@RichFreeman heck yeah! I have a bike rack good to fit 3 bikes if anyone needs a ride. 

@RichFreemanYoo, I'm in as well if I can get a ride out there!

Alright cool so we have some numbers which will be awesome - if those with cars raise their hands then we can work out who goes from where etc. Thursday there is the tactics talk if people can make it which would be idle to using to sort out lifts as well...I'll even ensure that there is a beer available Thursday night (Coors Light). 

Also, is the move to register for 4/5 #1, #2, or both?

Probably dependent on the drivers but I would suggest that doing 2 races is the best option. 

@RichFreeman @Nathaniel Picard Busky you crazies want to do back to back races?

Where does everyone live? Like I said, I can fit two other bikes in my car, but we need to do swift logistics to get to the race at a decent time.

I can drive from BK too. I can fit 2 bikes, maybe 3 if we dismantle one a bit. 

I'm in midtown east but can easily ride to an easier access point.

Brooklyn - cobble hill. 

@Nathaniel Picard Busky I have to pass through the LES to take the tunnel to NJ. Maybe we can meet on Delancy? @RichFreeman and @RobertMullen can drive from Brooklyn? Anyone else interested in racing on Saturday? I have room for one more bike.

@RobertMullen does that suit you? If there are extra spaces in cars available I know other (currently non KCC) races from Brooklyn who would be keen for a lift...

@RichFreeman for sure! I have 2 roof racks and room for either 2 additional bikeless humans or 1 biked human with their bike squeezed in the car. 

@RobertPeras that works for me! Just let me know what time you need me to get down there

@Nathaniel Picard Busky since the first race is at 7:02 we should meet nice and early. Maybe around 5:45 AM? That gives us about 30 minutes to get there and 30-40 minutes to get ready. 

@RobertPeras sounds great!

Alas, I unfortunately have to do this again, does anyone have a small or medium jersey or vest or other Kissena-branded apparel that I could borrow for Saturday?

Yep got one for you

Heads up! The white kit order is available for pick up at RedBeard right now. You can pick it up and race branchbrook in new kit!

Oh boy!

I'll be doing B'brook 1/2/3

Awesome @mugwump! I’ll wait around and cheer you on!

Anyone who is going to Branchbrook need me to pick up their order at Redbeard? I plan on going there after work.

@RobertPeras hey, idk if you went already but that would be awesome! 

Yea, sorry... I was there a couple hours ago.

No worries! 

Great to see Kissena peeps at Branchbrook representing both 4/5 fields and 1/2/3 (JP). 

Pretty rough day out there. The first race went off pretty well, a lot of weird neutralizations as we caught the back of the masters field after like 2 laps. Everyone played it pretty cool, covered some moves and managed to talk to each other a throughout the race. I was about midpack and @RobertPeras was moving up to the front to cover any breaks on the last 2 laps, @RichFreeman and @Nathaniel Picard Busky were helping me move up through the field then there was a big crash that Bobby and Rich got caught in and Nathaniel and I got caught behind. Pretty much race over from there, we all rolled in a bit afterwards. 

Im super appreciative of you guys working for me and I’m sorry I haven’t quite been able to take advantage of it. 

Race 2 saw @Phil Maronilla go out hard and helping spread the field out. Rich and Bobby had some mechanical troubles from the crash that prevented them from starting and Nathaniel pulled off to the side after a hard day. I moved up when the lap counter said 2 to go and was top 10 or 15 going into the last corner. I think I took it too hot and my wheel just lost grip and skipped. I was surprised because I didn’t feel like I did anything differently and didn’t touch the brakes or anything but the bike sort of slipped out from underneath me. Bit frustrating because I felt like I was in a good spot for the finale.

I’m good, just a bit of road rash. I’m typing this race report from Walgreens. Any tips other than tegaderm and champ sys crash replacement guarantee? 

@RobertMullen Tegaderm is excellent.  If you run out of money, vaseline, plastic wrap and tape work, too.

For all who were in the races together, how was your teamwork?  Anything you did well or need to work on?


