This was a pretty chill event put on by Alex and the Verrazano team - they piggybacked on the permit for the duathlon.  For us newish to racing in NYC (specifically Prospect), it used one of the old start/finishes at the Lincoln Rd entrance.  It was on par with other races that I've done that Alex has put on - low key and barebones.  I do wish he had put some signage around the park saying that there was a bike race happening (similar what Tom does).  There were multiple times we were splitting around other park users.  He's pretty receptive to feedback, so I'm sure he would be happy to add those for next time.

As for my race, it went pretty much as expected.  The week leading up was one of my biggest volume weeks yet, so I only had the goal of not getting dropped.  It was my first 1/2/3 race and a relatively small field (~35 riders).  Right from the gun it was hard up the first hill.  I think my average power for the first lap was like 250 watts in the bunch.  Attacks keep going, but I was just trying to hang.  That was the story of the day.  By lap 5 I was struggling to stay on going up the hill, but had managed to inch my average down to the 220s; still high, but not crazy.  Verrazano, Good Guys, and Fire Cycling basically controlled the race.  Last lap (which we didn't get a bell for!!!) as hot.  A break of 2 guys was off the front with a 5-8 second gap.  I managed to move up to 5ish wheel in the bunch.  Came around the bottom of the hill and tried to hang on.  Only made it to the section of shitty pavement.  Ended up 25.  DFL.

Pretty sweet to race a warm November summer, right before the Marathon.

All of it felt a bit strange as the start finish was not on 3rd, Tom or Charlie were not there, and like Greg said, other park drive users were not particularly well alerted. Still the race was safe and early.

• Richard, Dave, Michael, and myself signed up for the Cat 4/5 race.
• 7 laps.
• 50ish racers.
• Michael was almost late to the start so I only see him once we are rolling, he rides over, "hey hey" "Mike, where were you..., glad you are here..., I am here for you"
• Mostly my goal today is to stay towards the front, stay safe, and get a good training input. If there's a chance to break the race, let's go with it
• It is a 4/5 November race, definitely slower than the July/August 3/4 
• There are some attacks, but they are either solo, way too early or get chased down
• Some surges, but they are short
• I manage to stay basic top 10 for the full race
• Unsurprisingly the pack stays together, the last time down the hill feels safe
• Wind is coming from the right by the temple
• I stay left as we approach the finish, but so is much of the pack
• The sort of long straight lead out feels kinda cool
• As we are getting close no one seems to be actually sprinting
• So then Michael moves forward on the right, and goes for it big time
• Michael big time opens a gap to the rest of the field
• He fully commits
• Michael wins! 
• I totally take credit, because about 55 minutes earlier I told him "I am here for you"
• Michael did look like the fire

We take a cool down lap. Feels awesome to ride with Dave, Richard, and the race winner! A bit later I check out the Marathon course, eat second breakfast, and go cheer friends running the marathon!

Let's go race bikes

My seventh race. Had a good time.

• Kept doing my stupid yo-yo technique with the back of the field, rather than sticking to wheels
• Woah, where'd Michael come from?
• Michael gives me a thumbs up at one point before spinning away to the center of the pack and future winnings
• Didn't get dropped by the field, which is a plus
• Finished 42/52. Meh. Lessons learned

Verrazano has posted pictures from the race on their Facebook, if anyone's looking for them.

Awesome win!
Hope donuts were had by all.

Pretty sweet video of the last few minutes of the Cat 4/5 race. You'll see Michael take off like a rocket ship (on the right) and then me celebrating and taking all the credit as I cross the line.

Also, gotta admit, the video makes it all look way faster than I remember (which is a first)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWX5jf4mX1A

Registration for the Prospect Park Spring Classic on 02/25 is live - hope to see y'all out there! 

https://www.bikereg.com/pp

How many people planning to do the race this weekend? 

I wish. I'm going to be in town.  If you're on the fence, I'd suggest going for it.  Early season racing is great for shaking off the rust or to try out racing when the field isn't as fit as they would be come summertime.

I think I probably will. Looks like it's gonna be damn cold Sunday at 6a but no time like the present to start... Will be my first race 

@BlakeFoster I’ll be there racing in the Cat 5s after a very off last year. Let’s definitely meet up a bit before the race, I’ll send you a message on slack! 

