carpediemracing 

I initially c/p the wrong stuff - it was a mountain of gibberish starting with "data:". Then I put the right thing in. Apparently when you google a picture and click on it in Google, don't copy the image at that point. Once I opened the image in a new tab I could copy the URL.

carpediemracing 

Clamp is built into the saddle, it's a once piece plastic thing. First thing I thought of. Even with a flipped clamp it would be a bit tall I think.

I just bought a reasonably nice piece of plywood so we'll see how it goes from there.

One of the pictures I found when I googled the hot rock was a hot rock with disk brakes. Heh.

hack

This must have been common since the epipen now comes with a trainer pen.

Gramercy

How much do you guys usually pay for entry fees for races? I was just going to sign up for a race in New York but the race fees are now $45 for a 30 minute Crit. Seems excessive. CDR's name is linked to the race so I may consider doing it since it would be a change of pace from my central park rides.

The Tuesday night races in Brooklyn on an old airfield are $25 for 35 minutes. Other park races are $35 but they are between 1 and 2 hours long. Are these fees normal? It can really add up throughout the year.

gsteinb

meh. Go check the costs for a round of golf, an ironman, even a running race. It's practically impossible for promoters to make money. While $45 might seem a bit high the costs in closing white plains are much higher than putting on a park race. Get tired of turning circles in a NYC park at 6am, this is what us racing is like.

And the there's prize money going back to the racers.

I wouldn't race FBF if they gave me $35 to show.

globecanvas

Aw man, White Plains and Tulsa Tough totally scheduled themselves on the same day! What a faux pas.

Gramercy

Why, because the asphalt is in terrible condition? Pictures online show that there is grass growing between lots of cracks. I guess after 50 years of no maintenance it was bound to happen, and they probably won't invest in fixing it up.

I was thinking of trying it out, I have my stock wheels and the cheapo vuelta corsa lites. I hear it's fun and seems like they get big turnouts. I rode by last summer and was thinking of bringing my camera and taking pictures of the abandoned airplane hangers. Looks like a scene out of Bad Boys or something.

Are you riding in white plains?

shovelhd

What you are complaining about is the difference between a club race and a downtown criterium. Two different things. My local club training crit costs $15 and has no prize money or upgrade points. White Plains is a killer course. Technical and challenging with a nice crowd. Top shelf registration timing and scoring.

Racing is expensive. Try a grand Fondo. That will be an eye opener.

I will definitely be at White Plains. It's an A race for me.

gsteinb

I'm the defending winner at white plains (masters) so I plan on being there.

FBF is a ponderous 60 miles from my house. If I want to flat, break ****, or crash I can do it closer to home and cheaper. Frankly taking a cheese grater to my arms and hips sounds like a more productive use of my recreational time.

Gramercy

Hunter Greene summer classic looks like a lot of fun and a great value at the end of June. I think I'll do that. I may have 10 races done by then, but doing 74 miles in cat 4 would probably not be a wise idea. A 41 mile cat 5 is great though.

carpediemracing 

I am linked to it in that I handle the registration, finish line camera, and I helped the initial set up with BikeReg, gave some thoughts on categories, etc. However the rest of it (pricing, actual categories, distances, etc) are up to the promoters, and the state championship moniker means that they don't have a choice in terms of categories anymore. Also the City has mandated an absolute cut off point for time - that's when the DPW starts to move the barriers out of the way. It's a hugely expensive race. I'm not privy to the numbers but one number did come up and it's the cost of closing the course, which is about $30k. They start closing the course at 2 AM and the two promoters are there to make sure things go smoothly.

The promoters are new racers themselves. The first year they held it, in 2012, the two promoters I think had just started racing. One was definitely a Cat 5, just started racing, asked me some basic questions in March about holding a race, and by Sept he was holding the White Plains race. The other might be a 3 now, not sure. Both solid guys, really supportive of the sport, great people, and they rounded up all the necessary ingredients to make the race happen. I'm in awe of what they did.

I think it's a great race for racers. It requires both some level of cornering skill, although you can fake it because the 3rd and 4th turns are so wide (meaning if you flub the 1st and 2nd corners going into the last lap you aren't necessarily out of it). A decent uphill to the finish, a touch longer than Bethel, and then another short bump on the back stretch (that bit of non-recovery kills me, at Bethel there's no second uphill), so it favors those that actually train. In two years I haven't finished it in the field, first year I came off at 3? to go, second year was worse. This year I'm not going to race it since hiring staff to cover what I'd do otherwise makes the race entry for me about $150 and my fitness is such that it's just not worth it. Plus I have to be at the course at 5 AM, it's about 3 hours away from my house pulling the trailer, so it's even a longer day than Bethel.

Is it worth it? I think if you're local then it is. The difference in gas (say you race for $10 less - that's about 3 gallons of gas so about 90-100 miles of driving - is there another racing option 100 miles away?) or the actual numeric difference ($10) isn't ultra significant. It's a tip or two if you eat out, it's a big breakfast at a diner, it's a tube or two. I rarely pay that much for a race, yes, but I'd much rather pay that and race on a real downtown circuit with sidewalk dining/spectating, lots of barricades, etc, than race at, say, a Bethel, hence Bethels cost a third as much. If you zip in, race, and zip out, you'll miss the atmosphere. If you hang out, watch, cheer, etc, it's pretty fun. To me it's like a fast Somerville (half mile laps so about a minute and change a lap, the field comes by before you know it).

