Section head text.
Week two of the season is here. Branch Brook, CRCA, the Spring Series and Bethel are all on for this weekend. It looks like you have to choose between either getting soaked or freeze dried.
And if you were jealous of a certain awesome modern/interpretive dance winner’s salute last week, now is your to win yourself and show the world just how incredible it looks when you cross the line and flash “jazz hands”.
F
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I am pretty sure the DQ you if you cross the line first without your hands on the bars. So for those who win Bethel or at least dream big, do your dance after the line…. I think a junior was DQed last year for this.
Yes, you will be DQ’d if you take your hands off the bars at Bethel, no matter how clear of the field you are. Its been that way for years.
Where do the better riders go to race?
NYC – NJ – Bethel
For sure – Just look at the Pro1-3 results and who is in there. Much more talent…Plus the field sizes are managable at around 65
Bethel is sort of like Prospect on steroids.
Ive done all of them a number of times and would just say they are all solid spring training races. None are “hard”, and none are uber fast vs others. CP has advantage of really opening up the legs if you ride it near front. Bethel is kinda short for training for longer races. NJ is also kinda short, but can be intense. Really no diff worth going out of way for – Id say go to the easiest one to get to. For NYC, Bethel is really a full day commitment, which is a drag compared with early morn race and done in CP – NJ also home by like 10-11am latest. That counts in my book. Bethel you are driving, spending gas cash, sitting around for hours, and getting home mid afternoon tired. It is a fun race though and well worth trying a few times for NYCers. Branchbrook kinda a crash fest in March, which is too bad. If you go, ride in front till you are toast and leave with a nice workout under the belt.
If you’re old enough and in the right category you can do 3 races. That’s not bad training.
branchbrook with the “hill” is like regular branchbrook on steroids. regular branchbrook, in turn, is like prospect, speedballing.
..fatter. Even though I am training more and eating less. How is this possible? How do I defy normal physics?
maybe its the all Krispy Creme and fois gras diet?
2-3 races at Bethel is doable, but the 3+ hour wait between races is booooring, since you could be on the road home and getting on with your life a lot sooner. All a matter of what kind of life you have, or are avoiding, with the cycling habit.
eh, don’t worry about getting fat. it really doesn’t matter much around here where there is no real climbing. strong fat guys do well all the time.
Heard a rumor that Champion Sys is out of CRCA gear. Anybody know if that’s true? Called over there and the person who handles CRCA kit is gone until next week. Thanks!
i think some of the best racers from the more northern state, connecticut, MA, Vermont (those dudes know how to climb), show up and race hard at the Jonny Cakes race, which is about 80minutes north on the thruway in coxsakie. big ole country loop, maybe like 15miles long, simulates a real open course road race, some pitches but nothing too big, a few long rollers, nice country. if youever get an interest at bombing an hour north by car, its a very cool race. billed also as a primer for battenkill roubaix.
i think the 3/4/5 “B” race is like 1:45 of hard racing. the A race was about 2 hours if i recall. generally safe.
fwiw. also dudes are saying the new venue down the GSP Exit 16 at the PNC center is very cool also.
Evan Kaylin handles all CRCA clothing at Champion System and will be in the office on Tuesday, March 11. Please contact Evan at 212.502.0610. We have almost all CRCA styles and sizes in stock.
It’s been done
is like Prospect Park on Prozac
not to be a wet blanket (but I will), but it takes 25 min just to get out of town from downtown, so its like 4 hours of drive time for an under 2 hr race incl cat 5 sketchers when I can stay in town and get a nice CRCA training race and be 10 min from home? Naaaah. Nice for you single guys with nothing better to do with your weekend, maybe.
Has the A race 1-3 and the B race 4/5. The A race has some real pros (NERAC, Gutpill, Targetraining U25, Fiordi etc etc).
But it typically takes me just under 2:15 from the upperwest side of Manhattan to the Coxsackie exit of the Thruway on a weekend morning. That’s one way.
considering driving to CP from brooklyn :/
uh, thanks for the info Cutty. I was worried about you.
