planning on heading out to Hippo next week. could use a ride.

I am planning on going to Hippo too. I just got back from Lucky Charm and I want to just fall over and go to sleep. I'll think about it tomorrow or Monday.

Great to be back racing again. Major thanks to Andrew who built the tent and provided us goodies at Lucky Charm CX

Was great to see you guys today - thanks for cheering me on. Was a bit dazed after the race, so I may have missed some of your names. All in all, really fun day - 12/22 in the 5's. 

In terms of race notes - I definitely needed to let go of brakes more in some of the dicier sections. Ended up sliding out on lap 3 on the backside of the course which cost me 3-4 places. I felt most comfortable and gained the most on the 180 degree turns by the pavilion. Got the hole shot too, which was cool (but need to work on fitness because I lost it a couple minutes later, ha). 

@eloy if all spaces fill up, I would be down to split a car with you and another person. 

Kudos @AndrewJohnson for catching my best wtf expression post course pre-ride! That was hard, and so much fun. Now I really wish I was doing Cooper tmrw...

I'm heading to Hippo next week (12:15) too, and need to catch a ride or split a car.

The schedule for Hippo is somewhat different from the schedule for Lucky Charm. If I double up again, it means back to back races for me. Men Cat 4 or Masters 40+ at 11:15, and then the Men Cat 4/5 40+ at 12:15. 

They are also offering team tent space, I seem to feel there are interested quite a few of us interested in this event?

AndrewJohnson said:I

The schedule for Hippo is somewhat different from the schedule for Lucky Charm. If I double up again, it means back to back races for me. Men Cat 4 or Masters 40+ at 11:15, and then the Men Cat 4/5 40+ at 12:15. 

They are also offering team tent space, I seem to feel there are interested quite a few of us interested in this event?

Yep!!!!

I'm hoping to find a ride to hippo, not 100% which race I'm doing, but likely for Masters 40 at 11:15am, or maybe Masters 50/Cat 3 @ 1:20pm, or maybe I'll hit the elite at 2:20pm, who knows...

as some have suggested, I could rent a zip Honda CRV, where we can prob fit 3 of us @ $150. LMK, as reservations get harder the closer we get to the weekend. 

Still surviving big time FOMO from yesterday's Lucky Charm.

Re: Hippo CX: I have room for 3 other races (as long as they do not have pit bikes) in my van. I am coming from Eastern LI and Google Maps indicates I should travel through Queens, Cross Bronx, GWB, and so on. So I can arrange pickups, even if it is a bit out of the way, that is not a big deal.

I am on the fence about which race to do, I am thinking of the Men Cat 4 @ 11:15am, and then dive right back into the Men Cat 4/5 40+ at 12:15pm. 

If we have enough members coming, I am thinking of grabbing tent space again. I think it was fun this past weekend having a nice gathering place with chairs, a cooler, and some tools for all of us to hang around, and drop our stuff off while racing, especially considering that the parking lot was far from the reg/start/finish area. Our tent was pretty much right there there, very convenient location.

eloy said:

as some have suggested, I could rent a zip Honda CRV, where we can prob fit 3 of us @ $150. LMK, as reservations get harder the closer we get to the weekend. 

I'm down for this plan

AndrewJohnson said:

https://awjbikeracing.wordpress.com/2019/09/30/2019-09-28-njcx-cup-race-2-lucky-charm-cyclocross-v2-0/

Hey I was mentioned! lol  Always fun to have teammates around for sure.

Haha @AndrewJohnson said he outmuscled me... little did he know I let him go

RobertPeras said:

Haha @AndrewJohnson said he outmuscled me... little did he know I let him go

I was trying to be polite 

I really enjoyed hanging out with the Kissena and non-Kissena crew at Lucky Charm. Kudos to Andrew for bringing a pop up tent and chairs. Made for a great atmosphere. We were right next to Sean Runnette and the MTBNJ tent, which meant I was able to score a Pilsner from their tent. 

I had mixed feelings about the course. Even before my race, Anthony and I were discussing that while we liked some of the course elements, there was something that kept us from really liking the course. One element that turned me off was the gravel. I like mud and sand, but I am not a fan of gravel, especially on fast sections. On the far side of the course there was a parking lot that ended with turn into gravel. You wanted to go fast in the lot, but had to get your speed right in the turn so as not to wash out. I ended up crashing and ripping up my skin suit in exactly that area. I got up and completed the race, but it reinforced my belief that this was an unnecessary course element. The other issue with the course is that it lacked flow. You were often having to scrub speed because of a rock in the middle of the course or more gravel. It made me appreciate Myles’ ability to design a course that coule be technically challenging but still have the right flow. End of rant.

