Marc 1
Patrick 3
Jules 4
Jim 5

Haaaaawwwwwtttt List!

Holy smokes.  That results list is stellar.  KCCC represent.  Good racing, dudes.

Reports, please.

Handsome Joe took 2nd in the open Cat 4 field too!

On Nov 11, 2012, at 3:20 PM, Joaquin wrote:

Holy smokes. That results list is stellar. KCCC represent. Good racing, dudes.

Reports, please.

WOW! Awesome work fellas! That's gotta be one of the banner weekends of the year.

Possibly one of the best courses I've ridden. Sand, hills, off camber, roots, rocks, jumps, turns and steep descents.

11th in elites. Hard as I could. Big ringed most of the course. Into the 46x12 on the fast flat. Ran out of gas in the sand pit a couple of times necessitated a long run, but I caught and passed people.

Just super hard. At the start I was caught behind too many Roadies and it took some energy to get by them and the race was away by the time I got through.

JP took a huge spill in the sand to great cheers. I was going so hard, I didn't even know that a Guy was offering dollar handups. I thought. He was pointing out better lines in the sand.

I lapped two riders.

Just got my equilibrium back a little while ago.

Fun race.

A few cell phone pictures from Bubble 'cross https://picasaweb.google.com/100344936187639018202/BubbleCross2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCMWu9Yi-nuTw8QE

WOW guys!  Amazing stuff.  Congratulations.

Good work Team! Had a blast with everyone out there today. 

Pictures here www.flickr.com/photos/_philg/8176489079/

I think Mike gave the heckle of the day.  "I didn't drive you all the way here to get third!" yelled at Mueller.  Joe moved into second.  Coincidence?

Seriosoty aside, I love cross *because* competitors share advice. I get enough of the "too cool for school" vibe in the road season.

No comment.

Bubbly stuff is good stuff.

Cat 4 40+ win was a true team victory for the Cat 4 40+ Family Men of our club. Very proud of how we rode as a team. It felt quasi-obnoxious and semi-jinxy to talk about what we we do if we had a group of 3 off the front, with two Kissenas, or if we had two Kissenas off the front together, but we had to. When you line up with the likes of Jules Roazen, Patrick Grehan, Jim Nelson, and Dan Strika in a field of 20, ready to throw down, you gotta have a plan.

And throw down we did. I scored a front row-call-up because of two previous 3rd places in other New Jersey Cross Cup races, with the rest of the team not too far behind. I'd been having trouble with my starts of late, lacking the snap, the sharp acceleration needed to get where you should be in a cross race (in front, yo!). My coach recently reminded me, by way of workouts, and a helpful email, that I'm a leg-speed, spinner and I should use that.

The course was well-designed with a fair and open start. I wasn't the quickest off the line, but by the time we hit the grassy climb, I was about 5th wheel. With tires gripping, I opened up the turbo and started passing folks and by the top of the climb on the tight right-handed button hook turn I was in the lead.

Yikes! Now what? I had ridden this stretch in pre-ride a couple of times, one with Eric "How the Hell Does He Do That?" Ragot, and so I had some idea of how best to take the lines. Problem was, I was nervous and those first couple of turns, there was a little too much braking, a few too many sprints out of corners.

To be honest, I felt like kind of a wreck, but with the "Intestines" of the course winding it's way back on itself it was easy to see that my gap was growing and at the front of the chasing field was an army of Kissenas. And that was huge. HUGE. Because, in addition to the constant encouragement from the shouts, I had the confidence that they were not going to help anyone else chase me down. Nelson can seriously drive his bike, Grehan and Roazen have sick power to spare, Strika's been racing cross FOREVER. I'm glad I wasn't trying to race against them!

With 1.5 laps to go, the eventual 2nd place finisher, an interloper from New Paltz, made his way past Nelson in third and up to Grehan in second. Patrick was just a turn or two behind me and getting closer. 2 Kissena's racing at the front would have been awesome, but when I saw "New Paltz" grab his wheel, I nervously shouted to Patrick, "you've got one on your wheel!" He knew. He was in control.

And from then on it was double full-gas to the finish. I kept thinking this is my best chance ever to win a bike race. My family is here, my teammates are riding hard and smart behind me. It was my race to lose and the stress was building. That 2nd lap I botched the long sand ride leading to the climb. I had to dismount and run the last few meters of sand and up the hill. I was redlined.

(Later that day, my wife said that I ran it faster than I rode it on laps 1 and 3. Jules also noted that running the hill, as he did in his second race of the day, was faster than riding.)

Coming through the start-finish with one lap to go, New Paltz had passed by Patrick to be in sole possession of 2nd place and was hot on the hunt. I shouted out to my wife, "I need a time check!"

The final laps of a race have to be run clean, because one flub and someone previously 10 seconds behind, will catch and pass you. If you've got 20 seconds, you've got some breathing room. I hear a couple of kids watching, say, "He wants a time check!"

1/2 a lap later, as I'm flying off the ramp through the swing set, I hear those same kids, "That's the guy! 12 seconds. 12 seconds!"

Yikes! Too close for comfort. Long sand stretch, stiff climb, grassy off-camber turns, barriers that are 8-feet tall, still to go. A lot of places for me to literally fall on my face. Coming hot into the single track climb, I nearly pegged some girl who was texting on a nearby picnic table, I pushed off the corner of the table and kept the pedals turning. More gear, I need more gear. Too slow. Screaming at myself up the single track climb, I poured everything I had into trying to not lose any more time to New Paltz. Hit the grassy off cambers, banked high off the turn, didn't trip on the barriers, and didn't dump it on the sandy corner of the extremely short homestretch. Just enough time zip up the jersey and do a one-armed salute (too chicken for the double armed salute).