For my own “opening weekend” @BlakeFoster and I raced in the Cat 5 field this morning. We had spent a few laps the day before doing loops in Prospect Park and talking about the race. With the newish paint, Blake’s first race (big props to him but I’ll let him tell you about it), and the cold weather, it was very nice to get out yesterday.

But this morning, not so much. Turns out 10 degrees does make a big difference. Regardless, we both lined up with 40+ 5er’s and hit the road. Before the whistle was blown, Race Director Alex reminded the field how the worst crashes always happen at this race. Not surprisingly, it did nothing to calm the nerves of the pack, quite the opposite.

The first lap was fast with a decent 8:45 lap time. As usual, the big ring hill hit me, but much to my pleasure I held with the group. Credit to Basecamp and Greg’s advice to sag climb as much as possible. The second lap slowed down drastically but attacks started flying coming up to and on the hill. I stayed with the group again up and over the hill but surges and cold got to me by the time we hit the start line. I began slipping toward the back. A delayed attempt to jump back on was made, but with another attack going my race was more or less over.

I was determined to finish still and train the mental game. Two other riders caught me, and we formed a bit of a chase group, I used the hill to drop one on the last lap and beat the other from a far-out sprint. So at least I held off any other dropped riders.

After the race was done, I caught up with Blake. The cold gave us ample reason to cancel our coffee date. Came home, wrapped myself in a blanket, and made some pancakes.

Alexander gave a lot of the framing and set up, seemed like a decent sized crowd despite the fact it was cold AF (23°) when the whistle blew. First lap was pretty quick, Alex and I stayed near the front. The pace was about 34mph through the downhill bend by the lake before the left turn north through the bottle neck. 

These are great reports. Kudos to both of you for racing in these conditions.

Blake, I'll challenge you to move up your goal: "Finish a cat 5 with the group, in your NEXT race"

My unlisted video of the race - Feedback welcome! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNhlWDPFMWg&ab_channel=AlexanderAlexander

eloy said:

These are great reports. Kudos to both of you for racing in these conditions.

Blake, I'll challenge you to move up your goal: "Finish a cat 5 with the group, in your NEXT race"

Challenge accepted, I think the next scheduled race I can make is in April so there’s some time
to improve 😅

Congratulations to you both - for showing up in the crazy bitter cold and for finishing! @BlakeFoster a big part of racing is knowing how and when to conserve so you have it to spend at the right moments. The more you race, the more you know. Enjoy the Cat 5's, race as much as you can, have fun! I hope to be out there soon!

Kudos on racing in this frigid weather!

Think of these races as little experiments. Try to work on some different aspect each race and see how it works for you. By the end of the season you'll have them well honed.

For this race you guys "sagged" the hill. Next you may try and start the hill near the front of the pack but only slip back from top 5 to top 25. This will involve short bursts of effort and trying to say on the wheel to get the best draft possible.

You can train for these efforts with over-under workouts (Similar to Tim's Lactate Shuttling). These are the kinds of efforts where you maintain tempo or sweet spot for 15-20 minutes and surge over threshold every 3-5 minutes for 20-30 seconds. These kinds of workouts increase your ability to handle surges in the pack.

Looking forward to hearing about how your seasons progress

Great job pinning on a number guys. Never easy in the cold & dark. 

Decided last minute to sign up for this and race today in the 3/4s.

Race Report:

Pretty frustrating race.  The first lap was the only one of the 8 that didn't have a significant portion neutralized.  First half of the race there were some break attempts and surges, I was planning to just sit in so ignored these mostly, but after getting neutralized a few times, everyone sort of gave up on trying anything.  Coming into the last lap I thought we were maybe going to be able to get a clean lap in, by the downhill I had gotten into a great position around 10th wheel, and then we got neutralized into the hill.  They let us loose up over the top but at that point just didn't feel worth it to get caught up in anything.

On the whole, good positioning for me throughout and rarely ate wind-felt good moving through the pack even though it was mostly the equivalent of a social ride.  When it did come to the few times I had to put in some efforts I was able to hang in, but could tell I didn't really have the snap in my legs.  No real surprise there as I haven't done much intensity at all. 

