Oct 11, 2014 at 02:19 AM
I knew it was a mistake as soon as I started but there was no turning back at that point.
Adam violated my number one rule of "night before bike race." DON'T MESS WITH YOUR BIKE. No good will come of it.
Cyclocross!
Oct 13, 2014 at 02:11 PM
Reports?
Oct 13, 2014 at 04:35 PM
See below
Oct 13, 2014 at 08:02 PM
well at least I know one person whose back hurts worse than mine:
Oct 13, 2014 at 08:12 PM
OUCHmperlberg said:well at least I know one person whose back hurts worse than mine:
Oct 13, 2014 at 09:03 PM
he's expected to be back pretty soon.
Oct 14, 2014 at 02:13 AM
I've done that race in Vancouver. It's tricky because the sand starts out pretty hard pack and you have a really fast run up to it (like you could be doing well over 20mph if you want to). But then it gets deep and you have to get off and run when you bog down (well, at least I did). It's long, like quite a bit longer than the sand at Bubblecross.
But damn, you have to hit pretty hard to break bones on sand.
But damn, you have to hit pretty hard to break bones on sand.
Oct 14, 2014 at 12:45 PM
Ok. Report - Cat 4 - 5 race Whirlybird. MUD!! Jeff, Wes, Harry, Ryan, Adam & I lined up for some Saturday morning fun. The cinnabon of death made me queasy, as usual, and the off camber sections were challenging, but more than doable in true cross conditions. All Kissenas rode well, with Jeff taking the top showing of 23rd, as we all did the colors proud. I am not a mudder, so I was happy finishing 38/96. A good showing for all!
Oct 14, 2014 at 06:42 PM
Oct 15, 2014 at 12:53 PM
So, getting mentally ready for my first Verge/Shimano New England series races with the big boys...I was checking on the series rules for points and call-up procedures. For years, it's been easy. Crossresults points. Bam, done. And that's been nice, because it gives you time to sign up, and that ridiculous order of registration thing...well, I digress.
But that was the Cat 4s. Now I'm going to race the Master's 35+ field; because why should I only have a goal of not being lapped by Roger Aspholm when there's Al Donahue (a dude who has beaten Adam Myerson in a race or two) too?!
So now that I'm going to race with the big boys, the big boys get series points, and I know those dudes get called up first. And here's why I'm writing.
Earlier this year I had a conversation with a racer about the series and he was mentioning that one reason he doesn't go to do the New England stuff is because of the series points situation and a likely terrible starting position. Which makes sense. I've selected which field I'm going to race in MAC series races, in part, for that reason. BUT HERE'S THE THING I JUST DISCOVERED.
1) Verge/Shimano series points don't go anywhere near as deep. Master's Men 35+ only go 15 deep (versus 40 for MAC), Master's Men 55+ only go 24 deep (versus 25 for MAC...okay no diff there).
BUT BUT BUT
2) For call ups, only the first 8 riders, or the front row is called up by series points, everyone else is crossresults points!!!
So, for example, in the 35+ category, while there are 18 folks total who have series points, only 8 of them will get guaranteed front row starts, with everyone else getting "crossresulted."
Same for the 55+ category. While there are 32 people with series points ONLY 8 of them are guaranteed that front row.
FURTHERMORE...
With Providence going independent this year, there have only been 2 races (Gloucester) in the series so far.
I guess what I'm saying, is that if you've only ever done MAC or NJCX cup races, it might be time to think about signing up for Northampton, Sterling and/or NBX. Northampton is the most family friendly, Sterling the hardest course (it's 80% off camber) and NBX is the most fun.
Oct 15, 2014 at 02:15 PM
Here's a tip: Don't overthink this stuff. Too many monkeys in your head.
Start wherever you are called up from. Go hard. That's it.
MAC races are awesome. Verge/New England races are awesome. Now race.
Oct 15, 2014 at 02:20 PM
^ I have to agree. If understanding how things work makes you better prepared, great - but it's not a prerequisite. I can't count how any races have had completely random, bogus or otherwise bizarre callups & starts.
Granogue this year was six wide with no warning before the start. C'est la CX...
Pedal hard, commit to the rut and attack out of every corner 
Oct 16, 2014 at 01:48 PM
Hotlist No. 7 2014
Somewhere in the remotest regions of NearPhiladelphia and
FarBurbia, there was the rarest of birds circling high above. On Saturday, the elusive
Tangerine-tufted Whirlybird was watching Kissenas slip, slide and otherwise
fall over themselves on a cross course that was thick with mud and awash with waterlogged
turf that endeavored to slow the migration to track-stand pace.
