What is everyone up to?

Ragot and I are registered for the L&C Cup PRO123 race on Saturday. Still plenty of room in that race.

WDC and I are reg'd for the 3s at Housatonic.

Anyone else?

Housatonic for me...

Doers of the double...

I'm only saying this because I really want Perlberg to win his 4th set of wheels in 18 months (awesome prizes for cat 3s, 4s and 5s), but the climbs at Housatonic are decisive. And L&C races can be no joke too. Kidding aside, I just want to make sure eyes are wide open going into a hard weekend of racing.

As for me, I'm currently undecided. On the one hand, I'm not happy that there isn't a master's category at Housatonic for me to race (I don't get excited about racing against pro tour riders wearing club jerseys anymore, I just get annoyed and want to hand them my entry fee directly). On the other, only 8 people have signed up for Housatonic in the 1/2/3 field and they pay 12 deep. Lack of registration for this event sort of perplexes me. This race is famous for, among other things, so many participants that there is a line snaked out the school auditorium and onto the steps of the building waiting for number pick up. And yet this year? Well, I assume by Tuesday, many fence-sitters like myself will have pulled out their credit cards to register, but still, this race has been a monument of New England racing for years and I would have assumed a bigger 1/2/3 field by now.

FYI, Cat 2 Harlem points race is only 5 guys from having a full field.

I have pulled out of Harlem, so there is more room. Plus Mitch Jacaruso is registered as a 2, but is not.

Posted By: eragotI have pulled out of Harlem, so there is more room. Plus Mitch Jacaruso is registered as a 2, but is not.

But he is the number 1 cat 3 crit racer in the nation so he gets an automatic entry I think.

I'm registered as a CAT 4 for Harlem, I probably wont make it as there is not enough time between housatonic and harlem. If anyone wants my spot and feels like getting in touch with the race promoter (My emails to him received no response) abouut getting a reg. transferred it's all yours

Alright, so after looking at the start list for the 1/2/3 Housatonic race, I figured my energies would be better spent contesting the local events. So I'll be at L&C on Saturday and Harlem on Sunday.

I'll be at L&C and Harlem.

JP...going to keep this discussion public...in the interest of, "sharing is good."

It's hard to know exactly what the dynamics are going to be with a points race in the streets, but if it's anything like a points race on the track, we should be able to help each other out despite our small numbers (namely, just the two of us, as far as I can tell).

I only recently realized that our race is actually and cat 2/3 race and so that means we'll have about 70 jamokes to deal with...which is not ideal for the points race format, but so it goes.

If Eustice sticks to true point race format, any riders who lap the field will automatically be in winning position, regardless of who wins points in the sprints once you make contact with the back of the pack. Of course assuming there are multiple jamokes who have lapped the field, y'all will have to sprint each other. And I'm going to assume you are going to want to launch off the front a couple of 3 million times to try and make that happen.

Conversely, one of the reasons I decided to do this race was specifically to work on my positioning and sprinting, so I'm not going to be looking for the breakaways so much. I'm just going to hope that you are in the dangerous ones, so I can't slow shit up in the corners (which I am awesome at, if I do say so myself) for you. And then get in my sprints when it's time--since you usually have good positioning, help keeping me where I need to be when I need to be would be much appreciated. I can't promise you Bedzek like sprint wins, but I've looking forward to giving it a go regardless.

Looks like Jan has been "wait-listed" for Cat 3s. We'll see if he jumps into this conversation online. If not we can try and touch base with him through his email to see if he'd like to join in the team tactics. He'd be a great motor if you both can get in a small group and work together. He also isn't afraid of the sprint.

I am supposed to be getting a refund as I have to do housatonic. Have jp reach out to john to transfer my entry instead

Marc,
I wrote John about the entry fee transfer. Haven't heard back yet.

