Words: Tom Hendry, Leah Goldberg, Mitchell Napolitano, Shane Ferro, Russell Karn
Photographs: Scott Rettino

Folks living outside of NYC often express surprise when we talk about the cyclocross community that thrives admist the concrete jungle that we call home. Built around what was originally an informal weekday practice that has now become more formal thanks to the requirements of Parks permits, it is a scene sustained by some great folks that we are lucky to call friends. In recent years some of those friends have given birth to what is currently New York City's only cyclocross race: Rainey Park Cyclocross. Held on the waterfront in Queens in a truly tiny plot of land, it's a special day that we decided deserved coverage from multiple perspectives. And so, the 2019 Edition of Rainey Park CX as experienced by various TBD racers.

Welcome to the Elite Field, Tom Hendry

Something I’ve often overlooked in training: starts. I just feel weird giving myself 30 seconds and having a random start button that’s being generated from my brain. But, it’s something I definitely need to work on. Case in point: Rainey Park.

Unlike others, I read the fine print: volunteers would be given a front line call up. This is something I definitely needed for my first elite race. So sitting front row, feeling good, 30 seconds starts…. But, when the whistle blew and I stepped in my pedal and I didn’t clip in. Too much mud. I then thought about what my friend Daghan told me, “if you don’t clip in, no worries, just keep pedaling it will eventually clip in”. This did not work. It took awhile but by the time my cleat finally engaged, I was near the back of the group.

Immediately, any hopes of having a good result went out the door and I went into fight or flight mode. I had lots of ground to cover and set out to work. What I like most about cyclocross is that it’s a fully immersive sport. When you’re in it, you’re in it. It’s unlike a road race where there are moments of boredom. It’s chaos for 60 minutes. You don’t think, you just react. Your front wheel slide out, boom your instincts kick in and your foot clips out to dab the ground. These aren’t movements you’re cognizant of, they’re just reactionary moves your body learns with practice.

I slowly worked through the group until I caught up to the King Kog boys. They’re fast and know how to turn. I don’t turn well. So, over the course of a few laps we had a fun battle. I overheard a turkey gobbler, Clay heckling at Mark (in abundance), Daghan constantly telling me I had 5 more positions to make up (which when looking through the results was in reality a 2 minute gap lol) and my wife holding up our son Kairu at the same turn every lap. I’d say what’s up Kairu whenever I had the chance. I also yelled at Mark to slow down or wait for me multiple times, however, I don’t think he heard me. At one point just after the stairs I was trying to make my pass and Mark dropped me an elbow. I think he felt bad about it, because he later told me he’d never do that in a turn or anything. Mark, I thought that shit was hilarious. We had fun.

In the end I finished 7th and was pretty happy with the result in my first elite race. I’m gonna be real real sad when cross is over. Road just ain’t as much fun.

Leah Goldberg’s Comeback

Like most cross racers in New York, Rainey Park CX holds a special in my heart. After a season of pre-dawn wake-ups and hours-long car rides to muddy fields in the middle of Pennsylvania, it provides a welcome respite close to home, with what feels like the entire local bike community showing up to heckle and hang out.

This year was a little different— I broke my collarbone at the end of the summer and hadn’t raced all season. Cross is not my strong suit in the best of times, so I felt nervous going into race day without any recent practice and without any sense of how hard I could or should push myself. I had signed up for two races — singlespeed open in the morning and W4/5 in the afternoon — figuring that the first race would be a low-pressure environment to gauge my post-injury abilities. I’d never done a singlespeed cross race before, so I frantically asked a few teammates’ advice and then lined up to start. As soon as we were off, I immediately felt that I’d chosen the wrong gear. I could ride through most of the little uphills, but had no power through the less technical sections (not that there were many non-technical sections! As usual, Keith put together a tricky little course with very few straightaways). But honestly, it didn’t matter! For the first time, I felt zero pressure to place well and just had fun racing my bike with friends.

By the time my second race came around, the nerves and the pressure were definitely back. It was hard not to think about the fact that this would be my last chance of the season to get the single point I needed to upgrade. The whistle blew and four of us were immediately off the front. I could only focus on staying with the group and trying not to make a mistake. For the first couple laps, we stuck very close together, with no one gaining a real advantage. The second time through the barriers, one racer crashed. We were down to three. I could hear teammates and friends shouting every time I rode through the off-camber section and ran up the stairs. It was still anyone’s race. On the last lap, one racer dropped their chain on a run-up, leaving just two of us to battle it out. At that point, the racer in front of me gained a small advantage and I didn’t have enough left to close the gap. I came through the finish line second, feeling like I had pushed myself as hard as I could have. I didn’t get that first place bread, but I did have an incredible first and last race day of the season!

