I think tape down is different than a gap with the tape in the position that the designer placed it. Although my initial reaction to McDonald's move was negative, I am beginning to change my mind. If officials are always right on the lap count, then the tape is always right about the course.

If the tape gets ripped, then the detour is no longer as the designer intended and I think it is unethical to take advantage of it. I've done it, but always feel bad about it and try not to.

Jules said:

@Marc I'm less interested in if Zach was right or wrong and the consequence for the official who decided (?!?) in the spur of the moment that he would make Zach run the barriers again as punishment.  Where is *that* in the rulebook?

It's like they designed their own "drive through the pit" penalty like in Formula 1 racing. I agree, totally crazy.

The Hotlist: Episode 6

 

With 17 different Kissena cyclo-crossers getting ankle deep in the snow-white sands of Bubble Cross, and more than a few surprising results, this week’s hotlist is going to look a little different. So whether you “step-through” or “step-back,” we’re going to launch ourselves over these barriers right now and see how this week’s results have shook up the overall rankings.

 

1.     Eric Ragot. On the surface, 5^th place at Bubble Cross might seem to be just one place better than his 6^th at Marty, but kick away some of the sand and you’ll discover that crossresults.com points declared a more competitive field at Bubble.

2.     Todd McLoughlin. Blood-soaked hands led to a rare DNF for McLoughlin, but that doesn’t knock him down the hotlist this week.

3.     David Stokes. Jumping up the hotlist podium with yet another strong finish in the 50+ category at Bubble Cross, Stokes continues to tear through the season and shows no signs of letting up.

4.     Michael Perlberg. If Hotlist was a “strictly by the crossresults.com numbers guy,” Perlberg would likely still be third on the list. But a dangerous “cooling trend” means the former podium placer slips a spot this week. His 17^th place at Bubble Cross was actually a solid result—for someone else. It was just not up to the standards Perlberg himself set with very strong results that started back on day 2 at Independence cross.

5.     Konrad Ratzmann. In the internal battle of the killer Cat 4s, Konrad comes out on top, two weeks in a row. 5^th place at Marty, and 3^rd at Bubble ensures that he is the best of the rest.

6.     Joaquin de Baca. Bouncing back at Bubble from a sub-par Marty, de Baca’s was narrowly beat for 3^rd (by a surging Ratzmann, no less) and scores a solid 4^th in a competitive cat 4 field.

7.     Patrick Grehan. Taking a cue from last year’s two-race-a-day champion Dan Strika, Grehan came through with two very strong performances in one day. Not only was he on his way to a third place in the 40+ Cat 4 race (before some dirt-bag stole it from him), but he also came back at the end of the day and beat out teammates Roazen and Martins and Johnston in the Cat 4 “regular edition” with a 411-point 7^th place.

8.     JP Partland. Back for the second week in a row, JP lines up in the second most competitive race category of the day and cranks out 28^th place. If we saw him score in the teens in this category, as he did at Marty, he would have been battling for higher spots on the hotlist. Alas, we’ll have to wait for next time to see how our veteran racer fares.

9.     Jules Roazen. Despite his own race report placing himself on the peak of Mount Suckatude, Roazen’s 8^th place in the Cat 4 race at Bubble was actually solid. For someone else. (A theme this week?) But he’s only got himself to blame, podiuming and thereabouts at the big shows earlier this season, raises our expectations.

10. Nelson Martins. One of Kissena’s newest crossers, the bearded bandit steals the number 10 spot with his personal best race performance (at least according to crossresults.com) of the year, taking 9^th place and 426 points for his efforts.

 

This coming weekend Kissena crossers look to be splitting up. With races in MA, PA and NJ, there's going to be lots of action for anyone who wants to race cross this first weekend of November. But make no mistake about it...the big show is north. Those heading up to Look Park can expect sub-freezing temperatures (followed by a 30-degree temperature swing for afternoon race club), mini-train-track crossings, slippery grassy turnage, the worst bottleneck hole-shot steep run-up of the season and more. Will our cat 4 Hulk Smash team of Roazen and De Baca take advantage of their front row starting position and take the podium as currently predicted by crossresults.com? Will Eric Ragot live up to his crossresults.com predicted 7^th place finish in a surprisingly small 35+ elite field? What to make of the return of the original “Hulk Smash” team when Eric Robertson lines up for what feels like his first cross race in years?

Regarding tape:

Regarding barriers:

31oct13 booOo!

@Nelson,
i am in 4 south NJ cx, Caffienated-CX in Millcia NJ. Please call/txt me.

718-640-8680

re:accomodations fri night/race/return!
-harryB ;-)

Weekend off for me. Think trying to get to NJ with the marathon taking place will be dicey at best. See u all at HPCX. Great racing to all!

