Edgar,
     I don't know if "blocked off" gears pass official muster.  I'm sure the USA Cycling rulebook will tell. 

     My longer-term recommendation is to get a compact crank with smaller rings.  According to a gear chart I just consulted, a 52x14 is 100.3 inches.  It's hard to find a cassette with the tallest gear a 14, though there could be some around.  Even a 13 is hard to come by these days.  A 48x13 is 99.7".  It's much easier to find a cassette with a 12.  So a 44x12 is 99 inches.  

An inch per revolution can be a big deal when you're barely hanging on.  What's good about the 44x12 setup is you can easily run that with a compact and have a 34 as the small ring.  The smaller the shift between small and big rings, the easier and faster shifting is, and the extra shifting you have to do is almost eliminated.  And with a 25 in the back, as in a 12-25 cassette, you'll have plenty of low gears and lots of stops in between.  

The nice thing about having a 14, 13, or even 12 cog as your max gear is you can put on a cassette during the week that gives you an 11 for the big gear, and then it's easier to keep up with old guys.

And the nice thing about the gear limit is you really learn how to spin.  

Here's the chart I consulted.  http://www.bikecult.com/works/wheelsizes.html  Scroll to the bottom of the page.

I was looking forward to this one.  I haven't raced CP all year, and it promised to be a barn-burner.  eight laps, a $150 prime every lap, 100-rider field.

Between the terrain and the placement of the finish line, figuring out a good place to attack is hard.  Right after the finish line is flat and open, but there are six miles to the next prime.  The rollers on the west side are nice, but with every meter closer to the finish, the field is more excited.  It's too late in the season for 110berg to be a good launch point.  And while the field gets nervous after the turn north at 59th, it's mostly downhill, until the very end.  

I was looking for combinations as well as moments when the field was ready for a break. At worst, I figured one of the later primes could help force a split in the field.

Started off fast.  followed a few moves when it looked like big splits were happening.  with the big splits, I figured enough teams were represented to let them some leash.  Either there weren't, or guys were chasing down their teammates.  

One of my better efforts, I thought, was bridging to the group dangling in front by railing the downhill past the pool.  I made it across, but the whole group was caught on the hill.

Another was getting into a big split between three and two to go.  Basically went from the transverse at west 104th and bridged to the leaders, and then a few guys caught us at Tavern.  It was great, there were 20-25 guys and we had a several second gap.  Only most were happy just to be there.  And we got caught shortly after turning north.

Final lap wasn't the fastest of the race, 13:05 by my computer, but I guess the crash mucked that one up.  I was disappointed I didn't do a better job of finding holes, as I wasn't really that taxed, though I knew the sprint was going to hurt.  

A few notes:

54.641mi in 2:01:48.  
(oh yeah, it was nine laps)
26.9mph average speed.

My fastest lap according to my computer was lap 2, at 12:58. Though Strava has my fastest lap at 13:01, which currently has me tied for third for the fastest lap in 2015.  Strava seems to have taken down many of the various "lap" measures, though there are over 1,236 "hidden" segments.  

one of the guys I marked as sketchtastic early on was involved in the pileup at the end.  Glad I stayed away from him.  

Seen a couple of crash videos on Facebook already. What gives with the crashycrashy?

According to my power and HR averages, I rode the P123 race at endurance pace.

http://tpks.ws/1HIP

How's that for getting two hours of zone 2 in?

#sorrynotsorry #humblebrag

vlad said:

According to my power and HR averages, I rode the P123 race at endurance pace.

http://tpks.ws/1HIP

How's that for getting two hours of zone 2 in?

#sorrynotsorry #humblebrag

Those of you who are looking to add some racing as a way to get in shape should take particular note of this point. Central Park is a flowing course that allows a greater variety of fitness levels to finish than PP or FBF.

I hear the winner of the cat III race got a DQ..."Immediately after the race, there was a Black Friday-esque rush on the officials table to DQ the rider who won the race. This is because he spent so much time in the joggers lane during the race that I’m pretty sure he got shin splints."