I have once again posted the on board video of the race to YouTube as well as screenshots. 

https://youtu.be/5a1YdckSpmY

Screenshots are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KuP5yU3ckTyqRRq7A

y next race is Charm City in Baltimore. Eloy and I are heading down and we think this is one of the best CX events all season. You should definitely check it out

I realized that the weekend of Charm City I’ll be officiating the last Merrick race and my sister will be in town from Italy. So I don’t think it would be wise to be away the entire weekend. Plus three weekends in a row of double racing on the same day, having a weekend off might be good for recovery.

As an aside for Hippo, I reserved a zipcar with a friend of mine who would not be able to race at all this season apart from Rainey because of travel logistics, so wanted to give him the chance to get out on course. 

Also just realized, my profile pictures on here is from Lucky Charm last year* The red tape maze by the pavilion was so hard to see in the morning. 

I also saw that Supercross reg opened up this morning - was wondering if Kissena folks get any special perks at that race? Do we have a chance to go and volunteer to set up and/or take down the course? 

BrianStan said:

I also saw that Supercross reg opened up this morning - was wondering if Kissena folks get any special perks at that race? Do we have a chance to go and volunteer to set up and/or take down the course? 

Absolutely. Stay tuned for further announcements by the board.

@Thierry Bonnaire
 
Thanks for confirming! So, we're "safe" to not register at this time without running the risk of a back of grid start? 

@BrianStan
I would register first and once you have done all the volunteering, you'll be reimbursed.  

Wondering what categories are we racing at Hippo?

Sounds like Andrew is thinking two fields Cat 4 at 11:15am and Men Cat 4/5 40+ @ 12:15pm

I am probably gonna sign up for the Masters 40+ at 11:15 am  -- Andrew consider this field, always more fun with teammates

I've signed up for the 12:15 4/5 40+

James Reeder said:

I've signed up for the 12:15 4/5 40+

I've done the same

eloy said:

Wondering what categories are we racing at Hippo?

Sounds like Andrew is thinking two fields Cat 4 at 11:15am and Men Cat 4/5 40+ @ 12:15pm

I am probably gonna sign up for the Masters 40+ at 11:15 am  -- Andrew consider this field, always more fun with teammates

Just registered for Hippo. I'm doing back to back races and get my final training stimulus in before I take a weekend off from CX/Racing to recover.

I'm in the Men Cat 4 @ 11:16AM (better chance of placing mid filed then off the back as in the masters), and Men 4/5 40+ @ 12:15.

Now I'm trying to figure out what to race at Supercross. I am scheduled to work as official on Sunday so I can only race Saturday. This might be my last race of the season, tough I might come out to do Rainey Park as that's been a fun race for me. By the end of November I need to start recovering from the long season since I am hoping to race track in the winter in Toronto and I will need to start training for that by mid/end of December. So if Supercross is my last race I am thinking of just doing one race and going all out... I have several choices: 8:00 AM - Men 4/5 or Men 4/5 40+ or 10:45am - Men 40+ Cat 1-4?

@AndrewJohnson - I tried to sign up to volunteer for Supercross on bikereg, but it looks like the link was expired - did you have a different sign-up route, outside of emailing the volunteer address?

Rainey is such a fantastic race. Incredible how much we can pack into a small space. I helped set it up and take it down last year so felt like I was really part of it. That will be my season close.

Current schedule:

Hippo (5's - 10:20am this Saturday)
Westwood (5's)

~*upgrade*~

SCCX (4's)
Supercross Day 1 (4/5) 
Rainey (4's) 

BrianStan said:

@AndrewJohnson - I tried to sign up to volunteer for Supercross on bikereg, but it looks like the link was expired - did you have a different sign-up route, outside of emailing the volunteer address?

Rainey is such a fantastic race. Incredible how much we can pack into a small space. I helped set it up and take it down last year so felt like I was really part of it. That will be my season close.

Current schedule:

Hippo (5's - 10:20am this Saturday)
Westwood (5's)

~*upgrade*~

SCCX (4's)
Supercross Day 1 (4/5) 
Rainey (4's) 

I am a USAC official, so I am working as a USAC official. I need to get more CX officiating experience since this is my first year officiating, so I signed up through a NYSBRA site we have access to as officials.

Masters 40+ 1-4!