Hey ya'll
Over at Rutgers:
https://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=13601

Easy drive, fun course.

Come on out.

Who is in? I will do the Cat 3 race.

Curious, no Pro 1/2 category...

Well, I'll plan on racing the 35+ event then.

I'm registered for the Cat4 and M35+

I'm a possible for the Cat 4 and/or 35+.

I'd be down with doing the Cat4 and 35+ if I can score a ride from somebody. I'll pay for gas, and bring post-race "recovery" beverages.

Hoping to do the 4s and 35+. will decide by 6 tomorrow (end of prereg). could give a ride to a couple folk, leaving from Park Slope if I do.

Ill see if I can do 35+ as well

Well, I'll be a son of a gun. We might have a nice little 35+ team for this weekend...

I'm in for the 3's. Too bad they don't have a 3/4 race or 1/2/3 so I could race twice

I'm signed up now for the Cat4/5 and the 35+

I'm also signed up for the 4/5 and 35+.

Ditto: signed for 4/5 & 35+

Yon

Here is a suggestion for the Sunday group ride:

CP->GWB->Greenwood lake NJ -> Harriman SP ->Bear Mtn -> Garison RRS
94.8 Miles

Attached is cue-sheet which, in my opinion, has too many unnecessary turns on the first half.

Yon

Here are NJ Transit directions from the promoter

The New Brunswick train station is pretty close. It's Northeast Corridor on NJTransit. I'd say it's a 3 mile ride from there and very easy to get to. From the train station, ride north on Albany St/Rt 27 across the bridge towards Highland Park. Turn left immediately after the bridge on River Rd. Go about 1/2 mile and turn right on Cedar Lane. After about a 1/4 mile (at the top of the hill) turn left and that will take you right to the course.

I am in for the 4/5

I'm only eligible for one race, so I'm leaning toward skipping this one in favor of one of my favorite interval workouts:

Ride to 9W (~1 hr)

Do the following twice:
3:00 max
3:00 easy
2:00 max
2:00 easy
1:00 max
5:00 easy
5:00 tempo
5:00 easy

Ride home (~1 hr)

35+ Watermelon-ballers:

Most of you are doing 2 races, I'm eligible for one only. What's your plan? Team riding or doing your own thing? My aim is to place in the money, and if the last few weeks are any indication, its a realistic goal.

I really enjoy riding as a team and happy to work to help get someone who feels good in the money.

Marc,

Since the 35+ race is going to be my second of the day, I am very willing to do what I can to help you out to win or place in this race. So let us know what the plan is, and I will certainly do what I can to make that happen.

I have no idea what I'll be able to do tomorrow. In the 2 weeks since I returned from Italy (where I missed a big goal for me by a small margin) I've suffered from a total lack of motivation. To the extent that my race bike is still sealed in it's flight case.
I've ridden once - for an hour round the park. Oh and now I have a cold !

Anyway ... enough whining from me. I'm hoping that pinning a number on tomorrow re-motivates me. So I'll maybe try some crazy $hit in the 4's !

And if anyone sees me just hanging out at the back feel free to berate me and poke me with sticks.

I have perhaps an idiotic question, which answer maybe obvious to many of you: where and how do you find who is pre-registered for a race? Thnx

If the event is on Bikereg.com, there is a link "confirmed riders"on the upper right.

Ian,

Focus on getting a good long warm-up if for no other reason than to help get your body loose and stretched out and used to the bike again. Crits generally explode right from the gun and a proper warm-up will give you your best shot at racing well. Try to ride today, even if it's for 40 minutes easy with a few leg opening efforts.

Thanks Stef/Marc !

Further to Marc's points above, below is an excerpt from a related email i got from Jeff Vogel (Settanta)
,,
Hey Yon,
I see you're registered for 2 races at Watermelon. the big field in the first race should be good for you. The smaller field of 35+ riders will be much, much harder. Give it all in the first race and don't worry about the second.
And in case your teammates haven't warned you, you need a good warmup for a summer crit. you should expect the first few laps to be brutal.
Crits are all about getting and maintaining good position. if you sit in the back, you have to sprint out of every corner. Once the pace settles down you should try to move up to the front third of the field and stay there.


Good luck.
jeff ''

35+ Race Report:



Heading to the start line I saw two things that made me happy. The first were big melons. Watermelons mostly, although I think I saw a few cantaloupes in there too. Also heard "apple pie" prime, which reminded me of my old club's crit back in Chicago, where hands down, the best prime/prize of the day had to be a jar of Mama Delgado's homemade salsa. Whenever I go back, I ask my old teammate if his mom has made up any of her famously good salsa lately. This small crit just had a nice feel to it and what appeared, at first to be a dull course, turned out to be challenging enough to keep things interesting. Which is why I was really pumped to see many Kissena teammates ready to race...again (they had already done battle with the cat 4s earlier in the day). That was the second thing that made me happy.

At the start of the race we had Ian Elis, myself, James Nelson, Dan Reiners and Dan Strika. From the gun the pace was fierce with attacks left and right all day long. And that's the thing about these smaller races, they usually end up being pretty damn hard. Fewer places to hide. Plus with a bigger team, we had responsibilities. And the guys rode great. Each taking up after each other after legs got blown. Recover in the pack, push to the front and do it over again. For about 20 minutes we were golden. Then things started falling apart as riders not in Kissena colours were flying up the rode.


