RANDALL'S ISLAND TRACKLOCROSS SERIES 2008

TRACKLOCROSS: FIRST MUD PART II
APRIL 11, 2009 ***
Tracklocross@gmail.com



CLICK HERE FOR THE FLYER!

Saturday, May 31, 2008

We wrapped up our race series and also managed to start the next trend. What do we have to look forward to now?

Dan Bones has a photo wrap-up of Harlemegeddon, which brought racers up to uptown and had them running around the edges of the island. Congrats to Angrey Drew for walking away with a set of Cane Creek Track Wheels - he's now tearing up Kissena Velodrome with them, and doing a damn good job. Tenacious Wilis took first overall for the series; Dave August would probably have put up a solid fight for it had he not been preparing for the big Bear Mountain Spring Classic the day afterward. Crihs took second with his two second place finishes. Amanda got first overall woman; Britlee finished a strong 4th overall in Harlemegeddon for first woman of that day.

We've had a blast throwing the race series. So many people came out to ride bikes and get dirty and hang out.

Oh, and in some more photo recap, Crihs has some really amazing portraits from Sludgement Day Number One. I linked you to the picture of Dave August, who won the day.

In a recap, we want to thank all our sponsors profusely. Organizers and racers really appreciate the support. The love and generosity of the companies really displays the awesome way that the bike/race scene, no matter how large it can get, really stays being about riders, about fun, and about events that bring us together.

And get us muddy.

Really fucking muddy.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Sludgement II, Harlemegeddon

We were excited for last night's Sludgement Day Reprise, and had a great course outlined. Bold and hearty racers came out to try their skills in evening cyclocross racing. Unfortunately, due to circumstances, we had to cancel the evening's race halfway through. We still had fun, though.

Anyway, we'll figure out what we can do to thank those of you who showed up but didn't get to race too much.

Next up, though, is the Harlemegeddon Cyclocross Alleycatastrophe (the Uptown Beatdown). This is a big race, a hardcore alleycat. Checkpoints are released on the NYC Fixed Gear board - if you're not on it, feel free to email us and ask.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

New York City's first ever Grasstrack Races!

Last night's grasstrack races were a complete fucking success!

We set up a wonderful oval in a field on Randall's Island and organized the racers into two fields. First up was a 5 lap scratch race. Top three from each field would advance to the final; bottom three of each had one more race to qualify, with the top two advancing.

Field 1:
1 - Dave August
2 - Brantley
3 - Angry Drew
4 - Wilis
5 - Gabe
6 - Daniel L

Field 2:
1 - Dan C.
2 - Kai
3 - Dwayne
4 - Andras
5 - Justin
6 - Crazy Nick

Losers' Race
1 - Wilis
2 - Gabe
3 - Andras
4 - Justin
5 - Crazy Nick
6 - Daniel

FINAL:
1 - Dave August (5 points for the evening)
2 - Dan C. (4 points for the evening)
3 - Brantley (3 points for the evening)
4 - Wilis (2 points for the evening)
5 - Kai (1 point for the evening)
6 - Gabe
7 - Dwayne
8 - Angry Drew

Next up was a miss and out, also known as Swamp Monster Take The Hindmost:

Field 1:
1 - Dave August
2 - Wilis
3 - Brantley
4 - Daniel L
5 - Crazy Nick
6 - Gabe

Field 2:
1 - Dan C.
2 - Kai
3 - Andras
4 - Crazy Nick
5 - Justin

FINAL
1 - Dave August (5 points for the evening)
2 - Brantley (4 points for the evening)
3 - Wilis (3 points for the evening)
4 - Dan C. (2 points for the evening)
5 - Kai (1 point for the evening)
6 - Andras

Finally, we had a Grass Pack Hustle tournament - double elimination, random pairings sprinting uphill on wet grass from a standing start.

GRASS PACK HUSTLE:
1 - Brantley (5 points for the evening)
2 - Angry Drew (4 points for the evening)
3 - Wilis (3 points for the evening)
4 - Dave August (2 points for the evening)

EVENING TOTALS:
1st place - TIE - Dave August and Brantley - 12 points
3rd place - Wilis - 8 points
4th place - Dan C. - 6 points
5th place - Angry Drew - 4 points
6th place - Kai - 2 points

Thanks to all the racers who came out, and again to our much-loved sponsors. Without the sponsors, we'd be giving cash prizes. Which are kinda rad, for one or two people, but just result in a loss for everyone else. With the sponsors, we can give cash, prizes, and t-shirts and swag to a whole bunch of people.

There are some great photos on flickr:
Dave August's camera which was being wielded by Bones and Nick James. Nick James' photos, with this all-star shot of all-star Brantley.

Anyway, I was really impressed at the bike-handling skills that were exhibited. Sure, there were crashes - if we didn't want people to crash, we wouldn't be throwing night-time grasstrack races. But people handled bikes exceptionally, went very fast on terrain that's really hard to go fast on, and pulled some great moves to gain places, grab leads, and hold them. Great job everybody.

