Hi All... I thought I'd post a discussion for this race even though it was sparsely attended --having been announced only a few days ago and falling on Sept 11th, and with Cross racing underway this weekend too.

Anyhow, semi-speedy report:

Cat5: Harry won the race, out kicking his 2 break companions handily. Nicely done Harry! Harry... tell us about it!

Cat4: Eric M. and I lined up with the 4 field just as the Presidential helicopter trio flew directly overhead en route to JFK. Maurice blew the whistle and a Speedwell dude shot out of the gate.. the race was on, and around the first turn and onto the backstretch, riders began attacking, I followed and it looked like a split was forming pretty quickly. 9 of 14 riders was in the split. Eric just missed getting onboard the split. The wind had picked-up from sub-Floyd to straight-up, welcome to Floyd force winds. Well, maybe a little less than that.

So, over the first half of the race: lots of attacks by 2 NY Velocity guys, the aformentioned Speedwell guy, and a latino guy (don't recall the team), and myself. I had one thought in my head, which was "what would Stéphane do?". I wanted to force myself to attack more, since I don't do enough attacking, and since there's only one answer to WWSD (it's Attack!), I knew that was the right thought to keep in mind.

Back to the race: in the split... 2 sprinterly looking dudes were sitting on, and a Deathrow Velo guy was making occasional attacks but doing plenty of sit-on too. We couldn't break-up the group significantly, dropping only 1 (we also lost one NY velo guy due to mech)... so 7 in the break for about the last 7 laps (using the full-Floyd course, not the abbreviated one). The pace was hard with the flurries of attacks for a long time, until last 2 laps. I hatched a plan to attack on the windy stretch with 2 to-go, but others had the same idea, so everybody just went crazy for 2 minutes and we were still all together. Then I attacked about 30 seconds after that, hoping some folks would be tired (I sure was), and though I felt it was good timing and with reasonably good sizzle... well, everyone was still there. Last lap: I jumped on the latino guy's wheel since he had shown some serious accelerations on the tailwind sections --he had been resting, so I would try holding on to him when he kicked in the afterburners. Well, things got jumbled up on the run in and I ended-up getting swamped and didn't even bother with the sprint... last in the break. Yeah, terrible.

Apres le chase: I was near-bonking on the way back home. I ate and drank well this morning and through the race, so I think all those accelerations, which are not my forte (yet) gave my body a shock.Nevertheless, it was a nice last Floyd race out there and nice to see Harry win and good to have Eric M. out there too.

Hope the CX racers had fun and raced well this weekend... I will catch-up on those races in a while, right now I need to eat.

postscript: some of you will recall the very thin rasta guy with the super-fast cadence and bike-handling tendencies. Well, the split group lapped the 2nd group with a few laps to-go... that guy latched onto our group. When I pulled-off the front and rolled back to the rear, I noticed that someone let me in, but it was someone new. Looking back and recognizing him, I slowed and let a gap open up... open up a little more... a little more... said, "get off our group, dude", then I stomped it back up to the group leaving speedy-pedals all alone. Finally! I could drop somebody! My 20 second power is shaping up fellas! So, that was a nice little moment I thought some of you might find humorous.

Norm,

Sounds like a Race Well Done! Very nice touch re: the guy with the dodgy handling skills as well.

Harry! Where is the report man? Nicely done!

j

Lol, Norm - that guy is the worst. Why, why doesn't he shift up??!??? What, is he worried that he'll bulk up if he runs a normal, non-spastic gear? I always steer waaay clear of that Rastaman. Awesome tactic for dropping him...I never would have thought to do that.
:cool:

And Harry! Sick!

11spt2011

ALL,
finally, a win! @floydBennettField w.s.Roubaix race: 1st/11, cat5, 10laps, 24mi, 23.8avg, 33.9mx, flat course w/head winds; 3on break@ 3rdLap, pace @22-23mph, attacked @1km togo into wind finished 100m ahead of 2nd; 8min on field. (other 2 on break passed me twice in prev races on final sprint, w/third finisher 2nd in overall fbfSeries.) *gd feeling esp. after a week of (3)crashes in final km's.

cheers,
-h4;>

Great Work Harry! Love the late attack!

Harry was awesome. Great fun watching him destroy that field.