Near the end of our 40-minute race, Coming back from a harder effort at the front, I dropped anchor pretty bad as guys were counter attacking up the gentle rise/headwind stretch. Uh-oh. Reiners flys by me and says, reassuringly, "Don't worry, I got this." Nice. I'm losing speed a little too quickly though and more guys are flying by, including Dan Strika, who says, "get on." That was just the encouragement I needed to pick up the pace. And he started moving me through the pack back to the front. Our team was on the wrong half of a split and with just about 4 laps to go we needed to get up there in a hurry. Strika kept on the gas hard giving me a nice ride through turns four, one and two. I pulled to the front after he flicks an elbow, but I just don't have enough to get up to the group. With one lap to go, I was in a trio of riders that was within 15 seconds of the lead group, but that was as close as it got. I got kicked out of the moving bus in no-man's land for about 1/2 a lap before getting caught and passed by a few riders from the peleton on the home stretch.

The team really rode very well, in what was an aggressive hard-charging race. I'm sorry I couldn't come through in the end for them, but we're on the right track. We literally covered everything, but the race winning breakaway...of course. Looking forward to the next time we get to race together. That is, if Eric doesn't follow through with his threats to bust me down to a Cat 5.

Quick Cat 3 race report: Eric and I lined up with 30 or so guys. I sat in for the first 20 minutes or so, trying to be patient and not too agressive. A group of 4 was up the road. I bridged up, hard. Caught them, sat in, then started working. A small group joined us, but then the field caught us. Seemed like a good move, but the bridge effort really but me in the red. I spent the next 20 minutes recovering. Meanwhile 2 guys road away.

Eric tried to organize a chase and also tried bridging. He was solo for awhile but caught.

I started feeling recovered with about 5 to go. I attacked and was solo for awhile, then joined by Peter of BVF and Dan from Die Hard. We had a nice gap and worked well. With 1.5 to go ragot bridged but the field was closing fast. Our group seemed confused, tired, and hesistant. I attacked and gave it my all solo. Caught between turn 3 and 4. Ragot hung in for 10th in the sprint.

I actually had a blast, it was the first crit I've finished. Course was easy and fun.

Props to Marc, his wife and dog, and Jim and Dan for cheering. Also yummy beers post race, yay!

Mike

Quick Cat 3 race report: Eric and I lined up with 30 or so guys. I sat in for the first 20 minutes or so, trying to be patient and not too agressive. A group of 4 was up the road. I bridged up, hard. Caught them, sat in, then started working. A small group joined us, but then the field caught us. Seemed like a good move, but the bridge effort really but me in the red. I spent the next 20 minutes recovering. Meanwhile 2 guys road away.

Eric tried to organize a chase and also tried bridging. He was solo for awhile but caught.

I started feeling recovered with about 5 to go. I attacked and was solo for awhile, then joined by Peter of BVF and Dan from Die Hard. We had a nice gap and worked well. With 1.5 to go ragot bridged but the field was closing fast. Our group seemed confused, tired, and hesistant. I attacked and gave it my all solo. Caught between turn 3 and 4. Ragot hung in for 10th in the sprint.

I actually had a blast, it was the first crit I've finished. Course was easy and fun.

Props to Marc, his wife and dog, and Jim and Dan for cheering. Also yummy beers post race, yay!

Mike

So close Mike. Nice work Eric

Power files face off time...


Peak 5s (1092 watts)
Peak 10s (930 watts)
Peak 20s (821 watts)
Peak 30s (711 watts)
Peak 1min (610 watts)
Peak 2min (475 watts)
Peak 5min (375 watts)
Peak 10min (314 watts)
Peak 20min (301 watts)
Peak 30min (291 watts)
Peak 60min (268 watts)


GIven the Whitey / Perlberg Power rivalry... I call it 50 watts in Mike's favor.

I predict the Ragot / Perlberg showdown will be about 50 watts in my favor. Perhaps a bit more on the shorter stuff.

Hard race that I report something like this:

bridged to a solo early, hit my elbow with my knee - it went dead with pins and needles for a lap.

stayed at the front and got in some moves, rotated through, but it didn't seem like much was happeneing. wondered where perlberg was.

he goes at about 20 min into the 60minute race. It seems to be a good move, Pat Gelinneau bridges into the headwind section - when he goes its usually because the race is on the line. A lap later I start my bridge. Takes me 3 laps (about 5 minutes) and I get there and it starts to fall apart. Nice...

The two guys roll off (Andrew Clerico and some unknown). I don't bridge because I'm like there is no way... Later, I get to within 10 seconds, but couldn't get through the headwind well on one lap and the gap grew again. Went to the back, rested. I couldn't believe that the pack was really racing for 3rd.

Mike went, he got a gap and got a 3 man chase. I bridged over the course of 2.5 laps and when I attacked to get away, I ended up off the road on dirt, grass and a driveway before I got back onto the pavement. THe bridge hurt bad. We got caught at the bell. Mike kept going. He was getting caught and I noticed that there was a separation and I jumped on the back. I decided to give an effort to sprint. It wasn't that fast, but whatevs...

Good racing by Mike and me. However, the field didn't really want to win, they were afraid to do so. Some guys were so allergic to the wind, it was scary.

E