With so many jamokes (aka jiboffos, jibonies, etc.), I think the best thing to do it attack early and often. I'm willing to lose some sprints in an effort to knock the weak and unlucky out of the race. Looking at the start list, I see Ken Harris is there. He will go on the first lap. I intend to either be there before him or go with him. That could be the race right there. There are several others to watch for in breakaways, and I'll be looking for them and talking with them. Dave Wells owes me for Somerville, so maybe I can get him to help. Yes, I can position and will, but you're going to have to let me know you're there. I want to be rocketing around the last corner with you on my wheel.

And, post-race Saturday, let's ride the Sunday course. Check out the potholes and such. I suggested to Eustice that he powerwash the turns. I don't know if he was blowing smoke, but he did seem intrigued by the idea.

So far, 50 registered for 1/2/3 L&C Cup this weekend

We've got thusfar:
David Stokes Kissena
Lennard Katz Kissena Cycling Club
Eric Ragot Kissena Cycling Club
Michael Perlberg Kissena Cycling Club
J.p. Partland Kissena Cycling Club
Rene Herrera Kissena cycling club
Marc Bertucco Kissena Cycling Club

Mengoni has a nearly full squad. There are some good Jersey riders as well.

Riders to watch on other teams thusfar: Dioslaki (Metra muscle guy), Ricky Garguilo (not to be confused with his dad Rick,also in the race, also on Colavita), John Durso (Colavita), Colin Jaskewicz (blank jersey), a sprinter. Giancarlo Bianchi is back in town for the weekend, I expect he'll be aggressive as well.

Posted By: mugwumpMarc,
I wrote John about the entry fee transfer. Haven't heard back yet.

With so many jamokes (aka jiboffos, jibonies, etc.), I think the best thing to do it attack early and often. I'm willing to lose some sprints in an effort to knock the weak and unlucky out of the race. Looking at the start list, I see Ken Harris is there. He will go on the first lap. I intend to either be there before him or go with him. That could be the race right there. There are several others to watch for in breakaways, and I'll be looking for them and talking with them. Dave Wells owes me for Somerville, so maybe I can get him to help. Yes, I can position and will, but you're going to have to let me know you're there. I want to be rocketing around the last corner with you on my wheel.

And, post-race Saturday, let's ride the Sunday course. Check out the potholes and such. I suggested to Eustice that he powerwash the turns. I don't know if he was blowing smoke, but he did seem intrigued by the idea.

With a 4 corner crit, I expect it will be hard to drop too many jablokatrons. But you're right, if Ken Harris goes, one of us better be on that freight train's wheel, because that could be the ticket to lapping the field. I'll definitely let you know if/when I need some leadout help. I'm going for sprint points every time they ring that bell. I've been known to do well in a track race or two in my day. We'll see if I can discover some hybrid retro-styling magic to take me to the land of points.

As far as Saturday's L&C race, it looks like, because the CRCA zombies will be busy getting screamed at by Dave Jordan of Dave Jordan presents the fat and fabulous fry-baby-boys, Kissena and Mengoni are the two power teams. Smaller field should give us a better shot at controlling things. Especially if we all take turns doing damage at the front.

David Stokes was showing off some excellent leg speed and track-like smoothness at the crit workshop and I expect he'll do his thing on Saturday. Rene has proven that he can be there at the end of the race to go for the sprint, so I'd like him to step up and be aggressive and present at the front of the race early on. If Perlberg isn't exhausted from 150 days of racing this month, he and JP have the motors to be serious breakaway threats. Ragot, if he's still sharp from his recent top performances in races will be a serious threat, if he feels like mixing it up, in the sprints. Katz has plenty of experience and isn't afraid to throw it down, so I expect he'll be there too. I'm overdue for a good team performance and so I'm motivated to do what needs to be done for the team.

One interesting possibility is for Ragot and JP to team up with Ragot using explosive speed to get a break going, with JP ready to take over when ER's legs blow. A couple of Kissena's, couple of Mengoni's, some of those Jersey guys? That would be a nice little break.

Do we have any jersey contenders? Are we battling for points there? Of course, if we've got guys just "motorpacing" or spinning their legs loose for Sunday, then that changes things--a lot. And I get that. Hell, I wouldn't be racing Saturday at all if I were trying to do well at Housatonic. But since I'm not, I'm racing full throttle on Saturday.