I don't get paid by the racer, I get a flat fee, so I don't benefit if more racers show up. However I think that a relatively new downtown crit, with substantial backing, deserves a chance to live. Other organizations held races there two years, and one year it was the National Crit Championships, and I think a Cat 4 won (John Tomac, who was the top mountain biker at the time, but was officially I think a Cat 4 on the road - he then turned pro for 7-Eleven and did Paris Roubaix and such).

gsteinb

The Merckx hour record is no more, the UCI announced on Thursday. Cycling’s governing body will ditch the 1972 mark and its bike-design rules in favor of a single, unified hour record using equipment regulations borrowed from modern track pursuit bikes.

Read more at UCI changes hour record regulations, allows modern track bikes - VeloNews.com

topflightpro

So far, I can only think of one race that I balked at the entry fee: $40 for a 30 min 2/3 crit. Seemed overly expensive for the time allotted. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen such a short 2/3 race. (USAC, by the way, requires at least 40 minutes for 3->2 upgrade points and 60 minutes for 2->1.)

Had the race been 45 or 50 minutes, then I would have been ok with it.

globecanvas

This is such great race beta that I wish I were in town for the race. But what's the other half of the "both"?

MDcatV

what does this mean?

gsteinb

cornering skill and fitness

shovelhd

CDR will answer but it is definitely an FTP course. Turns 1 and 2 are technical with a narrow line. Then it dumps you into the bump and a typically stiff headwind before turn 4. The race lines out early, bunching up near the line but then you hit turn 1 before you know it. CDR took some nice shots of the 2012 race which shows all this.

Creakyknees

$35-$40 is typical in Texas for a weekend race, be it road or crit.
$20's the going rate for a weeknighter.

waterrockets 

FWIW: Driveway is $30 race day, or $25+BikeRegFees=$28 for prereg. There's some prize money there though, but not much.

carpediemracing 

oops.

Cornering skill + Fitness.

I can deal with just cornering skill. I think that riders with more fitness get irked when their fitness doesn't count for much, like in many crits. White Plains gives those riders with fitness a little boost.

carpediemracing 

mattm

You're obsessed with the drops! =]

revchuck 

I see them now on my laptop, only saw code on my iPhone.

ETA: Just saw CDR's explanation, makes sense.

carpediemracing 

Yeah. It's a weakness of mine

I do use the hoods when standing on a hill, virtually all the time. I'll use them when rolling away from a stop sign or red light, or even the start of a race, when it's better for me to be able to look around. I generally avoid the hoods on flatter roads. I don't know when I'd ever use them on a descent.

I think not using the drops is the most basic mistake that newer racers make. I've never seen someone lose control or otherwise compromise their bike control, at least in a crit or a group ride, on the drops. I have seen really good riders on the hoods break bones, in part because they were on the hoods and weren't able to handle the situation in front of them. The recent one that sticks in my mind is the now 5 time JR national champ that lives in the same town as me. We were both behind a guy that rolled a rear tire. He collected the other guy's bike because he couldn't turn or brake enough. The Junior broke his collarbone. He has won cross and crit titles so he's a good bike handler. However a good bike handler in a compromised position isn't as good a bike handler as he can be. (The JR's bike bounced off my neck but I was otherwise fine, I didn't run over anything or crash).

Another guy, with less impressive credentials, laid his bike over, no mechanical cause, directly in front of me going into the last turn of the New London Crit. It's a hairpin off of a one lane downhill into a two lane uphill. I avoided him, had to shift down a couple gears, and got going a bit later than I wanted. The other guy was on the deck, he lost the front wheel and slid out, probably because he hadn't weighed it enough, probably because he was on the hoods. I think if he was on the drops he'd have made it through the turn. I know that if I was on the hoods I'd have been on the ground next to him. As far as I know the guy didn't break anything. His teammate I think is on BF and said that "he's a good rider". Yeah, when he's not on the deck.

Even someone here, I don't remember who (Ex?), commented on a clip of a guy losing control after hitting a hidden pothole (it was under a stream of water so you couldn't tell it was there). The comment was something like "well he's a national class rider" meaning "give the guy a break". My response was "well, I can beat him if he has a broken collarbone". He was on the hoods, he lost a hand over one of the hoods, and hit the deck really hard. Why wasn't the rider in a generally accepted good hand position for a descent?

It baffles me to see good riders in compromising positions on the bike. In fact in races I often hold the tops instead of the hoods. It's clear exactly what I can and can't do on the tops, so even if I'm in the field, if I feel the need to do whatever, I'll put my hands on the tops. At least I'm not fooling myself into thinking I can brake really hard or something.

For me I try to do the best thing for a given situation, and I try to approach each situation the same way. If I have any doubts about what's going on around me I'm on the drops. If I don't know if I have any doubts, I'm on the drops. This way if something ridiculous happens I'll be in a position to respond. If I'm on the hoods or tops I'm in a compromised position.

So that's my soapbox/rant for today

spectastic

friend said moves like this is common in the p/1/2, but not the 40+, hence the crash... whhhhaaatt???