Took 7th place in the P/1/2/3 race this morning!
With $75 prime every lap there was no chance for a breakaway. I stayed at the front and followed only the groups with riders from all 4 teams (CityMD, Radical Media, Stan's no Tunes and Pickel Juice). Stan's showed up with a train every lap and were always scooped by Pickel Juice. But only two of the three Pickel Juice riders went for the primes. I failed to find/hold the wheel of the 3th team rider in the final. She won the race.....

So great, Ulrike!!

Very impressive Ulrike!

2 Spots left in cat 4/5 for this years race on 8/28/21. So far no other Kissena comrades to join me! 

AdamYaffe said:

2 Spots left in cat 4/5 for this years race on 8/28/21. So far no other Kissena comrades to join me! 

Sign Up NOW

Great Course.  

Just did myself.  Only four spots left in the 1/2/3

who posts about registering for a race but doesn't include a link to registration?? monsters, that's who.

sold out.
https://www.bikereg.com/crcadjc2021
I'm first on the 3/4 wait list.

On the 3/4 waitlist too

I have been moved from the wait list to the race. Yay. 

eloy said:

I have been moved from the wait list to the race. Yay. 

Sweet.

There will be advance number pickup as well.  Thursday at Rapha.  Friday at GAP.

mugwump said:

There will be advance number pickup as well.  Thursday at Rapha.  Friday at GAP.

Awesome. here are the details:


To speed up race morning, there are two options for early number pickup - details below. 

Thursday 8/26⁣
Rapha Soho Clubhouse⁣
159 Prince St, NY, NY 10012⁣
11am-5pm (must arrive before 5pm/please wear a mask)⁣
⁣
Friday 8/27⁣
Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn⁣
Grassy triangle just inside the park⁣
7am-9am ⁣⁣⁣

Seems like a short time since this race was - sadly- new. Give this a read and learn a bit about NYC cycling culture and who Dave was.

https://www.crca.net/crca-news/a-little-more-history-on-dave-jordan

Jules said:

Seems like a short time since this race was - sadly- new. Give this a read and learn a bit about NYC cycling culture and who Dave was.

https://www.crca.net/crca-news/a-little-more-history-on-dave-jordan

Dave was an intense racer.  And could be scary to encounter in the middle of a race.  Way back in '96, I gave him a ride from Martha's Vineyard, where there was an annual fall race (RIP, lots of fun), and then the next day was a crit in Plymouth (RIP, pretty hard); the intense manner was gone; he super chill, and I remember we filled up my gas tank at a gas station with a Dunkin' Donuts--he looked out the window, said 'donuts are my downfall' and went out and got a few.  But he was quite cerebral off the bike and super-analytical when it came to everything related to racing.  (and another guy who could go on at length about doping issues--something we talked too much about)
 
one thing I'm surprised they didn't put in--he was a member of I think NY team of the National Cycle League (NCL).  The NCL was an attempt to do for crit racing what football and other stadium sports did for cities.  They had city-based teams.  And all the teams would show up in the different cities to race.  

The guy who came up with the idea was a sales guy, and he did convince some people to invest in it.  The riders got paid, I heard, and some big non-cycling names were involved.  Like Franco Harris in Pittsburgh.  

It was so long ago, it's hard to find reference to it on the web.

http://stevetilford.com/2012/07/31/ncl-world-champion/
https://trademark.trademarkia.com/cnl-national-cycle-league-74065229.html
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/12/sports/cycling-winding-their-way-through-the-village-on-a-sunday.html

It seemed like a shoestring operation, though I read that the British pursuiter Shaun Wallace got $1,000 a race. It died, and then was resurrected as a strange full-contact version on mountain bikes on the road.  

I was thinking of this recently because I saw an article where Justin Williams, of Le39on fame, was going on about how the US should embrace criteriums, as if this was a new idea.  