Marc -

I will do whatever the team wants tomorrow. I am tied for KOM and 1 point back in the green jersey - and I will try to snag those points if I'm in the right situation, but I don't think the team should focus on that.

Let me know my role and I'll play it.

I am team player then chill to be ready for sunday.

Marc, Ragot, JP and co. Looking for some insights:
Kissena has 17/61 entries so far in Cat 4 L&C Saturday. I'll probably be in the green jersey, Joe is KOM (18pts clear, but upgrading after this).
I haven't checked with Dan, but our plan will likely be dividing into jersey teams and defining a winning lead-out order. Would be great to hear what you guys would do with those kinds of numbers.

17-man all-out paceline for the entire race, with a 2.5-lap leadout train.

8 people, 2 deep across the front of the field. No one gets by. One person rides away solo.

Of course folks would right away jump in the joggers lane. But that's cheating.

I say all 17 sit in and wait for the sprint.

This is kind of ridiculous (and hilarious). Maybe they should cap teams to 12 guys or something, even if it is a "Kissena race."

In any case, we should definitely ALL be at the front at the starting line. People will freak.

John,
You guys could even go with three squads, six for the KoM, six for the sprints, and five for the finish. However, keep in mind, the numbers, provided it doesn't rain, will be closer to 17/100.

I think the two squads and defining the leadout order makes sense. Just to make things more interesting, I'd also have some attackers for the final few laps. Have some pre-determined spots when two Kissena riders launch off the front, and if they're caught, are countered by two more. If you have a 7-man leadout train, that's 10 guys for blowing the field to pieces in an effort to get away in the final laps. Might make it easier to sprint as it could dump some of the weak and unlucky and burn some matches of other sprinters.

As for the 1/2/3, Marc you want to call this?

My feeling is watch for a strong early move, then have guys ready to counter the KoM's and sprints, particularly the last of each, in the hopes that we can use the separations, confusion, and fatigue to spring one or two of us in a group. Who goes when we need to decide.

JP, I'm going to be out of pocket the rest of the night, but your plan sounds good. We really don't want to have the field re-group after the KOM sprints in particular, and if we have guys close enough we can keep the hard going. For example, I'm probably going to take a shot at one or two of the sprints and if I'm shut out in say 5th position, you can count on me to keep driving until I blow at which point bridger-uppers can go at it. For example, I after a hard effort up the climb to the sprint, if we have a gap, I can probably hold off a small chasing group until the tree covered stretch on the high side just before it opens up into the downhill section. After that if we've got a kissena or two in a small group, that might be a nice way to get and stay away for multiple laps providing all the stars are in line.

All,

since we don't have a sprinter who can match Ricky or Scott or Jermaine or Pollo or Colin or Lynn, we shouldn't save a person for the sprint. We should have a sprint strategy, but it's more where we're going to be when, and then move up together and take it from there. I'd rather people who want to sprint cover moves early, like the first four laps, then rest up for a spell, then get back in the mix at the end.

If I'm in the field, watch for me on the last lap. I can just about always get into the top ten with a mile to go. If there are others by me, we can do something together.

I am more of the be active early and then try to help do something in the sprint.
I am not riding on Friday (nap, rest, just taking it easy), so my legs will be a bit tight at the beginning.

I say we try to meet up before the start, a quick huddle by registration.

Cat 1/2/3 Race Report. It was good. I think I'm happier than most of the guys about how it shook out, but we rode a great team race for a Pro Continental squad battling against ProTour Mengonis and the like. We had JP, Ragot, Rene, Stokes, Strika, Katz, Perlberg, and myself.

If you scroll up, you'll see JP and I plotted out a loose plan that we made happen--which is a minor miracle in and of itself. The gun goes off, JP is second wheel, the guy out front is riding kind of slowish, so I attack up on the right side up the hill. I'm not putting myself in the red here, but my medium hard is enough to get a nice little gap with JP and crew blocking in back. I crest the climb, with one guy on my wheel and so we start trading pulls. And then here comes trouble. Namely Perlberg in the green kit of sprint point champ, and some other dude. Nice. group of 4, 2 kissenas. Legit gap.