Between Saturday’s MAC series stop, and Sunday’s dry racing at Cooper River CX, Hotlist and the bird are whistling a happy tune because 17 different KCC racers took to the dirt and mud this past weekend to giving us a messy pile of results and memories to sort through. Let’s get started.
1. Michael Perlberg. A mixed weekend for the team’s top crosser. Saturday at Whirlybird, in a field that got shredded—with nearly 10 minutes separating the winner from the last rider not lapped—Mike cranked out a 14th place finish. That was a full 8 places better than his crossresults predicted finish. At Cooper River on Sunday his back was back, and not in a good way. DNF.
2. Joaquin C De Baca. Someone was getting married in a hail storm this past weekend instead of racing…but he’s still got a pocket full of previous week performance points to keep him at number 2.
3. Todd McLoughlin. Back in action after a few weeks off, McLoughlin took to the muddy Whirlybird course and...well, it wasn’t his best result, finishing 25th out of 54 finishers. But until proven otherwise (HPCX anyone?), he’s still better than you guys down below.
4. Joe Mueller. He’s back! At Cooper River on Sunday, Mueller finished in 11th place out of 33 racers. This result earned him 374 crossresults points. Hotlist is not sure what to make of Perlberg’s passing comment about this being Mueller last race of the season, but for now he’s one of KCC’s best.
5. Jules Roazen. A weekend off of racing, rumor has it that the Roazen’s are actually suffering SRVW (Severe Recreational Vehicle Withdrawal) and gassing up the family van for a run at this weekend’s HPCX. His win at the Gloucester keeps him solid on the list this week.
6. Andy Da Silva. Two in a row!!! That’s right Andy was at it again taking on the Cat 4s at Cooper River and winning for the second week in a row. He’s been racing against small local fields, so while technically not a candidate for the “mandatory upgrade,” Hotlist is still pretty sure he’ll be handling his business just fine whenever he jumps up to race with the cat 3s.
7. Jim Feehan. Racing in the 55+ category,
Feehan scored an 8th place finish at Whirlybird. That makes, for those keeping
track, 3 eighths, 1 ninth and 2 eleventh-place finishes in what continues to be
a solid and consistent season. Hotlist would love to see him crack that top 5
though. Even in a category that features perennial 55+ winner, Al Blanchard (a
rider who routinely starts a minute or more behind the 35+ field, catches them
and rides straight past about half of that field too), Hotlist believes Feehan
has a top 5 in him.
8. Marc Bertucco. Bertucco managed to wring out a 22nd place out of 31 finishers in the 35+ category, which frankly sounds sort of weak. But if you look at the crossresults quality points at 201, versus the 2/3/4 race at 286 and the elite race at 212, and you buy into the system, it was actually the most competitive race of the day. And so dude gets to cling to the Hotlist again this week.
9. David Vollbach. No racing for Vollbach this weekend, but he’s still living life large off his 18th from Providence.
10.Nelson Martins. If this were the “BeardList,” he would be number one. As it is, Nelson’s 38th and 20th place finishes in 2 days of “Killer B” racing are among his best of the season and plenty good enough to claim the last spot on the Hotlist.
Every time Hotlist thinks we’re
about to sit down, snuggle up on the couch and get comfortable, shit gets
weird. Coming up this weekend is going to be an interesting one at HPCX. No
fewer than 7 riders signed up to race, have had their departure from Kissena
announced. No official word on which of those 7 will be “tasting the rainbow”
in their new Skittles kit and which will still be looking good in Anti/Anti “dress-whites.”
ZING!
(Wait a minute…Ros doesn’t get to take the design with him, does he?)
Hotlist has to fly to a wedding in the Windy City, he will have to rely, “Manimal-style” (google it, that show was AWESOME) on his eagle eyes in the sky to let him know what’s what as he writes up next week’s afternoon diversion from code writing and laceration fixing and whatever else you guys do for reals.
Oct 16, 2014 at 02:20 PM
Hotlist addendum:
FWIW, until Jeremy Powers' Aspire Racing sees the light and decides they need to sign a mediocre masters racer with a penchant for snarky bloggy posts to a professional contract, Hotlist ain't going anywhere this season or next.
Oct 16, 2014 at 03:12 PM
Marc to answer your question about the seven riders...
Anybody reg'd for a race as a KCC will race KCC.
