Dec 14, 2013 at 01:49 AM
As I can't come up with a solid reason not to go except for my serious disinterest in getting frostbite, I'm in for Sunday. (He says with an overwhelming sense of hesitation)
Meet Kissena Ride
Dec 14, 2013 at 09:22 PM
Brave man, Joshua. Unfortunately ...
THE NEW MEMBER RIDE IS CANCELED
I was personally looking forward to seeing what kind of hardcore souls made it out in such frigid climes, but we've made the call that the conditions are unsafe to conduct this ride. We'll probably try again in February.
Dec 14, 2013 at 09:51 PM
damnit, i just spend 10 hours carving my distinctive "hi viz" hazing paddle
Dec 15, 2013 at 01:03 AM
CHABANOV rode over GWB today...
Dec 15, 2013 at 01:04 AM
Well, he's a pro...that's sort of his job.Jeff Owens said:CHANANOV rode over GWB today...
Dec 15, 2013 at 01:06 AM
He not actually a pro.
Jan 09, 2014 at 06:55 PM
Not to get into it too much, but why Piermont rides instead of a conversational ride in the park for new member intro rides. I know we invite friends to Sunday rides all the time, but why are the official new member rides just like a NYVelocity tryout ride?
Jan 09, 2014 at 07:28 PM
@Dan - We want to simulate a real group ride so we can evaluate the skill levels of the riders. It's not possible in Prospect Park.
Jan 09, 2014 at 07:42 PM
Dan, it's a good and fair question.Dan Reiners said:Not to get into it too much, but why Piermont rides instead of a conversational ride in the park for new member intro rides. I know we invite friends to Sunday rides all the time, but why are the official new member rides just like a NYVelocity tryout ride?
We did quiet a few "conversational" rides in the park and found that they weren't very good representations of the kind of riding the club does. We got a lot of applicants who had never really ridden more than a lap or two at most, and were not comfortable riding on the streets, changing tires, etc.
We aren't the SIG - so the idea of asking people to get themselves across the bridge & back was a reasonable threshold of overall competence (fitness, handling skills, etc) that seemed like a good alternative to a formal "tryout."
(When I did a "tryout" with Velocity they timed people up Alpine - we don't do anything like that.)
The goal of these longer rides is to make sure people understand how a racing club tends to ride. They aren't intended to be hammerfests or a forum for the 123's to beat up on the newbies.
We wanted both sides - us, but more importantly the prospective members - to be able to make an informed decision about weather or not they'd have fun on Kissena.
We are still an open club, and committed to that openness. As always, if someone has a friend or a recommendation for someone we should recruit; they can contact any of the board members (preferably the new Membership Director) and make it happen.
Feb 14, 2014 at 10:23 PM
Is the Sunday ride on the calendar still on (dependent on weather) or cancelled?
Feb 16, 2014 at 04:59 PM
Canceled via email, twitter, and Facebook.
And, you know, logic
The March 2 ride is ON (weather permitting). I'm going to schedule another one for Sunday, March 9. We have to give people multiple choices or they'll all pile into one unmanageable ride. About 80 on the list right now.
And, you know, logic
The March 2 ride is ON (weather permitting). I'm going to schedule another one for Sunday, March 9. We have to give people multiple choices or they'll all pile into one unmanageable ride. About 80 on the list right now.
Feb 16, 2014 at 05:05 PM
80 people? Wow. I hear it's going to hit close to 50 degrees next week. Hopefully, the weather improves from here on out. Traditionally March has been a pretty nice month around these parts. Of course, traditionally our winters have been mild...
Feb 16, 2014 at 05:16 PM
80? So, an L&C race made up only of KCC riders? Problem solved!
Feb 16, 2014 at 07:26 PM
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Feb 16, 2014 at 07:46 PM
I'm really looking forward to our women's team racing and adding to and flat out changing the dynamic of the local scene. We've done it in the 4s, we've done it in the P1/2/3s. Trust me, it's going to be awesome.Gwynna Smith said:And I hear a nice cohort of women. Someone told me, "Oh, the women's fields at CRCA are only like 8-10 women." I was like, "Not anymore, they aren't!"