After a lap in front I start to struggle and about 1/2 lap later I get popped but as I'm falling back I see a fierce group flying by including some serious heavy hitters (JP can fill in names) and Ragot! Woo-hooooo! I do a quick headcount. 10 riders, 2 Kissena's. I'm liking those numbers.

Perlberg and Ragot will have to fill in the details from the break, but back in the field, we're in full blocking mode. Which is not as easy as it sounds. I got me some tired legs, but I'm seeing all kinds of blue and orange jerseys at the front of the field. Shutting things down, riding hard and smart. All of the big sprinters were caught out. Ricky "I'm actually a linebacker for the Giants" Lowe even told some jamoke from another team to go chase that break down. I loved it. The sprinters would have to work for more than 200 meters for once.

Coming into the last two laps things started getting sloppy, with guys putting in their last ditch efforts. Rene, JP and Ragot all spent time in last 2-3 lap groups off the front. In the end, Perlberg got spit out with a couple of Mengonis from the lead break, but Ragot was there to unleash a nice sprint to clean up for 9th place.

Again, I'm very pleased with how the team rode. Everyone participated and while we didn't podium, we had one of our best motors in the winning break for all but a few laps. And if that guy gets dropped along with Brian Breech and the mysterious new Mengoni, you know it was a BRUTAL pace. I think he said his average HR was like 185bpm. Yikes...I hope he's got legs left over for tomorrow at Housatonic!

Short report: Ragot 9th.

Long report: Marc rolled off the front on the first time up the hill. He took one guy with him. The field was letting gaps open up or me and some iron riders guy just kinda rolled off the front. I figured, if they're letting us go, let's go. We motored up to Marc, and the 4 of us worked for a lap.

2nd time up the hill, Durso comes charging by me in the yellow jersey. I jump right on it and pull through. Looking back, we have a break of about 10 guys. Ragot is with us, and then he is gone. It was hard hard hard right from the start.

I'll let this person from nyvelocity tell the story: since he got it mostly right (except the ending)

--------------------------------------

Today’s Pro 1-2-3 race @ Prospect Park went down kind of like this. A breakaway formed approximately 2 laps into the race. Representation in the breakaway was 100% complete with the exception of United and Foundation. The breakaway consisted of the following: Augusto Sanchez, MEngoni, Stephan Dioslaki, Metra/Cycles 54 John Durso Colavita, Rafael Urzadowski Northeast, Ricky Gargulio Colavita, Brian Breach Mengoni, ?? JV Guy, and Michael Perlberg. Amazingly, all of the leaders’ jerseys (Sprinter’s KOM and overall leader) were represented in this group. A huge gap quickly opened up and United & Foundation were unable to close it down. Dioslaki took the 2 sprinter’s jersey laps for the day. Sanchez (already the KOM leader) took the 2nd KOM lap and it was at that point that things got mixed up a bit in the breakaway. Three guys fell out. Breach, JV guy and Perlberg were unable to hold on after the climb. Sanchez also fell off but after making a big effort, was able to tag back on to the leaders group. So it became 5 guys in the lead with Breach, JV and Perlberg in the “chase group” and the field well behind them. Things stayed that way for the duration of the race. In the end, Gargulio made a huge attempt approx ½ mile out with Durso (GC leader) hot on his tail. Sanchez jumped aboard and passed Durso and then it was Dioslaki. In the finishing sprint, Dioslaki passed Durso and barely missed overtaking Sanchez who ended up winning the race. Results were as follows:

1. Augusto Sanchez Mengoni
2. Stephan Dioslaki Metra/Cycles 54
3. John Durso Colavita
4. Rafael Urzadowski Northeast
5. Ricky Gargulio Colavita
6. Brian Breach Mengoni
7. JV Guy
8. Michael Perlberg

27.4 mph avg speed
45 miles total length

---------------------------------
What really happened is on the LAST lap, Breach dropped me on the top of the climb. I chased him and JV guy (Stalin) dangling about 50 yards behind them for the remainder of the race. With about 100m to go Ragot and 2 others fly by me. I think maybe I hung on for 11th.

