Today was my first time out for Thursday morning CX practice. I can't recommend it enough, how great it feels to hit a slippery off-camber corner a few times before breakfast. Thanks @eloy. 

Kissena will be showing up in this weekend.

With Jill, Jeff, and Max at Gloucester, and a high crew of 8 riders at Cooper River tomorrow -- Phil, Harry, Jim F., Jim N., Patrick, Mark, Strika, and myself.

Jill in her first season, will come hungry after all the learnings and big race experiences from KMC, I expect the long cool rises at Gloucester to benefit her. Max showed great form yesterday in practice, if he rides clean, he is likely to have a better first race than anyone of us ever. Jeff is on a class of his own, top tens and big race podiums are easily within reach. All three of them are really good at looking sharp too!

Cooper, well, that's just gonna be the hotness, with a bunch of us working together and pushing each other beyond our limits. Look for Feehan to move up and solidify his top ten in the MAC.

Can't wait for reports!

Let us go and race bikes!

Race reports... cannot wait...!

Fun time at Cooper River. This is the first time I've felt really comfortable on the bike. 

Flat, Power course, started off damp from frost and turned a little dusty eventually. Two step run up and two barriers, a sand lot that did nothing to affect the race.

Started at 82nd place out of over 100 starters. The first two turns were a cluster f*ck as to be expected. This course had enough long straights that I can catch people or pull away. I ended with several groups of people per lap which I then left when I felt I was recovered enough. I focused on pushing a bigger gear than I would typically spin on.

At the finish, I got pipped right at the line. Ugh. Oh well.

I finished 65th out of 103 finishers. Overall a good day for me. 

Nice Kissena turnout at Cooper River yesterday. The day started off in the 40s with dew on the grass which were the conditions that Phil raced in. By 11am it was in the 60s and dry as a bone. There were several dry dirt turns that became so loose that Harry says he went down 5 times in his race at noon. I didn't crash but almost lost my front wheel in one of those turns. I raced in the dame field as Eloy and Mark who both looked good. We watched Jim Freehan get 5th in the 55+ field. He had a derailleur problem and missed the podium by 7 seconds. 

Jim Nelson wins the award for best teammate. He pulled his back out first thing in the morning and couldn't race but still drove Eloy and Mark to Cherry Hill and back. He also took the pics below. Thanks Jim

Part of the reason I race is to see teammates and friends. 

CRCX way too long report:

Phillip looked honestly solid and focused! super smooth too! let's get you on an orange helmet = infinite hotness.

Enjoyed the NYC/Jersey MAC local quality and vibe of this race lots.

Course has all the 180 turns in the world.

After weeks of being lined up 80~90th it feels awesome to start 3rd row -- placed myself behind Ragot, who can kill a holeshot, of course, today, he pedal bobbles --  "can't believe this shit" I tell myself. He recovers about 1000% better than me.

This course seemed good to be on wheels, so rode somewhat aggressively past the holeshot, trying to get to the group I wanted. This meant I chopped Patrick's line on a corner, at the moment it felt natural to push, in hindsight it wasn't a cool move, post race apologies make it appear he still considers me a friend. He is true class.

We could see each other on sections, where Patrick would go "go eloy!" -- I could barely breathe. Could also see Mark in sections, he looked like the sharp hotness, never giving up.


[photo by Jim Nelson]

I never catch any group, and after 1.25 laps find myself sandwiched 10~15 seconds behind Eric Sutherland (CRCA), and Andy Schmidt (Westwood) riding my coat tails about 4 seconds back.

These will be the next 40+ minutes of my life.

There's a solid group just a few seconds behind Westwood Andy, including Barry Jones and Patrick, all peeps who have beaten me handily before. Can't let up. 

Westwood Andy is good and faster than me in the slower/technicallish last 25% of the course, where he catches me on a couple of laps, but I'm able to gap him on the fasters/flowy sections. He even passes me once, I sit on his wheel, but feels like the group could catch up, so I punch it.

Concerned that he could pass me last lap, too close to the finish, I push the last power sections, he appears to let up, not closing anymore. Thank. God. And. Tim. Cusick.

CRCA Eric, ahead, will stay 10~15 seconds the whole race, it helps to have a carrot, but we are riding the same speed.