That was where my fun ended. The 4s lined up and sat there. WS dude rambled on and on about the tree stump on the corner. I got tired of being clipped in on the left so I unclipped (both feet now, obviously) and proceeded to assume a much more relaxed position. Next thing I know, Maurice is saying "riders ready!" and blowing his whistle. What just happened, really? Shit, I have to clip in both feet and chase?!?!? Bad, bad, bad! Got on right before the corner, but someone at the front wasn't making it easy to get on. I was winded and struggling (trying to recover) as riders at the back were obviously not doing well. Soon enough, a split happened. I was at the back of the wrong end (mind you, still trying to recover). I quickly realized this group was never going to reattach itself so I knew I had to give it all to get back to the lead group. I got within a bike length and just could not get there. I was totally maxed out. The separation eventually caught me with twitchy Rasta dude (utilizing all 20 degrees of float with his Speedplays and all over the road: completely terrifying trying to draft off of that), 3 or 4 Teany guys and a nice kid who's name I'm now forgetting. This was the most unorganized attempt at a chase that I've ever seen. I tried to get them to work together. The Teany guys were always screaming at each other. After a couple laps all the Teany guys got dopped. I wish the Rasta dude had gotten dropped. The Kid and I worked pretty well together, Rasta dude just got in the way and seemed like his goal was to crash us out. Eventually Norm's group (now reduced to 7 riders) lapped us. Before this happened I told my guys to just stay to the right, wait to get passed, then we'd regroup. What happens? Rasta dude jumps in the MIDDLE of the field. IDIOT! Norm, good move on your part. Of course Rastaman got spat out the back rather quickly and tacked his squirmy riding back onto me. Final lap: The Kid says: we're all top 10, we need to sprint! Fine, you want to sprint, I'll sprint (I can't sprint). I completely smoked both of them. At least I got a little satisfaction in that.

nice dash to the finish Eric... we were 7th and 8th!

Eric&Norm,

thanks had fun, i believe the younster in 4's name is 'malcolm' from Speedwell...EM, great that you smoked 'em in sprint!
love Norms drop technique...takes some confidence to play the field, bravo Norm...will store that move for future ref...reminds me of Cruz;s 'TopGun' move on the migs fighter! h;>

Norm "Danger Zone" Swygert

Posted By: normanzoI slowed and let a gap open up... open up a little more... a little more... said, "get off our group, dude", then I stomped it back up to the group leaving speedy-pedals all alone.

Careful. You won't always be able to drop guys like this. Better you save that energy burst for a move that is going to help you do well.

^^

Marc

Logically you are correct about Norm's move, but I think it was fueled by the pent up frustration we in the 4s have had with this guy who is strong enough to be near the front but whose lack of bike handling skills strike fear into a fast moving pack. Several Kissena 4s have discussed saying something to him, but unsurprisingly he blames others for being squirrelly, and none of us think he would be open to constructive criticism - even if done in a friendly way.

Norm's move doesn't solve the problem, but it felt very satisfying, even to those of us just reading about it online.

Patrick

I love the move, Norm. You nailed that douchebag.

The guy can't be reasoned with, so what better way to drive home "you don't belong here" than to simply unhitch him and let him watch the group he cheated onto float away, even while he's relatively fresh.

And even if the effort cost you a place or two, the whole bunch thanks you for it.

R.

@Marc --duly noted... I definitely gave it some thought before doing so. I figured that it was OK to play around since it was a small Floyd race, end of the season, and my whole reason for racing that day was to do a lot of hard accelerations (the better to stomp you guys on Saturday!). It had already had a ton of fun during the race --riding hard, attacking, following attacks. So,I just thought it would be fun and worth it. Also, I absolutely didn't want such a super scary rider in our group!

I remember doing that back in the day—If you have a winning break and someone on the back who's sitting, you can take turns trying to burn the rider off the back. If they're a sprinter you might tire them a bit, but never had much luck dropping a sprinter. The upside is they might rethink and start taking some pulls. Fun!

Back in the day? What, on the track? I thought lapping the field was ok in the madison?

When Adam and I were in a break at Floyd a couple weeks back, there was a Die Hard guy in it who stopped taking pulls with like FOUR laps to go. He'd always make a gap when people pulled off hoping they'd slot in front of him instead of going to the back. It was fucking up the pace line.

So I just started screaming at him at the top of my lungs every time he did it. "HEY! Close that gap and take your pull!" Or, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! (and I'd point to the wheel he should be on)." I was basically calling him a moron and a pussy in front of all our break mates. And my tone of voice (screaming) implied I'd sooner crash him out than let him sit in.

He took his pulls. Which were horrible, I might add. I think he might have been drugged or retarded or something.

Anyway, all I'm saying is that a lot of people will do what you tell them if you get the tone of voice right.

Back in the day (on the track), we'd page someone who wasn't doing their share... sometimes a fax even.