And they don't know it yet. But all of the local women racing against you are going to be better for it. Go KCC!
Feb 17, 2014 at 02:12 AM
80 on the new member ride list??
Reposting an excellent question posed by Marc from another thread:
"As a rhetorical question/aside: If overcrowding is the real issue, too many cat 4s, then why are we continuing to have new member rides? It seems that these rides are mostly targeting newer, less experienced riders. Before we take drastic steps to limit participation in any one given race or series, I would recommend to first stop recruiting and/or accepting new members into the club. And then, after that..."
It's a great point.
Feb 17, 2014 at 03:48 PM
I think the 80 people on the ride thing is a bit misleading. There are 80 on the list. People ask about the club constantly. We haven't really admitted new male members in a long time, so that list has grown and grown.
I bet that at the actual ride, when it happens, unless it happens to be the most beautiful day of the year, we have 12-15 riders show up.
While I'm not on the board anymore, I think we added quite a few filters to slow membership growth that will be successful:
1) new member riders start at GWB - so you have to be able to get there
2) then you have to be ready to ride on open roads to Piermont and then get yourself home
3) you have to wait sometimes a really long time to join, so it prevents people from just joining for the hell of it if they aren't really committed to it.
I say we give it a chance.
Feb 17, 2014 at 04:27 PM
Ex Prezidente Mike makes a good point. @Jeff is offering several dates for New Member rides because an 80 person ride is not feasible.
In the past our new member rides have averaged about 20% conversion.
For context, the club is currently at 97 members, and in 2013 we were at 138.
Feb 17, 2014 at 07:30 PM
Just think about how many of our 2013 new member class are now indispensable members of the team. How many of those kinds of folks do we turn away when we slow/stop allowing people to join?
We all took advantage of Kissena's open-door policy. If you look into our club history, the open-door policy is literally the reason for KCC's existence, and we should be very proud of that. I will always be against slamming the door behind ourselves now that we're in.
Feb 17, 2014 at 07:37 PM
@jeff, I fully agree. Well said.
Feb 17, 2014 at 09:46 PM
I love the sentiment and I share the ideal but I also see shades of grey.
The sport is more popular and the club is way different than it was when many of us joined. And, the fact that the open door policy has garnered lots of great new folks who I wouldn't want to be rid of doesn't mean necessarily that letting some other great folks race elsewhere because we have enough great folks is a bad idea.
That said, has anyone suggested "slamming the door?" The fact is that we do proactive, focused outreach. The new kits, the shiny website, the social media, the streamlined, systematic membership process, and the new member rides are all attracting people to the club in ways that did not exist only a couple of years ago.
Feb 18, 2014 at 01:47 AM
The sport of cycling is definitely changing, and it's natural we're feeling that change.
"Cycling is the new golf."
It's not a coincidence that 2/3rds of our club are aged 35+ Cat 4 and under. By and large those are the demographics of the sport at large.
Recruitment is not binary. We aren't looking at 80+ new members, take-it-or-leave-it.
In the past when the board felt the club was "at capacity" trying to integrate new members, we paused recruitment until things calmed down.
Nothing prevents us from doing that in the future.
Feb 18, 2014 at 04:27 AM
Jules is correct the demographic of cycling is aging. I am now a mid-40's guy who is fortunate enough to be able to continue to have a really great hobby.
However I started as a schoolboy, since my school had some old track bikes and we used to race grass track. Then I saved and bought myself a road bike and the school teacher who looked after the grass track program gave me some advice on local TTs. Then I joined a club, and I lucked out because I joined one that a really strong vets teams (veterans being the UK term for 40+) as well as a bunch of juniors. Those vets used to mentor the juniors and taught us all sort of racecraft and bike maintenance as well as handing down all manner of used kit and stuff to keep our expenses minimal.
I was obsessive about training, racing, diet, etc and I was a very successful Junior and had a decent start to being a senior. So after I finished high school I took a year out before (potentially) going to university to see how good I could be in the seniors. I determined that I was not that talented and so I needed a real education and a job and so bike racing became simply a hobby.
