I can help on Sunday after my 10:00 am race.

Stephane - Myles's email addr is ilovetoracecross@gmail.com

Anyone bringing their kids? And what races are youse doing? We could pool resources here (buy them beer, take them golfing, etc)

Any kids bringing bikes?

We're bringing ours. Sophie (2.75 yrs) is going to pit for me and Isaiah (7 months) will be doing beer hand-ups, or helping his mom cauterize your bleeders at the medic station...

I'm bring my daughter Sarah out on Sunday. She's 7 so she'll have the keys to the party van.

Just got home from the course set-up...tired, but looking forward to racing tomorrow. Todd, Patrick, WIlliam, and Myles all joined in on the fun.. If anyone can get there extra early, to help free up Myles so he can do some hot laps and fine tune the course, that would be great. He's also going to need a solid hour to go over the course with the leaf blower. It was pitch black by the time we had all the course taped off and I'm pretty sure that William and I inadvertently added some cliffs of death off camber root drop off turns that were not part of Myles original design.

^ it's true

i just got an offer to stoke for Greg O. at AdlerTandem, and those root-oriented booby traps are my parting gift!

goodnight, Kissena!

http://gifninja.com/animatedgifs/200711/ass-dan.gif

Glamor shot...

Hawt

reports?

i skipped this to attend the Harvard vs. Yale football game

it sucked so baaaaad

serious buyer's remorse

As usual the race began with a pre-race fire drill; this time it was sleeping through the alarm. With a 9am start time today, we awoke to see "6:30" on the clock, not 5:30 as we'd planned.

My wife is nothing if not a super-hero so amazingly we (2 kids, bike, gear, both shoes) were up, packed and in the car in under 40 minutes...

The usual 1/2 lap warmup, and the lovely realization that Kissena had 4 of the 6 front row spots! A front row callup!

The whistle blew and I was following my prerace plan of "freaking out until total meltdown" and by the time we hit the grass I was in second place. I battled at the pointy end for the next couple of laps, falling to forth but still strong - having the announcer hollering about Kissena in 2nd, 3rd and 4th at one point was pretty cool.

Patrick came past me at one point, clearly stronger (I'm fast these days, but not very fit it seems) but bobbled a tricky bit and I repassed him while he got back on his bike.

Things were looking good, despite my fast-failing power; I was attacking out of the saddle from most turns and I did a bit of cat and mouse with some man-beast on a mountain bike.

At the bottom of the stairs I twisted my foot to unclip and... Nothing.
Twisted some more... Still nothing.

One of the screws on my cleat was gone.

I stopped, unbuckled my shoe, took my foot out and raised my fists to the sky and screamed "Khaaaaaaaaaan!"

I looked at Perlberg who had run down the hill to help. "Shoe's broke" I think I said.

I ran the stairs in my sock, and more or less finished with whatever I could - deciding that DFL was better than DNF.

25th, and fucking bitter.

I'm pretty beat tonight. Not sure if I'll make it out there tomorrow.

Great to see such strong showings from Marc, Patrick, Josh, Jeff, Jim et al. The other guys must just rue our orange kit when they see it coming

I'm looking forward to being part of the nightmare tomorrow.

Bringing Beth, Oscar, and Maddy. I'll be there by 12:30. See you all there.

fuck!

that is a rough deal, jules

hold onto that hanger . . . hold it . . . then release it tomorrow!

13th today. Catching up but ran out of time. 30sec off of 5th place.

Late for staging, stuck behind a slow Guy. Start was ok, but I missed the front group as the course does not offer that many passing opportunities, and it took me a while to get past and start making my way up.

Nice riding by the B's

Emerging from the shadows of my predominantly New England Cat 4 cyclocross-racing reality, I happily looked upon a battalion of my Kissena brothers at the start of Saturday's race. Unfortunately, MAC cat 4s get line up by order of registration and that meant I was staring at the back of their "front row" helmets from 6th (and second to last-ish) row of a 50-rider field.

Fortunately, I previewed the start multiple times and had a few ideas about where I would unleash the fury of PEO (pass early and often) Technique. To borrow the words of Mr. Miyagi, "If do right, no can defense."

