just registered for this saturday!

Registered!

I'm volunteering and will line up with the 5s. 

See you guys there - I'll be volunteering as well.

MaxThorn said:

I'm volunteering and will line up with the 5s. 

Everything except the 5's bit. I'll be lining up with the old billy goats. doing my best Dan From Nam impression

I'll be there With Eloy and Dan.  

Anyone else?

We've got:

JP
Chris "the hidden motor is inside the goat" Yack
Eloy
and myself

I'm putting together a coalition of the willing....how's bout Kissena puts the band back together and we form a leadout into the hill on the last lap...I'll take the first pull at the old start finish and drill it to the base of the climb...I've noticed it slows a bit before the hill...Let's catch these clowns with their bibs down !!!  Who's with me !?!?!?!

if I can rub two muscle fibers together I am willing to take a pull up the hill for at least until my heart explodes.

I registered.

I believe he might consider putting more air in that front tire. I do appreciate lower tire pressure but that looks too low.

Dan Reiners said:

I believe he might consider putting more air in that front tire. I do appreciate lower tire pressure but that looks too low.

He does not care, he's already tanked up with Pastis so life is good on his corner of the world.

After a thorough assessment employing the risk mitigation process...I've deduced that starting the leadout on the climb entails too much risk.  It's too crowded and riders start fanning out all over the road.  This creates the risk of lanes being closed and the risk of the train being disrupted.  The safer route is to start the train early thus stringing out the field and ensuring an unobstructed line heading up the hill.  


Things get hot on the hill fast...wheels get cut and dreams evaporate.  Let's get a line of riders to the base of the climb first...then sort it out.  If we wait for the climb the chances of getting blocked, cut, disrupted increase exponentially.  Before the hill = no resistance from the field...on the hill lot's of resistance from the field.  
Let's use the chart below....the old start finish is represented at 15 kph and the hill is 25 kph



If we wait until the hill starts we are going to get burned



Clearly my plan is correct because science

How'd it go, everyone?

It was wicked humid...wicked.  I drank a ton of water last night to prepare for this race.  I also carried 1 large water bottle and one frozen bottle.  The frozen one I used to pour on my head and skin.  I feel like all that made a difference today.
I saw Dan, Eloy, Patrick, JP, Phill and Thiery (sans baguette) at the start.  The race started slow but had some early moves that seemed more an attempt to stretch the legs than stay away.  Still any move can be THE move.  We played catch and release with the cat III field, first us overtaking them, then them overtaking us and finally us overtaking them...on that last neutralization I gave the III field a friendly "SCREW YOU GUYS" !!! on the way past them...Though sweating profusely I was able to scoot up the climb today.  There was one break towards the end of the race that had a chance.  On the hill with about  3 to go I heard Glenroy Griffin ask JP to follow him...so I hitched a ride behind them and tried to start a chase move.  There was a gap and then a catch shortly after the start finish....But the break was now in sight and caught the next time up the hill.  The finale went ok...I wound up just behind JP again and for a moment Brands and Kissena had competing leadouts going up the climb (SO PRO).  I was able to stay in contention and was sprinting for actual places. Top ten is likely going to take waay better positioining and some luck in the sprint.
http://www.oneimagingphotography.com/Cycling-Races/2016-Race-Season/Castelli-Race-Series-81316/i-cffZLBC/A
 It was the first time I've gotten within spitting distance of placing in the top 10.  

Fives were sketchy but fun. Bummed that Nubs got caught in a crash; glad to see him on two feet after the race. There was another crash after the sprint with two riders...I think the heat fried folks' motor skills.

We coordinated before the race to make a move on the 4th lap, midway on the hill. Giacomo launched and I grabbed his wheel as best I could with Max and Sebastian quick behind. The field stretched out but some big sprinters were holding with us. You can see the attack here at about 30:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtN5qPIy9RU&feature=youtu.be

Watching the video, I think we were closer to breaking than it felt in the moment. One more hard attack might've been enough. Alternatively going for a smaller break and having a couple of guys block probably would've worked fine as well. 

Bummed we didn't make it stick, I was gassed out for the sprint but still good fun to make a move. One of my favorite park races yet.

Man, there were guys with some power yesterday. I shot it giving as much as I had, but it wasn't enough to make the difference. Still we created some mess and scared them a little, enough to give the race some bit of character.
It seems from the video more than a breakaway we sort of created a split on the group, if we had kept going (easy to say...) we could have made some selection. 
We tried and it was fun in the process, beside the results for me at least, it was the most fun race in PP!
Sorry to see the crash on second lap involving one of us

Watching the Cat 5 video, what happened at the finish line??

@Scott Kuhlke  I saw it happen but still am not entirely sure - one rider went down and took Darrel Meade, one of the PP regulars down with him...my guess would be that he accidentally twisted his front wheel or something. Sprint + heat + cat 5...

It looks like the rider who went down bumped wheels with the rider in front of him and went down...looks like bowling pins from there.

twoyacks said:

 It was the first time I've gotten within spitting distance of placing in the top 10.  

Yack was 14th.

We lined up on the front row (with Harry, too).  Eloy rolled off a bit quicker than the rest, so we gave him a gap.  And that started a number of aggressive laps.

Eloy was in the mix, as was Dan, as was Yack, and myself.  Good to see everyone up front, going for it.

There were all the indications that an early break might be able to ride away.  Rapha's Matt Seaton, who rarely seems to waste his efforts, was going for it.  As was Van Dessel's Zeb Nelessen, who also likes the long moves.

