Jeffrey White said:

As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, I'm going to be moving back to the Bay Area. 

Total sad face (but who am I to judge to leave NYC...), it was great riding and racing with you in NYC and thanks for getting me better at the sport!  Perhaps a reunion at GMSR 2018 ...

Jeff & Jill - gonna miss you guys out on the road, chatting over post race Mexican eats, and post-GMSR hot tub banter! Hope you are looking forward to new routes and sunny skies, and even better post-race Mexican eats. Sorry I missed the party last weekend. Hopefully catch you on a new route or old haunt at some point this year  

After only a year as a member of Kissena unfortunately the time has come for me to say farewell. As some of you already know I’ll be racing with Houlihan Lokey in 2018. The decision to join a CRCA team was a rough one to accept, but when it comes down to it my goal this season is to get to Cat 3 and the best way to do that is to have the support of a team of gals you’re racing with. There is certainly something to be said for rides to races and sharing the support during the race.   I had hopes to stepping up into @JillWhite 's shoes from the 2016 women’s team and pulling together a group of women; but changes (for the better) in career won’t permit with time.

I have to say you are all a fantastic group of gentlemen, and in our few rolls up 9W I have learned so much. To call out a few of the exceptional; @JohnMalcolmson every ride with you was a lesson. From pace-lining to crit skills in Central Park THANK YOU. I’m regularly told after races by other women that they always feel safe on my wheel, and I feel your owed a bit for that.  @eloy , thank you for encouraging me to take the leap and buy a cross bike. The CX bike (shout out to @Redbeard ) arrived shortly after GMSR when I was more than burned out from road racing, and had it not been for Whirlybird I probably would have taken a very long time off the bike. @BenFinoRadin thanks for being fantastic from the start and dealing with women's team kit debacle.  To @Jeffrey White and @JillWhite  and everyone in the GMSR house thank you for organizing; it was great to have the race advice and support of GMSR veterans during an absolutely bonkers 4 days of racing.

 Though I’ll be in Central Park more frequently than I used to, Prospect Park is still my 2nd home. I hope we can still ride wheels and laps together while in the park, and I’ll absolutely be stepping up my game for CX 2018 and if its copacetic would still love to race in Kissena colors come the fall. I'll also still be a @Redbeard ambassador this year, and it'd be excellent to see some Kissena members on some of the longer speciality rides that I tend to do. So au revoir, or until I see you in Prospect Park! 

Best of luck Christina and we all wish you the best in the upcoming race season.

Sorry to see you leave but still wish you great success racing your goals this year. Cheers!

What a classy Farewell!

Kissena is richer for your time here and the club will celebrate your future successes.

Best of luck Christina!

Good luck with the new team Christina and thanks for the kind words. I really appreciated how you fully jumped in with two feet into both racing bikes and the Kissena club. It's been great to see you hone your game, I'm sure you'll be a killer Cat 3 this year. Cheers.

I can't believe that I joined Kissena five years ago!

School brought me to NYC 8 years ago, so it seems fitting that school is why we're leaving.  On March 16, my wife found out where she--meaning we, really--"matched" into for her medical school residency and we couldn't be happier.  I'm so proud of her for all her hard work and happy we'll be moving upstate to her hometown of Cazenovia, NY and then to Providence, RI, where my family lives and I more or less grew up.  I'll still be a Kissena but just not living in NYC!  Ich bin ein Upstate Kissener.

My relationship with cycling has changed over the years, from the race-heavy days of law school (students who think they have no time don't know how good they have it) to the current trend of getting all my rides in via commuting.  Kissena was always and still is a good fit for me and I enjoyed the support of other folks throughout the years.  I've certainly grown as a rider with KCC to thank.

Speaking of support, I certainly could not have accomplished the L&C yellow without the help of everyone pictured (and some not pictured), thanks guys!



Exact move date is unclear, some time in April, but I'm hoping to have a weekend farewell ride that I'll announce later.

I certainly won't stop riding or racing, but I doubt I'll drive 3.5 hours from upstate to make the 6 AM start times in Prospect Park when I could rarely coax myself to do it from Manhattan

You'll probably be seeing a lot more of this from me...



See you on the road and off!  Who knows, maybe we can do some kind of upstate edition race.  I'll scope out the trails.  Let me know if you'll be in the Syracuse area, don't be a stranger!

Alas Brendan - Kissena will poorer for your distance. I remember well when Brendan "High Viz" Rigby arrived via a series of blistering sprints and millimeter accurate gear reviews.

alla prossima!

