I was 5th in the Cat 3 race.  It was def a tough course. The up and down suited me pretty well though.  I rode with the guys in 3rd and 4th for the first few laps, but I lost contact on the 3rd lap.   By my count, they were 10-15 secs ahead most of the rest of the race.  I think I closed the gap a bit on the first half of the last lap, but I lost track of them at the end. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

wowza!

Some photos, courtesy of Lisa

Oh, and the SECOND best part of the race was hearing JP yelling about how he liked how I took the barriers first time around.  

Oh, and an even closer THIRD was in the "just before callup" when I looked down to see something icky on my front derailleur cable... I reached down and plucked off a long, nasty black/brown snotty earthworm - and threw it at Jeff

Great job everyone...looking forward to reading more race reports yo! They don't have to be long, but inquiring minds would like to know!

Today, I raced the NYS Championships in Saratoga Springs, NY. A really, pretty interesting course, in the "backyard" of some stables/horseracing track. Long laps, a smidge under 9 minutes in the dry. Highlights included super awesome descending sandy single track that opened up into a sea of sand, that felt very Euro-trash-pro to ride, an off-camber right turning banked section of almost slippery grass, plus a muddy ride/run up that was preceded by sketchy mud pits. Again, very Euro-trash-pro.

I raced the Cat 3/4 event with the hopes that I would place better than my crossresults prediction. I lined up about mid-field (basically in back of all the cat 3s, but in front of most of the 4s, I assume). And kind of botched the start. Mental note to self, PRE-RIDE the hole shot...it matters.

In the end, I think I finished in 34th place, and I think, better than predicted...although, it's still kind of amateur hour with the timely posting of results, so despite waiting 2 races after the finish of my own, the final results were not yet posted.

Random question for Harry B...why aren't you crossing?! Is there ever was a discipline that suited your "honey badger" style of racing, crossing is it! Consider looking into renting a bike (if you don't have one) for the Kissena weekend in November!

From the HPCX flyer:

My Brief Marty Cross report: Joaquin, Jeff, Jules and Josh all lined up in the 4's. It was the Kissena J name strike team. JP took the early J patrol duties. J-Todd had the late shift.

I'm still healing up from getting Mad Maxed up in Providence, so had low expectations. Lined up 33rd, which was okay, but not great. Hole shot was slightly improved from recent races, and I think I managed to pass about 10 dudes out of the gates. Picked off about 5 to 7 more in the first lap, and one or two more in the second. Then I cracked. Hard. The injuries and lack of intensity over the last couple weeks caught up with me. A bunch of guys passed me at the start of lap 3. I managed to pull myself together after that and passed one more guy for 19th.

So, not bad, but I didn't feel nearly as good as up in RI. Hopefully these lingering bruises will clear up a bit more and I'll feel better for HPCX.

Apparently Jeff managed to get some heckling done from inside a Porta-Potty. Sublime.

Myles knows his cross, but I can't make it.

I'm headed to HPCX. Will be doing the 12:00 race.

I'm in.  Singed up for the 4's race.

HPCX with Joaquin and Bertucco in my race - YES - Kissena old man Possee in the House!

^ carbon fiber walkers

Serious question for the cross posse; a couple of times after races I've heard teammates talking about working well "together" in a CX race.

I'll try to make it out for the Saturday session with Myles.

Ryan, can you email me off line about the new Rivet deal? joaquincdebaca@yahoo.com

Memo to self..."save draft" Got 1/2 way through this week's Hotlist: Cross Edition, when an errant click made it all disappear. Khaaaaaaaaan! But because I luv ya...here goes again. Baby's still sleeping, bets on whether I can finish this before Peter the Pterodactyl emerges?

1. Todd McLoughlin is NUMBER ONE! Following up a strong 17th at Cooper River with an impressive 5th place in the Cat 3s at Marty, the Easy-going Esquire continues to prove he's one of the team's best. Although rumors has his main intramural competition hanging out in the pits, sabotaging the hopes and dreams of mere cat 4 racers, Eric Ragot hasn't, apparently turned a pedal in anger in over 2 weeks. So, NO LIST FOR YOU!
   
   
2. J.P Partland rises from the ashes. This NJ native cannot resist the sweet siren call of The Garden State and a dude named Marty, and lined up for his first Elite race of the year. He's got room to improve finishing 19th out of 21 starters, and I have a feeling that some our top cat 3s and 4s would put the screws to him in a straight-up fist fight (KCC club championships, can't wait to watch the mayhem!), but right now the Hotlist must give props to anyone who doesn't finish dead last in an elite race.
   