Coxsackie? HAHAHA. Glad I dont live there.
potential flooding
http://www.crca.net/coaching/index.htm
Wed, 3/12, 5:45-7am
http://www.premierecycling.net/
who would have gone to branchbrook anyway – ray smith charges 30 dollars for a 250 dollar prize list for a p-1-2-3. CP races at 22 dollars with 550, ray is just price gouging, i’m sorry
Branchbrooks prices are steep, but gouging is a strong word. Riders can take it or leave it.
Interesting that they help contact babsitters for during the race.
JFT: No. It’s steep to you, but there are plenty of people for whom it offers good value.
AR: It’s $8 more for Branchbrook than AVD in CP, and it would cost someone from NJ $6 to drive through the tunnel.
Plus you get a discount for two races.
G-d forbid a race promoter actually makes money.
It’s up to the rider to decide if it’s worth it — it’s not gouging if the consumer has a choice.
Sorry to not be clear.
It’s steep relative to $10 and $22 local training races.
JFT: I respect you and am not trying to troll/waste your time. The $10 races are not open to all, and as I wrote below for many New Jerseyans the cost of getting to the other races makes the difference immaterial, especially factoring in the disorganization and safety issues (i.e., less value) of an AVD Central Park race.
Sorry, complaints about the cost of races is a pet peeve. I think we’re damn lucky anyone gets up at 4:30 and put these races on and am happy they do so for $10, $20, $30 or more.
Good luck & safe racing if you’re racing this weekend.
are now $8
CRCA the saturday still on?
WAAAAAAAAAAAA you kind of sniped me.
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
WAAAA: That’s right, I’m a baby. And the only nipple that this baby is sucking on is attached to your mother’s tits. She says hi, by the way.
I don’t care about being sniped. Unless I get sniped by someone who complains about not getting treated respectfully, and I have always treated JFT with respect.
i dunno, i still think 30 dollars is a little absurd for ONE race. that has to be one of the most expensive races of the season. the average is 15-25 per usual.
yeah, the promoter’s gotta make money, but come on. bikers be POOR son
i prefer bethel. nothing like a 14 dollar race!
….still 9:00AM start time on Sunday..
Maybe the wrong site to post this (yes, I know this is an NYC site), but the PNC race in Holmdel is a nice break in the travel for the south jersey pineys. As much as I love Prospect (and will be there again this season for sure), leaving at 3:30 am and dropping $15.00 (Lower & Verrazan)on the tolls is a little rough. PNC means a 5:30 roll out, no bridge tolls. Most of you haven’t done the course; it’s challenging. 1.3 mile loop with a short, tough climb (similar to the kicker at Colt’s Neck, only longer).If you’re central or south jersey; give it a shot.
To anyone who made a joke about it, you’re about 5+ years too late. Get out of the city for once already.
bikers be poor? how much does the average racing bike cost, you think?
and aren’t we all lawyers and stockbrokers and shit anyway? aren’t we the cheap bastards…
Anyone notice the Master’s rode faster than the 123’s last week? Some things never change.
$30 a lot of money? Remember the context, we are racing on thousands of dollars worth of gear. BB is well organized and run, and a fun venue – well worth the $, drive and tolls. If the $8.00 is what is really holding you back, seek me out and I will personally give it to you. Oh, wait, I don’t have to sign my name. Figure it out and the money is all yours.
what happened at the race this morning? who won?
no way they paid out 250 last week, i got 10 bucks for 6th place in the 1,2,3.
To clarify, real bike racers are poor. The avg. jackass who goes out training on his zipps, is not. Look at all the guys that are really good, that race on crap, smoke everyone…..fast bikes only make you so fast.
30, 35 if you don’t pre-reg, dollars is a bit steep considering the avg race in europe is 5 euro entry. Day of registration penalty is garbage, and you still pay a processing fee to pre-reg.
was fun today even with the rain in the face face
CRCA fun? I guess anything is possible….
more fun than the clusterfuck that was last week’s spring series
Has anyone tried this yet, NYC start/finish…?