(Also a huge congrats on the match!)

best of luck Brendan!! Providence is a great town!!

@Brendan Rigby

There's still time to ride/race with Kissena while you're still nearby.

We missed you at the track today.

Im so sad about this...but happy for you...I still miss those hideous, hideous roval wheels with the red starfish hubs

Brendan

You will be missed and we hope you stay in touch. Not only has it been fun to get to know you and ride with you but I will always remember the year we won the yellow and KOM jerseys at the L&C cup. Not just because of the teamwork, your impressive abilities or the fact we pulled it off. What I remember most is how you would piss off the Mineola guys to no end with your attempts to disrupt their challenge of the KOM jersey. You have nerves of steel.

By they way, there is a permanent cyclocross course in Warwick (next door to Providence). Didn't think it was possible, but Providence just got cooler. 

I remembs Brendan launching a wild chase on a KOM lap the year I scored that jersey...points were on the line we FLEW past a small break halfway up the hill...oh my...Jules was in that break...at least we scored full points

ha!  those wheels!  i almost forgot about them.  they were ridiculous.  bought them after a car killed my other wheels and before i had any idea about bikes.  another good reminder by yacks of the changes i've undergone and progress i've made as a cyclist since joining kissena

brendan, i'm catching up on the forum, after a sickness/too much work induced break from cycling, and now I'm sad. Don't leave me...

Hi all,

It has truly been a pleasure counting myself among the Kissenas for the two years, and most of all having the honor to serve as your membership director last year. As many of you know, my interest in cycling has taken a hard turn from racing and more to adventuring. Today, just days before I embark on the Arizona Trail, I’ve decided the time has come to bid farewell to Kissena. Thanks for the memories. 

The AZT starts for me on Wednesday at 7am. You can follow along here: https://share.garmin.com/benfinoradin

and I’ll be gramming here: https://www.instagram.com/trail_skidz/

see you on on the trails 

Ben,

I'm sure you know you've set yourself up for all sorts of ribbing posting a photo with your bike on your back.... 

Anyway, it's been a pleasure hearing you talk about preparing for this adventure and I'm definitely envious. Have an amazing time.

Racing isn't going anywhere and I have a suspicion you may need to scratch that itch again sometime in the future. 

See you on the trails.

jim_nelson said:

Ben,

I'm sure you know you've set yourself up for all sorts of ribbing posting a photo with your bike on your back.... 

If anyone has ideas of how better to carry it 21 miles across the Grand Canyon I’m all ears

E P I C

Good luck on the new adventure Ben. Thanks for all you've done and jumping in to everything with two feet. Will keep your forum access open for the road season if you want to post more Bear Grylls on a bike epicness. Cheers.

3 minutes go...

Tour de trailer park?

My ITT doesn’t start until tomorrow 10 am EST

Awesome Ben, how far is ITT? [edit: move to gravel thread!]

Ben - have a great time on your trek. I’m sure if you put as much time and energy into it as you did when you were membership chair I am sure it will be an awesome success. Thanks for all you’ve done for the club. Happy trials. Stay in touch

You should leave a party when you're still having fun...that's what I'm doing.  
Love you guys and a merrier band of thieves I'll never find.  The jersey fights in Prospect I'll take to my grave.  The best times I've ever had on a bike.  This includes all the MTB shenanigans I was up to before I found my way to the skinny tires.
Kissena has been a safe harbor for me on many occasions. We go way back...further than many of you know...

Kissena has changed and evolved since the early 90's in so many good ways.
You can't evolve without change...change is what Yacks needs
I say this with...

If I've taken more than I've given to this club...forgive me, I'm still evolving.  This club has always shown me kindness and camaraderie. I care about all of you. 
Every circus needs a clown...I've been that for awhile here

Life is a quest, whether you realize it or not.
I miss watching the sun come up over the Essex House while racing in Central Park.  I miss eating post race bacon & eggs at the greasy spoon diner on the East side. (sorry...I've never really been a donut guy).  
I miss doing the CRCA club races. So my quest has me headed back across the river.
I'm looking for new challenges and I'm just so tired of riding around Prospect.
My feelings about Prospect can best be summed up in this song from REO Speedwagon's seminal album "You can Tune a piano, but you can't Tuna fish"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4uvS9l-FcQ
Time for Yacks to fly...
Sincerely, 
Christopher Yack (because I actually have a first name)

I can't find a GIF for this one, but it has a cat and the words "I has a sad".

Man!! Sad news

Bon Voyage Chris, you will be sorely missed. As will your quasi pornographic photos of your spooky getting "oiled" every spring.