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Kings County Kermesse
April 16, 2010
Brooklyn NY

Pro/Cat 1-2-3 Handicap Race
50 miles

1. Andreas Fliessgarten (Team Schwalbe Trier)
2. Alessandro Matteucci (Finkraft Cycling Team)
3. Gavriel Epstein (Chipotle Development Team)
4. Brian Breach (GS Mengoni)
5. Sean Barry (BVF)
6. Andrew Clerico (CRCA/BH Garneau)
7. Jeff Cline (CRCA/Axis)
8. Eutimo Quintero (CRCA/Foundation)
9. David Anthony (CRCA/BH Garneau)
10. Andrew Welh (Unatt)

Brief Report: Without a doubt, the Kings County Kermesse was the windiest race at Floyd Bennnett Field ever. There were times when riders were going 40+ mph with a tailwind and 12 mph with a headwind. It was brutal. The Cat 3 riders started first followed by the Cat 1-2 riders three minutes later. Cat 3 rider Andrew Clerico strung out the Cat 3 field on the first of 22 laps in the hopes of increasing their lead over the Cat 1-2's. Meanwhile back in the 1-2's, Ken Harris opened up the action with his patented attack-from-gun move. Despite his "no surprise" tactic that works to great success. the 1-2 riders seemed to either not care or perhaps thought it would not work in such windy conditions. Two riders were alert enough to go with Ken - German rider Andreas Fliessgarten and the on-form Gavi Epstein. With 6 riders in the 1-2 race, GS Mengoni missed the move and sent last week's Cherry Blossom Festival winner Augusto Sanchez to try to bridge solo. Sanchez tried desperately to make contact but failed to catch the three riders. Back in the field, the Mengoni riders formed a desperate chase when they realized Sanchez was not making contact. It was too late - Fliessgarten, Harris and Epstein were gone and never to be seen again. At the front of the race the Cat 3's were staying organized realizing they needed to work together to hold off the 1-2 riders especially in such windy conditions. Fliessgarten, Harris and Epstein slowly reeled in the Cat 3 field and caught the group with 10 laps (about 23 miles) to go. They wasted no time and quickly went to the front causing the Cat 3 field to shatter. Only Cat 3 rider Alessandro Matteucci (Finkraft Cycling Team) stayed with the leading trio. An untimely flat for Harris (his second of the day, he took a free lap earlier in the race) forced him out of the lead group. He receievd a new wheel at the Start/Finish line but never caught the lead riders and eventually retired from the race. Meanwhile back in the 1-2 field, a small group rolled off the front containing two Mengoni riders - Brian Breach and Jared Bunde. They quickly started gaining ground on the exhausted and shattered Cat 3 riders and eventually made contact. At the head of the race, Gavi Epstein cracked with 2 laps to go leaving Fliessgarten and Matteuchi as the leading duo. Epstein was now riding alone in third and behind him was a group of three Cat 3 riders - Sean Barry, Jeff Cline and Andrew Clerrico. With two laps to go Brian Breach caught those three riders and then dropped them. At the finish, Fliessgarten outsprinted Matteuchi for the win. Epstein soloed in for 3rd. Breach soloed in 4th and Barry outsprtined Clercio and Cline to take 5th.

Category 4
28 miles
40 riders

1. Bryan Fried (CRCA/Teany)
2. Aviv Maizlin (Hudson Furniture Racing Team)
3. Samuel Schaeffer (Unatt)
4. Etsu Taniguchi (CRCA/Teany)
5. Errol Maclean (Major Taylor)

Category 5
12 miles
22 riders

1. Andrew Dasilva (Kissena)
2. John Malcolman (Kissena)
3. Edwin Duarte (Teamhalcones.com)
4. Daniel Diaz (Unatt)
5. Will Mackenzie (Unatt)

Thanks to all the marshalls, pacers, registration volunteers and officials!

Charlie Issendorf
Race Director
Kissena Cycling Club

I'll just add this to Charlie's report. JP, Eric Robertson and myself were lined up in the 1/2 field. William DC and Jan were in the 3s. JP suggested, giving our numbers that the Kissena 2s contribute to the chase rather than follow wheels. And so we did. Well, JP was soon at the front and then I rotated through too. Turning onto the traditional home stretch, I was clearly going to slow for Ken "no bike is too small" Harris (Adler), as he rocketed through 3 or 4 mph faster. The field followed suit strung out with lots of painful little gaps and soon--way too soon--I was off the back. Again. Ugh.

I chased by myself for a lap, hitting 31.5 mph on the tailwind new home-stretch section, until I caught a few other struggling riders. We rode together for many laps, but eventually we were caught by the chasing 3 field. We continued to ride, though, at one lap down I could neither help nor hinder the guys still in the mix. It was frustrating to be sure. William was going good and there were times when I would have liked to work for him, but the best I could do was just not gap off any guys at the back.