I got 2 points in the green so I think I'm leading that still. Kinda cool. I did everything I could to conserve energy and stay with the group - it was hard as shit, right from the start. I was certainly the weakest link - I didn't even attempt the KOMs because that would made me drop myself from the break. Every time I pulled through someone else was right there coming through. I could have put myself in a better position knowing a split was likely to forum after the KOM - that was the only thing I could have done better. I think.

Legs up, recovering for the rest of the day. Great job Ragot and the rest of the dudes.

Mike was off, I bridged to the break on the 2nd lap up the hill - ouchy.
That meant that I should have just hung on to recover, but instead I got right to the front and kept it going. Hit the downhill at full steam and was just in extremis. FOr the 7 minutes I was in the break, my normalized power was 440w, my average HR was 179. These days, that HR number means bad things. I went back to the field, stayed up front and played gatekeeper on the United led chase.

They eventually gave up and the field eased. Rene smartly rode a wheel across to a two man dangling group. It looked like it would stick, so RIcky actually bridged across on the downhill. With two to go, that group came back.

At the temple coming into one to go, Kevin McNeil of Major Taylor took off with Rob Brown, his teammate on his wheel and kept it floored. A JV rider was with them. So I bridged up and held on for a bit and as Kevin pulled off, we found ourselves with a gap. So, we went for it. As we started up the hill, I see Mike and two others up ahead - uh oh, we have to be careful about the field using us as a lure and pulling Mike back. So I ease up, but we are still gaining ground. After the top of the hill, it looked like we were safe, so I started working again. I had the rear position coming into the sprint as we passed a gassed Mike.

I never felt good all day, but I managed to get the legs turning enough to take second in the sprint. Good enough for 9th.

Good teamwork. OK result.


Housatonic or Hurtalotic tomorrow.

OH, power wars:


Peak 5s (1144 watts)
Peak 10s (1018 watts)
Peak 20s (873 watts)
Peak 30s (803 watts)
Peak 1min (621 watts)
Peak 2min (463 watts)
Peak 5min (365 watts)
Peak 10min (329 watts)
Peak 20min (284 watts)
Peak 30min (275 watts)
Peak 60min (257 watts)


Normalized was 313, making it a reasonably hard race, despite sitting at the front and not working.

that NY Velocity poster is nuts. I don't think a single Foundation rider was in the race. However, there were at least five Major Taylor riders in the race and at least four Axis riders. Neither team was willing to help WS United with the chase. And the Major Taylor guys only came to life after the race was lost, with less than four to go.

A small note on getting Marc sprung. He assumed that if he applied pressure up the hill, I'd give him a gap. Which I did. When he came by, the BVF guy who was in front of me latched onto his wheel. All I did was keep my pace steady as they added a little power. I assume the field must have been single-file, as I gave them several bike lengths before anyone came by me. Not a big thing, I know Eric, Marc, Myles, etc., would have done the same. However, small moments like this can make the difference in a race. We have no business keeping the field together for a sprint, so starting the games at the very beginning can work in our favor. And rather than forcing marc to go deep to get away, a few seconds advantage can be a good headstart and force the others to work. It's easier to do this sort of thing at a corner or pinch point or a spot where the field doesn't have good sight lines, but can be done anywhere.

While Eric and Mike can brag about high power, this was actually my easiest prospect race of the season. I got into what was the third group on the last lap and didn't pull. I was hoping to ace the sprint. Unfortunately, the guys I was with were more interested in looking around. We got caught by the sprinters, and while I dusted the rest of that group I was with, I got beat by Ricky and Scott and a few others. Probably should have pulled just to keep the gap from the field constant and only refused to pull when we started to get within striking distance of Eric's group or the finish, whichever came first.