@The Heckler! I'm sad I'm gonna miss Saturday, but am SO excited to see Sunday's race! Best of luck on what looks to be a MONSTER weekend.
The Heckle Report
- Thread starter The Heckler
- Start date
-
- Tags
- beard cyclocross recap
Superfly100guy
Well-Known Member
Matt good luck this weekend!!!
As far as registration goes 338 is a pretty good # for Hippo and NJBA CX. I would think another 20+ would do day of reg. Weather may keep some away but still pre reg says alot.
As far as registration goes 338 is a pretty good # for Hippo and NJBA CX. I would think another 20+ would do day of reg. Weather may keep some away but still pre reg says alot.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
ARE YOU NOT PRE-REG'D!??!
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
Just watch, 3 years from now 1sh0t is going to have a pit bike and be racing to CRU5H 50UL5.
Slotting in at #47 for Sunday's 1-4 50+ Masters. So. Many. Old. People.
The media is so biased towards the big names.... 
Based on the level-of-suffering:remembering-things ratio, I think this race report may just be a picture of a booger.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
Had 10th in the bag and dropped a chain that 2nd to last lap. Forgot to turn my clutch on, LOL.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
Got pulled 2 laps down last night, racing "under the lights," is tough. Race report for the weekend to follow, probably will get to this tonight. Too CX hungover to manage before then.
Left CT at 8:45 got home around 12:15, in bed at 12:56, 6:20 alarm.
What the hell happened in the last 16 hours.
Left CT at 8:45 got home around 12:15, in bed at 12:56, 6:20 alarm.
What the hell happened in the last 16 hours.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
KMC - Thompson Motor Speedway 2016
What a weekend. I'm still not really ready to deal with this but I'm going to give it an honest shot. It may be a little brief.
Took 2 hours Friday, stopped by my rents, grabbed some tent sandbags ripped home, hopped on the trainer for my openers @rsinger814 showed, we packed and headed out at 6:04PM. A couple slices of car 'za and we were on our way. The whole first hour was miserable traffic. So dense, so horrible.
Pit stop for some gas station ice cream (WHY DO PEOPLE STOCK ICE CREAM COOKIE SANDWICHES THAT DON'T HAVE CHOCOLATE CHIPS ON THEM?!?!) It was the tollhouse brand, still tasty but the cookie was pretty hard and cut up my mouth a little.
Turns out this corner of CT is DARK! Rolled up to my buddy's shop in Putnam around 10:30, chilled a few and headed over to his place about an hour later.
SATURDAY!
6:30 alarm, coffee was ready and waiting along with some bomb mini quiche's Andrew's mom made. Threw the gear in the car and headed to the venue for Ryan's 8:00AM start. 7:30AM try and get my number and they say "we aren't doing those yet, you can wait for this line to clear and I'll help you." I turn to look and see 15 people behind me. "I'll come back later."
Course was WET!!! serious mud fest, perfect New England CX weather. Stoke is high.
I'm still a little unsure how I feel about the course and the venue as a whole. The course was about 2/3 awsome 1/3 why the fuck am I on asphalt again. Some REALLY long straights and a solid 1/2 mile section of pavement (as per strava segment) with paved corners. Sketch.
The crown jewel feature was a big ass hill located on the back side of the course. Super steep sides with some wicked off cambers and a run up to boot!
Ryan showing us some tripod technique down the last part of the hill section.
I was in the drops on my cantis for this. As long as you stayed in that rut it was pretty alright. Lots of dudes and ladies were running it in the early races.
Did I mention the straightaways yet? Here is my buddy Chris showing us how to pedal in both mud and on pavement. This mud straight was probably close to 100 yards. It got deeper as the day went on.
Unfortunately Ryan burped the rear and took the only DNF in a ~100 person 4/5 field which is actually pretty impressive given the conditions.
9:00AM - Dunkin Donuts truck line for more coffee. Race is at 2:00PM. TIME TO KILL!
Team rolled in around 11:30. We set up the tent and got settled. I think I only prerode 1 time given the conditions and then all of a sudden it was 1:15, I still didn't have my number I had to get dressed and get my A bike together. WHAT?!?!