As we raged through the opening lap, the "surprising" elevation changes and amount of climbing (or so mentioned from one of the A Master's rider from Delaware on Friday as he previewed the course), often afforded me an excellent view of the front row Kissenas. They were going good, seemingly increasing their lead through every turn and rare straight-away. But gradually, and ever so painfully, I clawed back to them, too out of breath to utter words of encouragement as I made my passes.

With a few laps to go (2 or 3 maybe?), Jules was the last Kissena in front of me. He was doing battle with Mr. Mountain Bike for 4th place. I was hunting them down hard and was closing in on their wheels on the paved start-finish stretch. I entertained glorious visions of this race last year, where Eloy and I took turns putting the screws to our enemies in our small group. Almost, almost...nooooooooo! Jules put in a particularly fierce and vicious attack that put an end to the dream.

Or at least it was on hold. I put the hammer down, blowing straight through the over-hanging branches of soft fur trees instead of taking the more circuitous route. Up and down and around the boat-house rollers, over the root-strewn cliffs of despair, they were coming back to me. At the base of the stair climb, I made contact with Jules, but watched him step to the side and stop. No time to be puzzled for too long, I charged up the stairs and was neck and neck with Mr. MTB. And there we were locked and stuck together in the battle for 4th. Back on the pavement, I hugged the right side of the road, hoping to force him to pass on the windy left side, giving me a much needed break. Unfortunately he hung there until a rider in green and white flew by us, when he detached himself from my wheel and changed locomotives. I couldn't jump on that train. I was OTB for my last lap.

In the end, I finished 6th (or 7th if you prefer to believe the official results, which include a lapped rider, assures my wife) and tired.

After a hearty breakfast, I returned to the scene of many crimes and put on my volunteer hat again and did things like bringing amplified sound to the beer garden, climbing a storm damaged tree with one of Myles' more impressive tools (a ninja saw that was shaped like a machete and had Japanese characters laser-etched in the blade, and a handle wrapped in, what I can only assume, are the tendons of a mountain lion from Mount Fuji.

Finally, I raced the Cat 2/3/4 event later that same day. Normally I wouldn't double up, but since I'm stuck at the hospital on Sunday, I wanted to get one more race in. The first lap went surprisingly well, but after that, the fire in my engine room started to die. But I still rode as hard as I could and 48-minutes later, I crossed the line in 21st place out of 30 finishers.

Good rides, gents w/ nice finishes for Marc B & Eric R. Sorry to hear about the cleat mechanical Jules. that sucks! Get it back today...


Terribly bummed I can't be there to share in the joy of the race with my orange and blue brethren.

Heal up.

A report from both days:

I registered first for both of these race so I had a front row call up both days and I was determined to put it to good use. While I raced well it was a difficult course for me with a lot of slowing down and speeding up out of corners which kills my back. I felt decent in the technical stuff but there were definitely a couple places where I could not figure out the correct line.

Saturday I found myself in 7th at the hole shot behind a guy who was having serious trouble driving his bike. He finally hit a tree and I was able to get by him but places 1-5 (including Jules and Patrick) were already 10 seconds up and moving away fast. Marc, East End mountain bike guy and one other guy passed me towards the middle of the second lap and put me back into 9th place. After another half lap I caught site of Patrick and made it my goal to get to him and pass which I did during the 3rd lap. Now I'm in 8th place with Patrick dangling right behind me and two guys (Gorka from Philly Cyclismo and a RIT guy) came by both of us pretty fast and I couldn't get their wheels. Back to 10th.

Next time we come around the steps I hear a mighty roar of Kahnnnnnnn! and I see Jules at the side with a mechanical. Now I'm in 9th place as we get the bell and I'm looking hopefully at a single digit result, my first. I play it cool, try to put the power on when I could but also try to avoid crashing. I make it to the line with Patrick closing fast and am very happy with 9th. The posted results later put me a tenth but there was definitely a lapped rider in there. The guy they showed as 5th - it was his first cross race. Not that there aren't guys who can do that but it was a pretty tough course to ride that hard for your first race. And I kept a quite careful count of where I was. Anyway, still my first top ten.

I made a beer run and came back with a bunch of 12 packs and some 6 packs of beer which set up in the designated drunkards triangle by the steps and I spent the rest of the day either assuring people the beer is free or marshaling the course crossing by the road at the top of the amphitheater. Great day in the sun.