Was so amazing awesome to have teammates cheering, Jim pointing out I was top 20, and Harry or Jim F. screaming "13 seconds!" a gap that never got smaller. Racing with friends is the best.

50 minutes of hard stupid fun. Looking forward to next weekend!

Gloucester: What a way to belatedly start my season. Understanding that many racers train to peak at this revered weekend of New England cyclocross and knowing that I'd be staged near the very back of the sold-out 4/5 field, I set myself a modest goal: get a better result on Day 2 than Day 1. It was my mantra on the Saturday morning drive. Lining up in the back relieves a good amount of pressure. As it turned out, I placed 59 of 95 that day.

Earlier, after pre-riding the course as the sun lumbered up into the sky, glinting off the waves of the bay and drying the dew on the grass, I had adopted two more goals for the weekend: don't butcher the same section twice, and always work to pass somebody. I wasn't exactly graceful through a section of uphill barriers after an off-camber turn on Day 1, which felt taller each lap, but I managed. It helped my confidence that I passed riders on the six-second uphill drag just prior. Lap one was very crowded and slow. On lap three I dropped my chain after running up a staircase, twice, because I guess I let it hit the ground too hard before remounting. Splits: 9:57, 9:04, 9:47, 9:02.

Day 2 brought a considerably more technical course. Everyone's laps were about a minute longer than on Day 1's course. Failing spectacularly on a few lines—like when it came time to dismount after a off-camber turn approaching a staircase and I unclipped the wrong foot, came to a complete stop, wildly threw my leg over the bike like I had just come home from the bar, lugged myself up the steps, missed the remount on the 180-degree turn and rode the ensuing downhill unclipped, legs akimbo—set the bar pretty low for clearing goal number two. It's easy to do better than that. I'm happy to have improved that section each lap. I finished 5:06 behind the winner, with splits of 7:37 (shortened course), 10:34, 10:38, and 10:54. 45th place out of 90 starters. Better than Saturday. Goal achieved. 

Both days I found that if I jumped barriers and took run-ups aggressively, I could always move up a place or two, if anybody was around (goal three). I crashed exactly once each day trying to rail some loose corners late in the race. I rode Day 2's sandpit, which I estimate at about ten yards long, each time through. Luckily for me I'd accidentally practiced riding sand Saturday afternoon on a post-race spin with my girlfriend to her nearby hometown's reservoir when, a few beers deep, I looked out at the beach and thought: why not? (Alcohol hurts your fitness but I learned that it may help you hone your skills.)

I was cleaning my bike after today's race when I heard the announcers, calling the 4/5 Masters 35+ race, say Jeff's name. Something like "Kissena rider Jeffrey White is holding the pace in that lead group." I let out a whoop. Later I grabbed a coffee and a donut and cheered Jill through some barriers. She seemed to always be moving up. Another round of coffee-and-donut and I'm out. I'm writing this on the GoBus from Cambridge to NYC, which, by the way, allows you to bring your bike (there's room in the cargo hold underneath). 

Thank you Eloy for your earlier compliment. I'm looking forward to seeing y'all at more 'cross races in the coming months. 

Eloy can't say it enough, "Cyclocross is everything you want cycling to be."

Rebecca Henasey has a pretty cool gallery of photos from yesterday:

https://rebeccahenasey.shootproof.com/gallery/cooper-river-cx-2016/

Consider buying a photo or two.

With out team mates i'm pretty sure i would of climbed off second lap , but instead i decided that i would catch the guy in front and was not going to finish DFL.

Great to be out there with friends ,
I might even show up again this weekend , 4-5 field this time 

Two great races coming up this weekend...

Saturday:
Whirlybird -- part of the MAC, good course, some elevation change, not very technical, very belgian, kinda in a farm field adjacent to a cool college campus.
https://www.bikereg.com/whirlybird-cross

Sunday:
Marty Cross -- a bit smaller race, super cool vibe. Basically on the side of a hill, you'll be going up, down and across it, never really flat.
https://www.bikereg.com/martycross


whirly (by Kevin Dillard):


Marty (by Sergio Garabito):



I'll be trying to get to Whirly, as I kinda like the race Saturday, train Sunday weekend. Looking for a ride there.

Unfortunately I'm not going to be race worthy this weekend. Very bummed as these are two of my favorite races on the calendar. 