I basically ran around like a mad man. At 1:30 when I went to change I realized my skin suit was 1000 miles away in the car. Club row was basically located in Alaska and I wasn't going to go to the car, come back to change then go back to staging. Luckily I had dry shoes and socks to race in. Matt loaned me arm warmers. We heard 'final call to staging' from the tent and basically sprinted through the crowds to get there. That was my warm up.
I got called up 3rd row and took a leftwards lane. The first corner was a SUPER wide right hander followed by a tight left. When I say super wide I mean 30-40' of open tape. WIDE. The plan was wide turn on 1, dive bomb the inside on 2.
*WHISTLE*
My sprint was adequate and I went out about where I was in the mid 20's. I went super wide on that first corner (actually was surprised how wide I could go) and rode up this giant open door on the inside and probably made up 10 spots. I jammed my way into the corner and went from there. Pace was hard obvi, but that's the start of a CX race.
The first off camber hill was pretty awesome. I only prerode it twice and didn't quite figure out what I was doing on it/ Lap one I was forced to dismount and run the top mounting for an unclipped rodeo ride back down.
Ryan snagged this photo of me late in the race running up the second part of the hill. Realizing if I coast into a feature holding the top tube I get under the saddle, if I ninja jump from the hood to the TT I get over it. Either way this run up hurt and there were 2 stairs at the top.
The straights were crazy fast. I managed to find wheels maybe half of the time. The mud was slick but I felt pretty damn confident. I was moving up. Second lap I got an honest go at the first off camber. I SPRINTED into it from the middle, rode up to the top and dropped back in below a big hole that had developed. A quick scoot with the foot and then turned 90 and dropped back down. So smooth, so fun, so fast!
I was riding with a group a 2-3 other dudes with 2 laps to go and hit the 1st off camber like I had been. Chris N just passed me before it and he took the right line. I came in middle left, passed him again and kept going. Up the run up and across the top, back down and HOLY GAP BATMAN!
I power along trying to keep that gap. It's big. I hit the off camber sand before the stairs and DROP MY CHAIN! On the spot I actually remember turning off my clutch to change wheels and never turning it back on. Ugh. I fix the chain below the stairs and am caught by my group again. We ride the final lap together catching lappers. I'm second wheel going into the stairs. It's hard to pass between there and the finish. I know I can push the barriers. A guy tries to make a move up the left but I push my bike and my run line and totally shut the door on him. So euro.
I take the last corner too wide and ruin my chance to really set up a sprint right.
11th.
Just missed the goal of a top 10. Really all because I didn't turn my clutch on, but who knows how it all may have played out. Still pretty content with 11th. I even made $25!
https://www.strava.com/activities/731154460
What a weekend. I'm still not really ready to deal with this but I'm going to give it an honest shot. It may be a little brief.
Took 2 hours Friday, stopped by my rents, grabbed some tent sandbags ripped home, hopped on the trainer for my openers @rsinger814 showed, we packed and headed out at 6:04PM. A couple slices of car 'za and we were on our way. The whole first hour was miserable traffic. So dense, so horrible.
Pit stop for some gas station ice cream (WHY DO PEOPLE STOCK ICE CREAM COOKIE SANDWICHES THAT DON'T HAVE CHOCOLATE CHIPS ON THEM?!?!) It was the tollhouse brand, still tasty but the cookie was pretty hard and cut up my mouth a little.
Turns out this corner of CT is DARK! Rolled up to my buddy's shop in Putnam around 10:30, chilled a few and headed over to his place about an hour later.
SATURDAY!
6:30 alarm, coffee was ready and waiting along with some bomb mini quiche's Andrew's mom made. Threw the gear in the car and headed to the venue for Ryan's 8:00AM start. 7:30AM try and get my number and they say "we aren't doing those yet, you can wait for this line to clear and I'll help you." I turn to look and see 15 people behind me. "I'll come back later."
Course was WET!!! serious mud fest, perfect New England CX weather. Stoke is high.
I'm still a little unsure how I feel about the course and the venue as a whole. The course was about 2/3 awsome 1/3 why the fuck am I on asphalt again. Some REALLY long straights and a solid 1/2 mile section of pavement (as per strava segment) with paved corners. Sketch.
The crown jewel feature was a big ass hill located on the back side of the course. Super steep sides with some wicked off cambers and a run up to boot!