Mitchell Napolitano’s First (Real) Cross Race

Full transparency, if you check my race history I did a CX race in 2016 with a hardtail mountain bike before I started racing road. Three road seasons later, Rainey Park CX was my first cyclocross race on a proper bike, a Moots Routt, and it was incredible. The Routt represented a whole new bike setup for me with 1x drivetrain, disc brakes, tubeless rims/tires, and Shimano XT pedals.

I was a total Fred at proper prep for a CX race. I debated how to kit up for a cold (40s) race day. After discussing with a few teammates I decided to go with a baselayer, jersey, bibs, arm warmers, leg warmers, and light gloves. I reduced tire pressure to 25 psi, and rode from Manhattan over the Queensboro Bridge to Rainey Park. I arrived with enough time to register before the course opened for pre-ride.

I met up with fellow TBDers and started on the course for the pre-ride. The course had three forced dismount features: barriers, a concrete staircase, and Belgian steps. But I found the trickiest part to be the off-chamber switchbacks that led up to the steps. I used pre-ride to familiarize myself with the new bike and a new way of riding. I got advice from teammates on the best lines and the proper way to mount and dismount.

As callups began for the Men’s Cat 5, I was lucky enough to be the 3rd person to register for the race. This gave me a great spot on the start line next to another TBDer, Jon. As the race began, I accelerated to take the best position I could as early as possible. As the race progressed the field broke up, and I had more space to maneuver. Pretty soon I was racing myself. I lost ground on a few of the turns, especially on the off-camber switchbacks. I got fatigued after the second lap, and lost steam. I hadn’t properly trained for this level of intensity. In fact, I had barely been on the bike since the conclusion of road season… By the last lap of the race I could barely shoulder the bike up the steps.

My lungs were on fire. I had sucked in dry, cold winter air for 30 minutes. I thought I was going to cough up a lung. But the race was a great experience. I spent the remainder of the day chatting with and cheering on teammates. I’ll be back out there next year.

Lessons Learned:

Register early for a great starting spot. Early placement is key especially on narrow courses.
When it comes to clothes: less is best. You’ll get hot fast.
Practice and focus on form.
High-intensity, interval training is needed to be competitive in races.

Shane Ferro on How Helping to Make the Bicycle Race is the Best Part

For me, the best part of Rainey Park takes place in the dark. On Friday, I showed up after work to a park littered with tiny colored flags. The job was to replace every flag with a stake. Pink flags got a white stake, orange flags got a black or yellow one. As the stakes went up, they were visually incoherent, with seemingly no rhyme or reason to the color markings. As I began to walk, though, keeping the white stakes to my right and the other colors to my left, suddenly turns appeared and the course's features revealed themselves. Watching the course appear in front of me, and similarly disappear the next evening during breakdown, made me feel part of the race in a way that simply showing up on race day never can. There are a million reasons that Rainey is my favorite race of the season, but being able to help make it happen is definitely at the top of the list.

Russell Karn Gets That Bread at the Last Race of His First Cross Season

The category 4 race was set to start at the end of the day at 3pm. This is unusual as races usually start with the 4/5s and progress to the Elites last. I arrived early anyway to cheer on my teammates. This also meant I was able to get in a few pre-rides on the course. It was a cool, but sunny day and the course was mostly dry. It is a fairly technical, tight course which was a nice final test to see how my skills have progressed this year.

Having helped with course set up the night before I was able to line up front row, something I am not used to. The race went off and I settled in at about 3rd to 4th wheel. I wanted to let others set the pace and observe. I could see their lines through the turns, when they turned on the power, and their flow. I sat 2nd, then 3rd, then 2nd again as the second lap started to unfold. Around the off camber turns I put the hammer down and let out on an attack. This was just before the stair section and where a lot of friends and teammates were watching. I couldn’t help but let the biggest smile come across my face as the crowd roared with noise. Pure undiluted race fuel. I was able to get a 10 second gap and opened that up to 25 seconds on the next lap. Now time to maintain, have consistency, and be efficient. Not let off the gas per se, but be efficient. I could hear a few distinct voices coaching me, and a few with great heckles and compliments.

“Ok, you know where to put the pedal down now, stay on it” – Lucia

“Take this turn wider here, you have this, just race smart” – Clay

“Hey do you want to stop for a beer?” – Mark

At the stairs it was a “conjumble” of cheers, cowbells, and a turkey call. I kept up the pace and pulled off a win in my last cross race this year. This is exactly the opposite of how I started the season: hoping to hear my name called, only to line up dead last behind 130 other riders. It was a wonderful first taste of cross - can’t wait until next year!