Kissena Forum Archive

Feb 14, 2023 at 03:12 PM

I'm in for the March 4th cat 4 race

Mar 02, 2023 at 08:53 PM

I'm tentatively in for the March 4 1/2/3 race. I really want to do it, but I don't want my first road race back to be in the rain. A few years back, this wouldn't have been an issue. I'd be going regardless.

Mar 03, 2023 at 01:45 PM

Totally feel that JP, but I'll likely show up regardless, hoping the rain drives some of the less committed first timers away. Hope to see you there!

Mar 03, 2023 at 04:17 PM

Matt Budofsky said:

Totally feel that JP, but I'll likely show up regardless, hoping the rain drives some of the less committed first timers away. Hope to see you there!

you should. Others should. I'm on the fence. I might show up and decide on the spot.

Mar 03, 2023 at 09:07 PM

Welp, Tom made the decision super easy. RACE CANCELED due to a portion of the park flooding very easily and the expected very high winds.

I’m in for both cat 4 races on the 11th

Mar 03, 2023 at 09:36 PM

Thanks for the update. It's not on the BikeReg page. Yet.

Not sure what I"m going to do tomorrow morning to make up for this.

Mar 04, 2023 at 12:37 AM

Come race Randall's!

Mar 10, 2023 at 07:40 PM

Tomorrow's race is canceled again with the incoming weather. Maybe one of these weekends I'll be able to get my season started

Mar 10, 2023 at 09:16 PM

There's always Sunday in Prospect!

Mar 13, 2023 at 01:30 PM

I knew I was having a late night on Saturday so waking up early and getting to the park (especially with losing the hour to day light savings) was a no go for me. I'll be there for the next one though!

Mar 16, 2023 at 09:49 PM

Registered for the 1/2/3 this Saturday (3/18). Anyone else coming out to play?

Mar 17, 2023 at 11:53 AM

I'm gonna try to make it out.

Mar 17, 2023 at 01:39 PM

I'll be there for the 4s. Weather is finally looking good too!

Mar 18, 2023 at 02:51 PM

Race report: I took the first few laps to get my bearings/comfortable riding in a pack again (think my last road race was in June of last year).

Once we were in the thick of it, I chased a few attacks but nothing really came of it. Looking back on it now, it was a big waste of energy, but in the moment I wanted to force a break or split.

Last eventful moment was Lawrence from ROR sending a hard flier. The two big teams didn’t want to chase, and I ended up on the front for a lap. I sat up and did minimal watts after about 1/3 of a lap but no one came around (at this point that seemed like the story of the race). Once we were 2 to go the big teams got semi organized, speed ramped up, and I hung in for a very mid pack finish.

I didn’t feel like I had the legs to do anything today but it was good to get the race miles in.

Mar 18, 2023 at 09:12 PM

Well today didn't go as planned... Was running late and thankfully made it to registration with plenty of time to spare. The goal was to finish mid pack and depending how my leg felt, put in some attacks.

First few laps weren't too bad. Some small attacks. Teams pulling them back. Then a group of 3 or 4 went (I think JP was in it). That broke apart and a larger group bridged. I'm hanging on back in the pack the whole time. They got over a minute of the pack and went all the way to the finish.

Some guys decided to make things spicy going into the finish. Someone ran straight into the large traffic cone marking a drainage grate that we passed 10+ times throughout the race. I went into the back of the crashed riders and landed on the curb. So far I don't think anything is broken, but waiting to hear back from the doc.

Mar 18, 2023 at 10:59 PM

Ah shit man, hope you heal up quickly and the bike is all good

Mar 19, 2023 at 12:59 AM

I was in the Branch Brook race with Greg. My hopes were to put in the first attack, be aggressive early and use that to get into the winning move, and then hold on for the rest. Failing that, help Greg move to the front and get a feel for the 1/2/3s.

I did put in the first attack. But it went nowhere.

Maybe three laps in a solo rider was off by like 30 seconds. I got in a three-man chase with Jermaine Burrowes and a Jordan rider. I realized after two miles that I didn't have the legs to help drive. Jermaine was riding strong, the other guy was between us. Jermaine sad, 'don't worry, I've got you.' So, I skipped a few turns, then took short turns to keep things rolling.

After maybe three laps, we came around the corner, I did a pull, Jermaine took over and the Jordan rider let a gap open. When I realized it, I didn't think I could close it on my own. I sat up for a second, looked back, and at that moment, a guy blazed by us. I couldn't get him. then I saw the field was behind. So I sat up, hoping to slot in about mid-pack. Only, after about 6 riders, I realized that it was a chase. And that would be the race. I did what I could, but it was too late. It wouldn't have been easy to get on that group, but I probably had it in me. Ugh.

As the race wound down, I was thinking of putting in a few late attacks, to see what that would do. I tried with a bit more than two to go, and then at the bell. The move at the bell was poorly timed on my part--I should have waited a few hundred meters more to take advantage of the fact that we had a cross-headwind and were transitioning to a cross-tailwind. And the move went nowhere.