To clarify even more…really good bike racers race on the best stuff in the world, race in Europe, are well paid and will hopefully start Paris-Nice this wekend. The bike racers around here who “race on crap” are hobbiests at best. Yeah, I’m talking about the 35 year old cat 1-2 guys wanna-be’s and the handfull of Pro 3’s looking to “make the jump”. Ride the Zipps, enjoy the sport and god forbid you beat the riders on “crap” someday.
as much or more to play a round of golf, ski for a day, or go bowling, and you have to pay each time you practice those hobbies. We get off easy in that we only pay on race day.
lets keep in mind that alot of us have been in this sport for a LONG time. And we raced on crap, and slept in our cars…we’ve grown with the sport, and our enthusiasm remains…I think its pretty cool to see so many people that we race with in NYC that have been in the sport so long, and are still SO excited about cycling that they/we find the time to balance a career and remain competitive. Its not the high zoot parts that make people fast…its dedication.
of the bitchers on this site actually go out and train or race on crap days like today?
Anyone have photos of the CP race today?
“the handfull of Pro 3’s looking to “make the jump”.”
What is a “Pro 3”. That sounds like an oxymoron
expensive bike is not what makes you get up at 5AM on the weekend
i have enjoyed the johhny cake race, it is however approximately 140 miles north of new york city. 80 minutes of driving time is not a reasonable estimate.
I notice a big difference between a 1K bike and a 3K bike. Not much between a 3K and 7K+ bike.
That NYVC who won the B’s today made a really smart move. Was that Matt Richards?
You figured it out!!!
Not everyone’s a Pro 3…you’ll know them when you see them.
has nothing to do with your dedication/motivation. Having a 5k + bike without the genetic gifts doesn’t hurt anyone and supports the bike industry.
That being said, I couldn’t help, but laugh last weekend when I witnessed someone on a pricey Colnago climbing the rollers in the park out of his saddle with hands on the tops.
of your dangle is inversely proportional to the heat of your meat
a velocity rider rode away with the finish.
I did, however, wake up to pee around 6am and as our living room window looks over the park entrance mid Harlem Hill, I decided to watch the first lap to see how many people were racing.
Surprised to already see a break of 10 or so riders on the first lap in the A race followed by a pretty good size field. B’s followed with what looked to be about 25-30 riders. C’s followed with about 20, but then did not see a women’s field. Were the C’s and women combined?
There was a women’s race. About 10 women racers were there. They go off before the A race, so if you just caught the A race going by your apt window, you missed them go by. We got very lucky in that the rain stopped in time for the race. No incidents were reported.
is it supposed to rain tomorrow morning for SS?
weather.com or weatherunderground might be able to help you with that.
Its supposed to be sunny, and windy.
Guys in the US need to realize that 95% of bike racers around the world, who are legit, don’t ride the hottest shit around. Most of em ride what we consider crappy, and they are still badass. We are exceptionally lucky to be able to afford nice new equipment all the time, but it has very little to do with your abilities on the bike. Look at all the cat 5s and 4s, and 3s for that matter that have pro tour level setups, and are going nowhere. Enjoy it I guess.
do we have great gear, but we also have expensive computers that we pay big $ each month to have internet access with so that we can bitch and moan about a $30.00 entry fee.
$30.00 entry fees suck. Most real bike racers are POOR.
yeah I dont ride a really fancy bike, but I use a supercomputer here at home to rip you Colnago riding posers at lightening speed. I can type faster than I ride anyway. So fast its kinda scary, so I wear a helmet just in case.
I assume you are typing this from your local library because “most real bike racers are poor.” Most real bike racers don’t pay entry fees. For the rest of us hacks, $30 ain’t so bad. Budget yourself, stop paying those high internet fees.
What’s a real bike racer?
was it me, or was the first 2 laps a bit of a nut punch?
I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you’re not a real bike racer. cat 2 plus are real bike racers. Guys that travel more than 1 time zone to race are real bike racers. Guys that have gotten the shits in 3rd world countries are real bike racers. Dudes that understand and accept that they aren’t very good……
dudes that race locally only, or make the occasional trip to some far off land like Mass, are hobbyists, and are not real bike racers. 99% of the people that post on this site, not real bike racers, cause the real ones are out training or racing.
What do you mean most real bike racers don’t pay entry fees. Almost all elite amateurs pay their own way. A lot of D 3 pros gotta pay their own way.
