Kissena Forum Archive

Jul 28, 2014 at 02:24 PM

vlad said:

How about doing an actual stage race as prep for a stage race?

https://www.bikereg.com/7th-annual-tour-de-millersburg-stage-race

Missed this one. Worth considering for sure. It's a 1/2/3 race in PA, so you know...you'll be racing against Bobby Lea...probably. Good luck with that. Ha. Seriously, looks like a good mix of racing. Thanks Vlad for bringing it to our attention.

Joaquin

Jul 28, 2014 at 02:25 PM

Hilly road races and training rides have been numerous for me this year. TT's on the other hand, have been sparse. I think it's more than a little important to get your head back into that mode. And I think form will be what it is at that point anyway.

Jul 28, 2014 at 02:33 PM

What I started to say in another thread and it's going to vary from KCC rider to KCC rider at GMSR, but for many of you, overall GC ambitions will rest heavily on the final 5K climb up App gab, where you will likely come to the base of it with 20-ish dudes. Unless, KCC puts a rider or two in a strong move on Baby Gap that stays away with riders blocking from behind. That could happen too. Although many a Baby Gap moves die a slow and painful death and have nothing left for App Gap.

And then it's about surviving the entire distance of the crit (reminder 1/2 the field will not finish) so you get same time and voila. To that end, the 15-18 minute ITT is not insignificant.

vlad

Jul 28, 2014 at 02:44 PM

Marc Bertucco said:

It's a 1/2/3 race in PA, so you know...you'll be racing against Bobby Lea...probably. Good luck with that. Ha. Seriously, looks like a good mix of racing. Thanks Vlad for bringing it to our attention.

There's a 3 race for those of us who don't want (or have) to race against Bobby.

Adam

Jul 28, 2014 at 03:48 PM

Reg'd. For Tokeneke that is.

Aug 01, 2014 at 05:36 PM

I'm up for Tokeneke, will be in MA that weekend with family, just need to confirm it's within travel distance.

konrad

Aug 05, 2014 at 06:42 PM

Wahoo, this'll be fun.

Aug 07, 2014 at 05:53 PM

Regd

Craig London

Aug 10, 2014 at 10:29 PM

Race reports please. How'd you guys do today?

Aug 11, 2014 at 04:44 AM

Results bro:

http://www.road-results.com/race/4863

Can't wait to hear more.

konrad

Aug 11, 2014 at 01:38 PM

I told myself that this week was going to be a lesson in patience and positioning. Get to the base of the final climb in good shape and let the hill sort things out. Adam was in a good move with last week's winner of Catskills, bridging up at the base of the final climb of the first lap. When they were caught sometime near the end of the second lap, a group went off the front.

If it were more than Adam, Andy, and I, we could've had another guy for the counter, but I was determined to not kill myself and stick to my original plan - patience! I let others pick up the chase.

It didn't work.

Last lap, you could tell the field was gassed. It's times like this that you've got to get to the front and do some chasing, right? Keep it hard so the other guys can't just sit in and recover for the last hill, and hopefully, if there's enough of an effort, reel that break back in.

Adam, two Wyld Stallion guys, and two other riders and myself picked up the pace and tried to reel them in, but as we hit the descent leading into the last climb, we knew there was no getting them. I'd lost a few spots on the descent as the bigger boys felt their only shot at the race was to hit that last climb from the front and fade back.

Ultimately, they faded within the first 30 seconds. I'd ride to the rhythm of the guy in front of me, but as soon as a bike length or two opened up, I'd hop off and get on the next wheel. Made it up to the head group of 6 guys. I tried to bring Adam back on twice, but he was hit hard by some hammie cramps. I was lucky enough in that only my calves were cramping, which is, in comparison, easy to push through.

I was feeling good, man, really good. I swung left with 1k to go and got out of the saddle, looked up, and saw that the guy sitting second wheel in that group had swung right, where there was no room to create any real distance, and went literally two seconds earlier than I had. Group responded as he couldn't swing away far enough and with that, I was gapped. Right move, wrong time. If you're going to attack in moments like that, don't think about it, just do it. Too patient. Another lesson learned.

I rolled in 9th on the day. My best result yet, but bittersweet since I was essentially the biggest loser from the group I was in. Lesson learned. Green Mountain is not far away and I won't be looking to make that mistake again.

Adam rode brilliantly and ended up 15th, which is great considering he had a good chunk of time off the front in a two man move. We lost contact with Andy during the race, but I still have to give huge respect to him for taking the time out of his prep for that six day in September to do something that is the furthest possible thing from track racing.

Overall, a decent result, an incredibly hard race, and really fun course. I'll definitely be coming back for this.