(also, thanks to Dwayne for lending his bike when the racers made the organizers get out and race that madness. He rides a totally rad BMW, and it was a pleasure to ride!)

Monday, April 14, 2008

What a damn good time we had on Saturday! That may have been because we weren't racing - the hardest races are only fun afterwards, and this is among them. The mud on racers' faces and bodies couldn't hide the pain or fatigue that the grueling course beat into them.

The conditions were perfect - rainstorms the night before gave way to an awesome mix of sun and clouds that meant that it was a beautiful day for riding a mud-covered course.

RACE START TIME: 2:40 PM

STANDINGS:
1. Dave August (4:04)
2. Crihs
3. Wilis
4. Cooper
5. Dan Chabanov
6. Joshua Robot (First Out of Town)
7. Mickey
8. Eric Catfish
9. Brantley Archer
10. Erik from Boston
11. Link
12. Heidi (First Woman)
13. Aaron Aeroplane
14. Jeremy
15. Andras
16. Andrew Y. (Worst bike for the event - a very muddy Ciocc roadie!)
17. Andrew T/Angry Drew
18. Kelsey
19. Kyle
20. Daniel
21. Amanda Asteriod
22. Alissa
23. Andrew Fuckface
24. Jon Birdseye
25. Ed Sangalang
26. Justin Talent - DFL

DNF - Cosme
DNF - John Prolly
DNF - Prentis
DNF - Eskoe
DNF - Rob
DNF - Alex B.
DNF - Tragedy
DNF - Gui
DNF - Nikola

Muddiest - Aaron Aeroplane
Best Crash - Justin Talent, for going down on the gravel and getting ran over by Crihs.
Worst bike for the event - Andrew-from-Chicago's lovely Ciocc roadie that, like many others, needs a good cleaning.

Many photos are available:
Joao's pictures from checkpoint #1, and video from CP1.
Luke's pictures from CP5, aka the Sketchy Bronx Underbridge.
Blake's pictures from near CP1.
Nick James' pictures from the start, from CP7, and from the awards party.
Catfish's befores and afters.

Big thanks to the racers, the CP workers, the photographers, LRAS, and everyone who came to hang out. We had a blast. Also thanks to Luke at BMW for bringing us some extra goodies!

We'll see yall for some Grasstrack Madness on 4/22!!!! Info on that coming soon.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Several orders of business here...

1. We have new sponsors coming on board. For the most up-to-date as we've got, check the sponsors post. We are so grateful for all the support this race series has gotten. I think it's an indication of a few things. One is that bike companies are, by and large, made up of really generous people who believe in their products and want us riders using them. Another is that companies want to support racing scene. A third is that there are a lot of people - racers, shops, sponsors, companies - who are interested in seeing alleycat-style racing expand to new scenes, new formats, and new races. That's what we're about.

2. SLUDGEMENT DAY: Saturday, April 12th. Registration is at 1 PM in the Icahn Stadium Parking lot. $5 will buy you admission to the following events: the brutal and infamous Randall's Island Circuit Race (the featured event); skid-hockey, grasstrackstands, footdown, and any other side events that we may or may not throw. How to get there? Here is a G-map route coming from the top of Central Park. It's hard to get lost on Randall's Island, but some basic familiarity couldn't hurt.

3. Frequently Asked Questions such as, "Can I bring my cyclocross bike?" For this, we defer to Bikesnob (yeah, to Bikesnob) and say, "Simply using an actual cyclocross bike would be considered sandbagging." It's not that you can't, it's just that we think people should be riding their fixed gears in situations where doing so is absolutely ridiculous. Gear down, throw a knobby tire on the bike that you ride every day, and come to the island. Don't overthink it.

4. In the spirit of Achewood, we know you're askin', "What's the best thing you got?" Take a look at the sponsors, and take an educated guess. Then give me a high five and stop asking if I can skim stuff off the top for you. No. I cannot. After skimming for myself, there's barely any left for the prizes!

Ha! Kidding!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Bikesnob'd!

For better or for worse, Mud Sweat and Tears caught the attention of Bike Snob NYC (who pretty much just reads John Prolly's blog).

BSNYC actually hits the nail on the head a few times: Ah yes, alleycat "racing" and cyclocross are now coming together in a succession of bad mud-related puns. What does this mean? Will tire clearance now be a frame attribute more prized than track geometry? Will canti bosses become the new horizontal dropout? Will we now see a new breed of urban rider who takes pride in his bicycle’s versatility and his own adroitness on a variety of terrain?... Perhaps the era of the fixed-gear as the dominant urban bike species is at an end.

Or, more likely, this might just be a bunch of people getting drunk on Randall’s Island.

