think 30psi. If you are rocking the tubies, think about 27-28. YES, it matters.

After worrying about a very sore rib that's been giving me problems since a hard crash at Cunningham a couple weeks ago I proceeded to crash again on the same side during my second warm up lap. Almost didn't start but figured I would give it a go and quit if I needed to. Hurt like hell on the uphill but managed to finish 40 something out of 75. Not a great result for me but OK under the circumstances.