I raced branch brook today and my legs felt good so i might show up if i wake up on time

Posted By: mugwumpI think we've got a small team going. I'm expecting to see Marc, Myles, William, Mike, Rene, unless I read otherwise.

I expect to have my number by 6am. At 6am, I expect to be on the benches by the bathroom behind registration. I'll wait a few minutes. If no one shows, I'll probably go to the bathroom first, check the benches again, and then roll around. Mostly riding up to 90th street and back.

Sorry, friends in from out of town + chance of rain and freezing all the way back to brooklyn = I will probably be staying in tomorrow AM

Posted By: rene herreraI raced branch brook today and my legs felt good so i might show up if i wake up on time

come on out, rene!

we could use you, plus the weather isn'y looking so bad - 40% of rain and low 50's

JP: 7th or 9th from a break that stayed away the last 3 laps

he will provide details

marc and myles rode strong in support

Joe Mueller: 2nd place!

apparently out of a break of two that was away most of the race

cat 4's: details please!

How'd it go out there today, guys?

Report please!

Joe should give the report from the break...

Joe, el Presidente Dan, Rich, Norm, and I lined up.

In the first laps there were a couple attempts at breaks. I dragged the pack back up to the last one and caught the break at around the start/finish line. As I was fading to the back there was counter-attack of about ten that Joe went up to join. There was a bit of confusion in this break and Joe, Steve Marmo, and a BH guy slipped off the front just before the long straight-away on the east-side.

Dan went to the front to control the pack. Rich and I joined him each taking turns sitting on the front and chasing anything that went. Somehow we failed to get Norm the memo that Joe was off the front until the 3rd or 4th lap, once the memo was received Norm added into the rotation of quashing any attempts to bring the break back though. None of us had anything to contest the sprint.

In the break the BH guy flatted and Marmo took the win

marmo . . .

i believe that's Finnish for SAAAAAAAANDBAGGER!

you guys sound like you totally dominated the race

BIG high5's

It was a great display of teamwork. Joe getting into the right move, early in the race. Rich and Gideon making sure to sit on anything that even thought about rolling off the front, and riding tempo for much of the race to discourage anything further from taking off. There was some grumbling from the pack about how Kissena was on the front of pack while we had a man away. I invited him to go to the front and get the chase organized. That seemed to shut him up.

Norm did a great job at the end when the rest of our legs were at their snapping point, leading the group through Horse S*** Alley in order to keep it sane and safe. We executed our plan which was to get a guy in the break and keep it away. We could have done a better job at trying to grab some of the places in the field sprint, but that is for another day.

Joe! Awesome job everyone.

Grumbling about Kissena being at the front with a guy in the break...isn't that the point? Controlling it? I dunno much about racing, but if they wanted to chase, that's their responsibility, no? Heh, reminds of the time Greg and I were in one of those stage races and with him in first overall, we'd pretty much patrol the front. Some people starting complaining about going faster and Greg turns around and says, "Ok, go the front and go faster if you want to". Like you said, they all pretty much went, "Uh, no thanks". Ok, then shut up! It's weird...it's like they want to go faster without actually doing any work. Get a gruber assist then.

Big ups, ya'll

HUGE congratulations to our category 5 racers. Despite many of us just meeting for the first time, those guys really raced together like a team. In the end, I hear the fives had two guys going for it in the sprint and took 2nd and 3rd place! I'm certainly going mess up the names, so you guys who were out there racing, please send in your reports!

I attacked on the end of the first lap, another non-Kissena fellow caught up to me but blew by so fast I couldn't get his draft. He pulled off slightly before Cat's Paw and later told me his chain jammed. Field caught me. Didn't have much energy left after that, my recovery rate is pitiful from not doing intensity training. Should have just stuck on someone's wheel to the sprint.

But yeah, we did really well. Grats to 2nd and 3rd...

Huge congratulations to all you Kissena's out there--what a brilliant way to start the season. Cool and overcast gave way to brief pre-race rain--just enough to slick up the course.