The point is Juniors are really the only ones who may have the potential to make a career in the sport (yes there are exceptions to this generalization), and it would be fantastic if we could be as successful with a junior program as we have in the last 12 months at re-establishing the ladies team.
I would much rather the pay full price for the L&C (and other kissena) races and have the money re-invested as someone else suggested. But invested in juniors not a doping program as I really don't care if some other dumpy 45 year old cat 4 cheats to place in a park race.
And I wonder how we can target a new juniors ride or if there is a better way of getting them into the sport. I know NJ has a couple of decent schoolkid and junior teams: Somerset (somerville ?) is one of them. I wonder how they do it.
However I started as a schoolboy, since my school had some old track bikes and we used to race grass track. Then I saved and bought myself a road bike and the school teacher who looked after the grass track program gave me some advice on local TTs. Then I joined a club, and I lucked out because I joined one that a really strong vets teams (veterans being the UK term for 40+) as well as a bunch of juniors. Those vets used to mentor the juniors and taught us all sort of racecraft and bike maintenance as well as handing down all manner of used kit and stuff to keep our expenses minimal.
I was obsessive about training, racing, diet, etc and I was a very successful Junior and had a decent start to being a senior. So after I finished high school I took a year out before (potentially) going to university to see how good I could be in the seniors. I determined that I was not that talented and so I needed a real education and a job and so bike racing became simply a hobby.
The point is Juniors are really the only ones who may have the potential to make a career in the sport (yes there are exceptions to this generalization), and it would be fantastic if we could be as successful with a junior program as we have in the last 12 months at re-establishing the ladies team.
I would much rather the pay full price for the L&C (and other kissena) races and have the money re-invested as someone else suggested. But invested in juniors not a doping program as I really don't care if some other dumpy 45 year old cat 4 cheats to place in a park race.
And I wonder how we can target a new juniors ride or if there is a better way of getting them into the sport. I know NJ has a couple of decent schoolkid and junior teams: Somerset (somerville ?) is one of them. I wonder how they do it.
Feb 28, 2014 at 05:37 PM
There is a New Member Ride this Sunday at 8 a.m. BB, 9 a.m. NJ side of the GWB, weather permitting.
Overdress, as it will likely be slower riding. Please attend if you can, it's for the good of the club!
Feb 28, 2014 at 06:48 PM
Ian, as a former Jr rider myself I remember riding with lots of NECSA, Hot Tubes and Devo on the MTB side riders back in the late 90s and early 2000's. Toby Stanton who ran Hot Tubes used to go grab real jocks from other sports and get them on bikes. Mostly successful Junior skiers or hockey players and turn them into good bike racers. I used to race against many of them and generally someone who's good at sports is good at sports. I don't suggest cherry-picking, nor do I even know how anyone would do such a thing- Facebook maybe? But getting together some sponsors and getting $$ backing would help make a Kissena Junior devolpment team a reality.
On a separate note the real pinch point as you ref'd from your experience, and I shared, was the Espoir (U23) time that was difficult. Real life starts encroaching and riding is just plain expensive. To stay afloat with no college degree as a 19 or 20 yr old and afford to race is near impossible compared to Juniors who often have their parents support and health insurance. Just some thoughts.
Mar 01, 2014 at 05:39 PM
Thank god for obamacare we can keep those espoirs on their parents insurance til 26 I think.
Mar 01, 2014 at 07:28 PM
I can't make the new member ride tomorrow morning, sorry. I have to go to Jersey (and not on a bicycle). I'll be there in spirit!
Mar 01, 2014 at 07:39 PM
FYI party people, Marc's Grant's Tomb Clinic is at 730a before the New Member's ride. I'll be at Brooklyn Bridge entrance by 630a if you'd like to join. We'll head up to GWB together after the clinic.
Mar 02, 2014 at 06:06 AM
Party people is right.. 6:30 is so early. I'll be there.
Mar 02, 2014 at 11:26 AM
Running a little late for bb 6:30. Catch you guys at Grants! Or en route if y'all are going slow 