Is coming up

Giro del Cielo is a two-day, wham-bam stage race. Supposedly it's a classic Northeast race. I'm pretty sure I'm in for this one. Who else would be interested?

Stage One
Saturday, June 23, 8:00 AM
Montagna di Sole Time Trial - 4.6 mile uphill course through the woods of Stokes State Forest.

Stage Two
Saturday, June 23, 11:30 AM
Cielo Criterium - Pure crit racing on a closed, fast, spectator-friendly, 1.4 mile course at the Sussex Fairgrounds.

Stage Three
Sunday, June 24, 9:00 AM
Veloce Circuit Race - Rolling 5.5 mile loop through Sussex County, NJ.

Very likely

I did this last year (I was the lone Kissena). I dunno if I'd call it a classic but it is very nice and well run.

The TT climb is steeper than it looks on the profile map, especially the last mile- I was on the small ring then (although that was a 42). The road is narrow and very bumpy and uneven so unless you are super proficient at riding in a TT position I would just ride a standard road bike. Most people did that, a few had clip ons and a few went in for full TT rigs (interestingly those handful of riders finished fastest).

The crit course is a short drive away from the state park. It's a pretty big loop round the showgrounds. 6 corners and an S kink in the finishing straight.
Last year the top TT guys were called up for a front row place. Primes offered time deductions from the overall (15,10,5 secs I believe).
The pace was swift the entire time and lined out for long sections. The sprints themselves i recall being so fast that I was sprinting just to maintain position (all of them were won by some NYvelocity dude who raced on Lightweights and had monster thighs).

I can't tell you what the RR is like, because after getting my ass kicked all Saturday I didn't bother repeating the journey from Brooklyn on Sunday.

I'm very likely. Like 95%.

forgot to add. I'll do this again, but only if I can't get tickets to see Metallica play their "Ride the Lightning" album live, down in Atlantic City.

Ian, that should apply to most things except maybe your own wedding and the birth of a child.

I interested. I think WDC mentioned he wants to do this too.

Lol Jim - trenchant insights as always.

I'm 95% in on this. I want to rock the TT and defend it through the next two.

I am probably in too,

I like this one too

I'll probably do it. It was fun 2 years ago smashing it with Greg.

Ride the Lightning is probably their most melodic album. When I saw them in '89, during the bridge of Creeping Death, it was awesome (and scary) to hear 20,000 redneck metalheads chanting "DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE." Ahhh, the heyday of headbanging.

This means we have to listen to their first four albums on the way to the races. The ones before they were kidnapped and replaced with robot imposters.

I'm really excited about this. I think we can sneak at least a few riders in the top 10 time trial in each category race, and then make life miserable for the other teams.

I like the look of this.

Im interested for the 4/5s

def interested in the 4/5's. there's also an L&C race on that Sunday...

The fun part is for the afternoon crit, they line you up starting with the top 10 from the TT, so Greg and I got to go "Ah-hem, excuse me" and work our way to the front. The announcer saw me said, "Oh, looks like we got a Brooklyn track guy here!". Uh, no. I'm just "hefty". Thanks.

But it was also 1/3 full of cat 5's, so there was a lot of inexperience. Mr. Battenkill and horse, picking on the newbs! And the primes were awesome, including the legendary "juicer", which had $50 in it (Greg and I thought it was a GC points prime, durrrrrr....but the cash was a good comp!).

godamn i could really use a juicer!

just reg'd

been obsessing over the juicer for the last 20minutes

I'm gonna reg when I get home. For now, dream of THIS:

i didn't hear all of the peptalk ryan gave you in the paceline yesterday, but i'm glad it worked

you belong in bike races, Horse

Ryan's "peptalk" was essentially a Gunnery Sergeant Hartman where he told me to stop being a giant pussy.

As long as the grade isn't above 8%, I'm good until I get back down to < 165. I totally won that third KOM when you guys weren't trying though.

Start at 5:40 for the peptalk as I remember it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvN0B_0jz5w&feature=related

4/5s race! Awesome, sounds like I won't be the dropped that quickly. But in usual fashion, I'm gonna leave all decision making to the last minute.

Alright Owens. FMJ has it's time and place... but enough is enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCS4rxX5q7M&amp;feature=related

I think i'm in for this. Also looking at Fitchburg the following weekend. Anyone doing that one? Is it crazy to do back to back stage races?

Posted By: Jeff CondonIs it crazy to do back to back stage races?

no, but it might make your pants feel tight afterwards

I love it when my pants feel tight.

^ needs tuggus ^

So what's the plan for this? Do we want to get lodging, or just wake up extremely early both mornings and drive up?

First, I get my work schedule and I realize I have this weekend off to race (score!) and since almost ready to deliver pregnant wife is going to keep me away from my beloved Fitchburg this year, I'm getting pumped for this jersey SR. I go to the registration page and see that there is no category in which I can fit. No cat 2s, and no Master's 35+. Boo. Not sure what to make of this trend of Jersey races not having races for Cat 2s...at least most have a 35+.

Anyone else committing to this one? Looking to make travel and accommodation plans and wanted to see what people were doing.