Because there was nothing left to fight for, and I wasn't feeling strong, I stayed back with Greg to ride it in safely. Best laid plans...As Greg reported, someone hit an orange barrel that had been on the right side of the road the whole race. His bike bounced in front of me, I skidded to ride over a wheel, I think, and then I got hit from behind. But I didn't go down. About 100 meters later, I flatted. I walked to the finish, assuming I'd see Greg after he cooled down.

Only his cooldown was the crash! I fear he rode into me. I didn't look back at the time because I didn't want to cause a rubber-necking crash. Greg, I'm sorry for not checking.

I looked at my wheel after the finish. The Presta valve had broken off. Don't know how. And the juncture where the valve meets the tube ripped, so I now have a pink latex tube that can be used for holding our chip transponders. I can now join the cool kids.

Changed the flat, talked with Greg. Rode home.

https://www.strava.com/activities/8737884157

Mar 24, 2023 at 05:40 PM

Anyone else coming for this weeks edition?

Im in for both 4 races. When I registered this morning the first race had 20 people, just checked again and we're up to 47. Race 2 is still less than 15 people

Jul 03, 2023 at 01:53 PM

So, there's a summer series as well. Thought I posted about it earlier. Alas.

It started early for Branchbrook. The last race, the 1/2/3, was set for 6:30am and had to finish by 8am. While I know it's not early for many, this necessitated a 4am wake-up for me, which is pretty damn early. That was to get on the 5:10am train out of Penn to get to Newark by 5:28, then a 15-minute ride to the course.

A pretty sizable field, I thought. Summer Branchbrook races disappeared in the mid 2000s, I think, only to re-appear after the pandemic. Summer races on this course, back in the old days, were super-fast, and with less wind and better overall fitness, it seemed that it was harder for moves to succeed. AT the one I did in 2021, there was an escape, but we still went pretty fast, 27.6mph average speed.

This year, I figured an early-ish break could take it. As I was by myself, and not sure of my form, I figured I needed to hide for the first five laps or so and then be attentive to big moves coalescing.

The move was small, then started to coalesce, like in that dangerous 15-second gap range. Because I had been intent on saving energy, i was too far back, but moved up on the back stretch, and countered up to a split of three, but blew through the split with the two guys I was with and we motored on. One of the three, Baris from Foundation, had riders up front, so he didn't have to kill it. we were more than halfway across, and I wasn't feeling good, but the other guy was starting to sputter. He gapped me to Baris, and I couldn't get to him. Baris was off to the break. Baris' teammate, Adam Alexander, passed on the right side of the road, but couldn't advance much further. We were reabsorbed.

There were like 15 or more up the road. But the guys who missed the split didn't give up. We maintained a pretty decent pace, and even though Foundation seemed to have the numbers to control the front, we managed to pull back the break with like 4 to go. Thing is, Foundation now had their full squad, and the best sprinters in the race. They ramped up the pace for the final laps, basically discouraging others to attack. I didn't want to fight for position through the curves on the final lap, as I figured some guys would try to overwhelm Foundation there. Nothing.

I stayed out of the sprint, Alexander won, Foundation took second, though there was an effort to DQ the second place rider for using his hands in the final. Didn't work.

I was 35th. 27.4mph average pace. We finished at 7:58am.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9375907581

JohnMalcolmson

Jul 05, 2023 at 11:16 AM

Nice JP. Why is NY officiating so lax? If someone takes their hands off the bar and touches another rider anytime during a race (and the other rider complains), it's a mando DQ. Period. That's what headbutts are for.

Jul 20, 2023 at 10:41 PM

JohnMalcolmson said:

Nice JP. Why is NY officiating so lax? If someone takes their hands off the bar and touches another rider anytime during a race (and the other rider complains), it's a mando DQ. Period. That's what headbutts are for.

Because officials can't see everything, and they don't know if someone is lying or not. Adding to the stew is the fact that the alleged perpetrator was on Foundation, a team made up largely of semi-pro outsiders from the Caribbean and South America who often speak in halting English. There certainly could be some unfair takes for that reason.

Not that I haven't been annoyed with lax officiating. I've had my jersey pulled costing me paying finishes on a few occasions and was furious when officials did nothing on many occasions, once costing Kissena the Spring Series overall win in 2000. Back before there was so much video evidence, sprinters would routinely violate the joggers lane in Prospect Park field sprints.

My guess is that the officials are loath to intervene save the most egregious fouls.

Jul 20, 2023 at 10:42 PM

Bump.

There's a race Saturday in Branchbrook. Anyone going? (again, super-early)

https://www.bikereg.com/branchbrook-park-summer-series-3

David Yang

Jul 21, 2023 at 03:06 PM

I'm assuming you're doing masters + 123?

Jul 21, 2023 at 06:17 PM

David Yang said:

I'm assuming you're doing masters + 123?

It would be just 1/2/3--getting up for the Masters would be at 3am and not sure which train would take me. And I'm on the fence as I'm feeling in a bit of a fitness trough and there might be wet roads.

You?

David Yang

Jul 21, 2023 at 11:00 PM

I was debating masters since it’s a pancake course but realized I’m barely hanging on to Zwift C group rides. I’ll be in shape for cross. Good luck out there tomorrow!