Ryan showing us some tripod technique down the last part of the hill section.
I was in the drops on my cantis for this. As long as you stayed in that rut it was pretty alright. Lots of dudes and ladies were running it in the early races.
Did I mention the straightaways yet? Here is my buddy Chris showing us how to pedal in both mud and on pavement. This mud straight was probably close to 100 yards. It got deeper as the day went on.
Unfortunately Ryan burped the rear and took the only DNF in a ~100 person 4/5 field which is actually pretty impressive given the conditions.
9:00AM - Dunkin Donuts truck line for more coffee. Race is at 2:00PM. TIME TO KILL!
Team rolled in around 11:30. We set up the tent and got settled. I think I only prerode 1 time given the conditions and then all of a sudden it was 1:15, I still didn't have my number I had to get dressed and get my A bike together. WHAT?!?!
I basically ran around like a mad man. At 1:30 when I went to change I realized my skin suit was 1000 miles away in the car. Club row was basically located in Alaska and I wasn't going to go to the car, come back to change then go back to staging. Luckily I had dry shoes and socks to race in. Matt loaned me arm warmers. We heard 'final call to staging' from the tent and basically sprinted through the crowds to get there. That was my warm up.
I got called up 3rd row and took a leftwards lane. The first corner was a SUPER wide right hander followed by a tight left. When I say super wide I mean 30-40' of open tape. WIDE. The plan was wide turn on 1, dive bomb the inside on 2.
*WHISTLE*
My sprint was adequate and I went out about where I was in the mid 20's. I went super wide on that first corner (actually was surprised how wide I could go) and rode up this giant open door on the inside and probably made up 10 spots. I jammed my way into the corner and went from there. Pace was hard obvi, but that's the start of a CX race.
The first off camber hill was pretty awesome. I only prerode it twice and didn't quite figure out what I was doing on it/ Lap one I was forced to dismount and run the top mounting for an unclipped rodeo ride back down.
Ryan snagged this photo of me late in the race running up the second part of the hill. Realizing if I coast into a feature holding the top tube I get under the saddle, if I ninja jump from the hood to the TT I get over it. Either way this run up hurt and there were 2 stairs at the top.
The straights were crazy fast. I managed to find wheels maybe half of the time. The mud was slick but I felt pretty damn confident. I was moving up. Second lap I got an honest go at the first off camber. I SPRINTED into it from the middle, rode up to the top and dropped back in below a big hole that had developed. A quick scoot with the foot and then turned 90 and dropped back down. So smooth, so fun, so fast!
I was riding with a group a 2-3 other dudes with 2 laps to go and hit the 1st off camber like I had been. Chris N just passed me before it and he took the right line. I came in middle left, passed him again and kept going. Up the run up and across the top, back down and HOLY GAP BATMAN!
I power along trying to keep that gap. It's big. I hit the off camber sand before the stairs and DROP MY CHAIN! On the spot I actually remember turning off my clutch to change wheels and never turning it back on. Ugh. I fix the chain below the stairs and am caught by my group again. We ride the final lap together catching lappers. I'm second wheel going into the stairs. It's hard to pass between there and the finish. I know I can push the barriers. A guy tries to make a move up the left but I push my bike and my run line and totally shut the door on him. So euro.
I take the last corner too wide and ruin my chance to really set up a sprint right.
11th.
Just missed the goal of a top 10. Really all because I didn't turn my clutch on, but who knows how it all may have played out. Still pretty content with 11th. I even made $25!
https://www.strava.com/activities/731154460
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
KMC 2016 Sunday UCI Elite
I slept in Sunday morning as it was going to be a lonnnggg day for me with a 6:30PM race. WHAT!? Hindsight I'm bummed I missed Ryan's race, HOMIE TOOK 7th PLACE and I was awake awake by 7:45 anyway. Mellow morning, laundry, packed, chilled and headed to the venure for around noonish. Andrew's mom made some dope baked egg in dough things for breakfast. Lunch was mini tacos from Turtle's Tacos which also happened to be the dinner spot Saturday night. YUMMM.
