I'm planning on it.

I should be in the Masters race 

If we have a crew for the Cat 4 race and are looking to work together that I'll register for that race otherwise I will register for the Masters race. 

So who is in for the Cat 4 race?

I know Max was talking about upgrading last weekend, but this would be a good opportunity to work on team skills

Unfortunately I have to sit this one out. I've an annual steak dinner with the lads the night before which tends to run late... trying to race the next day would be dangerous/embarrassing. Will be at Harlem Skyscraper Sunday!

Side Note: This might be cool to work towards teamwise: https://www.bikereg.com/bcrr - there is a 3/4 cat and the finish line is BEFORE the last hill!

I'm planning on doing the masters race. 

Since I'm still not sure of my form, I'm happy to try to help others, but not sure how I can do if I focus on getting a result.

I am TBD on this one.  I want to do Harlem Sunday, not sure if I am trying to double up.

Racing Saturday will almost certainly help your race Sunday.

eloy said:

Racing Saturday will almost certainly help your race Sunday.

But maybe not your relationship 😂

eloy said:

Racing Saturday will almost certainly help your race Sunday.

Get a good nap after the race Saturday.  

I’m doing both 😈

Ya'll on beast mode.

Volunteer for reg desk link!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11QkpwR-wrWAPlhzzK2v6cv0j3jbxRqhUMJOPwROTae0/edit

@RJ Simoni want to make your race debut this weekend??

If Pat and Eloy race masters with JP, I'll hit the short race with Blake and maybe RJ and Max. God knows I'm out of shape.

I'm hoping to get out for the 2/3.  Just looking to not get dropped.

David Yang said:

If Pat and Eloy race masters with JP, I'll hit the short race with Blake and maybe RJ and Max. God knows I'm out of shape.

This is hilarious "I'm out of shape" 

@David Yang - unfortunately, I’m still nursing this lower body injury - incredibly frustrating. If no setbacks, I’ll be back on the bike within the next 1.5 weeks or so.

All that said, I’ll volunteer for the reg desk on Saturday to catch up.

Forecast calls for rain tomorrow morning. I’m going to opt out 

Mark Taylor said:

David Yang said:

If Pat and Eloy race masters with JP, I'll hit the short race with Blake and maybe RJ and Max. God knows I'm out of shape.

This is hilarious "I'm out of shape" 

Exactly, my fitness is a joke! Been working on my dad-bod in time for Father's Day weekend.

PatrickGrehan said:

Forecast calls for rain tomorrow morning. I’m going to opt out 

I'm going to head out and make the call at the line or bail mid race if things get too sketch (at least that will be my excuse).

I'll be applying David's strategy too. In general bike races in the rain are not too sketchy. 

How did it go?

I wanted to at least show up, start, and possibly employ the Yang/Anzola strategy.  I was even thinking I might try to attack from the gun, get caught, attack again, repeat, until I either got a breakaway going or got dropped.

But I realized I had overslept my alarm at 5:35am.  I think I dreamt getting up, looking out the window, and getting dressed, but clearly I hadn't.  I texted Dave, fed the cats, and got back into bed.

It was wet.  It was fast. It was hard.

I woke up late and arrived only just before the call up.  From the gun the 2/3s were strung out.  It was probably the fastest first lap I've ever done in a park race.  Halfway up the first hill the guy in front of me drops anchor and lets a large gap open.  I curse and have to put a sprint effort in to get back on.  We then got neutralized for 1/4 lap for some fire trucks on the course.  I found myself on the front at the restart, burned a match and promptly dropped on the next hill.  Did some hard laps while waiting for the 4/5 and masters to finish.  

4/5 summary: 
- field was 30-35 deep, pretty good showing despite the weather 
- the started us after the 2/3, with masters behind. That ended up being the wrong choice 
- we started super slow, almost recovery pace. No one seemed to want to push it until after the downhill. 
- neutralized us between temple and hill to let the masters pass 
- on lap 2, we were neutralized right before the downhill and then for an entire lap because of the fire trucks on the course. Unclear what happened, but opened up after we passed the start line on lap 3 
- rest of the race was pretty fast and furious. A lot of accordioning, seemed like a combo of weather and nerves due to the weather 
- a few ppl attempted breaks, Dave sent a pretty sick attack just before the hill, a couple guys followed and and they had probably 10-15 seconds, but the field caught them by the KOM
- on the bell lap the pace really accelerated. I have a knack for doing more work than I need to, so I trusted the previous lessons learned and let the field catch any separation. 
- by the temple I hollered to Dave I was on his wheel; we were in the front third of the field. 
- motored up the hill together before Dave peeled off, I was about 5th at this point and hanging in. 

