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.

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!)

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.

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!