Matt and Clio beat me there Sunday and we lugged my crap all the way out to Alaska. I did much more pre-riding Sunday since the conditions were much less "fuck your bike and its shiny clean things." There was one massive pond by the pits which was from the bike wash run off. The mud pit straight away formed a 12" wide dry rut until the very end where the rut vanished and you had to push mud for a few feet up the rise. A rut eventually formed in the hardpack of that rise. They added a couple steps to the off camber sand stair set which was nice since it was about a 2' step up the day before.
The pro only feature of the day was the Euro chute that the Elites rode down the night before. As it turns out Ryan actually also got to run up the same feature in his race.
The most handsome and majestic @seanrunnette wandered his way towards the KÜDÜ tent sometime in the early afternoon and pulled out some fancy new gear for the MTBNJ podcast. Unfortunately it sounds like you may be hearing from me again, more interestingly, perhaps, you may also hear from a couple team mates!
Clio pretending like she's embarrassed about the attention
Picked up my number at some point in the afternoon. UCI GUY WAS NOT AT THE TABLE. I've honestly never had an issue picking up a number from a race before, but BOTH days this weekend were a struggle. I survived.
I asked Ryan to help me in the pits and he kindly agreed. As race time approached I managed to get my shit together without any fuss. YAY! Had everything I needed and wasn't running around like a maniac. I was however getting increasingly nervous about the start.
As the sun began to set I headed towards staging. As I pedaled alone on the race track my Garmin screen shifted into the black night mode. The numbers disappeared but that data is meaningless in the moment anyway. No one approached staging until last call. I was following the lead of everyone around me and everyone casually spun around right through first and second call. It's almost like at this level the group as a whole runs the show, no the officials.
I got to the gate and stood with about 55 other people waiting for call ups. There was a definite chill in the air and all of the light was coming from the stadium lights above. In the distance you could hear the humming of two generators, but barely as the hyped up call ups from Richard Fries commanded the attention of the crowd over the microphone. I was getting a feeling I didn't feel at Nittany. There I had nerves but it still felt like any bike race I've done. But sitting there waiting for my 45th call up hearing the energetic call ups for the likes of Stephen Hyde and James Driscoll had me feeling like I was taking part in something much larger. Sunday was also a C2 but the stage felt so much larger. Under the lights with larger crowds, a more challenging course. The flood gates were about to open.
I parked myself second from the left barrier next to Colin Reuter of crossresults. We shot the shit and I bummed him out with the comment "hope we score better then the 3's did," which he gets a lot. Plan was the same as Saturday, wide line, divebomb inside. Worked just as well. Things got dicey right after the second corner when I got cut off and had to dab when my wheel crossed. I lost a couple spots. Then 15' later I get chopped into the left hand corner through the gate. Coming over the sandy right onto the off camber by the crowds had so much energy. I felt good and like I should be on that stage.
First time up the run up was comical. I hooked my bar into a wheel and got it free by the top. The downhill off camber was sketch with the traffic but the adrenaline took care of that. I looked back before the second off camber and saw A LOT of dudes behind me. It looked like I was solidly in the middle.
The straight away was like a road race. Completely insane. They opened the gates up a little compared to the day before and everything got much faster.
Every corner was basically marbles on sand with numerous mini ruts. Each of those mini ruts were also hidden in shadows. I struggled through the corners and lost wheels as I couldn't match the explosive sprints coming out of each turn.
The place that really killed me was the run up. I was losing probably close to 5 seconds each time on that feature. I didn't have the strength at the top and slowed to barely a walk. Each lap I would lose my group and get caught by the next and there was nothing I could do to climb any faster.
With 4 to go I slid out on the off camber and lost 1 spot, I jumped up and blocked a pass, mounted and rode the bucking bull feet out to the bottom. I had friends all over cheering for me and it really helped.
The barriers were low and fast, no one could touch me through them, but I slowed in the corners following them. The s/f straight was a 150 yard straight on the pit lane of the oval track. I was the sucker the whole race pulling riders. Ugh. I signaled the guys to come around one lap and Jules G put out a monster effort from 3rd wheel and flat out gapped me and Colin R by 5 bikes. RAW POWER.