I said to Dave on Slack…showing up and watching that race was quite the experience 😆. Not sure I want to ever “Marshall” again 🙂.

That said - to all of you that raced - looked like one hell of a slog. Impressed with everyone that started and finished. That takes some grit!

Not sure what to report, so here's some bullets from the Masters race...

• Torrential rain at the start
• Angelo Callilap jokes at the start: how many masters are likely in tubes vs tubeless
• We are staged behind the 4/5 -- ouch
• 28ish or so starters
• Just like Greg's 2/3 report, and JP suggested, Masters starts full blast literally from the gun, and I don't know if the fastests, but likely the hardest first lap I remember
• Some of us are shocked and gapped before we hit the first downhill -- and that moment I've learned to recognize, even before going balls to the wall: "if someone doesn't come around right now there's no way we are closing this"
• We do close it -- this will happen many many many times today
• Anyway, there are some furious counters right on the first lap, and eventually two sanba guys get away. One will eventually drop the other and win solo.
• The rest don't quite get organized, and there's tons of solo chase attempts but none successful
• btw, it's still pouring rain
• also for some reason, the mega accelerations and attacks are happening after the GAP hill as we pass the start/finish and head towards Miami..
• These are crazy hard, and gapping me often, but not very effective
• We do catch and pass the 4/5 -- phew
• all that said, 4 or 5 or 6 laps in, Jerry K does attack mega on the hill taking 3 or 4 guys, this chase will catch the 2nd Sanba dude, but not the first
• Also this mega attack will drop me
• I keep pedaling to get the miles, might as well as I'm already soaked...
• Figured, correctly, Tom will score me:
• DFL
• Post race under the tent Kissena is fun
• Ask Dave about his front wheel saga, that was fun too

Let's go "race" bikes. ;-)

Sorry for the journaling ahead. TL;DR - Didn't win, but had a great time racing with friends.

Debated all the things the night before due to possible rain and laid everything out ready to go depending on what it looked like outside the window. Decided to go with the new race bike and deep wheels with skinny tires. The 26mm Vittorias are close to 28mm so felt like I should have enough grip, after all I've raced on 23s in the wet back in the day. And despite echos of Eloy reprimanding us, I decide to go with blue kit to avoid having permanent spots on a white jersey. 

Was stoked that Blake, Eloy and Greg came out to race. And surprise, RJ came out to come spectate to see what this bike racing stuff was all about. He ended up volunteering his time to marshal - not the most glamorous job, but a crucial one as there are usually a few half awake park patrons and their dogs one step away from wandering into the road in front of a charging peloton. I also see Matt Unterman of Pink Rhino, maybe the first time I've seen him at a park race. He remembers me from spending a few hours riding with him on his 24hr quest last year.

Despite the banter, I really am not super fit these days so was happy to join Blake for the 4/5 short race. He's been regimented about his training for the past year and dedication like that builds your mental toughness as well as your physical gains. He really wanted to do well as proof of his hard work. I give him a slap on the back as a vote of confidence as homies do. The whistle blows and we're off.

Lap 1:
As Blake noted our field started off very tame. I slotted into second wheel to avoid too much wheel spray while not having to pull, braking gently down the hill so I wouldn't pass the front riders. A DaveJordan rider decided it was time to make a move just when the field's post-downhill momentum at temple started to wane. Me being me, I surfed up to somewhere in the top 5 wheels, looking ahead at the solo break and counting the seconds based on landmarks like light posts and trees for the gap. It was growing. Just around the east side entrance near the pavilion I counted over 10 seconds. It was time - I swung out into the wind from second wheel and went for it, putting in just under a full on sprint effort. I caught onto the DJ wheel at the zoo corridor and took a breather to look under my arm and deflated because I saw 3 or so wheels gaining on me. I thought they had brought up the field, but then they passed me and DJ yelling,"Come on, work if you want to stay away!" I realized they bridged so I put in a decent effort up to GAP on their wheels, but by then the eager lap1 legs of the field shut us down and we were all together back at the start/finish.

