I think the primary reason people avoid this corner (and I'm hoping people who were at my crit workshop for the "hot laps" in the beginning noticed how we didn't avoid the corner, because I purposely rode over stuff without pointing out "dangers" to show that you have to know or figure out that most stuff in the road, you can ride over and/or through) is because there's a little banked dip right in it that can throw you off your balance if you aren't ready for it.

Also, it's a matter of safety, because unless you are one of the first guys in the line, and you dive into that inside line hard and fast, your momentum is going to take you straight to the outside of the turn and right into a pack of folks. And while I generally don't like to play follow the leader, in some cases, it's just safer and more efficient to follow the silly lines of the guys in front of you.

And frankly that's what happens most of the time, guys are just more comfortable playing follow the leader through the turns and that particular turn is pretty narrow both on the entrance and exit, so you are NOT losing too much if you don't take the ideal line through that turn. And if you are not comfortable with a little off camber bank turn then...it's just easier to take the outside line.

An example of when the pack ALWAYS takes the wrong line happens in central park. After museum mile, for example, the sweeping, fast right handed turn people nail the apex then stick like glue to the right side of the road, instead of hitting the apex, then allowing your bike to go where it naturally wants to go, which is the left side of the road.

Sometimes, if you dive to the inside of the turn like that, you, if you don't mow down a bunch of guys on your outside, might end up breaking hard and having to jump hard out of the turn. Now there have been times when I've been say 60 guys back, and I was desperate to move up, so I pulled the dive inside move. But I know that by doing this, I have to hammer the breaks hard just before the turn, inch my way around the turn slowly, then full power sprint up to speed. So then if I enter the turn, say a fake "10th wheel," I know that by the time I'm back up to speed after being sneaky and SAFE, I'll be like 30th wheel, which is a hell of a lot better than 60th wheel.

So, in summary, sometimes you follow the pack, sometimes you carve your own lines...it all depends. Regardless, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to ride SAFELY and "HEADS UP."

i think i just found something i wished i hadn't: another team's race summary. http://iamelicurtfuld.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/530-thursday-night-worlds-rockleigh-criterium/

Brendan you must have missed this:

"The Kissena rider in the lead here has a respectable amount of fitness and handling skills – I felt very comfortable cornering next to him, as opposed to some others."

@Brendan- I'd pay to have someone write stuff like that about me.  Nice.

awwwwwwww... that was kind of him to say, and i did miss that!  thanks jim and neil.  i sort of just skipped to the end where he said some stuff about "elbowing past a kissena guy" to come into the finishing straight. i didn't appreciate being relegated to "elbowed by" mention, which i don't recall happening to me. and john and aaron didn't mention any 'bows being thrown.  but yes now that i take a closer look at his report, he did have some kind words.  i am thankful.

I just saw this picture in the link that Brendan posted. Can someone explain whats going on here? What are those "bars"? 

Wes, I'm sure JP and a number of our club's equipment gurus can give you a better answer, but until then...

I forget what those bars are called, but a few years back, maybe late 90s, there were a number of efforts by companies to give riders the top speed advantage by giving them handlebars and/or "clip-ons" that offered up differing hand positions for mass start events in the name that it makes you more aero.

Somewhere I have a set of Scott bars where the ends, where you normally put bar plugs take a hard right/left turn towards your headtube. I think Lemond rode them for a while. But they are heavy and you know how we feel about heavy things. I actually still think they look kind of cool, but I do think I would be kicked out of the club if I taped up those bad boys and went on a group ride.

The clip-ons you see above were, if I recall correctly sort of a reaction to the UCI making short C shaped extensions that kind of put you in a pretty traditional TT position, called Spinacis, illegal in mass start events. Those Spinacis were exceedingly popular for a while. And for good reason, it basically made that "fake aero/grab your cable housing" position you adopt when on a breakaway or in a small group, much more comfortable and safe. Of course I can also see the UCI's point of view here too.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cinelli+spinaci&client=firefox-a&hs=D7g&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ewasUcbKGs7q0QHoq4CQCw&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=579

The ones you see above and similar still remain, "legal," I think, but not widely used. As with all positional aero equipment, you can make your frontal space narrower by bringing your hands in, but at what cost? Are you losing power due to riding in an unfamiliar position, for example? And you certainly can imagine that control of the bike would be an issue here.

who be going? i am le thinking about it.

