Looks like about a 2 hour ride south. Daniel, Richard H and myself are going to be doing the Saturday 4/5 race. Anyone else interested in heading out? The lovely-sounding 40/80 mile FBF road race got canceled.

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=13666

Nice! I'll be in my old Philly stomping ground for the weekend and doing both Sat & Sun. I didn't think anyone would actually be down in South Jersey but it'll be great to ride w/ teammates.

Awesome day out there today. It was Rich, Daniel and myself in the 4/5's.

The course was probably one of the best I've ridden, a 6 corner- 1 mile freshly paved 2 laned crit around a high school. I though it would be ideal for a small break but our pace was too fast for anything to stay away

Pro peddlers and caffeinated cyclist were up front for most of it, setting a really nice pace. We were single line through most of it

I attacked early to test the field, dangled for a lap. Rich attacked about half way and stayed away for 3 laps. After he got caught I moved up and focused on staying top 3. Then in the second to last lap Rich went off the front to try and set the pace up high for me (as people would start to sit up in order to save it for the sprint) He unfortunately took a corner too hard and clipped the pavement. Went down pretty hard but thankfully nothing was broken.

I was about 2 meters behind him when this happened, and was headed straight at him while taking the corner on the outside. Somehow I managed to think through an exit strategy: move over to the left, bunny hop the curb, circle back on the grass, and get back into the field. Worked like a charm.

I managed to move back up to the front pretty quickly, took the final corner 3rd wheel and came across the finish line 4th. Yay

A lot of the organizers/ officials were the same as in Branchbrook, so it was a very nicely run race.

It's part of a series, and tomorrow there is another crit at a different location. Monday however it's in the same spot, senaca high school (1.5 hrs from lower manhattan) if anyone is free on the 4th and wants to race let me know. I can't drive but would love to race this course again. I'm willing to pay for the gas/ tolls

Wojciechplata@aol.com. 347-729-2908

nice work W!

rich: hope you're feeling ok

^ my thought exactly.

Woah, nice maneuver, and congrats on 4th. Too bad it was to avoid Rich. Let us know how you're doing, buddy.
-j.

Hope your ok Rich. Good work guys

Wojciech, sounds like you were ON today! Nice race, considering you had to deal with Rich's sabotage attempt.

Rich -- you're a traitor.

Seriously though, hope you didn't lose too much skin, Rich. Let us know how you are!

Posted By: Wojciech P
It's part of a series, and tomorrow there is another crit at a different location. Monday however it's in the same spot, senaca high school (1.5 hrs from lower manhattan) if anyone is free on the 4th and wants to race let me know. I can't drive but would love to race this course again. I'm willing to pay for the gas/ tolls

Can you just race one day? I'm actually off of work on Monday. Woj, would you mind asking the promoter? thx, Marc

Mark,

On bike reg you can sign up for all 3 or sign up for a specific stage.

Not a ton to say that Woj hasn't already laid down.

The course was a fast, 6 corner crit with a nice road surface and a fun right-left chicane on the back stretch. We agreed to stay out of view and take it easy for the first bit of the race. Caffeinated cyclist was all over the front setting pace, looking like they wanted to keep it together for a sprint finish and there was no real attacking to speak of except for us Ks trying to get away, aligning with our haphazard pre-race plan.

Woj went up the road with about 11 laps to go, and I put myself on the front to disrupt the efforts to pull the field up to him. He made a nice effort, holding strong off the front for a couple of laps and a short bit after he was reeled back in I attacked into the crosswind from the sheltered side of the pack and got a little gap. No one bridged so I was just sort of dangling out there for a few laps trying to pick good lines through the turns but just didn't have the legs to fend off the charging field.

With about 7 to go I was caught and returned to mid-pack for a bit of recovery. The next few laps were a pleasant group ride but things were slowing down with about 3 to go. I didn't see Daniel around and Woj was near the front so I figured an attack might be suicide but would probably also be unexpected and Woj could have enough in the tank to go with 1k left and hold off the field if I got caught.

Exactly how I met the pavement on the back stretch with 1.5 to go still isn't clear -- it's all a bit of a blur. It could have been a pedal strike... or I hit something and slid out. A video of the crash on YouTube doesn't really make it any clearer, as it looks like I was well through the apex of the turn before going down.

Big ups to Wojciech for having the piece of mind to anticipate an exit and continue moving. Congrats to him for grabbing 4th even though I tried my damndest to take him out!

All in all, everything's okay. Some skin lost but there's more where it came from, and a bent outer chainring which had to be replaced. I'm very glad nothing worse happened and no one behind me was hurt.

Thanks to everyone in the club who sent warm wishes and texts