Real deal guys are poor because they can’t have a full time job due to high training volume, travel, etc. Most of the time you gotta put in your time traveling as a cat 1, sleepin in the car, racing all over the country, in order to get picked up. Theres always exceptions to the rule, but its a crappy system with little support.
fun this morning. The B race was quiet and crash-free. Steady rotation of guys working at the front. A lot of the faces looked familiar and that adds to the comfort as we have some history of racing against each other. I didn’t have the chance to catalogue the bike quality, victory salute (or lack thereof) or lap speeds. I’ll try to do better next time.
You’re pecking away at a computer so that puts you ahead of 80 percent of the globe. Save the ‘Keepin’ It Real’ speech for the Bushwick squat or your next Wesleyan reunion.
Wesleyan is gay. will this comment now be deleted cause i called out a lame liberal arts school?
Maybe I’m pecking away at my blackberry, and we all know that 90% of the world has cell phones. or maybe you didn’t know that?
Don’t you mean Friedrich Engels? Don’t try to make some witty remark and get the name wrong.
Not sure what “keepin it real” has to do with communist manifesto.
Wesleyan dopes.
Anyone see anybody taking pics?
Do you really need to see photos? REALLY?
But if someone took some I’d LIKE to see them.
go ride your bike.
Go …
I took some pics.
I’m new around here, so maybe I don’t know the backstory, but i did graduate from Wesleyan. A lot of dope, just not the kind you get from gynecologists or nephrologists.
I was marshalling between the 72nd St. transverse and the Boathouse. On the B field’s final lap, Matt was a bike length or two off the front, looking strong. I thought, oh, man, that’s gonna be tough to maintain all the way to the line. But he did. Good work, Matt.
That A field break stayed away the whole race. By the final lap I timed ’em over 2 1/2 minutes in front of the field. Two Empire guys, an Adler guy, and two others. On the final lap the Adler guy was on the front. I think it was our esteemed president. Is Ken riding for Adler? And who won?
A break was loehner, igor, president harris, and david taylor??? from blue ribbon and myself. loehner took the sprint. igor 2, blue ribbon 3, bremer 4, harris 5.
chase group in before the pack.
Harris 5 out of a 5 man break? Thats a suprise. Same guy, same strategy different uniform. Adler LOL.
dude went for it, pushed hard instead of drafting in a , oh lets not forget, a training race! great for him. gotta lose a lot of races in breaks to win a few.
the real question is why did field not reel them in? its a TRAINING RACE!!
When will you realize, Ken ain’t that great. And he’s definitely not a sprinter
A race is a race, people don’t show up and merely train, they race like they normally would. Fastest guy still wins.
I love the shitbags who sit on this site and constantly drone on and on about “real bike racers”.
Let me tell you something. Real bike racers aren’t unemployed 20-something Cat-1’s who can’t make the jump to pro. Those guys are fantasy bike racers, and are 1 for every 50 guys riding the rollers in the dark after the kids are in bed.
Real bike racers are the guys who got up in the dark and were on the line in the cold, dark rain at 6 in the morning on March the 8th. The ones who raced until they were soaked to the skin, then went home to work or went home to their families and put in full days as husbands and fathers but will be out there again tomorrow morning in sub-freezing temps just because they love to do it.
Any anonymous coward who strokes his ego by calling us hobbyists and poseurs needs to accept the fact that the sport only exists due to the perseverance of the amateur.
My gritty, soggy, waterlogged brethern who were out there today, we ARE the “Real Bike Racers”.
Fuck anyone who says otherwise.
can be chicks too, sexist
WRONG!
to set your clocks ahead tonight.
Like womens soccer players are hot. Not all obviously, but on average much hotter than most sports. Look at Vanderkitten and Rock Racing’s womens teams… HOT!
That just gave me a chubber.
female beach volleyball players are hot
“real bike racers”…
give me a f’ing break. Are you a pro? if so, why are you here?
even if you are a cat 1 and win tons of races, you’re still an amateur.
Wow, now you are busting on the women? Good job to all of you unhappily married men that spend every minute not riding your bike, sitting on this site ignoring your beautiful wife.
