Feb 28, 2013 at 09:53 PM
@danielhubbard Im in Clinton Hill BK / 4/5 race.
Branchbrook NJ Spring Series
Feb 28, 2013 at 10:06 PM
I'm in brooklyn (205 State St) but it's only 15 minute ride to Canal and 6th, i can meet you there. I'm doing cat 4/5 @ 8:07.
Brendan Rigby
(774) 219-4511
Feb 28, 2013 at 10:06 PM
I'm doing the 35+ Cat 4/5 which starts at 7:17. If anybody is going early and has room in their car please let me know. Im in greenpoint brooklyn but will meet you in other parts of Brooklyn, lower Manhattan or LIC. Or if you are going early and taking PATH holler if you want to ride out together Thanks
Mar 01, 2013 at 02:52 AM
OK. New tires and clean drive chain. I hope that means I'm ready.
Mar 01, 2013 at 03:46 AM
@Rick - I'm signed up for the 35+ 4/5 and plan on taking the Path to Newark. I'll send you an email to see if we can coordinate.
If anyone else is taking the early train over, let me know.
odysseusontheocean@yahoo.com
718-864-2699
Mar 01, 2013 at 10:30 AM
I can't make it tomorrow unfortunately. I really like Branchbrook and will make it during the month.
Travel info for those still trying to figure out their morning. There was some talk by folks at the Monday meeting about trying to figure out the logistics of race day morning.
Pack your bag and get your bike ready today (Friday).
Go to bed early, wake up early as much as possible. You want to get enough sleep, and a extra 20 or 30 min head start can give you wiggle room for the unexpected.
If this is your first race, good luck! It will be an awesome experience.
Be sure to bring your racing license (or print a copy at usacycling.org)
Schedules are below for Path and NJ Transit. Anyone coming from Midtown, Queens, north Brooklyn,etc may consider NJ Transit over Path - it saves a few minutes but more importantly it looks like it gets you there with a better gap until race start times.
For NJ Transit, bring a strap or two to secure your bike to the train (on most of their cars they have flip up seats and loops for your bike strap in the bike\handicapped seating area).
They are good to have (and technically required on NJT - though I have only been asked if I had them once out of lots of rides).
The GAP nav address of 263 Elwood Avenue, Newark, NJ 07104 is good, you want to get to the intersection of Elwood Ave and Lake street.
Once there, ride down Elwood into the park and you will see the registration tables.
Mar 01, 2013 at 10:31 AM
(part 2)
The first time I rode there, myself and another guy got slightly lost, the directions we had were not great.
This route should be easy enough to follow:
exit on the NORTH side of the station, make a right onto Raymond Plaza West
and follow these directions http://goo.gl/maps/pJnqA
about 3.5 miles of riding (about 23 min)
From WTC via PATH
WTC Newark
5:10 5:35
5:45 6:07
6:20 6:42
6:55 7:17
7:27 7:49
7:42 8:04
7:57 8:19
8:12 8:34
8:27 8:49
8:42 9:04
From NY Penn via NJ Transit (fare $5.00)
Depart : NEW YORK PENN STATION at 6:07 AM
Board : Train 7217 toward LONG BRANCH
Arrive : NEWARK PENN STATION at 6:25 AM
Depart : NEW YORK PENN STATION at 6:13 AM
Board : Train 7817 toward TRENTON TRANSIT CENTER
Arrive : NEWARK PENN STATION at 6:33 AM
Depart : NEW YORK PENN STATION at 7:07 AM
Board : Train 7221 toward LONG BRANCH
Arrive : NEWARK PENN STATION at 7:25 AM
Depart : NEW YORK PENN STATION at 8:07 AM
Board : Train 7225 toward LONG BRANCH
Arrive : NEWARK PENN STATION at 8:25 AM
Either way, try to get to the train station 10 minutes early to pay your fare, get to the platform, etc (maybe 15 for Penn)
Mar 01, 2013 at 01:26 PM
@JoshuaC
Thanks a lot for the comprehensive instructions. NJ Transit and its multiple arrival times looks like the better option.
Mar 01, 2013 at 03:46 PM
NJ transit is more complicated and more expensive. Path train seems to have construction at WTC this wkend so take it from Christopher street, its an easy ride from the manhattan bridge.
Mar 01, 2013 at 03:54 PM
@alyoshas i think construction @ WTC on weekends is finally over. See http://www.paalerts.com/recent_pathalerts.aspx ("2/27/2013 4:21:21 PM Effective this Friday, 3/1, PATH weekend service to/from WTC and Exchange Place is restored."); http://www.panynj.gov/path/maps-schedules.html (Newark-WTC "Operates at all times"); http://www.panynj.gov/path/schedule.html (Path's own trip planner system will permit you to design route leaving WTC and arriving in Newark on weekend).