 Lots of frustration in the group from the constant neutralizing, I guess a break with major team representation got away in the 1/2/3's and so the peloton just let em go and rode easy which effected us.

c'est la vie, there goes $60 and a few hours of sleep I am not getting back.

Good representing Kissena. Never a wasted opportunity and practicing moving in the field is always a bonus, but for sure frustrating when you pay good money to race and it turns out to be a group ride. Not to be too negative but not surprised considering it's an alex race. I respect his enthusiasm but organization is not his strong suit. 

The other logistics around the race were actually solid, I had heard he wasn't the most organized though. The course was covered well by marshals, they had long lines cone markers delineating jogger lane in some spots where it's harder to see, and race was on time.  Just unfortunate circumstance I guess, no real difference on how they timed out the starts between fields either.

Cat 5 Race Report

• Temp was good, looks like we may be coming out of Winter
• Pretty much the same peeps as Central Park 2 weeks ago
• It was a lot of their first time in PP and I'm surprised no was was DQ'd as every lap people were in the buffer zone & joggers lane on the right going up the hill
• A new obligatory collegiate athlete was in the field, he took off first lap and we didn't get organized to chase nor pull him back
• Stayed at the front and took the odd turn
• Surgy as usual but nothing lasted
• Was in and around 10th going into the last hill but didn't really feel i had anything left in the tank
• Rolled in around high 20's i think
• Alex was giving out fizz to the podium F1 style today
• The winner got on stage and announced he'd only been riding for 3 years and showered us all with champagne (and shame)

L&C in 2 weeks! See you there hopefully!

KevinWomack said:

Cat 5 Race Report

• Temp was good, looks like we may be coming out of Winter
• Pretty much the same peeps as Central Park 2 weeks ago
• It was a lot of their first time in PP and I'm surprised no was was DQ'd as every lap people were in the buffer zone & joggers lane on the right going up the hill
• A new obligatory collegiate athlete was in the field, he took off first lap and we didn't get organized to chase nor pull him back
• Stayed at the front and took the odd turn
• Surgy as usual but nothing lasted
• Was in and around 10th going into the last hill but didn't really feel i had anything left in the tank
• Rolled in around high 20's i think
• Alex was giving out fizz to the podium F1 style today
• The winner got on stage and announced he'd only been riding for 3 years and showered us all with champagne (and shame)

L&C in 2 weeks! See you there hopefully!

Found this at the end of the Youtube video Qiyuan posted from the race, it's the winner's strava profile, talk about smoooooooth. #futuregoals

Can't tell 100% because we don't know his weight, but if he can put out that kinda of power, he likely would have won the 3/4 race.

-- I watched a quick portion of Qiyuan's video, and I'll say that almost all the strategy/tactics comments he makes are not quite correct. The best scenario would have to go with the move, or chase the move, with a small group.

This might be part of tonight's tactic chat. We want to maximize our chances of a good result (not necessarily minimize other's chances of a good result) So for example, chasing this rider solo, would have likely increase our chances of imploding, not a good result. Chasing with the full pack, would have just neutralized the one move, and not maximize your result. Establishing a small group (5, 6ish riders) could have maximized your chances of a good result, even if the 350 W rider wins.

What surprises me is how little difference there is from his average and max heart rates.  His average was 178, max 183.  It would suggest that either he was close to his breaking point most of the race, or that he had way more left at teh end of the race.  I'm leaning towards the former.

Looking at his power, 343w average suggests to me that he's pretty heavy.  Then again, a 1029 max doesn't seem impressive for a heavier rider.  

I’m also guessing his power meter is more than a few watts off. 

I couldn't take my eyes off how many riders seem to have a terrible fit

mugwump said:

What surprises me is how little difference there is from his average and max heart rates.  His average was 178, max 183.  It would suggest that either he was close to his breaking point most of the race, or that he had way more left at teh end of the race.  I'm leaning towards the former.

Looking at his power, 343w average suggests to me that he's pretty heavy.  Then again, a 1029 max doesn't seem impressive for a heavier rider.  

The photo on the open shot of the video i assume is him , he doesn't look heavy to me , but hey