We had good representation in all the categories and instead of riding around like we're jamokes just wearing the same jersey, everyone raced like a team. At one point I'm briefly off the front with another guy from another team and I ask him if he's got teammates back there. "Nope, just me today." Meanwhile, I'm proud to say that I had William DC, Myles R, and JP back there ready to shred as soon as I implode (which I did, many, many times).

Anyway, check out the individual category threads for detailed reports, but the BIG highlight is that Kissena as a team/club/assemblage/coterie (I totally used an online thesaurus for those last two) place riders in the "money" spots in EVERY category we raced. That's right. If we signed up and raced this morning...Kissena placed.

Cat 5 Crew, rode like pros and took 2nd and 3rd place.
Cat 3/4 Bruisers, made the wankers in their field complain about how much they were riding at the front, enroute to 2nd place.
Cat 1/2/3 Misfits, went to bat with just four guys (two of whom are a little short on fitness right now) and still managed to rock and roll enough to help JP spring loose. He went on to take 9th in the breakaway group sprint.

I'm super pumped right now. I think we've just put the land of CRCA subteams on notice. Lets keep up the good work.

p.s. Branchbrook Saturday racers, how did things go for you?

I finished with the field in the 1/2/3 race but i think mattie d got 7th in the 4/5 race

Way to go fellas! I love hearing about Kissena controlling the race, and Joe winning in a break.

Wish I could've been there to help. For my part I stretched my legs in my first race of the year at a rather uneventful industrial park crit out here in Los Angeles. Countered some moves, chased down one, didn't crash. Success enough, I'd say.

I didn't see anything like the aggression ya'll are describing though, and I missed it! I can't wait to get back and race with ya's.

Ryan

Branchbrook: I raced the Masters 35+ and did well to hang on to the group. After the accelerations coming out of the "corner" there, I would find myself at the back. I didn't like being back there so I practiced working my way up and finding a decent wheel to follow, and tried to stay there. On 2 occasions (or was it just once?) I felt only slightly terrible, so I moved up to the front to go off the front. It was not an attack even though I was summoning all my powers... just wanted to show the fast guys at the front my impersonation of a badly wounded animal on the run.

Eric Ragot was one of those fast guys at the front of this race. He stayed up front for the entire affair. I hear he was in the break to be in, with dudes like Edwin Bull, Will Federico, and Stephen Dioslaki. But, Eric thought that with only 45-50 minutes scheduled to race, the break did not have enough time to develop.

So it was a field sprint that --from my POV-- appeared to start with Bull leading out right off the very nose of the group, maybe a handful of guys, separating itself and Federico taking the sprint. Eric did not stay in it to go with the sprinters, so we both finished with the group.

I did have a good time, even though I felt so rough and ragged. Definitely needed the race training!

Eric feel free to correct any of my reporting here.

-Norm

p.s. sorry I missed out on the velodrome fun. I got my calendar mixed-up and agreed to do BB not realizing the conflict, didn't want to reneg after telling Eric I would do the race (even though what I did there could hardly be called racing, and I know he would've forgiven me for skipping the race).

I wonder about that - why somebody would hope that other people and teams will somehow create the race situation that that individual wants? The whole midpack "gosh nobody is getting organized at the front" nonsense.

Reminds me of Battenkill last year - me, Al, and Michael P cresting the final climb in a group of twelve that started to get organize. Greg was off the front, but we had no idea how far and there were five fast downhill miles left to the finish. "Kissena, why aren't you guys working?" was hollered at us plentifully.

lol?

Anyway - great to hear about the teamwork and results in the 3/4! Impressive for sure! Congrats Joe!

Norm has it spot on. From a getting good again perspective, our was a good race. I started in the top ten all race and made every break. I just didn't go for the sprint. Excellent race for those reasons.
Eric

Thanks a ton Marc for taking the time to meet with us 5s before the race to get us organized and come up with a game plan prior to the race. I think I can speak for everyone in saying that we truly appreciate every tip and strategy that you offer, given the minimal experience we have as racers.