Another humbling day at the races. As soon as we started to roll I sensed today was going to be a struggle. The pack was very surgy and I found myself moving from the front to the back and back to the front over and over. Before the race JP advised me to be at the front before Harlem Hill. Naturally, I took sensei's advice the first two times up, but on the third I looked up and noticed I was at the back as we hit the gradient. I quickly found I was more pinned than I wanted to be and after we went over the top the pack started drifting away and I couldn’t close the gap. To add to my troubles, my derailleur indexing was off and I couldn't properly shift down into my smallest gears. So now I was alone in the wind (a lot of wind!) for awhile until I latched onto a couple of other stragglers and we worked together fpr the remaining miles. Looking at my numbers, turns out I was averaging 170 bpm for an hour (!) and after that 3rd time up Harlem Hill I was maxed out at 182 bpm for 3 1/2 minutes. Turns out that was the time I started going backwards. It's a bit surprising since my power numbers were nothing special. Maybe I'm fighting my daughter's cold or maybe I'm just an old man. Well, getting dropped sucks but not finishing sucks harder. So I’ll take that small victory. Time to focus on hill repeats!

BTW, sounds like there were a couple of crashes at the sprint finish, so glad I had no chance at being in the mix for that. A small (or large) consolation.

mugwump said:

one thing I'm surprised they didn't put in--he was a member of I think NY team of the National Cycle League (NCL).  

The NCL was an attempt to do for crit racing what football I was thinking of this recently because I saw an article where Justin Williams, of Le39on fame, was going on about how the US should embrace criteriums, as if this was a new idea.  

I even remember the NCL when I live and raced in South America. Ever since I have been aware of bike racing there has been an argument that crit racing is how to get more people into racing bikes in the US.

That said, the assumption that Justin Williams is not aware of this, or is suggesting it as a new idea, JP, is the wrong assumption. Williams is fully aware, and just like those before, likely right.

eloy said:

mugwump said:

one thing I'm surprised they didn't put in--he was a member of I think NY team of the National Cycle League (NCL).  

The NCL was an attempt to do for crit racing what football I was thinking of this recently because I saw an article where Justin Williams, of Le39on fame, was going on about how the US should embrace criteriums, as if this was a new idea.  

That said, the assumption that Justin Williams is not aware of this, or is suggesting it as a new idea, JP, is the wrong assumption. Williams is fully aware, and just like those before, likely right.

Maybe the problem was with the writer.

AdamYaffe said:

Another humbling day at the races. As soon as we started to roll I sensed today was going to be a struggle. The pack was very surgy and I found myself moving from the front to the back and back to the front over and over. Before the race JP advised me to be at the front before Harlem Hill. Naturally, I took sensei's advice the first two times up, but on the third I looked up and noticed I was at the back as we hit the gradient. I quickly found I was more pinned than I wanted to be and after we went over the top the pack started drifting away and I couldn’t close the gap. 

Curses!  Foiled!

While it does seem like you were close to your limit, I should have added that most fields throttle back at least a bit over the top and if you can rip the descent and keep going for another 200m after that, you can often get back on.

Weird weather.  Supposed to rain, but when I woke up, it was dry, and supposed to be dry all morning.  I went with the mesh skin suit as it was 79 when I woke up.  During the race, pretty early, it started to drizzle, and I was thinking I had chosen wrong, but the drizzle just hung around one part of the course and that was that.

Full field.  Expecting the Foundation guys to control things.  the Jordan guys had numbers, but not legs.  Veselka had their two heavy hitters, Jamison their two, TCP their two.  I knew who to watch, but didn't want to attack until later in the race.  

On the first lap, things were blazing.  A group escaped and we where full throttle.  But they were caught by tavern.  First lap starting at Engineers Gate 13:03.  Second lap, with more serious attacks 13:09--worried a break was leaving, I put in a counter to close it down from W85th.  It helped.  A small move started to gain stamen the third lap, but it was small an the field was fighting to keep it close.  13:20 lap.  Then a small group bridged to the first, and that was the race.  

We did the next lap at 13:32.  But Foundation only had one guy and he's not a sprinter, so they sort-of chased.  The following lap was 14:04, so the break was pretty well established.

with two-to-go, I wanted to try something, so on the west side, I wanted to take advantage of the dip/rise from West 90th.  I got myself a good acceleration and just as I got close to the front, the field shifted right and closed the door on me.  Momentum lost.

