You ain't cool unless you get called out by NYvelocity commentariat douches.

I would say less a sand bagger and more of an amateur-athlete-who-is-quite-obviously-superior-to-many-of-his-racing-companions-and-has-thusly-accumulated-many-points-to-move-on-up-to-the-bigs.

Seriously though, when I mentioned the "sand bagger" stuff yesterday, it was genuinely my way of saying that you're a monster rider and am genuinely thrilled to even be in a race with you, never mind being on the same team.

Don't take any shit Andy - it's tradition. If you win you are a sandbagger if you don't you are a nobody.

NyVelocity posters are a nasty crowd; doubly so the ones who just got beat.

You are rocking it after a lot of hard work - and it's not like you are put there screaming "too easy!" when you win...

I said this on Facebook, but it bears repeating. Andy isn't sandbagging, he's learning how to race at the front and win. Too many riders think just because they can ride real fast in the middle of a pack, they are ready to be a category "X."

A few more top performances like this and yeah, Andy will probably be required to upgrade, and he'll be ready. He'll be more than ready, he'll be ready to race in the top 1/3 of a Cat 3 field...not just hanging on at the back.

The upgrade points system is there for a reason. It may not be perfect, and that's why USA Cycling officials like Eric Ragot can exercise some discretion when judging upgrade requests.

Nice job Da Silva!

Photo courtesy Victor Chan (FB page)

Harlem was easy and hard at the same time.  My computer reports an average speed of 29.3mph for the race and normalized power of 249w.  Looking at the graph, turn one was the easiest, and turn four the hardest.  Turn one the field slows down and out of four it speeds up.  Every lap I'd have four spikes of at least 500w for a few seconds.  Some laps the spikes were over 650w.

responding/reacting to JPs post...

From a spectators point of view, the last 3 laps of this race was all Team Rudy Project (German track team here for T-town stuff) killing it at the front for their guy.

True crits around here are hard to come by. It would be nice if they opened up BaseCamp International to cat 2s. It would also be nice of Somerville was more than 10 minutes long. But if you can swing it with work and family, there's a pretty nice build-up possible starting Memorial Day Weekend...Raritan (of course you'd have to skip the the big RR) Bound Brook, Somerville, and I also found White Plains extremely legit. This year, there was a conflict, but the race in New Jersey on that same day was good hard technical crit.

Good greif.  TWO "RBNY" guys busted their collarbones in the 4's - apparently Ernesto had a front wheel blowout in a turn.  Feels like it's been a crashy season.

i only clicked "disagree" above because it was the word next to the sad face

Brendan Rigby said:

i only clicked "disagree" above because it was the word next to the sad face

Yeah

Speaking of crashes. Respect to Daniel who got wiped out by a full tilt crash right on the S-F. The guy corralling the free lap riders didn't seem to be doing such a great job of getting riders back into the main field—giving them a standing start and making them chase back on!? Anyway, Daniel just brushed himself off and dove back into the action like it was some ice hockey game.

Respekt to JP, Ragot and Marc - the Pros/1/2s looked fast. The Germans were the epitomy of er, teutonic efficiency at the end - they set their boy up well (3 man lead out I think).

And just to join in the multiple congrats to the 4s, props to "Sandbagger" Da Silva (WTF is with that btw? How can you be sandbagging if you're still in that cat?) - wait till we get this fella in even better form on the track ;-)

It was good to meet / see again a bunch of you. One thing I forgot to ask @Marc B and @alyoshas - when are we gonna get you out on the track...? ;-)

@mugwump, you looked good. I was wondering how you got to the back late in the race. Good save.

There's still Fair Haven and Basking Ridge. You can get your crit fix out there. I would... if I could move my arm.

I stole my victory salute from Howard Dean . Just in case you were wondering.

final crash: the red guy didn't hold his line through the turn. Swept the wheel of the guy behind him.
initial crash: can't see how it happened, but it looked ugly.

people who yell at other people in the pack should be avoided. Polite on your left/right are sometimes acceptable, but that's about it, unless a break is trying to get organized and people have differences of opinion (and oxygen debt).

Brendan Rigby said:

• 27:58 i decide to go for a prime

Sounded like you coulda kept it going and established a break-away.

That Colnago at 47:22 is HOT. 

props for dudes racin on steel

Hahaha I remember that Columbia from my collegiate racing days. He once spit on my teammate then said "... Your welcome for the shower". Another time he screamed at me for riding in my drops mid pack. Professing that I should only Be in the drops while on the front and that i was a danger to everyone. He would later go on to cause a huge crash in that same race. I thought some hot head undergrads from Drexel were going to jump him after the race.

The Columbia team did their best to distance themselves from him.

Only ride in the drops when you're off the front?  Sage advice.  What about the fact that you get better leverage over the brake and shifting lever, and lower center of gravity for cornering, when in the drops?  Ehhh... he needs to man up and accept perineum discomfort. 

super results! 4s esp. Andy&Brenden's debut...&2 rene! all n all a great day of racing @Harlem Crit; sorry did'nt make it out even as spectator(still licking saturdays wounds)...appreciate reports&images. 29+ avg is nuts!
h:-)

eli fuld from cosmic carve wrote a report about the 4's http://iamelicurtfuld.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/harlem-skyscraper-classic-on-the-16th-of-june-2013/

Nice race report with photos.

I'll reg for the 4s once it's open.

Usually a good KCC turnout for this one. You'll have plenty of cheers before and after. The race for amateurs has improved since Charlie took it over. We now have race distances that are more appropriate for our ability levels and the time of year.

Now the bad. The course, despite being a simple 4-corner crit, has always had a few dicey turns due to pavement issues and narrowness. JP has recently noted that in efforts to slow car traffic for increased pedestrian safety (yay!), they've re-engineered the streets somewhat that will make some of the turns even more challenging. I haven't recon-ed the course yet personally.

That said, I'll likely still race it. Often attracts an interesting regional/international crew (owing largely to the fact that many Euro pro trackies live in nearby T-town all summer...last year it was German dudes with beards) in the Pro 1/2 event.