An interesting update from Adam Myerson regarding the Shimano/Verge series this year:

FROM: 23rd Annual Cycle-Smart International /Shimano New England Professional Cyclocross Series Rounds 5 and 6/ Verge Series Round 7 and 8
-------------------------------------------------

NECX,

In advance of the next Verge and Shimano Series rounds in Northampton this weekend, I wanted to provide some info and a sort of status update on the season so far.

I realize many of you have observed and been frustrated with some inconsistencies you’ve experienced between races this season, and I’m right there with you. It took me a few events to discover we were having some issues, identify and understand those issues, and start to correct them.

One of the biggest assets a series has is consistency. Participants expect a high quality event, but they expect the same schedule, staging, and results process at every race. We have not been able to provide that yet this year, for various reasons. Generally, we had some confusion between events as we attempted to re-merge the Verge and Shimano series again this season, back the set up we had in 2011. Add to that the challenges some of the events have faced individually, the growth and goals of individual events as contrasted with the series, and a lack of strong oversight on my end as a result of having done things the same way for so long and perhaps taken it for granted, and we had a lot of confused customers and organizers.

What you will see this weekend at Northampton is what you should have been seeing at all Series events this season. The masters and juniors field is one race, one field, one entry fee, and one prize list, but with separate points for series standings, just as it was in 2011, where it worked very, very well. The women’s 3/4 field will be run the same way. These fields were never meant to be split, we had a system in place that worked, took many tries to get right, and should not have been tinkered with.

We will be running podiums for amateur races in two sessions throughout the day, and then immediately after each elite race. We will also be running Verge series podiums as well, and awarding amateur series jerseys.

We will be staging all riders, and ideally, treating you with courtesy and respect in the staging area. Whether you’re a pro or an amateur, at the front or at the back, you paid your money and your race is as important as anyone else’s.

The main thing I’m looking for here is consistency and a return to normal standards for the rest of the season. What you see at Northampton you should expect to see at Sterling and Warwick as well. Further, when it’s time to sit down and make decisions for next season, you can expect that we’ll be sure to address the problems we saw this season.

Ultimately, we’ve been doing this for a long time, and while sometimes it feels like things run themselves, that’s usually the point in the process where the gaps start to show. We run a tight ship at Northampton thanks to Al Donahue and JD Bilodeau, and I think people will be happy to have some balance back; a big show, with reasonable field limits, accurate results and timing, on a fun course, and in an awesome town. 

We are going to be providing a live internet feed for the elite races, so if there’s anything I can ask from the amateur racers, it’s to please stick around both days to watch the pros. We need you in the crowd as much as we need the racers on the course. As spectators, you are also part of the action. Let’s show the rest of the world how good our races are here at home, because they are definitely watching us.

Thanks!

Adam
-- 
Adam F. Myerson
President, Cycle-Smart, Inc.: Solutions for Cycling
Organizer, Cycle-Smart International Cyclocross
President, Verge New England Cyclocross Series

32 Ditson St., #5
Dorchester, MA 02122
(413) 204-3202 Mobile
(512) 681-7043 Fax
adam@cycle-smart.com
http://cycle-smart.com
http://twitter.com/adammyerson
http://www.facebook.com/adammyerson

Taking the weekend off. Legs were achy all week and I've been feeling like I need an extra hour or two of sleep each day so I've been resting. Don't feel like sitting in a car for 5 or 6 hours again this weekend, so off week it is. Anybody want to spend roughly the same amount of time I'd spend in a car riding this weekend? Looking for a not-super-early departure to Piermont for some coffee this weekend. Maybe a few toodles around the hills.

Awesome read Mike!! Enjoy some R&R and good luck to your mom!

Gwynna Smith said:

mperlberg said:

Good read for those of us who race challenge tires:

http://www.cyclingdirt.org/article/22951-The-Wyman-Method-For-Selecting-Cross-Tires

Great, just the sort of oh-crap-I-have-all-the-wrong-equipment morale booster I needed! J/K, thanks for the post. Fingers crossed I made the right choice for this weekend, since I'm not bringing backups.

Don't get too bent out of shape; unless you are a 90 pound world-champion CX'er like Wyman (who also rides about 5 hours a day) your ideal tires are not necessarily going to line up with hers.

@Gwynna it sounds like it's gonna be plenty sloppy. I'd prepare to slide out and get your head around remaining calm when you pick yourself up; check you chain and try not to let any minor bobbles have a big impact.

Relax and have fun.

Caffeinated cross reports? Stokes? Harry? Feehan? Martins? McLoughlin?

@marcB
see new thread "Caffeinated Cross" under "Racing" category, created thread as the Caffeinated course is in its debut year and in lovely location farm lands location w/Sram (wheel&bike neutral support) &great food/coffee sponsors. i would recommend it for next year!
-h

ps love to hear reports too!;-)

Marc Bertucco said:

Caffeinated cross reports? Stokes? Harry? Feehan? Martins? McLoughlin?