She’s so ‘a few years ago.’ I got his frame last year, we’re still in love.
All wife and no play made **** a dull boy.
Hey, pro bike riders need something to do in their spare time as well. Are they not allowed to use the internet? And by the way, only in the US do you not race with pros as equals, UCI elite is elite, pro or not.
Yup. Either you get spanked or you hang. Survival of the fittest.
If you’re a cat 1 and win tons of races, you will go pro, unless theres some sort of unspoken information about why you win a ton of races……
i think we should stop stroking our egos. it’s really not a big deal to do amateur races. the fantasy of being a tough man by waking up early, doing a few laps in the park, and then going home to take a nap is just not a big deal. sure, it’s more than most people do, but it’s not necessary to our survival. it’s fun, it’s social, and it makes us feel good. let’s just call it what it is.
SMASH!!!
…gets it.
I should clarify that by winning lots of races I meant local races, not major regional events. I doubt winning at Floyd or Prospect is going to get anyone a pro contract.
Bike racing is awesome, well worth the expense & risks. But there are a lot of people who use it as a life avoidance mechanism. Gotta keep things in perspective.
spring series pics? i saw a lot of flashes popping on course.
oh yeah – they’re up on perezhilton.com already bro
shortened Central Park loop is like the Central Park loop without steriods.
i understand the rank hounds, but what exactly do the pic hounds need to see so bad? JPGs to send their moms?
actually, my mom can’t work the computer, but my dad loves his jpeg’s
but i’m sure he shows her the pic right away and she’s like awww
i just hope nobody calls me out for not being a ‘real racer’ because i casually ask a simple question on a forum where i might be able to get an answer.
you would probably be wrong. Things have gotten pretty bad around here.
its just the Internet
we call that the internets around here
from my nap. Interesting how the modified race course yielded no crashes in the 3/4 field with the exception of a two-man dustup during the final sprint. While shivering at the start line in the semi-darkness I figured the combination of ice, debris and a new course would continue last week’s crashfest. Once again proving that I know nothing. Onto Grant’s Tomb!!
ken aint great? depend son your definition of great. if by strength and power, then perhaps im mistaken but i could swear he either won or took a top 3 position at track nationals last year, and did pretty well at masters national time trial.
and perhaps that he’s a mature, older dude like some of us with family and what-not shouldn’t matter, nor should that he’s a pretty good guy.
he took 5th in a pro123 race, leaving the pack behind.
he’s tops in my books…
stop the hate, you’ll enjoy life a lot more.
CP results?
wasn’t there…what did they cut out? why? hope it’s not permanent.
there was ice on the downhill past the rink, and again on Harlem hill.
bethel results?
that there will be a race at FBF instead CP but I didn’t hear what day in April…too busy freezing…
the constant tired, old lame comments from Phil, Paul, and Bob in their Versus race coverage. Seems like they constantly make comments of obvious information to the vast majority of viewers that you would never hear from broadcasters of other sports such as “these bikes are made for speed and not handling” and “the ground is more slippery when it first gets wet”, etc.(there are lots more).
These would be like announcers saying stuff like “if you shoot the ball from behind that line you get 3 points”, “if there’s less than 2 outs, you can tag up and advance on fly ball outs”, or “he’s using a wood club because he needs to hit the golf ball farther than with an iron.”
We want more people to be into racing… right? And there was a time where I didn’t know all those silly things that Phil, etc say. I appreciated the 101. My problem is that Phil is senile, Al Trautwig is a moron and Bob Roll is just nuts (okay, I like Bob Roll cause I’m nuts too, but I’m not stupid or senile, so I can hate them)
“David also reported that we will try to get race results out earlier this season.”
Guess it didn’t take.
If VS wants more viewers for bike races how bout showing cool races like Het Volk or the race in Italy on dirt roads this weekend. Is there anything more boring than a TT in March.
Really, how long does it take to post 28 names (7 names each for 4 races).
Kentucky Lawmaker Wants to Make Anonymous Internet Posting Illegal
http://www.wtvq.com/content/midatlantic/tvq/video.apx.-content-articles-TVQ-2008-03-05-0011.html
just wanted to get that in before it became illegal.