Did anyone go? Word on the street was that these guys were showing up - http://www.jamishagensberman.com/

yea, I was told of this before hand as well. weather and post-running legs kept me at bay.

Mattie --you'll get them next time...

Wes Tillman said:

I just saw this picture in the link that Brendan posted. Can someone explain whats going on here? What are those "bars"? 

Those are Cane Creek Speed Bars.  Unlike the Scott Rakes, which were more popular and the Scott drop-ins, which Marc references (and LeMond rode to his third tour win), the CC's were each made of two pieces, with the second canted a bit outwards for more comfortable hand placement.  They should be legal still because they don't add a contact point (elbows or forearms) like the Cinelli Spinaci or 3T Tiramisu's did.  Think I still have a set.  Not sure if they work with 31.8 bars.

@Aaron - Whoa shit, glad you're not too seriously hurt.  They took xrays at the hospital?  MRIs?

@aaron - That sux! Get well soon buddy. I hope nothing too serious.

@aaron-Sorry to hear that.  Heal well.

@aaron sorry to hear this - good to hear you make it out in (more or less) one piece.  How is your helmet?  Time for an upgrade?  How is the bike?  Did you make it home?

sorry to hear about that aaron.  glad that you're only scraped.  don't forget to get a new helmet if you hit your head.  and don't let it keep you off the bike!  bound to happen sooner or later, even to the pros...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMH3T0EvduU

Damn, Aaron. Sorry to hear this. Glad to hear you and your bike are mostly ok. 

glad to hear you're OK, aaron (relatively speaking).  as a man that always has a go-pro attached to his ride, i imagine you have some footage?

Pretty good night for Kissena in the 1/2/3 race at Rockleigh. We lined up with me, Mattie and Rene. Smallish field due, in part, I guess to the blazing temperatures. The first 30 minutes of the race were erratic and mostly slow.

A break is off the front, but nothing serious. But I'm feeling like being helpful, so I roll up to Rene and tell him to keep an eye on Greg "I love a breakaway" Olson. He's got to be feeling itchy by now, so I motor to/off the front hardish, hoping to create some sustained ouchiness that will encourage some counter-attacks in which Rene and/or Mattie could jump on.

I get about 1/2 across, the field comes charging and shit stays strung out for the next couple of laps. Ouchy yes. I'm OTB.

Rene and Mattie in it to the finish with no problem. Mattie holds his own in a sprint and takes 5th place. Rene, who wasn't actually thinking of contesting the final sprint, still managed to roll in in 10th or so place. That's called, "this is what happens when you have good position in the last lap of a crit, regardless of what kind of 'sprinter' you consider yourself."

I rolled home the bucolic way and saw bunnies, and deer and Canadian Geese. Also a lost Yeshiva University student, on a busy street corner (where we turn off of 9W on the way home) who wanted to hit River Road...and I'm like, well, it's kind of dark, but you could go straight, but that's illegal, but it would get us down to the road. And he's like well, what are the chances? And I'm like...I don't know...fuck it, I'll go down there with you. And on the way down, we encounter TWO cop cars. One keeps going, the other dude gives us a talking to. I do my best dumb/nice/respectful dude routine and he lets us go without giving us a $185 ticket! Yikes. Phew.

Nice.

Marc Bertucco said:

A break is off the front, but nothing serious. But I'm feeling like being helpful, so I roll up to Rene and tell him to keep an eye on Greg "I love a breakaway" Olson. He's got to be feeling itchy by now, so I motor to/off the front hardish, hoping to create some sustained ouchiness that will encourage some counter-attacks in which Rene and/or Mattie could jump on.

I get about 1/2 across, the field comes charging and shit stays strung out for the next couple of laps. Ouchy yes. I'm OTB.

This is move everyone should write down in their memory banks.  Might be instinct for Vanderbacon but still counts as a veteran-sneaky in my book...