Other than his assumption that everybody out there is "he" (we're under no false impressions that all the badass racers are going to be men!), Bike Snob is pretty right on. Yeah, we're looking to get racers riding bikes differently. We're looking to expand the ideas of what's possible in the alleycat scene. We're looking to throw what is, in New York City at least, a new and different kind of race. Oh, we're not breaking any completely new ground or anything - I know cyclocross has been around for a century (and besides, this isn't really cyclocross) - but we're taking alleycats and we're moving them around, thinking, what else can we do with this race notion? Because at the end of the day - or, in the beginning of spring - we're looking to have a lot of fun. And yes, open a few cans on Randall's Island.

Unfortunately, commentors on BSNYC are rarely as perceptive as the author, and take the author's grumpiness and snark-laden prose as a reason to hate on everything. Alas, one more internet to hide behind.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

FLYER

Hello and welcome and please to have you take a look at our NEW AWESOME PROMOTIONAL FLYER. Artwork is courtesy of Dan Bones, and appropriately conveys the fact that Randall's Island is gonna mess you up. If the swamp monsters don't get you, the races will.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Tracklocross is getting bigger and better!

We're starting publicity for the event, which is formally called Mud, Sweat, and Tears. The schedule is as follows:

Saturday, 4/12: Team Wreck Stuff presents... Sludgement Day: Day of Wreckoning. Randall's Island Circuit Racing, Rat Pack Hustle sprint competition, skid-hockey, mudsprints, grasstrackstands, and a really good alibi for anything else that might happen while you're out at this Field Day.

Tuesday, 4/22: Randall's Island Tracklocross. Grasstrack racing on the isle.

Tuesday, 4/29: Randall's Island Tracklocross. Grasstrack racing, circuit racing.

Saturday, 5/10: Harlemegeddon Cycolcross Alleycatastrophe - The Uptown Beatdown. A full-length New York City alleycat featuring off-road checkpoints, out-of-the-way places, and a brazen sense of adventure.

Prizes for winners of every event; collect points toward an overall standing!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Preliminary flyer!

A preliminary flyer is here in fullsize, and smaller below. We've got a much talented artist working on a fancier design that will have room for more specific information - days, times, and events, as well as plenty of room for sponsor information. But in the interest of starting the publicity now, we've got this. Start spreading the word!

Check back for updates. Add tracklocross.blogspot.com to your Google reader. We've got big plans.

Like I said, click here for the flyer in fullsize. Cause you can't barely read any of what's below.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Sponsors coming on board

We're hard at work getting sponsors on board...

Affinity Cycles in Brooklyn will be throwing down big!


Jeff at Continuum Cycles knows how to support the bike scene.




Ethan at Laek House makes some of the most innovative casual cycling clothing on the market.


Brooklyn's Mer Bags is sponsoring us!

It wouldn't be a NYC race if Crumpler wasn't involved. Even though they're from Australia.


We're psyched to have Connecticut's Ghostship Clothing on board for Tracklocross.


Would it be a race without Trackstar and DQM? I think not.


Meanwhile, Arone at Bike Works offers a free wheelbuild as a prize! Another local NYCer is sponsoring - the infamous Visitor Design. We'll see what Chris will cook up.

We also have Profile and Cane Creek throwing down large support!

Also, Mishka has started sponsoring bike stuff. They've got their own team, and now they're sponsoring Tracklocross, too.



Fabric Horse makes some really unique accessories for the urban cyclist - lock holsters, utility belts... - so I'm really excited that they've agreed to sponsor! Oh, and while we're at it - RELoad is down, too!

Taliah Lempert of Bicycle Paintings is supporting our race series!

Even White Industries with their unique and innovative ENO Eccentric SS/FG hub, is on board!


Joining the boutique hub fest is Level Components, known for their indestructible hubs with bolt-on cogs.


Stratton at Keirin Culture is supporting Tracklocross!




Thanks to all our sponsors! Much more to come.

WELCOME TO RANDALL'S ISLAND TRACKLOCROSS

Hi folks. Welcome to the blog for a race series to take place in New York City in the Spring of 2008: Randall's Island Tracklocross.

Randall's Island lies where the Bronx Kill, Hell Gate, and the Harlem River meet. In the water that separates Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens. Under the Triboro Bridge. It's home to ball fields, a stadium, a sewage treatment plant, an FDNY training facility, and a whole lot more open space than you'd expect to find - in a surprisingly quiet little corner of New York City.

Randall's Island Tracklocross will combine the exciting scramble of alleycat-style racing with the rugged, rough-and-tumble off-road mugging of cyclocross.

There will be a weekly event for at least four weeks, starting in April. Events will take place on weekday evenings.

Each evening, winners will be awarded prizes, and various other awards will be given (Muddiest? Best crash? Most inappropriate bike for tonight's event? Anything can happen). Winners will receive points toward an overall classification - on the final night, overall winners will be determined. A Queen and King of Randall's Island will be crowned.

Team Wreck Stuff and our associates are working to prepare a variety ofcourses, events, and prizes for those competing. We will soon have the beginnings of a long list of gracious sponsors.

We hope we'll see you come out for what will be the strangest, toughest, and most fun race series you'll ride this year.