As for me, I lined up alone in the 1/2/3.  Somehow got a front-row start.  We were neutralized through the curves, and the race started at the only real left turn of the course.  There was an attack immediately.  I started to go with it.  Wasn't easy.  After I got on terms with the lead riders, I realized that maybe I shouldn't be so exuberant and should try to save my energy and make sure I can come close to finishing the race.

Which is what I did.  The race was difficult because of the crosswind along the final mile, but it wasn't all that difficult overall.  I didn't feel confident enough in my form to follow attacks, so I tried to just largely work on positioning.  The winning move went a bit before halfway, I believe.  

With two to go, I figured there'd be some action on the curvy section.  There was.  Four guys launched early on it.  They quickly got 6-8 seconds.  I was able to counter pretty quickly and get up to them.  Which I should have taken as a sign I needed to keep riding through the four and get them motivated to ride harder.  But I played it conservative, which was dumb, as I wasn't planning on doing the field sprint, as I wasn't sure I had the acceleration and the curves and crosswinds were certain to make it hairy.  That was my chance to either get away or blow up trying.  Should have done it.

Still, finished.  Happy I did so. 36th.

Here's the Strava story: https://www.strava.com/activities/2217856994  

Rode home.  Setting up a route on the Wahoo almost makes the trip too easy.  Caught up with Eloy on the GWB.  

@mugwump I’m glad to hear you had a good race.

This was my first and last race at Branchbrook.

The race started out with a neutral half lap to assess the puddles on the curvey section of the course. As you can see from the comment @RobertMullen made, no many of the riders actually “assessed” this area and about 20 of us got a close encounter with the pavement. Lucky for @RichFreeman and I, we walked away with bumps and bruises and bent rotors. A couple other guys weren’t so lucky. From what I recall, two riders were carried away by ambulance, one of which wasn’t really moving.

I can’t remember what caused the crash (it wasn’t one rider being stupid, I think it was just the mere fact that we were taking that narrow curvy section too fast and riders weren’t letting each other pass because there’s was like 2 min left in the race), but I remember dodging a couple riders to my left, slowing down, then dodging a couple riders to my right, though I was in the clear, and then a rider fell right in front of me and I had no choice but to grab the brakes and fall over him. Luckily for the both of us, we were already going about 16-18 mph and not 25 mph like we were seconds before. Here’s a link to part of the crash: https://youtu.be/kOeZbGckKtI

So if you’re wondering why I won’t go back to Branchbrook, it’s because of the curvy section and the poor race coordination. I played the crash out multiple times and I think we were doomed from the start. In fact, I was told that there has been a bad crash at every race at the exact same location!

Oh, and did I mention that our pace car screwed up and we were actually going about 10 mph for about 1/2 lap at some point because we were catching the masters group. Any progress that we made before that would have been crushed. And (yes there’s an “and”), the race organizers messed up the lap counting in most of the races. I don’t like putting down race organizers, because I know a lot of hard work goes into preparing races, but this particular race had a lot of flaws.

On a more positive note, had I not crashed, I think this would have been a great race. During the last lap @RichFreeman and I were towards the front of the pack, while @RobertMullen and @Nathaniel Picard Busky were slightly behind us. I think @Nathaniel Picard Busky and I would have been able to help @RobertMullen and @RichFreeman down the home stretch. Not only that, but I feel like all of us had a lot to do with controlling the pace of the race. So Kissena did a nice job representing!

Strange race overall - the above mentioned combinations of events made it a rather stop start (the hard stop) affair. No rhythm, order or action really kicked off. Went to the front at one point to see if there was anything going on, tested myself and couldn't drop the field so sat up and skulked off to the middle/back of the pack where I hung out until the last lap. Moved up, spotted the other lads but as Bobby mentioned the pinch point in the course put paid to any ambitions. Still, being able to sort of ride away from the pile up (I was on the top so had a cushioned landing) is a bonus and a quick trip to Redbeard had me sorted in 10 minutes.

Good to get another race under the belt, better positioning and activity levels compared to GT so looking forward to next Sunday's game at home. Home pitch/advantage etc.