I'm interested in doing Marty Cross on Sunday if another Kissena could give me a ride. (I'll pitch for gas and buy you a post-race snack!) The Cat 5 race goes off at 9:31, one minute after the 4/5 Masters 40+ field. 

Tomorrow.

You know it: 6:30am Prospect Park, secret location.

You bring your cyclocross bike, I bring cones and barriers. We get hot good at it.

Whirly had a log last year, so we might practice that, bcs:

riding the log > running the log > making a mistake at the log

see you then, come looking sharp:

I see @harry bolick is registered for Marty's CX, the 9:30 race. Room for a Cat 5 teammate (me) in your car, Harry?

everyone looking sharp!

R20oct16
re: Whirlybird
hi MaxT,
yes have room for one(1) in lil'Red truck to WhirlyBirdCX please call/text me with your contact info/address and we can set departure&pick-up.
-harryB;-)

718-640-8680 mobile
hbolick@gmail.com

Marty Cross

I caught a ride in Harry Bolick's red Toyota truck over to Chester, NJ, on a chilly but dry morning for a rare Cat 5-only race. The near side of the course featured one steep hill (Strava says 18%...) followed by a tricky off-camber downhill turn, while the far side is what Patrick G and I agreed were deceptively tiring rollers. Everything was grass: the start line, the finish line...everything. Lots of grass.





But the grass was dry, and the day warmed up nicely.



Call-ups first by NJBACX standings, then by order of registration. My number was 43, of 46. During pre-ride, I had decided to use my forgiving gearing (40x32) to make moves up the steep hill. On a crowded first lap I saw some daylight between a rider and the tape, and went for it. That ride went slow, slower, slowest and then tipped over like a wounded animal--right into me. I unclipped but stayed upright and ran the rest of the hill. Between the barriers I sorta tweaked my ankle, causing one of my wheels to graze the top of the wood. It was enough to send me stumbling through the following 180 turn, but I managed to hold onto the bike by the stem, waving it around like a flag, if the flag were a made of steel tubes. I rode the course more cleanly on laps two, three and four. I saw Harry abandon because of a mechanical. Bummer! The officials had started us a minute behind the 4/5 Masters 40+ field, so it was difficult to tell my place in the race with any certainty until results were posted.  I was surprised to see that I finished 8th.



Then Harry and I yelled at Patrick while he raced. Here are photos to prove it:

First a comment about Harry and Max. The two of them make the best cheering/jeering section ever. I could hear them from across the far end of the course. I was dying out on the course but appreciated the support. 

Marty CX is always a fun and challenging course that is really close to NYC. This year we had so much wind that we really didn't get any mud from all the rain the day before. The wind really picked up by the time that my race went off which meant that the steep climbs we're made worse with stiff headwinds. I battled with a couple of guys for most of the race. One guy in particular would distance me on some of the power sections while I would catch back up to him when I would bomb the long sweeping off camber turn. So much up and down, my power profile looks like a buzz saw. 

It was fun to see Max and Harry race. Harry ended up pulling out because his derailleur has seized. 

Harry's stance in the second picture is priceless, fearless, epic

Very easy informal suave relax: Ellen Noble and Jeremy Powers will be in town next week, they are planning on joining cyclocross practice on Wednesday, November 9th.

Gonna be the hotness.

Join practice in Prospect Park?

Wednesday Night, Nov 9th. Randall's Island.

eloy said:

Wednesday Night, Nov 9th. Randall's Island.

Mega.

eloy said:

Very easy informal suave relax: Ellen Noble and Jeremy Powers will be in town next week, they are planning on joining cyclocross practice on Wednesday, November 9th.

Gonna be the hotness.

what time?

Should we bring super cross flyers?

Mark Taylor said:

Long-suffering American cyclocross fans got a reprieve from the world of shady online streams and VPN trickery when Trek announced Friday that it will stream 10 major European cyclocross races. The agreement includes the entire DVV Insurances Trophy series and select Soudal Classics races.

The broadcasts will be available on Trek’s homepage >>

Watched just barely a moment of Koppenberg cross women yesterday.

The stream was good, and in fact kinda cool, no commentator, but includes the audio from the race. Works great for most of us, who know who the players are and can follow the race, but probably hard for anyone else.

I really wish there was a way to see these later on demand.

YouTube, Eloy. Practically every race gets put on in within couple of days