Charlie was giving us splits and soon a chasing trio of were within seconds of catching. I may not have the legs anymore, but I still know a thing or two about racing. Al Barouh (BH Garneau) asked me who was coming and after a quick peak over my right shoulder, I saw that it was Gavi, Ken and random German dude, I said, "those guys are going to ride straight through the field and off the front, so if you want a piece of that action, be ready." I rolled up to WDC and offered up the same tip.

Sure enough, those guys absolutely shredded the 3s field. Al and WDC got on their wheels and for a time were right there with them. I continued to do my best to not date my mother and unduly influence the future (1980s classic movie reference in the hiz-house!) and hammered away getting a beat-down by the wind and some strong cat 3s.

With 8 or so laps to go, a rider in the field crashed and as I looked back, I see the rider flat on his back, not moving. And so I had to stop. I'm an ER nurse and the way he fell, the way he was just lying there...not good. As it turns out, he and I were able to walk back to his car--me carrying his fractured helmet.

I watched a few more laps and saw Eric "I don't need no early season races to crush it" Robertson hammering away in one of the fractured groups. JP was up there too. And Jan jumped back into the action of the cat 3 peloton too. Sadly no result for the Kissena 1/2/3s on this day, but we'll have to reload, train some more, and give it a go next time.

epilogue: The wind was nothing short of epic on this race day. Guys were absolutely getting blown sideways and practically backwards as we went from one stretch of road where rolling at 27 mph was no problem, to arching through a gravely right-hander where I was out of the saddle trying to grab wheels at 12mph. Other notable speed differences that might be of interest. By myself, on the tailwind stretch, I was going 31.5 mph on average (for me, this is fast). With the cat 3 group, we were going 33 to 35 mph. On the cross windy back stretch, I was cranking with a small group about 18-21. With the larger cat 3 group? Well, I was working too hard trying to catch an echelon to look at my speedo!

I think William rode hard:

http://www.oneimagingphotography.com/Cyclings/Settings-Kings-County-Kermesse/i-kmW96FS/1/M/moreaction-M.jpg

Chabanov should at least have the decency to look like he was hurting like the rest of us...smile on his face.

http://www.oneimagingphotography.com/Cyclings/Settings-Kings-County-Kermesse/16648798_q5jVVh#1255164108

why why why do i always look like such a cretin in these bike photographs?

Marc - that's Al, not Dan! (or was there a joke in there?)

William - at least you're in da drops.

nah, I don't know I guess my link didn't pull up the right pic. There was one of Chabanov sitting on some guys wheel who looks like he's suffering like a dog, while Dan is smiling like a jay bird.

Posted By: Marc Bertucconah, I don't know I guess my link didn't pull up the right pic. There was one of Chabanov sitting on some guys wheel who looks like he's suffering like a dog, while Dan is smiling like a jay bird.

this one?

http://www.oneimagingphotography.com/Cyclings/Settings-Kings-County-Kermesse/jeffgroupwiththepro12pack/1255164108_wSDZt4d-M-2.jpg

I had just told Dan a joke.

Back to the race. Originally, it looked like we'd have five Kissenas in the IIIs, but we only had William and Jan. We had two and then we had three in the pro/am (me, Marc, Robertson). Considering that the Garneau team had several in the IIIs, I suggested we try to get up there. The gap was big, three minutes, and there were more IIIs than pro/am riders. I'd wager that we started with maybe 15 or so and they maybe 30 or a bunch more.

When Ken Harris made his attack on the back of the course (the usual finish), I wasn't in great position. He had Gavi and Ben Woodbury (Mengoni) on his wheel. Chabanov was in front of me and letting the gap open, I think. I jumped by Dan,got to Ben just after he got blown off Gavi and Ken's wheel. I spent the next straight closing the gap and was just about there at turn four (the old second turn), but they started to eke out a bit of a gap. I was hurting. It was a brutal first lap. and I didn't make it. Wonder still if I could have hurt more and made it. But I think Ken was pulling at over 40mph the first time through the finish--and if I had caught, I would have had to make the new turn one (most guys were taking htis too wide) and slog through the long head-crosswind section on their wheel.

Second lap, Mengoni's new Dominican tried to bridge and a German guy went with. They bridged, but then the Dominican came off and hung a few seconds behind the lead three for a lap, and then died.

Mengoni saw their guy hanging out there and decided to ride. At this point, four mengoni's were chasing (two sitting on), with me, Roberston, and Kevin Rooney from Adler helping a bit. the four from Garneau weren't going to do a thing, nor was Jeff Kline (axis), and another guy parked himself seventh wheel and effectively blocked, though he didn't seem to have any teammates.

We gained ground on the IIIs slowly until Gavi and company caught the IIIs, and then you can pick up Marc's report for what happened.