   
3. Joe Mueller is causing the Hotlist to feel conflicted. One the one hand his 9th in the 3/4 race at Town Hall has pretty much cemented Joe as the team's biggest sandbagger, but on the other his DNF at Marty leaves him both without an official result (c'mon organizers, list those DNFs, they count!), and the Hotlist disappointed. First, Murdoch on the A-Team could fly any airplane...crossers have a maximum of just 3 diff't shifting systems to know. Also, according to reports from the pit, dude got his bike back one lap later and didn't finish the race? Still, monster strength keeps him near the top for one more week. But consider this your HTFU warning Mueller.
   
   
4. Jules Roazen. While not as strong as his 4th at Town Hall, 9th place this week in the Cat 4s at Marty prove that week-in and week-out, Kissena's Canadian Spice Girl is amongst our most solid and reliable crossers. A few more top 10s at the big races, and podiums at the smaller ones and he'll be in contention for the Hotlist podium for sure.
   
   
5. Patrick Grehan. Paging Dr. Grehan, it's time to talk about how we all feel about your 3rd place at Marty in the 40+ Cat 4s. After a solid run at Harriman and Whirlybird, Patrick took a few weeks off to do who knows what, but he came back with a slap in the face of his competition to earn 412 crossresults points for his efforts.
   
   
6. Michael Perlberg. No race for the Prez this week, but his Cooper River 37 out of 52 finishers result despite having to pit and get a neutral wheel, keeps him in the running.
   
   
7. Joaquin de Baca. You read it from Mad Max himself. Battered and bruised, a strong early start gave way to leg and lung failure in the 2nd half forcing him to hang onto 19th place. A few more weeks of similar performances and he too will get his HTFU warning. Still the guy is just stronger than the riders in 8-10th place on the Hotlist. (sorry 8-10, no offense intended)
   
   
8. David Stokes. The Hotlist likes David. The Hotlist wants to rank David higher. But after 3 strong top 10s in big MAC races, he doesn't bring the special sauce to Marty and finishes 23 out of 32 in the 40+.
   
   
9. James Nelson. 9th place in the 40+ Cat 4s is not too shabby. But the Hotlist has raced wheel to wheel with Nelson and expects more. Top 5 in the 40+ Cat 4s baby!
   
   
10. Dusan Strika. Okay, if the Hotlist is honest, there are a few guys who have been racing in the past two weeks who are stronger than Dan. BUT, if cyclocross is being about a tough, hard man, it's hard to beat the dude who races two weekends in a row, two races per day. Master's 40+ and 50+, he doesn't care. He's going to go out give it his all.
    

Jules said:

Serious question for the cross posse; a couple of times after races I've heard teammates talking about working well "together" in a CX race.

What are they talking about?  Drafting, encouragement, each one leading on sections they perform better on...?

Yes for sure...although less on the drafting. But let me give you an example from the good old days a few years back when a legend name Eloy was still racing for reals.

We were both racing the Master's Bs back then and generally finishing within a few riders of each other on many days. And then on one glorious day at Myle's race, we found ourselves in a group of 4 or 5 riders. We didn't really talk much, Eloy is the Silent Assassin and had been enjoying pretty good (better than mine) form that year. We both took our turns at the front of our little group, driving the pace as much as we could.

Honestly, I was going as hard as I could with the hopes of whittling down the competition (I think I maybe dispatched of one guy). Coming out of a twisty-turny section through trees, Eloy launches an attack and I'm at the front. Do I jump on his wheel? Absolutely not. I let it go and because I was at the front during the technical bits, it was hard for our competition to see when Eloy went. I didn't have to "sit up" or anything obvious like that...I just stopped pedaling quite as hard as I was before. He also had a motor and went hard, so his gap was established. Then I left it out there for the rest of the group to try and chase back the move. Which they couldn't and didn't. In the end Eloy held on for 9th, and I got beat in the group sprint so had to be happy with 11th.

But I was, because our teamwork was textbook.

Last year, ironically, Jules I had visions of 2010 again this time with you! Starting at the back of a 50-rider field, I worked my way close to the front. You were the top Kissena, riding with one other guy at the time. I could smell both of you. I closed on the stairs, remounted and was hoping to make contact on the sweeper past the amphitheater. You had different idea in mind. You put one of your patented 8000 watt attacks (probably set some kind of Strava record) and you were both gone. I continued to drive hard and steady and again was close to you coming through the ups and downs of the trees just before the stairs. Where you mechanicaled out of contention...blurg.

Thanks Marc, I feel dumb for not figuring it out earlier.

anyone got room in the car for me? Planning on doing the masters with the the other old guys.

Hi - I am also looking for a ride to HPCX on Sunday. I'm racing the cat 4 race at 9 am. Can I tag along with anyone?

Somehow, I don't think I'll be keeping it dry.

^woot!

Is anyone who is racing HPCX Sunday morning willing to pick up my kit from Ride Brooklyn and bring it to the race? I'd like to avoid several hours of traffic back and forth from Long Island if possible. Let me know. Thanks.

David - congrats on the new bike! Did you get a G&T?

Yes. G&T.