sun06mar: spring series#1 @ central 3/4
sun13mar: spring series#2 @ central 3/4

march 6 - spring series#1 @ central park - cat 5.

looks like there's at least 3 Cat 5 Kissenas entered for the Spring Series race next Saturday in Central Park. I know myself well enough to know i ain't ready to contend for anything yet, but i think i'm strong enough to take some hard pulls and work for someone else in what, at 2 laps, is really an extended sprint...... i don't think i know the other guys registered (i didn't catch every name on the saturday ride), but possible we did meet...)

Just jumping in on the board now, excuse my lack of proper introduction. Moved to the US from the UK a year ago and hope to get racing this Spring. Had earmarked the last week of March/first week of April for debut but think I might give it a go a bit earlier. From the above post I see that there is a crowd that might be lining up for Cat 5 in Central Park this weekend. WIll try to get involved.

Adam

One other thing, to sign up for the Spring series (via bikereg.com) do I need to pay all the money up front or pay at each event? A little confused.

Thanks-

Adam,

you only need to pay for each one individually. There is a discount if you register for all the races, but it is a huge committment if you're not prepared to be racing this early in the season. You also have to be committed to doing 9 road races and one TT.

first race
http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=12747

entire series
http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=12680
Dan

Neil Ross
March 6 and 20..Bethel 45+ Masters

Perfect, Thanks Dan. THe links are a great help.

FInally (sorry for the newbie questions), $27 is the normal price, I don't need to pay a different price for being a Kissena member?


Hope to see you guys out in the coming weekends-Adam

adam:

you pay $27 for this race

check out the "Kissena Membership Handbook" thread

it is stickied (at the top of your thread listings on the first page) and it explains all of this stuff

in a nutshell, Kissena's get discounts to kissena-affiliated road races (lucarelli&castaldi cup in prospect, kissena-affiliated Floyd Bennet Field races)

the NY spring series is not a Kissena-affiliated race series - it is run by one Anthony Van Dunk

best,

-william

March 6, fa sho' - Cat 4

Grants Tomb - perhaps

I'd like to make it out for a lot of the spring PP series, but basically everything depends on schoolwork.

Probably Branchbrook Saturday and Grant's Tomb next weekend - Cat 4

so far, Branchbrook 4/5 on March 5 and 12th, probably Central Park or South Jersey (the only training race near Philly) for wknds afterwards, not sure where I will be yet.

One thing we could do is to edit the Wikipedia entry for FBF to note the history of bike racing on the runways. It would be nice to know when racing started there.

That was the form letter that went out to all people who wrote about bicycle racing at FBF. Please do contribute to the photo library, showing the diversity and amount of bicycle racing happening at FBF.

http://gallery.me.com/sophiekoven#100106

Also the reminder that there are 2 weekly series, and several other scheduled races at FBF over the course of 2011, is important to the future of racing. our larger footprint should help us remain relevant to the overall plan.

I'm reg'd for the March 5th Branchbrook --the 4/5 and the Masters 35+. I have very little base built-up, so it should be interesting to see how my body responds.

Then, I'm out-of-town for Grant's Tomb... nothing else on the calendar (yet) until Battenkill.

Posted By: WilliamDCWilliam Doyle-Capitman:

March 6, Central Park, 1/2/3

March 12, Grant's Tomb, 3

onwards into the sunset (the rest TBD)

edit: to those 3s or Masters on the fence about doing the 1/2/3 races instead of the 3/4 or Masters', keep in mind that sitting in the pack is only marginally harder in the 1/2/3 race and overall, it is much safer

With 5 people pre-registered in the 1-2-3s there won't be much pack sitting. Is there something else going on this Sunday or are folks waiting to register race day?

I'm racing Cat 5 on Sunday in CP for sure (and it will qualify me to upgrade to 4, I think), Saturday I'm likely doing the CRCA race.

Argh - the reality of schoolwork/ $ work has hit me today. No racing for me Sunday (and probably no workout at the 'drome on Saturday).

Seriously bummed.

Posted By: John SandersonI'm racing Cat 5 on Sunday in CP for sure (and it will qualify me to upgrade to 4, I think), Saturday I'm likely doing the CRCA race.

uhoh

i will get in here before there's a big stink, but THE RULES say that you can't race CRCA unless you are a member

and you can't be a memebr of two racing clubs at the same time

womp womp!

it's us or them, john!

Is that true outside of usac rules ? This may be fodder for another thread...but if someone was a fan of kissena and wanted to be a member of our club , would we turn them away if they were also member of another club?

What if usac is not involved (just , someone being a member of kcc without a racing license) ?

Dan - do you know if the new race series is an effort to expand cycling's fbf footprint, or is it from an overall need to have a second series ?

Do we know if other nyc area clubs \ teams are equally concerned \ if someone is spreading the word with the goal of getting good attendance for both nights ?

We may look worse if we have competing weeknight FBF races, and each one canabalizes the other.

i would invite board members/other knowledgable people to chime in, but my understanding of the membership situation is:

1. kissena is a racing club. you must be an official member of kissena to race with us.