Anybody reg'd for a race as a KCC will race KCC.
Oct 16, 2014 at 03:23 PM
Thanks for update. Seems obvious, except, Konrad has been listed on start sheets and results as Kissena for several weeks now even though he's been King Kog kit.Ryan J said:Marc to answer your question about the seven riders... Anybody reg'd for a race as a KCC will race KCC.
Oct 16, 2014 at 03:49 PM
True. Which is not the way it should be. My statement above will be true going forward.
Oct 16, 2014 at 03:52 PM
For the rest of us, please make sure your club affiliation on the USAC website reads "Kissena Cycling Club"Ryan J said:True. Which is not the way it should be. My statement above will be true going forward.
Some folks still put "KCC" or "Kissena"
Oct 16, 2014 at 04:12 PM
I've since changed that, but the promoters pull, I believe, from Bikereg. I'd signed up for most of my races at the end of August, when that decision wasn't made and so that keeps getting put onto the sheets.
Oct 16, 2014 at 09:59 PM
The King is dead. Long live the King.
Oct 17, 2014 at 10:26 AM
Hey Folks - Registration for the Supercross Cup is open. We already have 100+ riders registered over a month out from the event. This indicates we might have really big fields!
Please, if you plan on racing, or know friends who are racing, register now. Registration to events kinda gains momentum when racers see fields filling. We can better plan for the event when we know what kind of scale we are dealing with. Think all of those mundane details... adequate porta potties, food trucks, ordering enough numbers, etc. etc.
Thanks so much!
Oct 17, 2014 at 01:40 PM
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Oct 20, 2014 at 05:24 PM
When was the last time 16 people got lapped in a 4 - 5 race?! HPCX Day 2 was one tough day. I did not race Saturday, so I do not know how the course was changed for Sunday, but I will say this....there was nowhere to hide, nowhere to rest. It seemed like all we did was climb, negotiate roots and off-camber sections, and sprint. But it was FUN! I managed to squeeze in 29th of 62, just happy to finish in the top 50% - my lungs are STILL burning. I believe Jeff had a mechanical (I saw him running with his bike, but it was well before the halfway point to the pit), and Wes got tangled up in a crash. Phil hung tough for 53rd. It was a battle out there. Marty Cross next week.
Oct 20, 2014 at 06:09 PM
hpcx was full of bad juju for me. i rolled my rear tubie while remounting after the barriers during warmups, so i had to throw my clincher on. i had a nice front row start and settled in nicely in the front group. coming onto the pavement section at the bottom of the hill for the start finish, i banged my front wheel pretty good on a little step up. i kept riding, but 500m up the road i felt my rim against the ground, so i shoulder the bike and start running. i couldn't have been any further from the pit at this point. it took me about 12 minutes to run the course back to the pit. at this point i still hadn't gotten lapped, so my goal was to get back on and prevent that from happening, but all the running kind of took it out of me, and the top 3 guys were hauling ass. i avoided coming in dfl and i got to ride a pretty fun mixed terrain course, which i really enjoyed. now to try and repair both of my tubies for next weekend.
Oct 20, 2014 at 10:54 PM
Yardsale to Nowhere
After battling whatever compendium of virulent strains our kids brought home and losing sleep to the "sleep training" battle that is life with little babies I was seriously thinking about pulling the plug altogether on HPCX.
It feels like my race reports from this time of year all sound the same; coming out of some good form I either a) get sick or b) get overwhelmed by the backlog of life I put on hold to to get the form, or a and b together.
No different this year.
After battling whatever compendium of virulent strains our kids brought home and losing sleep to the "sleep training" battle that is life with little babies I was seriously thinking about pulling the plug altogether on HPCX.
Saturday dawned and I figured I'd get out there and at least have some "race-pace" technique practice to show for it all.
Scavenger hunt for my stuff, three kids, pickup a teammate and before we know it we're behind schedule even for the leisurely 2/3/4 start time of 12:30...
We arrive after the last chance to pre-ride the course has come & go - so we opt to ride next to the tape and scout the course that way.
I'm feeling not all all warm, but hey - there are teammates, and old foes alike smiling and sharing the usual pre-race banter. "I'm extensively tapered." says one guy I recognize from Providence who raced against dressed in a tutu for the "madison" event.
Jeff and I check out numbers and we're both 60+ spots from the front. It's going to be a slow start...