14:08, and the break was out of reach.  There was this weird feeling--the field seemed small.  But then I looked back and realized I hadn't been more than 30 places back at any time since the second lap and there was still a pretty big group behind me.  

On the bell lap, I wanted to do something.  Going up Harlem Hill I wasn't feeling strong, so I decided to skip an attack and see if I could position well.

I was pretty good.  By Tavern, I moved up to 5th wheel.  And from Tavern to the top of Cat's Paw, I was able to float from 2nd to 5th wheel pretty easily.  I was thinking I could pull off a top-ten in the sprint.  

But, I was on the right side of the road, and some guy came up over the top of the hill, moved into my line and died in front of me.  Suddenly, my awesome position was gone.  

It took a while to get around  him. And I was pretty blocked until about 200 to go--at that point, the sprinters were ahead for good.

I think I was probably around 20th.  Still looking for results

https://www.strava.com/activities/5868851409

@eloy

I wanted to catch up with you after the race, but felt I needed to finish my conversation with Gorgi, whom I haven't seen in three years.  Then I looked and you were gone.  Sorry about that.

Great report, JP. Nice to hear how the adults roll. Turns out I was, in fact, sick. After the race a deep fog set in with achy muscles and whole nine yards. I wound up in bed knocked out, so I guess that high heart rate was an early warning sign. Kind of relieved I can chalk up my Harlem Hill meltdown to illness and not fitness! 

Hello guys, not a specific question for this thread, but sort of relevant.

I was thinking about joining CRCA races for the 2022 season, not just the “open races” but the overall calendar.

However, I saw a weird CRCA rule that said that you can’t ride with another team which is not affiliated with the CRCA, which I found very odd.

Has anyone any experience with this? Has someone joined the CRCA while still riding with Kissena??

DiegoSanchez said:

Hello guys, not a specific question for this thread, but sort of relevant.

I was thinking about joining CRCA races for the 2022 season, not just the “open races” but the overall calendar.

However, I saw a weird CRCA rule that said that you can’t ride with another team which is not affiliated with the CRCA, which I found very odd.

Has anyone any experience with this? Has someone joined the CRCA while still riding with Kissena??

Diego,
     It can't be done.

     CRCA has a calendar of "club" races which fit in a different insurance and qualification structure than "open" races.  Thus you need to have "CRCA" as your club on your license.

     I don't like what CRCA has done.  They are really a racing league, not a club.  It was started as a way to rejuvenate CRCA, but it grew to an absurd degree.  What it now allows is for bike clubs to get out of their responsibilities as clubs and they get an exclusive racing league as a result.  Every club is supposed to promote one open race a year, at least that was the case last I looked.  Seems like a minimal responsibility to the racing community.  But with this, all these little clubs don't have to promote an open race and CRCA only promotes (pre pandemic) six open races a year.  It's a net loss to the racing community as a whole.

     It also has pretty much prevented any non CRCA club in NYC from having women in the club, and almost the same with juniors.  

    I should add that I was a member from 1997-9.  While I liked the club races, I didn't like the setup.  The people on the board seemed to be more interested in their little sub teams than the club as a whole.  They'd play this game of saying "we're all about development" but then when I'd suggest things that I believed would be good for development, many board members would then pivot and say 'we're all about racing.'  At the time, they did little to support new members and the sub teams would have absurd battles about bringing in new people from out of town rather than thinking about developing locals who'd show up.  I found it wasn't an inclusive, inviting scene in general.  People would only be friends with their little sub teams, and there were no efforts to have things that included everyone.  Maybe its changed.  I hope it has.  

I've also been curious about this, as the possibility of racing in the Central Park series is very appealing (and conveniently located!). I reached out to CRCA and asked if signing up would be possible, but I never heard back from them.  

Simply: You can not be both a member of Kissena and CRCA. 

That's right! It's us vs. them!!!

That's a bummer!  I had the same thought the other day.  If you're looking for more road racing next year (or even into the fall), check out the World's Fair and Randall's Island races.  I know they tend to get mixed reviews, but I found them pretty fun and chill.