2. to race in USAC-sancitoned events, you may only list ONE club affiliation on your USAC license (though you may race "unattached")

3. to race in CRCA-only races (the vast majority of their races), you must be an official member of CRCA

mid-season releases are an option under very specific circumstances (i.e. you get invited to be a Stagiaire for a fancy team at a big race)

***

last year, and the year preceding it, we tried very hard to broker a compromise so that our Kissena women could compete with the CRCA women in the CRCA women-only races. CRCA was very difficult to deal with and ultimately decided that the only compromise they would make would be to allow the kissena women to race in kissena jersey (with a CRCA patch) IF AND ONLY IF they were official CRCA members and listed such on their USAC licenses . . . which would make them CRCA members rather than Kissena members in the eyes of the USAC. so . . .

as for the men . . . no compromise, leeway or sustainable exception seems viable

on a related note: keep in mind that CRCA races are not eligible for upgrade points, as they are not Open races. Yet another thing that's great about the races Charlie Issendorf/Kissena promote.

Kissena 1/2/3 racers for Sunday's season opener in Central Park. From my conversations, I expect to see myself, Marc, Myles, William, Renee, possibly Mike. Did I miss anyone?

For the no-shows,I have the following. Leondard Klipper is in school in Philadelphia to train William when he visits. Keith is putting a bike together. Lenny Katz is building fitness (should see him racing in April), as is Joaquin. Mark Izhak will also probably be ready for racing in April. Greg has got himself signed up for Battenkill, so I'm thinking he should be showing for a few of the spring races. Ragot doesn't like the cold. Robertson is a question mark. Haven't heard back from Jan Micko. Do I have that right? Did I miss anyone?

I also think that at the Grant's Tomb pro/am, I'll be there along with Marc, Eric Robertson, and possibly Myles.

Regarding racing CRCA club races:

William has it largely right.

However, there seem to be some special CRCA members who are able to race CRCA club races AND race for other clubs outside of CRCA club races. I don't know how this occurs, maybe these people have CRCA on their license and carry a letter from the president of CRCA allowing this, or maybe CRCA looks the other way.

There are people who are members of more than one club. I've done this in the past. For example,when I was in college, I raced for the club by my hometown, but I was also a member of a club local to college so I could get their newsletter and get on their rides. But I could only have one club on the license. Whether or not you can do this with other clubs depends on the individual clubs. some will take "non-racing" members. Some won't. CRCA used to; I don't know what they do today.

BTW, if you read all the details in the NY Spring Series announcement, he has something about if you can't make it, and you know ahead of time, you can contact him and have your registration used for another race.

I asked him "If you pre-register for the entire series and you miss a race, can that registration get "pushed forward"?" He answered "yes."

Well I wouldn't hazard a guess as to the motivation of UWS, other than they as a USCA team are required to run an open race at least once a year. So this is their race. I would also think UWS as a team has done well at Charlie's FBF races, so why not run a race where the odds are stacked in your favor (see Roger Aspholm and Westwood Velo CX). I think the low cost of entry, and the fact that FBF is low profile is a big advantage for anybody trying to run a race. It is virtually impossible to get a permit to have a new race at either CP or PP, and permits for closing roads for a race are very hard to come by. Columbia University runs Grants Tomb as a collegiate race where you get up to 500 USAC riders and another 500 collegiate riders so it definitely can pay for the permits to close the road.

Every promoter is responsible for promoting and filling their own race, and it certainly doesn't make sense to promote a race where you're going to lose money. I hope they've considered that no FBF race ever fills up, and it would take aggressive enticements (like paid time off) to get 100 people in every field at a mid-week FBF race. If they think the business works for them more power to them, and hopefully we all benefit from more races.

I know my goal is the Kissena FBF races that Charlie runs, since they're a better price, and I like Tuesday for racing since later in the week gets harder to get out early for work.

Following up on Josh's question.

Yes we allow you to be a non-racing member. We don't require our members to race, but if you are a Kissena member, and you race, you have to race as Kissena.

march 5 branch brook 1/2/3 and maybe the park race on sunday

Branchbrook 4's/ cat 5's... Are you doing the 7:17 or the 8:09 race? Or both? Im wanting to do the 8:09 but I dont think as many people will be there, then again half the group might be 2nd timers and too tired to do anything... Hence free score for me. Not that I'm looking for an easy race or anything...

I think this will become complicated and teams will get split up, then again who knows.

from the cityroom blog on the bill to require bike licenses:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/lawmaker-withdraws-bike-license-bill/?ref=nyregion

Posted By: Wojciech PBranchbrook 4's/ cat 5's... Are you doing the 7:17 or the 8:09 race? Or both? Im wanting to do the 8:09 but I dont think as many people will be there, then again half the group might be 2nd timers and too tired to do anything... Hence free score for me. Not that I'm looking for an easy race or anything...

I think this will become complicated and teams will get split up, then again who knows.

i'm doing the 7:17. i've never done branchbrook, i thought race 2 only happened if race 1 filled? i could very well be wrong though.