I saw no death. So un-metal.

I feel like run-ups are more likely to kill me, in the sense that my heart will explode before I get to the top.

more on the new location. get ready.
https://youtu.be/dvcLzmAYQhs

Registration closes tonite. 

Jill, Jeff, Patrick and I are registered. Come join us and race:
https://www.bikereg.com/kmc-cross-fest

Course designer and Director of Competition talks about the wide variety of conditions at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJZo-X2QgxY

A slightly better hi-res map of the course:

http://kmccrossfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2016-kmcfest-map.pdf

that was crazy hard. and a big comedy of errors for me. a bit disappointed that i allowed the course to destroy. after my fourth or sixth or twentieth crash, my chain got between the 11 and the frame, and had to run the last whatever portion of the course. big huge #DFL

otherwise some pretty epic photos. which is what matters most. obvs. Patrick looked like the hotness, in photos and real life.

Kinda looking fwd to tomorrow, as i'm likely to improve my finish.

#lanternerougeforever

photo by Jess

Great pic by Jess!

Awesome photos! Can't wait to hear/see moar results!

Bruises, so many bruises. Jeff said that one resembles an off center tramp stamp. Got that one from shouldering the bike through a long off camber run along with a large forearm bruise.

Off center tramp stamp is the Inverted Jenny of the tattoo world.

Sunday was a lot more fun, just raced and pedaled, plenty of super fast fun just power thru the mud sections. Still finished towards the back, not much ado when you are staged 90-100ish on a 100+ cat 3 field. landed with a group of 4, we fought at the end, high fives and fist pumps ensued after the line.  

Honestly, regardless of the conditions, this race did have a few positives over the old venue, but overall is not even a shadow of what the race was at Providence. I would bet Caffeinated and Hippo were more fun and even better competition for the lower categories.

Also, I missed the donut handups, but made it up w/ sponsored beer!

(photo by Jess)

eloy said:

... overall is not even a shadow of what the race was at Providence. I would bet Caffeinated and Hippo were more fun and even better competition for the lower categories.

Details? Very sorry to hear this.

Also - HOTNESS

always go for the handup!

Also in Velonews/
http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/10/gallery/gallery-kmc-cross-fest-day-2_422122

I never got around to sharing any post race thoughts about KMC (formerly Providence). We went on college visits after the race and it took me a few days to recover from that weekend. 

First the venue. I miss providence. They had a a beautiful park that was family friendly near a very cool city. My wife and kids looked forward to it every year (It helped that I have a high school friend who lives in providence). Thompson speedway is not near anything (hour out of Boston), only offered speedway concession food (Providence used to have the BEST food vendors) and was not that interesting from a family standpoint. 

But what about the racing, you say? Well there was some really cool off camber dirt sections. There was lots of mud (both peanut butter and soupy) and even an off camber sandy section. While this was all definitely fun and challenging, was it better than the old course? I don't think so. Had it not rained that weekend (and the days leading up to it) I think the race would have felt more like a power course with one or two technical bits. 

My races went reasonably well according to crossresults. I bested my predictions, but to be honest when lining up last row and racing against Adam Myerson and Alec Donahue "my race" was to compete against Bertucco and Eloy. Nothing like some friendly rivalry to keep you competitive. On Saturday HALF the 35+ field finished one lap down! Here are some pictures my wife took of the weekend. By the way, I did take a beer handed on the lap following the picture that showed up on velonews. 

KMC Cross Fest Crash Reel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXwxuDfXncQ

I get it, it was fun and crazy and all that, just see my smile one post above, but ultimately, I am little peeved or confused on why a race would be proud of this.

--- I think for me, it might just be the fact that this falls so short of what Providence was. 

Seems totally unnecessary to me. Are we here to watch a race or watch people fall down.

It looked about as bad but not worse as plenty of World Cup descents. I think it's good that the race organizers are upping the ante. And provided people aren't getting hurt I'm not going to beat myself up too much about watching someone flying squirrel into the shrubbery. I've don't plenty worse...

Some people did get hurt. Cassie's crash cracked her shoulder.

eloy said:

Some people did get hurt. Cassie's crash cracked her shoulder.

That's not cool.

Registration for KMC 2017 is open.

https://www.bikereg.com/kmccrossfest

Already peeved with how far this race is from their Providence days, add now the most truly awkward schedule ever, I am not likely to be there.

http://kmccrossfest.com/2017/08/07/a-letter-from-our-staff/

http://kmccrossfest.com/2017/08/07/kmc-cross-fest-schedule-adjustments-per-uci-regulations/

#fyrefestival

Reports coming in from the 2017 -- and the videos I've seen -- suggest that this past weekend was essentially worst than 2016. Value wasn't there for the lower categories in 2016, and as that kept us away, unsurprisingly, the value wasn't there for the higher categories.

We'll see how this race adjusts, but 2018 will unfortunately be a thought year for them.

It is a shame, as just two years ago, this was maybe the best race in the country.

https://www.facebook.com/richardsachs/posts/10212411396912951

^reading this is mega-bummer. Providence was the best ever. Word is the payouts to the mob were just too much so they had to move venues. Perhaps the new venue is just too remote?

What a damn shame.

Registration for 2018 is open.
https://www.bikereg.com/kmccrossfest

I am likely to skip, and presume many amateurs and pros will too.

That said, they appear to moving in a more grassroots direction -- only 2 days, Saturday is part of the CT series, Sunday is a C2.  This seems like the right approach, so will keep an eye on how it all develops.