Laps 2, 3, 4
We were then neutralized due to the fire trucks on the course and I was secretly grateful for the chance to recover from the earlier efforts. The masters pass us going up the hill on lap 2 and we all slow rolled it up the hill at under 200watts. We rounded the start/finish again and heading into the bandshell the moto took off and racing started up again. A young Continental rider peeled off downhill and quickly gained a few seconds on the field. A few other riders joined and they kept steady time all the way around for a full lap. I found myself at the front hoping someone would try to bridge so I could jump in their draft, but it was not to be. Instead John Isenhower of Loney Hearts - a friendly giant type of guy, tons of diesel torque and power - decided to hit the front and, no hyperbole, pulled the entire field for a full lap and caught the break literally all by himself. I know this because I sat second wheel to him the entire time. Tactically not super smart, but he apparently had power to spare and would eventually go on to win the field sprint. We talked post-race and John confessed that he tried to put in a few digs after GAP to try to create some daylight, but my obsession with hiding in the wind and his giant profile made it hard for him to shake me. Still, i had to jump and put down decent power to stay on his wheel. We finally all coalesced on the east side and kept it civil. 

Lap 5
Typical of a park race there were only a few digs early on before the downhill and by the time we rounded into the south and east sides we were all together. Heading into zoo, I hear Blake behind me, "Behind you Dave." I immediately know he's going to make it today if he hung on for that wild chase the lap before. I'm sort of boxed in the middle, but surf wheels closer to the front. The field today is generous - perhaps because we are all aware of the dicy road conditions or perhaps because dirty wheel spray is gross - so it's easy to find gaps and people are downright magnanimous about opening up space to slot into. I hustle up the hill surfing wheels some more, and get up near the front but by KOM I'm gassed and a few riders pass me. The sight of faster wheels mentally saps me and whatever kick I have left in my legs dissipate and I latch on to a few slower riders coming up behind me and roll it in. I see Blake mixing it up in the field sprint. He made it.

Post-race
Hung out under the tent shooting the shit and watching the exploded 2/3 and Masters fields and the women race in torrential downpour. We collectively decide to skip coffee after watching the 2/3 finish and Blake decides to hitch a ride with me. Eloy is close by and Greg is a former swimmer so is used to exercising in bodies of water. Blake and I hurriedly load up the car and because I want to get the hell out of the rain I. Forget. To. Load. My. Front. Wheel. Into. The. Car. I drop off Blake and in a bit of foreshadowing, he mutters that it would suck to forget his thru-axles as I stuff them into his jersey pockets. I drive through the traffic back home, start to unload the car and realize then that I forgot my wheel. I message Tom who is still at the park and he checks the lot before leaving and nope, no wheel. I message the bros and consider the wheel lost - it is NYC after all - and preemptively email Light Bicycles on a possible discount on a new front wheel or wheelset.

Post-post-race
Later in the evening as I'm running errands (Lowe's home improvement is *empty* on Saturday nights, go figure), I get a message from Tom that Marco posted on behalf of Sanba team saying they found a wheel. I login, confirm it's my wheel and coordinate with Anthony Luna on Sanba to pick it up. The man is hard at work on a Sunday and we coordinate for mid afternoon. I make sure to hit the ATM on the drive over so I can comp him for his next race entry fee. The wheel must have fallen over when I drove off so the brake and rim has some scuffs and the end cap looks kind of rough, but it is overall in good shape.

Good lord, I'm a windbag.

Here's a photo Marco took of me suffering on John's wheel. This was after GAP and John was putting in a dig.



And photos of buds.

(quick tip: put the tru axels back in the frame after removing wheels)

Pretty solid set of photos from the last two weekends here:
If you wanna see the rain rain rain from Saturday...

https://www.tobedetermined.cc/journal/two-very-different-brooklyn-bike-races

Signing up for Verge 4/5's this sat if anyone want's to join?

Might not be as wet as last time but seeing how humid it is out there it might be 'close'....