Finally, a group of four got away.  As we were a lap from the first KoM sprint, and the KoM leader was in it, I figured they'd take the points, and then the Jordan squad would take over to put their guy Lynn Murray, currently clad in green as the points leader, in position to take sprint points.

They didn't.  It looked like we were about to catch the break anyways.  Then a few more riders got across (without us!), we passed the III's, and then they passed us back, slowing us down.

I thought that was it.  But we re-passed the III's.  And even with some of the top riders in the series in the break, they couldn't get it to stick.  We were closing in.

And closed in with less than two to to.

I know Yack offered to take the pull up the hill.  But as he seemed to be riding pretty good, it seemed better that I take that pull.  So I slotted in at fourth wheel on the flats.  Held it as the hill started.  and when Brauer's Chris Kaefer attacked, I figured I ought to just pick up the pace enough to close it.  Which I did, putting me second wheel.  And that set up the sprint.  I peeled off, and Yack went for it.

fun.  Sadly, few races left. 

Cat 5s, nice coordination on the hill. Just after the hill is where people get away, snapping the rubber band can be as simple as having someone at the back sitting up to open up a small gap.

While I'm at it, you're not racing for Konditori money and you have the huge advantage of multiple teammates when everyone else is riding for themselves. Why not leverage that advantage? Towards the second half when there's a lull (or an attack is brought back) have a two-up team (with similar ability) launch together to see if you can draw out a couple of other riders for a break. If they get caught, immediately another team counter attacks — rinse and repeat until something sticks. When something sticks assemble near the front to set tempo (don't slow) and cover bridging moves. Cat 5s love to ride the front for no particular reason so it won't be easy, but you've got numbers and you'll be learning about the required effort to stick a break. It will also make your race a lot safer. 

Lastly, check each others pinning jobs — 8 pins is the go. #

Not exactly the finish I was hoping for from my first race out. 

I knew from experience that Cat5 races can get pretty sketchy pretty quick especially at the end pf the summer. I knew I didn't want to be in the back of the pack but I also knew I didn't have the legs to hang in the front for long.  My hope was to find my way to the middle of the front half and hang on in hopes of just finishing with the main group. 

Half way through the first lap I ended up on the wheel of the guy who would eventually be my demise and I knew pretty quick after getting behind him it wasn't where I wanted to be. I passed him and moved up in the group a bit and at the start of the 2nd lap I saw some of the other teammates so I started to position myself to get with them. When I did that he passed again and as he did he moved to his left pretty abruptly and his bars made contact with a rider to his left, he quickly got squirrelly and over corrected to his right which is when he clipped the rear wheel of the guy in front of him. They both hit the deck pretty quick and and I had nowhere to go. His rear wheel quickly became a launch ramp from me. According to the data I hit the ground at about 28.5 mph and slid for 2 seconds. Both my body and my bike provide a cushioned landing zone for a couple of riders behind me. 

When I got to me feet I was happy to see everyone involved seemed to be ok and was getting up on their own power. I did however find my rear wheel about 5 feet away from where it was supposed to be. 

I walked back to the Start line to re group and get checked out.  Nothing major just some pretty deep road rash. I'm heading into the Dr. later this week for some xrays and maybe an MRI on my knee since it is not really feeling right inside. 

As for the bike, Bars are cracked, Levers are all rashed up, Rear Derailleur is pretty mangled but the Di2 still moving hoping I can just replace the cage, Derailleur hanger is broken off, Chain is shot, some cogs on the rear cassette are bent, Looks like the big ring on the crank may be bent, saddle is torn,  both tires are cut through, the rims are OK other than some minor gauging on the brake surface and the rear is slightly out of true, peddle is ground down from sliding on the ground and both skewers are bent, Doesn't look like the frame took any hits but I stripped everything down and am going to take it in to get looked at. 

All in all is sucked and its not a great time to have to rebuild a bike or replace a kit. But it was great to be back in the pack and I am for the most part whole and will ride again as soon as I can.  Im looking forward to next race season and am more motivated than ever to harder so I can stay towards the front a little more. 

Nubs

Sorry about the crash...it gets expensive quickly, but the good news is hopefully it is just a little lost skin and your knee is ok.

Replacing bike parts is annoying, but it is better do that rather than posting x-rays of snapped collar bones or shattered elbows.

Agree, The last crash I head I ended up with cracked ribs and a concussion.  Im ecstatic to only have some missing skin this time around. 

@DanSugrue I've never heard of so much damage to a bike without the frame damaged. I would consider getting it checked out by someone who has a lot of experience repairing carbon frames (Blondie guitarist Paul Carbonara works with carbon). Inspecting the frame is something you can do yourself too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KFeT0RiP8A.
You want to have a good hard look at the steerer tube/fork. Carbon layups are very thin so you should be able to see/hear most cracks.   

Great video, Thank you! I am pretty familiar with carbon and carbon repair after spending many years working with it when I was part of various car racing teams.  Still with that said, I am going to take the bike to a pro that knows bikes and what to look for. Last this I want is a frame coming apart while i am one it. 

Side note this is twice in a 3 week period that for one reason or another I find myself dealing with a Blondie guitarist. The first time I was photography a concert. 

Please make sure you bring the frame to Paul Carbonara, and not the present Blondie guitarist , as im not sure what experience Tommy Kessler has with carbon 

Whoa...Dan...that bike would have less damage if Pusheen jammed it into a woodchipper

Turns out the frame is indeed cracked. I get the MRI results on my knee back later this week. Hoping the MCL fared better than my Cervelo.

Does anybody have Paul Carbonara contact info. I have searched the web and haven't come up with anything solid. 

Thank you