Aug 11, 2014 at 01:53 PM

Great racing gents! Adam and Konrad you guys are going to kill it at GMSR.

Adam

Aug 11, 2014 at 02:08 PM

Had a wicked good time at this race Andy and Konrad.

Konrad pretty much summed it up. I was right in the fact that a break would win the race. After the 2-up move I was in was caught after 10 miles off the front another group of ~6 got away. A couple of them stuck it to the finish. C'est la vie. My move wasn't the one on the day but whenever I see a break stick it inspires me more. Funny, the group chased my 2-man move, got gassed and then let a 6-man group go. The winner owes me a beer! Again, as Konrad said, if we had another guy working off of me it would have been superb. Although, having said that, riding the break is really not for everyone (especially in a climbing race) so maybe that wasn't really a realistic option based on our squad anyway.

Konrad was doing great. Looked mostly happy throughout the day and was superb to see him have a strong finishing climb. He rode his race to the letter. Sit in and go with the final selection. Good job. It is really, really hard to get across how difficult these races are. 16/54 guys DNF'd. Most of the others just sat in and got dropped at some point near the end and came in behind. These long climber-type road races are really, really hard and for Konrad to get 9th was superb. There is some real talent out in New England racing and the competition is stiff.

Andy WILL be a superb sprinter for our out-of-town squad. Next race you are on my wheel like glue! Never more than two feet away. With me helping pace you up the climb and getting you into position and with some well timed encouragement, you'd have nailed that race. You are way too strong to not have.

Aug 11, 2014 at 02:30 PM

Adam, one thing you and the team will have to ponder, is if you or anyone will want to attempt to get in a breakaway up/over/after the Middlebury gap climb. And if so, what kind of numbers/composition you want in that group to survive the very long, flat and sometimes windy valley roads between the descent and the start of Baby Gap.

Aug 11, 2014 at 04:19 PM

I got dropped after the first stair step. Honestly its the best ive climbed in a race to date. Long way to go but I was happy to make it over something. Adam and Konrad of course told me it eased up on the climbs after the first lap.

Anyways. I went to the feed zone for lap 2, then got in the car and played DS/mechanic, following Konrad ad Adam up the final climb. had my bike and wheels in the car. no nuetral, and i didnt se anything the race bible that said i couldnt follow. Was directed with the rest of traffic to pull ahead of the field. Pulled over and stood near the 300m line and watched Adam and Konrad finish.

Saw Konrad coming up with the first group after the break. Yelled at him tht he needed to come around two guys for a top ten. Then I saw Adam trudging up with a second group second behind konrad'd. I yelled something like " beat yoshi!" .

Yeah... Next year I won't make my first road race in August.

Good trip. We stopped at a stop and shop then ice cream.

Good trip.

http://www.basetwelvephoto.com/tokeneke_2014/h13c5d6b5#h2098574a

Aug 11, 2014 at 04:46 PM

Adam listened to me.

vlad

Aug 11, 2014 at 05:23 PM

I don't think he beat Yoshi though.

https://www.bikereg.com/Results/rr/4863/tokeneke-classic-road-race

Aug 11, 2014 at 05:43 PM

Yeah just realized that. good effort.

Aug 11, 2014 at 05:47 PM

There were photos taken pre-race. Adam?

Jules

Aug 11, 2014 at 08:10 PM

Y'all just rocked my socks off.

#stormin

Jules

Jun 26, 2015 at 09:28 PM

BUMP!

This is a fantastic race - a hilly out of town race that is not for pure climbers.

http://www.tokenekeclassic.com/

My ride file from 2013

http://tpks.ws/72Uy

Jun 26, 2015 at 10:30 PM

+1, this was a lot of fun last year. anyone ever spent time in the area around the race? thinking of making it a weekend trip this year.

mugwump

Jul 01, 2015 at 03:18 PM

Bumping this with a plea from the organizing crew

From: Stephen Chang <stephenkkchang@gmail.com>
Date: July 1, 2015 9:25:22 AM CDT
To: JP Partland <mugwump@panix.com>
Subject: Tokeneke

The Tokeneke Classic Road Race is 5 weeks away on Sunday August 9. It will again be the USAC Championship road race for both the New England Region and the State of CT. It is based in East Hartland, CT and offers challenging, beautiful terrain. Now is the time to register and support Connecticut's premier road race.

Registration is open on BikeReg: https://www.bikereg.com/tokeneke-classic-road-race.

The race event also needs volunteers to make it successful. Please sign up to help out. In addition to being an integral part of the race, you'll get lunch and 50% off race entry for yourself or a racer of your choosing.

Jul 03, 2015 at 02:34 AM

Reg'd for the cat4 35+