gsteinb

Lupus lost a doper and gained a doper.

Stas87

I highly doubt we'll see him Rockleigh or any NY race for that matter

FFJ

Pre-reg for Grant's Tomb is open. Until 2/12, entry is $30 for one field, $20 for each additional field. Jumps up to $35/$20 afterwards.

globecanvas

Hmm, I could actually race that day. I've never done Grant's Tomb. What's the vibe like? Looks like masters is just a 30 minute race unfortunately.

gsteinb

Yeah. And it usually snows right before th race.

notwist

last year was pissing rain and freezing. i ended up giving up looking for the race/parking and ended up driving home and riding the trainer

grolby

The course is rad af, but the weather is such a crapshoot. Registering before 2/12 is crazy-town.

shovelhd

Parking is an adventure. My spot is across the street from the police station. It's a great course, technical but not too technical. The sprint is deceptively long. Don't go early. Ask how I know.

echappist

the finishing straight is on a false flat and usually quite windy as it's by the Hudson. There's occasionally strong wind blowing between the tall-ish buildings.

gsteinb

you'd be better off doing branchbrook and doubling or tripling up.

FFJ

When was the last time Grants' was cancelled?

Last year was wet, but the folks that braved it at least got some "epic" photos for their instagram feed.

The two years before that it was cold in the mornings, but was "warm" (for early March) and sunny for the later races.

globecanvas

7:15am start...

Wylde06

That's always fun. I did a crit last year that the start finish was in a downtown stretch of buildings and it was pretty windy. Half of the straight the wind was coming from the right, but as soon as you hit the opening of the buildings, where the wind was actually coming from, you got smacked in the face on the left side. Made it tough to set up for the finish

Fun stuff

gsteinb

there's a 35 and 1,2,3

to each his own

grolby

It's not a crapshoot cause it might get canceled, it's a crapshoot cause driving 4 hours to race in 33 degree rain isn't an appealing proposition for some people.

gsteinb

more than anything, I think, folks get turned off by the escalating fees. I'm not registering a month out for an early March race. By the week of it's $50 (plus GW bridge toll) for a 30 minute race. Way too big an ask.

Stas87

This is why I only race in central park once a year.

Speaking of tolls, the South Jersey Series in Woolwich is a 90 minute drive and roughly $12 in tolls. I could double up on the 3/4 and 123, but than again my whole Sunday would be shot.

globecanvas

I haven't done branchbook either. The only thing I know about that race is last year there was some drama about somebody intentionally crashing out guys with like 4 different camera angles on the various incidents.

gsteinb

I've raced branchbrook a great deal over the years. They run a lot of races there. It's a safe course, assuming good pavement. Windy home straight. Frequently won on breaks. The 50 mile cherry blossom is a blast and hard as hell. As to someone crashing other folks, odds are one could run into the same guy somewhere else.

Admittedly 7:15 is a rough start, though not as hard as NYC park races race, and I plan on being picky when it comes to weather this spring. I don't have much need to get up at 0 dark thirty to race my bike when it's 20 out.

South jersey is hella far away for me as well. When it comes to spring stuff I find my mental inclination is to not race as opposed to be overly inconvenienced.

globecanvas

Yeah, I wasn't saying the race was unsafe (a priori I'd assume a park race in Jersey is safer than a crit in the city), just that that one CSI crash is the only thing I know about it.

7:15 start would mean leaving home with a 4 handle on the clock, which is a lot to ask any time of year.

grolby

+1. There's essentially nothing I care about in March or April. Not that I'm not interested in racing in those months, there's just nothing I would consider essential. Except for Rasputitsa (a gravel race...), and that's only cause I already registered.

gsteinb

The thing is grant's tomb is apt to be a bit more selective, and thus safer. City park races on the other hand tend not to be so selective and can be a bit more dangerous.

mike868y

for anyone who hasn't done it, grant's tomb is a blast. the questionable weather is always a bummer but the course is great and it's pretty fun to race in the city.

tetonrider

Does anyone have any experience with the Bristol Mountain RR? Was this the race that @theKillerPenguin won last year?

Looks like it's in May this year, and I've got a scenario that could bring me out there.

Not sure if this mapmyride link is still relevant.

Grumpy McTrumpy

I have done Bristol many times. Your link is the old course.

The new course: https://www.strava.com/routes/2541324

It will blow apart. Too many times up the double-whammy climbs for any large groups to survive. This race will favor people who can slam out huge VOmax w/kg for 3', then repeat.