Woke up this morning feeling good but a little worried about how the course was going to play out run in reverse. I woke up my daughter Sarah and put her in her kid size Kissena jersey and out the door we went. I got in two warm up laps and actually felt the course was a bit better for me than the day before except for the really weird transition to the stairs run up (which I never did figure out). Again got front row call up and was third through the hole shot. The guy in front was riding very strong but the guy in 2nd was slow. It took me a while to find a good place to pass but once I did he was gone. Now I'm in second with first place about 15 seconds up the road. I started chasing hard but he kept moving slowly away. During the second lap I get caught by Patrick and he takes a turn in front of me trying to shut down the gap but no luck. He crashes in a corner and I go by him. We swap places a couple more times and then we both get passed by East End mountain bike guy and a NYC Velo guy. I'm now in forth with Patrick directly behind me in 5th.

My daughter is hanging out with my friend John and yelling for me and ringing a bell and I swear that I she is in 3 places on the course at once. It's a huge motivator and I keep riding hard.

Then during the 3rd lap mountain bike guy is on the side of the course with a mechanical. I go by and am now in 3rd. Then I immediately crash on a big root but get back up without losing any spots. Gorka is coming up quick behind Patrick and 2nd place is 30 seconds up on me. I decide that today is my day to podium and I give it everything I have plus some. I push really big gears at all opportunities and my gap over Patrick and Gorka stays solid for the whole lap. I hammer it home and cross the line for 3rd! Best result to date for me. Sarah and I go to Bonnies Grill back in the slope for a celebration burger.

Thanks to Myles for pulling together an awesome weekend of racing and to all the Kissena's who helped out, especially Mike who really rocked the lieutenant position. And great results for many Kissenas. Look forward to some more race reports.

awesome job, Jimmy!

you think if i gave Sarah a few Capri Suns, she'd cheer for me too? seems to work well.

Nice Jim.

Master's report.

I'm racing alone again. Its lonely in the elite masters. Liz and Luka come to bolster the cheering section. I make sure to be at the start for call ups so I am where I belong. Third row.

I take second in the hole shot behind Edwin who is getting in shape for masters worlds. I was stoked to finally be at the head of the race. Coming into the 180 that takes us out of the prologue and onto the course, Maurice dives in tight and gets by me. So three guys in front and I'm just dangling.

Through the barriers and past the parking lot, I dig and dig to get back up there to the "ticket "as Mike yelled. As we enter a slow section of turns I clip my bars on a course stake and go flying. I get back up in front of the field I had tapped, but lose a few spots getting back on and together. The top 3 are not in reach anymore.

Slowly, I slipped back as I was just pegged. I wasn't as fresh as yesterday, so I made sure to ride as hard as I could, but I was only able to bring a couple of guys back. I got passed and then held off two guys to make it in 13th again.

I am in pain. I later showed Mike JP and Todd some good lines to speed them up.

Luka rode most of the course. Great bike handler that kid.

Mike was in 5th when I left.

Thanks to Myles for another great day.

Jim!!!!! Podium!!!! Stud. Great job. Ragot racing with the big boys...Edwin was raging on Saturday and even managed to drop Maurice G. (who I heard lost a contact lens. Two words, Maurice, two words: Rec Specs)

Also, Patrick bringing out his A-game to day 2 with 4th, Sanossian in 18th, Gironta 20th, and Ceasar in 49. Seems like strong "pr" type results for everyone! I'm soooooo jealous.

Jim!!!!!

JIM!!!!!!!!

Po-di-um! U-S-A!

Nicely done sir, nicely done.

Patrick - if you ain't flyin' you ain't tryin' and you've been *tearing* it out there - very, very impressive.

Guys, awesome results all around - very sorry I wasn't there to see it.

Very, very impressive.

j

Congratulations in no particular order to Jim Eric Marc Patrick James Dave and Josh and Michael, Eric and Myles (big props)....Nice. Really nice. Apologies if I've missed anyone,

Jim visualizing his spot on the podium tomorrow...

Love the lean on this turn...

Dunno who this guys is, but fucking eh he knows how to run some stairs!

I like to call this one "committing to the shot" ie: if that dude had slid out another few inches I'd have been eating chainring...

Rob Campos a longtime friend of mine (and Myles)