As far as the race, I was surprised at how aggressive it was for the first race of the season. I guess it was to be expected being that there were only two laps, but nonetheless, I suffered more than I thought. Of course, I'm probably just of shape making it seem harder. There was no easy lead out to the start of the race as people quickly accelerated to get position at the front of the race. I think most of the Kissena riders made it to the front of the race, but there were constant hard accelerations all the way to the decent on the north loop and we got separated a bit. Up Harlem Hill and over the rollers on the Westside, the pace was again high and the pack was stretched out with most riders in single or double file. Some gaps began to form here and there, but things everything came back together by Tavern on the Green. Essentially, the first lap there were constant hard accelerations at the front, which kept the tempto very high.

Second lap was more of the same up to the north loop. I was sitting in mid-pack up Harlem Hill when a couple of guys attacked midway and got a small gap. I rode myself into the front 10 guys just as we got over the hill and we began the chase. By the time I turned around over the first roller, we had a sizeable gap on the rest of the field. We brought back one from the lead group before the long downhill, but hadn’t yet brought back the other by our second pass of Tavern. Looking back this time, I was pumped to see two teammates (McKay and the other John, I think) and maybe one or two others, had bridged with the chase group. We maintained pretty good position through horseshit alley all the way to the boathouse, but hadn’t yet caught the lead rider. I’m not much of a sprinter and my legs were beat from the chase so I knew that was it for me, but let say both Mckay and John?? threw down a nasty sprint, blowing past the entire chase group to finish 2nd and 3rd!!! Unfortunately, the leader stayed clear by about 20m or so, but holy shit, that was a fantastic sprint to watch and a huge congrats to you two!!!! I’m just glad I was there in the end to see it play out… All in all it was fun race to be apart of and it didn’t rain. Only wish I had some better legs at the end.

This was the first time meeting most of my 5s teammates so if I screwed up the names, my biggest apologies and please correct me so they get appropriate credit. Hope to see you all next week!!!

that's awesome

nice start, fellas

Congrats to all of you who raced. I'm trying to adjust to this 60+F weather here in San Diego. Took me two minutes to decide whether to wear something under my summer Kissena jersey. I love this kind of problem.

Good work gents! Didin't realise I was joining a pro-continental team disguised as slightly podgy, unfit amateurs racing around a park at the weekends!! MIght join the Long Island Rough Riders instead, actually, come to think of it, they might be a football team... thinking about it, that would be a good name for a cycling team...

Adam

JP - I'd love to hear your perspective on the race. With the pre-reg bonus points you should be in a good position overall, and I'd be happy to come out next sunday and do whatever I can to support.

i did the 4/5 #1 at branchbrook. only kissena. threw down a few attacks to make people hurt. on one counterattack i managed to announce loudly "vicious counter attack!" and roll off the front. 7th or so in the sprint. the cameras were buggered so they only placed to 5th and then ST'd everyone else, which is a bit annoying. i normally wouldn't care, but i'm counting those top 10s for my cat 3 upgrade. this was my first ride with other people since last season ended, and after riding pretty regularly outside all winter, i seem to have a bit of a jump on people fitness wise. looking forward to grants.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. The group of 4's that raced today worked really well together and are willing to sacrifice themselves for a fellow teammate. I think that says a lot about the 4's and the club in general.

As for the race report, I was up at 5 and on the road by 5:30. Everything was going smoothly until I hit 34th street and my chain literally fell off my bike. In a panic I stopped the next biker who happened to be a fellow Kissena John. John was nice enough to track down a cab who was willing to take someone with a bike, and help me stuff my bike it in to the cab. In a frantic daze I signed in and somewhat fixed my chain situation. The Kissena's stayed together pretty well and chased down any break that went. The game plan was to be patient till the second lap then feel out the situation. As we rounded the southern side of the park about 10 riders broke away and I chased after to reel them into the peloton. About halfway there I looked back and realized that I had some space between myself and the peloton so I decided to bridge the gap and see if the 10 riders were willing to work together to stay away. As it turns out they weren't. Pretty quickly the group started looking at each other and bitching about who wasn't pulling. So myself a BH cyclist and Steve rode off the front taking turns pulling. Just before we finished the first lap the BH cyclist caught a flat and had to call it a day. Steve and took turns at the front and I tried not to think about the pain as we rode. I think in all we stayed away for 3ish laps. At one point I looked at Steve and asked him if he had in other teammates in the race. He didn't, but when he asked me if I did it was a great feeling to be able to say confidently say yes and I know they are blocking like crazy right now. Dan, Rich, Norm and Gideon, did an excellent job dissuading any other riders of trying to bridge up and I couldn't of done it without them.