A great win for me, made greater because the Kissena team was awesome, and after 13 years of watching me race, my unbelievably supportive wife with our adorable boy, finally gets to see her man win one.

I ordered one of those kits.  They're rad:


I dunno, I can see how he cares on some level about having fun and getting better, without being super crazy obsessed with it.  Although, like you said, a Ryan custom with that skinsuit is obscene and depraved.  That kit belongs on a Scattante.  Maybe a nashbar.

Awesome job to everyone at Bubble Cross. 

On Saturday I was down at Fair Hill with Marc for the next stop in the MAC series.  I like this race.  It's a good, competitive race, but with a relaxed attitude. 

I had a 3rd row call-up.  I missed my pedal at the start, which, as it turns out, was good because it kept me out of the crash Marc mentioned.  Had I clipped in properly, I would have been right of the middle of the crash.  After a few laps I settled in with a group of four, representing about 13th through 16th place.  With about two laps to go we were starting to catch the group right in front of us, but half way through that lap I crashed and lost contact with the group.  Not too much else happened the rest of the race. I ended up 17th.  Not too shabby.     

Ok, I just finished editing (sort of) the GoPro from Bubble Cross version "Hot List's Revenge"

Bubblecross

Who knew it was going to be so good? It was just a race to make up for the loss of Staten CX and let’s face it; the name “Bubblecross” does not inspire notions of a great race. How wrong I was. The course was on a park that included a dried up summer swimming hole.

What made it great was the combination of: lots of sand, a "small intestine" section, fast sections, a "jump" (yes we went airborne), stairs, lots of off camber turns, and steep descents. Did I mention there was sand? There was a long run up following the end of the major sand pit. Maintain momentum on the sand and you could ride up the hill. Get bogged down and lose time on the run. Awesome.

I had a few "issues" before the start. First, my front derailleur cable housing "imploded" a few minutes before the race. Only the small ring for me. Also, I noticed that my front tubular was separating from the base tape. I rode my front clincher but noticed later that there is a strip of about a foot that has about a cm or less of the tire separated, not from the rim, but from the tubular base tape. Yikes.

It didn't help that my front brake was squealing like a pig from the film Deliverance. A few of us got to pre-ride the course with Ragot, who was so smooth and fast on corners that I was seriously demoralized. It also motivates me to improve my cornering. Finally, I my rear wheel went out of true during the race: I could feel it rubbing my brake during the last lap. I was a mechanical disaster. Fortunately none of it kept me from racing.

I was in the third row at the start and was able to move up to about 5^th or 6th for the hole shot. The guy following Marc up the uphill part of the “small intestines” on the first lap got tangled up in tape and Jim and I quickly moved into second and third behind Marc. I was full of adrenaline and when the road got fast I opened up charged right up behind Marc. We got through the sandpit with a good lead on the field but my wheel got stuck at the end of the sand pit and I had to run up the hill. I think Marc did too.

I stayed close behind him up until just before the last lap. During most of the race I could see that Jim was a few turns behind us. Words of encouragement were shouted all around but I was often too winded to get out anything more than a grunt of encouragement. The field was all strung out. Second time I made it past the sandpit but lost momentum on the uphill as my wheel got stuck on a root. At this point a Bicycle Depot guy had moved past Jim and was close behind. I wasn’t making it easy for him to pass on the run up. He must have had to dismount, as he did not pass me on the run up.  

Further ahead near the baseball field there was a sharp off-camber right hand turn that was slippery as hell and I went into the tape and came to complete stop forcing the bike Depot guy to ride into my wheel. I got going quickly and hoped that I had slowed him down a bit. It didn’t last as he passed me on the straight away just before the barriers. I couldn't keep his wheel. He never went far; a turn or two ahead on the intestines, but I was never close enough to retake him.

I closed on him some on the sand pit but was over geared on the hill that followed and had to pull on a tree branch to get some momentum. I lost whatever ground I had been making up.  By that point there was no chance of catching him. I could see Jules et Jim (the name of a famous French movie from 1962 – coincidence?) a ways back with a good gap on the rest of the strung out riders.

It was beautiful to see Marc win with Sarah and Peter there. My wife and kids were there as well. Third place was awesome – I used my “winnings” to get some new brake pads, but I wished I could have hung on to second place. If only I had been able to ride up the post sandpit climb… Either way, it was a great course, I was pleased with the result and the Kissena camaraderie was awesome.

Time to get the bike fixed and ready for Supercross!

 

Bubblecross pics

Podium photo!

With the postponement of Supercross my weekend racing plans have, predictably, changed. It looks like there are three races within striking distance. Of course, there is also Ray Alba's Far Rockaway relief effort.  On Saturday and Sunday in PA, Kutztown Cross is about 2 hours away.  In CT, Cheshire Cross, on Saturday, is about the same and Hop Brook Cross, on Sunday, is a bit closer.  I'd like to do one, but cannot decide which one to do.  The the pre-reg for each race is pretty low.  What are people's thoughts?    

Todd,

I remember having a conversation with some guys from the Lamprey Team at Beacon this year, and they were saying they preferred to come to Supercross because they weren't fans of the Kutztown courses, even though they lived closer to Kutztown. I too have been looking at the CT races. There's a YouTube video of testimonials about the Hop Brook Cross:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2uhhHcSTF0

and also some handlebar cam video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q5uwwqDdbo

I could maybe be talked into hop brook cross on Sunday. anyone thinking about going from Brooklyn.

Sunday Cx sounds good.

C'mon!!! MAC series and Bubble-dudes. It's Thursday, post your results from last weekend please. Hotlist has work to do! Grrrr....