Same

x3

x4

First race: 4/5. Second race: 35+

I expect to register for the 1/2/3.  anyone joining me?

This will be my first time doing Branchbrook.
What time should I leave Park Slope to make sure I arrive with enough time to register, etc before CAT 4/5 race start? Also, If anyone needs a lift, I can definitely fit one other rider w a bike. I have a Thule roof mount that fits 2 bikes.
Could drop a third in the trunk, but will be tight quarters.

I personally like getting there at least 45 minutes before start of race, but an hour is much more comfortable.  Routine is to park, check in and pin on numbers, get my kit on, get the bike together, warm up, hit the porta-potty sometime between all that (earlier means no lines and my personal tip: baby wipes), then get to the line for the race.

Google maps/nav has a really good function to approximate travel time in advance (it'll guess what the traffic conditions will be like on any give day/hour/holiday) and I've found it to be accurate, especially early hours when there is minimal traffic.  I do advise that you are awake because some of the turns in NJ are easy to miss if you're not paying close attention and you're not familiar with the route.

See you guys there.

the only sharp turn on the course is important!  here's a youtube video showing how NOT to take it on the last lap: https://youtu.be/mNwWp0dMjkU?t=34m4s

maybe staying to the left after that turn is better for the finish. seems like people on the right brake a lot

The field tends to string out after that turn. I can't see why this guy braked at all.

Edit - also there's a crosswind coming from the left once you make that turn. 

Its going to be way below freezing in the morning.  Dress appropriately.

Good luck to you guys racing tomorrow. The first races of the season are always exciting.

A key thing learned from many CX starts in the 20s is to have a warm jacket to keep on until just before the start and then toss it off. You will warm up once the riding starts.

This is a PSA: SHRINKAGE ALERT SHRINKAGE ALERT SHRINKAGE ALERT:
real feel is 15 degrees at start time..
https://weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/l/USNJ0355:1:US

Woof I'm recovering from a random stomach bug this week. This race will be tough to wake up for.

#results, bros?

Real-feel result: I don't roll under 25. It's a long season, plenty of racing.

No results in the first race.

Sebastian followed a good train that went after the first wave of field sprinters and prob got a top 10 spot!  He also did an admirable job at the front throughout the race covering potential breaks and chases for the lone guy who was hung out to dry for the majority of the race until 2 laps to go.  There was a moment when he rolled off the front after a chase attempt died (lol of course) and I bet he could have snuck off to join the lone wolf out front if he committed. C'est la vie! I think that's a good learning moment, if you find yourself rolling off the front with a nice gap, don't look back, commit!

Greg tried a good move and attempted a solo break/chase. It didn't stick but it was a solid effort nonetheless. These branchbrook races are excellent places to try stuff and fail (or succeed!) and learn about what you can handle and the dynamics of the race around you.

Sometime towards the end when I drifted back saw Sean trying to dig his way out from the middle, hope you made it man.

My race was alright, did my usual to stay up front. There was a moment when I bridged up to a guy right after the turn when people get caught off guard ( he was one of those guys willing to chase and tow the field the entire race, aka Sucker, don't be this guy).  I caught up to him and said "come on let's chase and catch that guy, we have a gap!" His response was classic,"but there's a whole race to go..."  No shit Sherlock! He promptly gave up killing our chances for a 3 man break. Oh well oh smell. At the end I was feeling pretty good for a field sprint but made the mistake of following a chugalug wheel who promptly dropped anchor in the middle of the road so I got boxed in and had to settle for sprinting for approx 15th.

Max, didn't mean to criticize you in any way after the race; adrenaline and lack of decor on my part, so apologies if I came off like an asshole. But the core of my statement still stands, it would have been good to have all of us up front during the bell lap to coordinate an attempt at a leadout.

I think that's everyone in race 1! Good times!

Fun times. I'm good for at least one or two more of these, hopefully for two races a pop as usual if I can find the time between gymboree bday parties. #dadlife

i believe we have some top 10s in the 4-5, i'll let them report.

123 was won by a break, then there was also a chase group i think?  whatever me and JP rolled in was far outside upgrade points but i did strategically outsprint all former kissenas (unless there were some up the road that I missed, which is possible). JP looking strong, graciously maneuvered up to me in the last lap when he saw me on the front and let me hold his wheel.  i should not have been on the front at that point.  i thought people would come around me but either they were sitting in or i was putting down more watts than i thought (i thought i was only z3).  unfortunately there was no one else on the front so we burned too many matches.  i was able to barge into the ex-Kissena verge/bicycle habitat 2-man leadout and pip them.  someone came around me but hey, that's what happens when you spend too long on the front in the last lap.  he was probably sitting in at z1 the whole time while i was huffing along at z3+.

the breakway that won the race was a great example of me making a mistake.  they went away on the first lap when we were all fresh, and i sort of just sat on the front and watched the guy go away.  i knew that rider is strong (2d place turkey race, predicted to win or 2d place this race) but i let him go anyway.  i guess i told myself it was too early?  and i just sat on his teammates wheel, which was dumb because obviously that teammate is going to get to the front of the chase and sit up to help is teammate's gap grow. it wasn't too early. that move stuck and i didn't answer it when i was fresh enough to follow.

looking at the data from today, i'm surprised by how much i was hurting.  this is my second race with power data, and the last one was a cross race, but wow--the numbers aren't what I thought they'd be in relation to my perceived exertion.  maybe it's just the temperature, or the fact that in a race there are more sustained Z5 efforts than in training, but my legs hurt a LOT more than the normalized power number for the ride indicates. i was dead at the end, "sprinting" at like 70% of better-rested 5s power

also, regarding racing with power, i'm not sure how i like it.  i feel that it prevented me from going deep a couple of times because i looked down, saw the numbers, verified they were high, and sat up/eased up because now i have an idea that i can only hold that number for so long so many times in a race.  i'm considering making a race-day screen that just has maybe time elapsed or something

oh and my gopro turned itself off at some random point before the last lap.  i need to get a new one.

edit: there apparently were sprint jersey laps in our race?  i completely missed those. did they ring a bell or anything?  had no idea when those were happening

edit 2: results in http://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?year=2017&id=513, turns out i was wrong...mr. konrad ratzman was ahead of me!