Joe

Thanks guys.

First, while we only had four guys lining up, Marc, Myles, William, and myself. at least all four of us raced together last year. Myles and Marc volunteered themselves to chase down anything that moved early on to save William and myself for later.

We lined up front row, make it easy to go with the first few attacks and easy to control things if one of our guys gets a gap. As usual, there were a few moves from about 200 meters into the race, and we were there. Myles sticks really near the front at all times while Marc leaps up to moves, sits on, gives them the head shake (if they are looking for it), and then drifts back. Marc is able to drop back on the rises and rocket back on the descents with seeming ease. It looked great from my saddle, and it was awesome to feel I could sit on until I saw the big moves starting.

11 miles, and I noticed a commotion at the front as we started going through horseshit alley. And it was just after Marc started bugging me to get closer to the front. So I did. A group was forming up front, and the Adler guys were starting to jam the field in the curves leading up to e72nd.

Go time. I was about to counter on my own, but Tad Marzalek was winding it up right in front of me. We swept past two Adlers going into the right curve at 72nd, and drilled it to catch the break before the top of Cat's Paw.

All the right players were there. Gavi (Slipstream/Chipotle), Brian Breach (Mengoni) with his teamate Dan Chabanov, Two Adlers (why they were blocking), and a smattering of riders. I think between 8 and 10. We were going hard, but not brutal, and definitely not steady. Some guys were pulling long, some were pulling short, some were skipping. On paper, everyone should have known how to ride a big rotating paceline, but they weren't doing it. Aggrieved, Brian Breach was attacking now and again to shake the dead wood. There was a comic argument between Chabanov and David Taylor. Taylor was moving himself up in the line, but then wouldn't pull through. When Dan complained, Taylor exploded at him; a brief argument ensued.

Guys were sitting on, dropping back, coming up, dropping back again. It was confusing at the back of the break. the second time up 110berg, Brian put in a big acceleration and I hung on. We got at least five seconds. We went down hard & started riding the other side, but I wasn't ready to commit to the two of us going the rest of the way. An Adler came up, better odds, but he waited too long to start rotating, & then the remainder of the break got on. Somewhere, we gained Jermaine Burrowes (the only other guys registered for the series), a sprinter from James Vincent, & Kyle Peppo. These three were skipping pulls, playing dead, pretending they thought the break was doomed; figured they were all faking.

Last lap, we slowed a bit. Going over 110berg, Dan accelerated, I went with him. Brian wasn't far behind. We went over the top as a threesome, rolled a bit, & were caught again by everyone. Brian waited a bit and attacked from the back of the group around w96th.

I paused. I figured the dead wood would come alive and the first guy to respond would get jumped. As I was pondering my options, an Adler jumped on the other side of the road and that was that. The two rode on, with two teammates to gum up the works. I tried to keep the group rolling, but the dead were still playing. Gavi put in a good flyer next. That was third place.

I made a few moves, but I figured after those three moves were hard and no one responded, they'd go after meif I tried a super-hard jump. so I tried to roll off the front a few times. Nothing. And no one else wanted to attack. I figured the James Vincent guy and Jermaine were the two favored sprinters, but no one else wanted to attack them. I rolled off at 71st and tried to keep a gap and then open it up around the last bend. The group caught me shortly thereafter and went by. the James Vincent guy took the group and Jermaine was second.

You know what they say about bike racers. Not very bright. I blew it. This was the day to attack hard by Tavern and take my chances. I don't know what the other guys were doing. There was almost no way Taylor or Peppo were going to take the two sprinters, but they gave them the placings anyway. I guess they can say they beat me, which is true, but I think they beat themselves.

I was 9th on the day. I am probably 2nd in the series. If I had finished ahead of Jermaine, I'd be in the lead. Thinking about next Sunday. Thanks for the offers. Pondering the plan.

And money for Marc, Myles, and William. Thanks guys, what I saw, and didn't see, looked great.