I was a position behind Colin for most of the race and was heckled the whole time "Come on, you're losing to Colin." With 3 to go I was feeling shelled, hips started cramping up, could barely make it over the fly overs but I had the though "if you don't pedal now you're race is over." I dig through the pavement and bury myself the rest of the lap. Coming back through tracked mud pit I hit the blind rut wrong on the rise and yard sale. I get up and run the rest of the mud, barely get over the flyover and am caught by Trent of JAM/NCC. Through the barriers, the last corners on to the 180 on the bank and he passes me. Fine, this is good. A pull finally on a straight. I sit in making a monster effort just to hang. 2 laps to go. We zip through the start finish! and just like that are whistled off course.
-2 laps.
Race is over.
I'm a little shocked. Colin is 5-8 seconds ahead still on course. I ride over and see my friends, get off my bike an don't know what do do with it. I eventually put it on the ground get some hugs then found myself unstable on my feet. I get to the cement barrier, lean it out and try and wrap my head around what just happened.
Confusion turned to relief which turned to disappointment which turned to anger as I spun down alone on the racetrack. Should have pedaled harder, should have fought harder to stay on wheels etc, etc.
Big thanks to @rsinger814 for helping in the pits!
A few words about the new venue later.
I slept in Sunday morning as it was going to be a lonnnggg day for me with a 6:30PM race. WHAT!? Hindsight I'm bummed I missed Ryan's race, HOMIE TOOK 7th PLACE and I was awake awake by 7:45 anyway. Mellow morning, laundry, packed, chilled and headed to the venure for around noonish. Andrew's mom made some dope baked egg in dough things for breakfast. Lunch was mini tacos from Turtle's Tacos which also happened to be the dinner spot Saturday night. YUMMM.
Matt and Clio beat me there Sunday and we lugged my crap all the way out to Alaska. I did much more pre-riding Sunday since the conditions were much less "fuck your bike and its shiny clean things." There was one massive pond by the pits which was from the bike wash run off. The mud pit straight away formed a 12" wide dry rut until the very end where the rut vanished and you had to push mud for a few feet up the rise. A rut eventually formed in the hardpack of that rise. They added a couple steps to the off camber sand stair set which was nice since it was about a 2' step up the day before.
The pro only feature of the day was the Euro chute that the Elites rode down the night before. As it turns out Ryan actually also got to run up the same feature in his race.
The most handsome and majestic @seanrunnette wandered his way towards the KÜDÜ tent sometime in the early afternoon and pulled out some fancy new gear for the MTBNJ podcast. Unfortunately it sounds like you may be hearing from me again, more interestingly, perhaps, you may also hear from a couple team mates!
Clio pretending like she's embarrassed about the attention
Picked up my number at some point in the afternoon. UCI GUY WAS NOT AT THE TABLE. I've honestly never had an issue picking up a number from a race before, but BOTH days this weekend were a struggle. I survived.
I asked Ryan to help me in the pits and he kindly agreed. As race time approached I managed to get my shit together without any fuss. YAY! Had everything I needed and wasn't running around like a maniac. I was however getting increasingly nervous about the start.
As the sun began to set I headed towards staging. As I pedaled alone on the race track my Garmin screen shifted into the black night mode. The numbers disappeared but that data is meaningless in the moment anyway. No one approached staging until last call. I was following the lead of everyone around me and everyone casually spun around right through first and second call. It's almost like at this level the group as a whole runs the show, no the officials.
I got to the gate and stood with about 55 other people waiting for call ups. There was a definite chill in the air and all of the light was coming from the stadium lights above. In the distance you could hear the humming of two generators, but barely as the hyped up call ups from Richard Fries commanded the attention of the crowd over the microphone. I was getting a feeling I didn't feel at Nittany. There I had nerves but it still felt like any bike race I've done. But sitting there waiting for my 45th call up hearing the energetic call ups for the likes of Stephen Hyde and James Driscoll had me feeling like I was taking part in something much larger. Sunday was also a C2 but the stage felt so much larger. Under the lights with larger crowds, a more challenging course. The flood gates were about to open.
I parked myself second from the left barrier next to Colin Reuter of crossresults. We shot the shit and I bummed him out with the comment "hope we score better then the 3's did," which he gets a lot. Plan was the same as Saturday, wide line, divebomb inside. Worked just as well. Things got dicey right after the second corner when I got cut off and had to dab when my wheel crossed. I lost a couple spots. Then 15' later I get chopped into the left hand corner through the gate. Coming over the sandy right onto the off camber by the crowds had so much energy. I felt good and like I should be on that stage.