Jules said:

http://www.cxmagazine.com/cheapbike

Most interesting:  Campy ergo shifters mated with Shimano Deore rear derailleur (9 speed)!

I don't think I would buy a $43 frame off of ebay.

dstokes said:

I don't think I would buy a $43 frame off of ebay.

What's the worst that could happen?

6nov
regarding Highland Park (HPCX) any cat4/5 8:30am or Masters45+ racers have vehicle room for me, or care to share a zipCar?

i race @9:30am.

-harryB
hbolickgmail.com / 718-640-8680

The Hotlist: Episode 7

 

Wait, what’s that? Tiny salty tears, a sniffle, a halting, staccato inhale. That’s right, Hotlist has been crying. WHY? Because it’s ALMOST ALL OVER. And if you think there’s “plenty” of cross racing left as you decide which 3 or 4 weekends you are going to take off for “recovery” you are WRONG. So re-glue those tubulars you keep rolling in every corner, pack your embro (it’s get’n chilly) and get ready to finish the season with some performances that are worthy of the hotlist. Because this past week there’s been some “Oh sheeeeet that was hot,” but also a lot of shoulder shrugging, “meh.” Time to break it down.

 

1.    Eric Ragot. Leaving the friendly confines of local NJ racing, Ragot put on his big-boy cross shorts and lined up for 2 days of double-legit Verge/Shimano Pro-style cross racing in the northerly lands of NOHO. He turned in one day of “Meets Expectations +” racing (23^rd place in a super competitive 35+ race) and one day where he punked out with a fat DNF because he wasn’t “feel’n it.” That’s definitely not hot, but he’s still better than all y’all so he holds onto number one.

2.    Joaquin de Baca. What the what? How does a cat 4 crosser grab onto the number two spot on the hotlist? By WINNING! That’s right De Baca lines up with 140 of his best friends in Northampton (juniors, old dudes and young guns alike in a super-delux-combo Cat 4 racing pack Happy Meal). And WINS. On day 2, he collects a 2^nd place medal for the 35+ sub-division. All in all, that’s 3 medals, 378/375 crossresults.com points and one big tasty slice of “How do you like them apples...pie?!”

3.    Patrick Grehan. WHAT IS GOING ON? Cat 4 hotlist podium domination? Alter-ego writer bias? Yes and no. Let’s take a look at the facts. On day 2 of Northampton, Grehan races against 146 and comes in lucky number 13. And that earns him 395 crossresults.com points which is better than every other Kissena racing at Northampton (except Ragot) and Caffeinated regardless of category. Plus, finishing in the top 9% of his field is better than every other Kissena (except De Baca).

4.    Todd McLoughlin. Finishing 12^th out of 20 in a local cat 3 race ain’t exactly the result you brag to your mom about, but it’s still just enough to keep the motor humming and McLoughlin closer to the top of the hotlist than the bottom.

5.    Michael Perlberg. Leading the “dudes who didn’t race” (DWDR) category is the Prez. Hotlist can hardly wait to see what he can pull out this weekend at HPCX.

6.    Jeffrey White. There are a number of ways to crack onto the weekly hotlist, and this week, with his 29^th place at Northampton, White checks off a couple of those boxes. First, starting from the 5^th row, finishing 29^th out of 140 riders means he finishes in the top 20% of his field ain’t no joke. Second, scoring 442 crossresults.com points is not only his best points score of the year, but also stands up very well against everyone else racing this weekend across all categories.

7.    David Stokes. Finishing 15^th out of 20 in a local cat 3 race IS the kind of result you better brag to your mom about; if you are a guy who normally kicks around in the 50/55+ age category racing.

8.    Konrad Ratzmann. Close behind Perlberg in DWDR category, our former Cat 4 King took the week off but is scheduled to race a sure to be competitive field at HPCX.

9.    Jim Feehan. Back in action after two weeks off, Feehan makes a return to the list with a mid-pack performance in the 50+ category.

10. JP Partland. Another DWDR, JP holds onto the list by a thread. Will he be a last-minute entry to the close-by, competitive HPCX and bolster his credentials, or drop off the list completely for two weeks of inactivity? Stay tuned!

 

Coming up this weekend is a really tremendous opportunity for the Kissena Cyclocross team to continue to either rage or reverse a troublesome cooling trend by some of the season’s best performers. Hotlist is looking forward to watching it all unfold on Sunday at HPCX. A race that traditionally offers up competitive racing that is close to home for the entire team.

Am I correct in noting that Hotlist hasn't made an appearance on the hotlist this season?  That don't seem right.  The 'list has had some podium finishes, methinks.

Hotlist, upon realizing he hasn't yet made the Hotlist...