Oh yeah, kit check:
- base layer
- merino wool jersey
- fleece backed arm warmers
- fleece bib shorts
- fleece leg warmers
- thermoshield jacket
- heavy merino skull cap
- light merino neck gator
- winter gloves
- fleece shoe overs

After two hot laps my bottle of osmo and macha mix turned into a slushie.

Good times.

Achieved my 2 goals today. No frostbite and rubber side stayed down.

Race 1 - was is a bad spot and surfed my way up to 13th from way way too far back, stupid tactics.

Race 2  - was towards the front (say 10th wheel) and stayed in the wind a bit too long. When I hopped on someone's wheel they stopped pedaling and I couldn't  make it up to the group of 8 or so that got a small gap about 300m from the finish, think Max finished just about next to me.

Looking forwards to Grant's where there usually seems to be a bit more selection before the sprint.

Everyone looked strong today.

Thanks for the lift Greg.

results brah's
https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?year=2017&id=513

That was fun! 

Race 1: 
Field was a bit sketchy and I had no intentions of getting caught behind a crash today, so I spent most of the race hanging towards the front and getting a feel for the field and how much work I could realistically do in a race without completely burning out. 

I actually had no idea there was a solo break when I was off the front - had I realized this at the time I would've stuck with it and tried to catch him. When I sat up it was because I thought I was alone and knew I couldn't stay away for more than another minute or two. 

Heading into the sprint I wasn't feeling good about my positioning, but a small gap opened up and I surfed wheels to 6th place. Super happy with this result as I didn't have any goals for today besides testing the waters for Grant's Tomb next weekend. 

Race 2:
I wasn't feeling great before race 2, so my first thought was to sit in and save energy. After a lap of this I got bored and made my way to the front. The rest of the race was spent alternating between eating wind and recovering in the group. Got more comfortable moving around the peloton, which is something I'd struggled with in my races last summer. My pulls caught up to me with half a lap to go, and I limped in ~15 seconds behind the main group. 

All-in-all I'm very pumped on the rest of the season and am excited to improve tactically. I'm feeling fit enough to get some good results, I just need to get a bit smarter about my efforts. Thanks @David Yang for the in-race pointers!

Great job guys!

Brendan: definitely don't ever look at your power in a race. It's hard enough without second guessing yourself. I have a race screen; it's just distance & time. Save the analysis for when you are home and in your armchair. Power numbers are for optimizing your hours spent training, not setting yourself limits in training races. Almost everyone I know has broken their power "records" in races and that only happens because you aren't fretting about numbers.

branchbrook was lit
it was really really cold and the pack was very squirrelly. thankfully no crashes.
really glad to be a part of this awesome team
it was great kicking the season off 

pics dudes
http://dmadson.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=10004640

My daughter and I are doing a week long trip on our tandem in southern France in the middle of April so I've decided not to race until we get back.

But with all your races reports and the photos, damn it's hard to not race bikes.

Here's the video from my GoPro, which died at about 25 minutes in.  I think I need a new SD card or something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-F6oWlWRyw

SebastianVidal said:

That was fun! 

Race 1: 
I actually had no idea there was a solo break when I was off the front - had I realized this at the time I would've stuck with it and tried to catch him. When I sat up it was because I thought I was alone and knew I couldn't stay away for more than another minute or two. 

Dude you got 6th, awesome!!!!

Not picking on you specifically, but I thought this right here needs to be highlighted as a common mistake.  Although you were with me towards the front you still missed the lone guy who went up the road on lap 2. 

This seems to happen pretty often in cat 4 races:  A break goes up the road and only 4 riders in front notice.  Out of the 4 only 3 make an effort to chase, and between the 3 they only go through 2 herky jerky rotations before they give up in disgust (myself included).  The clueless riders behind them end up confused and annoyed by the wild gesturing and yelling of the front riders telling them to pull through and end up soft pedaling.  "What? What guy up the road, I don't see no guy up the road?! I'm not putting my nose in the wind!"

So while it's great to be up front, you also have to keep your eyes peeled and brains working!

I was getting fixed up to do a ride yesterday, when I noticed my back wheel (new Giant SLR 1s) have been rubbing against the frame / chain stays (perhaps partially explaining race day woes). I am using 23mm tires, so going skinnier won't work. I have the 2013 Cannondale Supersix Evo frame which worked fine w 23mm tires but on those crappy Mavic stock wheels, at least in terms of clearance.

I believe Cannondale widened the back stays to accommodate wider wheels and tires in 2014 (maybe it was 2015). Pretty bummed bc I don't want to run out and buy a new frame just to accommodate the wheels, although I would like to be using carbon wheels and 25mm tires. 

I love the cannondale supersix geometry.... so not too hip to switching it up. It looks like I can buy a 2015 carbon supersix frame on ebay for $1k ish.

I am racing Grant's tomb so need to figure out a solution. If anyone has thoughts, would be great to hear. 

@David Yang I agree with your sentiment. I'd love to see us all coordinate better at the next branchbrook. hopefully I'll have my kit by then and a bike that works. 

greg I think the only solution for now is to swap in wheels with narrower rims. you could try to find a weird 19mm tire or something but...yeah

can't see anything...your giant hydraulic fluid filled hoods take up half the picture...