First time up the run up was comical. I hooked my bar into a wheel and got it free by the top. The downhill off camber was sketch with the traffic but the adrenaline took care of that. I looked back before the second off camber and saw A LOT of dudes behind me. It looked like I was solidly in the middle.
The straight away was like a road race. Completely insane. They opened the gates up a little compared to the day before and everything got much faster.
Every corner was basically marbles on sand with numerous mini ruts. Each of those mini ruts were also hidden in shadows. I struggled through the corners and lost wheels as I couldn't match the explosive sprints coming out of each turn.
The place that really killed me was the run up. I was losing probably close to 5 seconds each time on that feature. I didn't have the strength at the top and slowed to barely a walk. Each lap I would lose my group and get caught by the next and there was nothing I could do to climb any faster.
With 4 to go I slid out on the off camber and lost 1 spot, I jumped up and blocked a pass, mounted and rode the bucking bull feet out to the bottom. I had friends all over cheering for me and it really helped.
The barriers were low and fast, no one could touch me through them, but I slowed in the corners following them. The s/f straight was a 150 yard straight on the pit lane of the oval track. I was the sucker the whole race pulling riders. Ugh. I signaled the guys to come around one lap and Jules G put out a monster effort from 3rd wheel and flat out gapped me and Colin R by 5 bikes. RAW POWER.
I was a position behind Colin for most of the race and was heckled the whole time "Come on, you're losing to Colin." With 3 to go I was feeling shelled, hips started cramping up, could barely make it over the fly overs but I had the though "if you don't pedal now you're race is over." I dig through the pavement and bury myself the rest of the lap. Coming back through tracked mud pit I hit the blind rut wrong on the rise and yard sale. I get up and run the rest of the mud, barely get over the flyover and am caught by Trent of JAM/NCC. Through the barriers, the last corners on to the 180 on the bank and he passes me. Fine, this is good. A pull finally on a straight. I sit in making a monster effort just to hang. 2 laps to go. We zip through the start finish! and just like that are whistled off course.
-2 laps.
Race is over.
I'm a little shocked. Colin is 5-8 seconds ahead still on course. I ride over and see my friends, get off my bike an don't know what do do with it. I eventually put it on the ground get some hugs then found myself unstable on my feet. I get to the cement barrier, lean it out and try and wrap my head around what just happened.
Confusion turned to relief which turned to disappointment which turned to anger as I spun down alone on the racetrack. Should have pedaled harder, should have fought harder to stay on wheels etc, etc.
Big thanks to @rsinger814 for helping in the pits!
A few words about the new venue later.
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Damn dude, great recap and nice ending, felt it. Really cool you're out there dicing it up with the big dogs.
Last edited:
Hoo boy, the commitment knob is at 11 now! I love that you went full Kubler-Ross after getting pulled. And I'm super-loving this quote: "I felt good and like I should be on that stage." Agree.
Here's you before the roof caved in
Here's you before the roof caved in
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
SO STOKED you were up there Sunday! Bummed I missed the hood scoop in action on an actual race track.
Not sure I've hit acceptance yet.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
Closing words on KMC and Thompson Motor Speedway
There was some good and some not so good about the new venue.
THE GOOD
-Flush toilets! Totally welcomed feature HOWEVER the main bunch of them were on the other side of the bridge that crossed the racetrack joining parking to the main expo/event area.
-Showers! Real ones, I never use them at races as I'd rather rot in my stench then deal with planter warts or remembering to pack shower shoes.
-Concessions! Decent burgers, heard positive reviews of the chicken fingers, fries were okay. beer was $8 a pint, luckily it seemed no one really cared if you brought your own. Cost of food was what you might expect to pay at a sporting event. Not really any 'healthy options.' Dunkins truck was present.
-The course! The course had some amazing features with the rest being exciting due to the weather. Without the weather most of the course would have been unbearably vanilla.
THE BAD
-Club row. Bad, bad, bad miss. To access club row with your car you had to show up by 7:30 AM latest. Saturday we managed to get our gear through between races, Sunday they told Matt no way, drop off your stuff and carry it down. So homie parks his car temporarily and drops the stuff about to haul it down at which point he was instructed to immediately move his car as it could not be parked there. Totally seemed like horrible customer service which added to the bummer factor.