Good work JP!

The 1/2/3s had JP, Myles, William and myself ready to race bright and early. I was meeting with the Cat 5s going over their game plan with them, and so the first time we all had a chance to talk was on the start line. Not text-book perfect, but we're all pretty experienced and know whats-what, so a quick race line chat was all it took.

JP was our number one, William was our number two and Myles and I would suffer like dogs covering the early stuff. And the "stuff" came early. These park races are funny. Some weeks guys are chill and take it easy. This was not one of those weeks. Roads were slick and guys were going off the front like crazy. Myles and I were taking turns covering moves that looked dangerous. And unfortunately for us, in the slick conditions, most of the park race regulars were launching off the front early and often.

At one point early in the race, while covering a move, clearly the field was feeling a little tired, because I got a gap and bridged solo up to a BH-Garneau rider off the skating rink descent leading into the base of 110-Berg. I knew they had beefed up their roster in the off season, and so I thought okay, maybe we'll do a little two man break action with two strong teams blocking behind. So I ask the guy if he's got teammates. "Nope, just me racing today."

The field was fast on us anyway, blasting past us on the climb. I'm feeling kind of stuffed. Suffer and get dropped way back on the climb, descent and the west side uphill rollers. There's a split and not much I can do to close the gap at this point. One of my all time NYC favorite racing characters (sarcasm alert), a too cool for school Cat 1 named David Taylor who has his own vanity project CRCA subteam, shoots me a dirty look as he blasts past me to regain contact with the main field. As if I wanted to get dropped and leave my 3 teammates alone up ahead. As if. Not to mention, that a Cat 1 racer, you should know better than to race at the back of a pack during a rainy day.

Fortunately I caught back on after a bit and shot to the front to resume the Myles and Marc SuperFunPainfulTimesHappyHourExtremeActionShowExtraveganza. Not sure how they felt about the race, but I'm hoping they felt we took some pressure off of them. The action never really lets up, I'm yo-yoing back and forth too much. William's riding strong and safe at the front of the field all day. Myles is kind of rocking chasing so much shit down. I'm feeling terrible that I'm not at the front all the time. At one point, I'm near the rear, working my way back and I see JP uncharacteristically hanging out in the last 1/3 of the field. Sometimes when you are charging along, you can lose track of where you are in the field. Like a Garmin GPS, I roll up to JP and shout, "recalculating." Well actually, I said, "you have to move up JP, you are too far back."

There's not a lot of order in the field around this time, a little rag-tag and I sensed that the moment was ripe for a breakaway to stick. I'll let JP fill in the details here, because a large group slips away, just about 20-30 seconds up and JP is in it.

Now we're on full defensive mode. Late in the race, I'm suffering like a dog about 6 riders from the front and I hear guys starting to launch past me. Around the same time, I hear William shout out at me, "C'mon you lazy bastard, you better get your grade A, fatty arse on that move." [I'm paraphrasing] I have to dig extra deep for this one, but I get on it and it's a good thing I do. It's got some major players in it. I share this moment with you because even us crusty old veteran racers need reminders when racing too. If you are in a position to see something dangerous going, when I am not (I'm not going to see the guys until it is too late), then don't be shy about giving a shout out to your teammates up ahead.

In the last lap, I want to make sure that William is close by, near the front. Because there remains the possibility, that the game playing of the break will doom it and we wanted to make sure he was in position to take his shot should the JP move fall apart. William was there and ready to go. That dude is strong and will be a valuable card to play in upcoming races.

The break continues to dangle, never too far from sight, but with the help of a few other riders clearly blocking (e.g. tall dude from Mengoni) and covering moves, with 3/4 of a lap to go, it's pretty clear this one is going to stick. At this point, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that JP isn't working too hard and is saving something for the sprint.

Which clearly he did. Finishing 9th and in the money. Great job JP. I can't wait to hear how the race went from his perspective. Also, I can't wait until we get a few more guys racing with us in the park. I think we raced as well as we possibly could have with 4 guys, but it sure will be nice to have a few more cards to play in upcoming races.

BTW, my lap times were:
14:38
14:08
14:02
14:13
14:54