I finished 2nd at Rockleigh last night.  I was in a two man break for about half the race.  We got away after the mid-way prime, and I made it to the final few meters.  Working well together, we build up a fair sized lead, which, sadly, shrunk in the last few laps.  With three laps to go, the main field was close.  With half a lap to go, they were on our heels.  I accelerated on the back straight of the last lap, dropping my breakaway partner.  From there, it was head down to the line.  I almost made it, but was passed by the series leader, coming from the main field, with about 10m to go. 

All in all it was pretty fun, but it would have been nice to win.  Next time.

Todd McLoughlin said:

I finished 2nd at Rockleigh last night.  I was in a two man break for about half the race.  We got away after the mid-way prime, and I made it to the final few meters.  Working well together, we build up a fair sized lead, which, sadly, shrunk in the last few laps.  With three laps to go, the main field was close.  With half a lap to go, they were on our heels.  I accelerated on the back straight of the last lap, dropping my breakaway partner.  From there, it was head down to the line.  I almost made it, but was passed by the series leader, coming from the main field, with about 10m to go. 

All in all it was pretty fun, but it would have been nice to win.  Next time.

Oh, the rain scared me away last night. Bummer. Congrats on your big placing. Getting ready to wreck-it-ralph on the cross circuit this year?

Well since I've been "outed" by a couple of pics that JP found on the Facebook wearing a terrible combination of old and mismatched kits (due to a serious laundry situation in Apt 8R), I might as well briefly report on the last Rockleigh race of the season.

Gorgeous evening. A crisp breeze took whatever edge the sun tried to lay down on our atmosphere as 43+ riders showed up for the 1/2/3 race. Including what seemed like the entire Champ-Sys team. Let's see, there was Gavi "My Girlfriend Motorpaces Me" (not a euphemism) Epstein, Greg "I've been wearing the butt helmet for years before J-pow started rocking it" Olsen, Dude with an unironic mustache, Dude who looks like he just woke up from partying at a UMass frat party all night, Dude with an accent, who may be strong like bull, but sure doesn't know much about bike handling and tactics. Other heavy hitters include Pollo Jr (would he kill the field, or mysteriously drop out of the race with a few laps to go?), series leader Zach Koop, his teammate Mark who is strong like bull, a handful of women and more.

Kissena was represented by myself, Mattie D, and Rene (both of whom made up for my terrible kit pairings by looking super smooth and pro). The race kicked off pretty fast and furious. For me, having been dropped twice last week when a smaller field was strung out, non-stop for 50 minutes, due to the shenanigans of several of the aforefmentioned Champ-Sys punks, my goal was modest. DON'T GET DROPPED.

A break gets away pretty early and Kissena was caught out of it. Mattie and Rene were active in the front of the second group on the road, I was hanging where I could in that group. At one point the "second" group actually split into 3 mini groups. Rene in the first, Mattie in the second, and me in the third. With about 15 minutes left to race though, our groups came back together and I had dreams of charging to the front to help Mattie and/or Rene sprint well from the second group.

But it was not to be. Too far back, too fast up front, too late to move up. No notable result for Kissena in the A race. (Except I did meet my personal goal, which, given how I've been going lately on the road, my goals in cross, etc., I'm okay with tonight)

In the B race top Kissena crosser Todd McGloughlin lined up and was looking to avenge his 2nd place finish from a rainy night a few weeks ago. When I left, he was sitting comfortably in the top 20 of another 40+ rider field. Hopefully he'll post a report on how the rest of his race went.

On the way home, through the "Columbia North" campus, I saw one rabbit, two mommy/daddy turkeys, 4 baby turkeys (or pheasants, I don't know), and a fuzzy cuddly fox worthy of a Disney movie role.

Not much to report from last night.  I was in a break of four from just after the mid-way prime to two laps to go.  We got caught right at two laps to go.  I stayed near the front for the final two laps and rolled in somewhere between 11th - 15th. 

Overall, it was not too bad.  My power meter tells me that I am nearly as fit as I was at the end of CX last year.  And it seems that I am learning how to race my bike, which is even better.