– AP just release this today..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080309/ap_on_re_us/pharmawater_i
Basically our water is tainted – could that make for false positives? I mean, It is pretty frightening to think! I mean, if you aren’t drinking water that
3/4
Freifelder and German stayed away in a late 2 man break. Freifelder won.
Pro1-3 – Lindine and another teammate at Targetraining stayed away. Lindine won.
Who’s getting false positives Ray?
3 man break in 1-3, two target training, one Sommerville Sports guy.
read the article smart ass.. It isn’t about false positives but, if you read the article- you will alarmingly realize that you are being exposed to DRUGS that you aren’t taking just from having a glass of water from your tap. And being that we athletes drink plenty of UNFILTERED – via reverse osmosis – water and like I drink lots of water – you are being exposed to many drugs! So just learning of these facts, and also just checking the AWWA website – I am wondering if this can lead to false positives! Also, on a side note, I don’t give a flying F really about dopers – though I am more concerned about my 4 year old kid and the health of people I care about – how this will affect them long term. Hence why I posted on this site – and to provoke some positive thought and discussion.
Disturbing article
Thanks Ray. Consider the effect of dissolving polymers (plastics) that plankton and krill are trying to adapt into their diet. Polymer packaging from our high-consumption lifestyle are being broken down into smaller pieces and eventually molecules as they churn in our oceans, creating a toxic stew laced with chemicals used to keep your Hammer Gels fresh. The base of our food chain is known to contain man-made polymer molecules that then get passed to seafood and then to YOUR dinner plate. There are sections of the pacific ocean that are large swirling masses of garbage, mostly tossed from barges traveling from China to deliver “crap” bikes to pros that are starting to have drastic effects on our food supply.
In short, we’re all fucked — eventually. So quit bitching about Ken Harris and whether or not he’s a strong rider. The guy is fast and you shouldn’t hate him for it, just work harder to try and beat him.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2008/neben_court_case08
I drink filtered water, cause city water sucks…..
While we’re at it, lets talk about the air….or the massive lead contamination of the soil around the highways in the city, etc. Its a dirty, nasty, unhealthy place. why should the water be any better? Maybe the drugs will help.
That Jazz Hands picture always make me happy.
Who won?
Who cares?
Clearly you did not win.
Some dude all jacked up on local tap water …
Any reason there are links to race reports from like 3 years ago over on the side of this page? You can probably get rid of that page now.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gLUclM_ovXY1MT12yzWX4SA4zeRQD8VA19M80
results are up
also… get rid of ALL pictures of dopers on this site…. unfortunately… that may take a while… or at least take their picture down and put a picture of a big fat penis.
Big Mengoni. And he drinks Rockland County water.
like I said, dirty water……
If you got rid of the pics of all dopers, there’d be no one left.
And seriously, Pulla paid his due, his suspension is over, give him a break. He deserves to come back and still spank your sorry ass.
When a neighborhood becomes a home for marauders and the residents can, at any moment, be victims of drive-by assaults, the good people of the neighborhood leave. And only the predators and vagabonds remain to reap the spoils of the destruction.
…so now you can confirm for good that you did not, in fact, win the race.
C field times were so slow you could have ridden 4x 16 min TT laps and won the race by 4 mins. C dudes…go faster.
the times look faster than the race from march 10th of last year, not by much, but similar anyway. just saying. you must be one of those ‘real racers’ huh?
Cat 5 riders who can solo 16 minute laps in March. Dude, wake up, its March and its Cat 5.
well thank god at least one person thinks that they can ride faster than cat 5’s in the second race of the year. i didn’t realize that the ‘sniping’ went THIS low!
it was fucking raining
no, no, no, the wet road surface should provided faster times as the turbulent airflow off of the kicked up, wet horse poo causes a vortex which, in turn creates more negative drag than that new zipp disc wheel. rain is free speed, baby! i’ve tested it all before in my top secret military-grade-low-low-speed beginner tt wind tunnel.
“rain is free speed, baby!”
dying
please ride safely, champion too
but want to know if I placed – are spring series results up anywhere?
no, but nether did half the field
Gavi got 2nd in Belize, but AVD put him in the SS results anyway.