The whistle blows and for a moment nobody moves - at least nobody around ME. Thus is life in the cheap seats. When people start pedaling I see a bit of a hole and shoot up a few more spots than I deserve. I continue to punch above my weight for almost the whole first lap - running through the crowd with my bike over my head "Raid Galuoises" style while crowds of guys try and ride the off camber muddy stuff - I even got past Konrad at the start and poked some fun at him as he got backed up in the scrum.
I was well on my limit when I hit the rootiest corner and lost my front wheel. WHAM, down I went. You know how sometimes when you get hurt there is a moment where nothing hurts? You lie there and wonder if the pain will start and after many moments it begins to arrive like a freight train, delivering increasing doses of discomfort until you are hopping around like an iguana on a hot rock? This wasn't one of those times.
The instant I hit my whole body rang like a steel plate hit with a bullet. I lay there and looked down at my legs and wondered what was broken. Gingerly I stood up and started looking for pieces of my bike - incredibly it was all in one piece so I stood back from the line and slowly and gathered my senses. I'd be lying if I didn't seriously consider DNF'ing.
As I stood there watching the entire pack stream by some other guy crashed out exactly where I had. He lay motionless and I briefly saw the look on his face I must have had just moments ago.
Unlike me he refused to get up, even with traffic continuing to stream by. "Come on man, someone is going to crash ONTO you!" I urged. No dice.
By then, almost a minute later, the tail of the pack was approaching and Jeff rode by and calmly offered, "What's this all about?"
Feeling defensive I offered, "It was a rough crash!"
Feeling defensive I offered, "It was a rough crash!"
His taunt was enough though - I leapt back on my bike and chased after him. There is no better rabbit than a friend, or two. Lt. Dan was also ahead of me by now.
Slowly I closed on them, but the course was tough - hilly, or rooty, or rooty hills... and I just didn't have my legs. I found myself in the unfamiliar position of losing time on the hills and power sections and getting it back in corners.
I'd see a familiar backside and pick a marker to time their lead. Slowly the seconds ticked down. Ten, nine, six, five... etc.
Eventually I passed Dan, and was chasing Jeff. Before too long I was at the barriers and some hecklers were holding out cookies. I took one and gobbled it Cookie Monster style, with lots of loud "OM! NOM! NOM!" which they seemed to appreciate. I nearly choked on the crumbs. Oh the things I do for CX...
I got by Jeff and lost my chain on a particularly rooty section - he swooped by with a friendly taunt and the chase was back on.
Approaching the barriers again I was hot on his tail and I hollered to the hecklers "Where's my goddamn cookie?!?"
Cookie man held one out tauntingly and before I could say "Thief" Jeff swooped in and nabbed it!
Almost instantly after the barriers was a muddy off camber and perhaps due to the change in balance that one cookie made, Jeff completely lost his traction slid out.
"That's Karma!" I hollered at him as I went by, "That's Cookie Karma!"
And so it went. We passed a deflated looking Keith who was muttering "Done...done...done..." and battled it out with grins and friendly barbs until the last lap when Jeff did some kind of half-arial reverse maneuver and ended up straddling the tape with his bike sliding down the hill away from him.
Eventually I shut it down and (horror) got lapped by the lead guys who were riding hell bent for leather.
We finished, licked our wounds and took the kids to the zoo before starting the trip home.
Larua Van Gilder asked us to pit for her at the Women's Pro race - and then WON her race - which is pretty darn cool. I think Nelson was the one representing and he did it in KCC kit which is really, really splendid.
Good times? For certain. Overreaching? Most definitely. I haven't figured out this sport yet; it feels like my peak is so short lived I have to race as much as I can before it evaporates and then it's a series of death marches until I finally hang it all up.
I'm going to take a couple of weeks and try and rebuild so I can hopefully have some fight in me come mid-November.
Oct 21, 2014 at 02:26 AM
You tell a great story. Sounds like, at the end of the day, despite the "womps!", you guys had a lot of fun. A victory in and of itself. What CX is ALL about.
Oct 21, 2014 at 02:36 AM
Oops. All that and I posted it in the wrong thread.
Le Sigh
Oct 21, 2014 at 01:32 PM
anyone needs a ride to Martys this weekend?
Oct 21, 2014 at 02:55 PM
Nelson, I do.
I am signed up for the Cat 3 race @ 12:45PM
--- I'm signed up for both days, but might just do Saturday.
Please text or email to coordinate: 347.225.1058 eloy@groovylab.com
Oct 21, 2014 at 03:06 PM