At about nine laps to go, when we weren't making much of a dent, I started to think of Sunday's time trial. If I couldn't get a place, and couldn't get up to william (jan was dropped early) and couldn't help Eric, maybe I should do what I never do and just pull the plug. Two laps later, Jeff Cline attacked after sitting on until the lap before, and Eric and Brian Breach went with. I decided that was it.

in the pro/am, the Garneau guys didn't do anything at all until Cline's attack and the one guy came off of that. As for the others, it's hard to blame too many of them; we burned off most of them. The guy from Target Training did little even after the attack. The two sitting Mengoni's dropped out of the race. Cline frustrates me because he, after ensuring the race was lost, got aggressive and ended 7th.

Harris ended up pulling out of the race. Not sure if he blew or got a second flat. Brian Breach was the stud of the day. He went from working in the chase to getting in the split to catching the IIIs to attacking and getting away from the IIIs and finishing 4th.

don't know what the wind speed was but would like to htink it was over 40mph. Definitely the strongest wind I've experienced at FBF.

@John M.

I've been better, but thanks for asking. I was burying myself trying to catch on to a chasing group heading into the last lap and boom - I got eaten up by one of those crazy gusts, a seam in the road and a nasty pothole - and probably some shitty bike handling. Over the bars, into the tarmac. Got myself a 3rd degree shoulder separation, some very attractive road rash on my face, and a nice gash in my left knee that took 5 stitches. Luckily, nothing was broken. It could have been a lot worse - but I'm still pretty sore. A dude named Jeff from the Eastern Mountain Sports team offered me a lift home with my bike.

Planning to head to an orthopedist later this week. Any advice on here from anyone with a shoulder separation? How long till you you were back on the bike? Could you do anything in the meantime to maintain any condition?

Nice work out there, gents. Congrats on the win for Andrew & again to John M. (man you are just consistently crushing it!!!)

123 crew, sounds like a real tough day @ floyd [when isn't it?] but you gave it all you had. reboot and get 'em next time.


dstearns: ugh, terribly sorry to hear about your crash. heal quickly, ride the trainer if your dr. will allow it and check out these threads for tips/doctors. The second has some info on orthopedists.

http://kissena.info/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=207
http://kissena.info/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=178

Posted By: dstearns

Planning to head to an orthopedist later this week. Any advice on here from anyone with a shoulder separation? How long till you you were back on the bike? Could you do anything in the meantime to maintain any condition?

ouch!!! really sorry to hear about the crash. I think the advice you will hear repeated over and over again is REST REST REST. Do the exercises for the shoulder the orthopedist or PT suggests. then once you are confident healing is going in the right direction, get on the trainer a bit. Even when your legs feel fine injuries like that are a major shock to your system and need to be dealt with first.

Heal up, let us know if there is anything we can do for you.

Mike

rough day at KCK - After a few laps, i was the only Kissena in the 3's, so i tried to race very carefully and conservatively, but this was not always possible.

latched onto the gavi/ken harris/german spaceship as it barreled through our field. al and i stayed with for almost a lap - good lord they went fast. being in the draft meant just about nothing!

spent the rest fo the race waiting for the mini break of clerico, cline and sean barry to come back. when it never did, i attacked hard (a highly relative term) coming into the usual finishing straight and drew out al and a STRONG scotto's rider. we were caught a lap later by what remained of the 3 field. at this point i was feeling intensely foggy and my the power in my legs was dropping rapidly. racing on saturday took a lot of focus, and a lot of scrunching up into the tiniest shape possible (which is rough on the ass and hands). once a lap, you were guaranteed a full-out effort to catch wheels as we turned into the wind. with two to go, i was popped of the back one last time as we entered the back stretch and the headwind. i spent the last two laps riding alone, trying to pick up stragglers, and generally trying to finish strong, even though my legs were crumbling.

my favorite part of the day was on the last lap, when some guy i passed wouldn't pull but wouldn't let me go. that was totally understandable, as he probably just wanted to get back to the start/finish before his clothes blew off, but it wanted to ride in solo. coming into the tailwind on the final lap, i did the whole attack-hard-and-wide move, shed him quickly, and rode in full gas. this was cool for me because i got to practice something i see stronger guys do in races all the time, and hopefully, i'll be a little more confident to try that move knowing that i've done it once and it worked (albeit on a very exhausted straggler in an out-of=the=money situation). i think this put me in the top 15, but i may never know.

i rode back to al's house feeling completely shelled and once i had eaten and showered i walked my bike to the 2 train to get back uptown. as soon as i had entered the car and flopped over on the bench, the conductor came out and said the track was broken and we should just get off. however, instead of riding 1 mile north and getting on the A/C i rode all the way back up to 111st . . . in the rain . . . in the headwind . . . ugh. i don't know why i did this, but that much more unpleasantness really felt like only a nominal increase in discomfort after what i'd already gone through.

all that said, i love these long floyd races - totally completely hard and incredibly worth it.

hat's off to charlie I. and everyone else who braved the wind.

dstearns,

I had a 3rd degree shoulder separation from a mishandled flying leap off of a whooped-de-doo in a cross race years back. My best advice is to follow up on all prescribed physical therapy. I was in a sling for a week or two or something like that. Then trainer rides were a-okay. I felt like I wasn't off the bike too long at all.

-Marc