I’ll be in the 4-5’s with Matt

Yep yep! @LennartZandbergen my sprint has been feeling like trash lately so I’m happy to bring you up the last climb and lead you out into the finale

That would be great! Let’s see how it goes during the race

Castelli #2.  Masters race.

*Eloy and I started.  A big, but not full field, I think.

Had fun! The fact that it was 4/5's rather than just 5's made it both a bit faster and less sketchy - most part at least.

Being in 4/5's meant I had the pleasure of racing with teammate for the first time. Matt was involved in the action a lot more than I was, I was very happily hanging out in the wheels of the first 15 riders. Last round I had Matt in front of me doing a really good job at positioning meaning I was at the front toward the last hill. Didn't feel like I spent a lot of energy during the race but for some reason I.. couldn't really sprint? As in, in a training I could push out a peak power of 850 W in a sprint after riding 30K, but now (and last week) I didn't get close to that kind of numbers at all.

Got overtaken by 20 riders, caught some back towards the top, found back Matt just before the finish and finished 23rd.

David shot some really nice pictures again (he should race with us next week!!), had coffee with Eloy and JP, heard amusing stories about how difficult it was to stay up to date on bike races in 1980s USA.

Good race with Lennart this morning! I put myself on worker bee duty and kept to it. 

Castelli Cup #2 Report

• OMG WUT
• Field is 50ish strong
• Hard racing started right from the gun
• I find myself dying in a gap in lap 1, look back to see if anyone can come thru, but I am really in "no man's land" 
• As I looked back wind catches my glasses and they fly off
• eventually someone comes by, omg thanks
• Lap one is one of the hardest I've ever done in the park
• Next lap I am still dying and balancing if I totally get dropped maybe I can find the glasses, but somehow barely manage to hang on
  
• JP is chasing things, mixing it up
• I am out of shape
• I am at the limit the whole damn race
• Have to use every single old man's trick to survive the race
• Tell myself to get to the bell, and as I'll be towards the back, maybe don't risk the finish much
  
• As the we hit the hill to GAP last time, I am exploding, so I just let it go, and roll thru the line safely a few seconds behind the main group. 
• Both JP Rorech and JP Partland were also smart, and too avoided the sprint, finishing safely a few seconds behind too
• To be clear, no one crashed, but still... safety is the excuse I came up with
• Post race coffee at Blue Bottle was so fun!

Let's go race bikes.

I was the only Kissenista at today's masters race, along 45ish other racers. Quick report:

• Race starts, Constatin & Kevin wanna get away, they open a gap in lap 1, some others join
• Pack closes it very quickly
• They insist, and before we have even finished lap 2 a group of 10ish has a gap
• We'll never catch them again
• I joke with Perlberg that we are now in a nice group ride, he responds "didn't even take 2 laps" 
• 3 seconds later Perlberg jumps and starts chasing -- about 3 riders go with him
• The pack will never see them either
• Seems like every team has a rider in the move
• I chill in the pack, but we know this will be the race
• I feel better than I expected, and do try to push the pace in the last 3ish laps -- knowing full well it'll come to nothing
• I'll take it as an ok sign that I felt we were going slow, but still averaged 41km/h (25mph)
• Will finish 25ish safely in the pack
• Coffee post race was the highlight
• Got a solid list of excuses let me know if you want it

Let's go "race" bikes

Raced the 2/3s yesterday.  Like most of the 3 races this year, it was fast (I think we averaged almost 27mph).  Nothing super notable.  Tried to get up in position going into the last hill, but caught behind a few slow bikers along the jogger's lane.  Attempted to get back towards the front, but was sitting like 30+ going over the top and rode it in for a pack finish.

We are racing this Saturday. If anyone wants to volunteer to help with reg you get to race for free plus hang out with me early in the morning! Weather has improved considerably so it should be a good morning. Here is the link to sign up. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJJ_jYPdCnip6jXAXK4TuQCE4isAoJFmBNkIsEhRp3PnVtWQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

I’m entering the masters field Saturday. First race post heart valable surgery. Hoping I won’t be hanging on fumes in the back. Wish me luck!

Good luck

Good luck Patrick! 

PatrickGrehan said:

I’m entering the masters field Saturday. First race post heart valable surgery. Hoping I won’t be hanging on fumes in the back. Wish me luck!

Sorry I can't be there with you.  Taking my son to start his bike tour to Montreal.

Depending on who is racing I’m in the 4/5/novice or masters coming up.

https://www.bikereg.com/castelli-8-12-23

For ease of registration... or you can volunteer at the reg table and race for free.

Any takers?

I may be there.  Gotta figure out logistics since I'd be heading out of town after the race.

I expect to be there to race.
Getting up early enough to work registration is a huge challenge for me.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Here is the link to sign up if you can. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemK47-FwVaOWxmSgsyn80pYQSk0Vd2tGcgR-Psac4-ePYt8w/viewform?usp=sf_link

Word, I don't see any Kissenas registered for the 4/5/novice field so I'll jump into Masters 40+. Looking forward to getting spit out the back after lap 1.

I won't be racing, but I signed up to volunteer. I'll cheer you on David! 

I'll be racing 2/3.  Pray for me.

Good luck!! Looking forward to the race reports

Whelp, looks I actually won't be racing tomorrow...  Bruised my knee during my ride today and it hurts to pedal..  I gonna try to still get out to volunteer.

Figures the one time I oversleep through alarms is when Charlie I comes to visit NYC and jumps into a race.

big time FOMO while nursing this cold.

So I think I was the sole Kissena rider in the last Castelli Series race.

Didn't know what I was capable of, as I've been trying to rest my way back into feeling fresh again.  Didn't know who to key on, as the yellow jersey didn't seem to have help, and the green and polka dot jerseys weren't in the house.  Seemed like Big Hit had a few, Veselka had a few, Axis had several, Wonder Wheel had four, Burrowes had four or so, and some other teams.  

Luckily for a solo rider not sure of his form, the race was kind of easy.  No teams were working the attacks in coordination, no hard counters, and most people were about on similar form.  There were a few times the race split a bit on the hill, but it came back.

I was thinking that if it was all together after the last KoM, I'd go for it.  Got into position, and behind some riders who looked ready to go as well, including the whippersnapper Luis Lanfredi (he must be about 40).  All set to accelerate through the last KoM, I was, twitchy, just someone else start.  And he did--wiht me the second wheel behind him.  I was all set to clobber the hill and keep going.  Only my legs didn't have the juice.  I got gapped, several guys got ahead, but they didn't follow through.  So we caught them again.

Seeing how I wasn't able to do anything at that moment, I decided to finish off by putting in the suicide move around the Temple on the last lap. Only I couldn't get to the right position.  And Charlie Issendorf, the former race promoter, who had been hiding all race went for it.  He was on the right side of the road, I on the left.  He pulled the field to the right, opening up the left side just as the course seemed to go left.

This was the moment.  I accelerated left, to the white line, staying in the saddle to minimize the drama.  Maybe pulled out a few seconds, maybe, but when I started to feel the legs giving up, I looked under my arm, and Wonder Wheel was behind me, with a helper on my wheel and Jerry Kapko behind him.  Decided that was it for me, though I probably didn't' have more than just to sit on wheels the rest of the way.  

42nd out of 51 finishers.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9642884878

https://www.bikereg.com/65002

New racers, this is your time to learn and to shine. If you're interested tomorrow we can do some early and easy park laps and then pause to talk about goals, tactics and work through any questions.