Club row was located next to the massive hill feature and the pits which was sweet, but also happened to be at the distant corner of the course. There was also no 'proper access' to the pits from club row. Club row was as far as you could have been from staging. The porta johns by club row were track owned and not really maintained. I don't think more then half of the doors locked, and non of them stayed shut on their own. Pretty grody even for CX race standards.
The Meh
-The Course.-The course was mostly made by the weather. Each 2 mile lap had 1/2 mile of pavement + another ~200 yard stretch of pavement for the start finish. The routing through the paddock turned out to be kinda lame since no one left their displays up from the bike builders ball (with exception to Brett Baumann, yay Burnside Forge!)
General thoughts compared to providence:
This was a great world class event but it lacked the prestige that Providence commanded. They solved the course navigation issues for spectators by stretching the course out and limiting the places you could physically travel. By that I mean there was basically a large 'L' you could walk as a spectator and could see multiple stretches from any point of that 'L'.
There may have actually only been 2 course crossings, possibly 3, which is impressive but also restrictive, I like to roam more while spectating and you were limited to that 'L' which was a pretty damn long walk end to end.
Reg was easy to find and get to but apparently impossible to time to get your numbers. Never have I not been able to get a number because of the time of day or there not being a present staff member, but both days this past weekend. Minor things.
If Providence scores an A overall I'd rate this event a Solid B. This is obviously their first year at the venue so there are some things that need to be worked out. There is more room to grow at Thompson so we'll see how they make use of it.
It is going to be difficult to get past the flop that was club row.
There was some good and some not so good about the new venue.
THE GOOD
-Flush toilets! Totally welcomed feature HOWEVER the main bunch of them were on the other side of the bridge that crossed the racetrack joining parking to the main expo/event area.
-Showers! Real ones, I never use them at races as I'd rather rot in my stench then deal with planter warts or remembering to pack shower shoes.
-Concessions! Decent burgers, heard positive reviews of the chicken fingers, fries were okay. beer was $8 a pint, luckily it seemed no one really cared if you brought your own. Cost of food was what you might expect to pay at a sporting event. Not really any 'healthy options.' Dunkins truck was present.
-The course! The course had some amazing features with the rest being exciting due to the weather. Without the weather most of the course would have been unbearably vanilla.
THE BAD
-Club row. Bad, bad, bad miss. To access club row with your car you had to show up by 7:30 AM latest. Saturday we managed to get our gear through between races, Sunday they told Matt no way, drop off your stuff and carry it down. So homie parks his car temporarily and drops the stuff about to haul it down at which point he was instructed to immediately move his car as it could not be parked there. Totally seemed like horrible customer service which added to the bummer factor.
Club row was located next to the massive hill feature and the pits which was sweet, but also happened to be at the distant corner of the course. There was also no 'proper access' to the pits from club row. Club row was as far as you could have been from staging. The porta johns by club row were track owned and not really maintained. I don't think more then half of the doors locked, and non of them stayed shut on their own. Pretty grody even for CX race standards.
The Meh
-The Course.-The course was mostly made by the weather. Each 2 mile lap had 1/2 mile of pavement + another ~200 yard stretch of pavement for the start finish. The routing through the paddock turned out to be kinda lame since no one left their displays up from the bike builders ball (with exception to Brett Baumann, yay Burnside Forge!)
General thoughts compared to providence:
This was a great world class event but it lacked the prestige that Providence commanded. They solved the course navigation issues for spectators by stretching the course out and limiting the places you could physically travel. By that I mean there was basically a large 'L' you could walk as a spectator and could see multiple stretches from any point of that 'L'.
There may have actually only been 2 course crossings, possibly 3, which is impressive but also restrictive, I like to roam more while spectating and you were limited to that 'L' which was a pretty damn long walk end to end.
Reg was easy to find and get to but apparently impossible to time to get your numbers. Never have I not been able to get a number because of the time of day or there not being a present staff member, but both days this past weekend. Minor things.
If Providence scores an A overall I'd rate this event a Solid B. This is obviously their first year at the venue so there are some things that need to be worked out. There is more room to grow at Thompson so we'll see how they make use of it.
It is going to be difficult to get past the flop that was club row.