I'll take the PATH from WTC @ 6:20 unless @danielhubbard confirms that I can take a spot in his car leaving from 6th and Canal @ 6:30 AM 
@JoshuaC thanks for those detailed directions
Brendan Rigby
(774) 219-4511
Mar 01, 2013 at 06:23 PM
For those riding to the race. Extra clothes. start with a jacket and your race jersey either underneath or in your backpack. Have an extra base layer to change into post-race, possibly extra gloves, possibly extra hat.
Mar 01, 2013 at 10:58 PM
good luck tomorrow, all you early season badasses!
i will wake up from a sweet flying dream to root for you.
Mar 02, 2013 at 04:12 PM
Yaks 3rd in 4/5
Brendan 3rd in the 5s
Eric 4th and me 5th in the Masters
Nada in the 123
Brendan 3rd in the 5s
Eric 4th and me 5th in the Masters
Nada in the 123
Mar 02, 2013 at 04:14 PM
Nice guys.
Reports when you are able.
Mar 02, 2013 at 04:21 PM
I think Brendan's race was a 4/5...mine was the 35 + 4/5 (and how happy am I for this obscure, opportunistic category? VERY !)
Mar 02, 2013 at 04:25 PM
Congrats to Ryan and Eric for getting in the break in the 35+ race this morning. They can tell you the story.
I left my Kissena wind jacket at the start finish (old design). Did anyone happen to pick it up?
Mar 02, 2013 at 05:51 PM
123 Race Summary:
Good:
-the helmets are fucking awesome. It makes it sooo easy to know what is going on the race.
-we did a pretty good job keeping close to the front and being in decent position. Ryan and Eric especially considering they were doubling back from the masters race. Handsome Joe looks like he is coming off a strong off season.
-I rode very well tactically. I was in the right place at the right time for 2 good moves. Early on I got away with brian for a bit. Late in the race I helped establish a move that ended up springing the winning break. Unfortunately, the counter attack came as soon as I pulled off the front of the big break, and I couldn't with Brian and Gave
-My fitness is much better than I thought (x-power of 300 watts / 280 avg for the 65 minute race) 6-22 minute efforts are right on lifetime highs on my critical power chart
- the race was generally safe and not sketchy at all
Bad
- holly hell that hurt. I'm not at race fitness. the jumps and accelerations hurt and I'm really slow covering the fast moves when they come.
- we were not perfectly positioned when the time came. the big guys all had 2 teammates in the final selection that led to the small winning break. 2 metro, 2 colavita, 2 champ sys, 2 mengoni. That would have been different if Eric and Ryan were fresh for sure, but we need to make sure we have that killer instinct as a squad to be closers. I was a bit disappointed I couldn't make the move. but I'm always disappointed in retrospect when I come close but no cigar.
Other notes -
strong riding all around in the other categories. I'm especially impressed with Ryan J's strength. Hanging with a breakaway of cat 1/2 masters and former pro's is no joke. Especially considering his size, it's not a course that ideally suits him. Hats off to that effort.
I'm excited to hear from Brendan and Yacks about how their races played out.
Mar 02, 2013 at 05:54 PM
This was a great race for Ryan. Period, plain and simple. A great race because he did so many of the right things and made mistakes that will make him a much better racer. Kudos to him for initiating the break with Stephen Diaslowski in the Masters 35+ race. John Durson and Stephen Goret went across to them. I was on the front when this happened and Godret's teammate was behind me, blocking. So, before the break got established with four guys (and strong at that), I took off. Flat, slight tailwind and BOOM!
I get on after the one corner in Branchbrook. Ryan sees me and says something like "alright!" My response "I can't let you have all the fun alone!"
The race is over. We work like dogs. Ryan worked himself out of the break with a lap to go. Durso was pulling so strong, he kept the break a bit choppy. I had the pleasure of smoothing things out, which made things tired for me. Once Ryan was gone, I found myself heading to the finish on Diaslowski's wheel and made an early jump. Everyone was on me immediately. It allowed me to drift away and latch onto the back. But my legs were blown. The three of them sprinted. I didn't. Ryan rolled on for 5th.
Great teammwork by the guys in the field - Hubbs, Stokes, Vlad, Yacks, Strika. Anyone I left out?
FWIW, Ryan blew himself out of a break - two Cat 1, two Cat 2 riders and Ryan. Not a bad introduction to Masters racing.
Unitl Next week...
Mar 02, 2013 at 07:21 PM
Big ups all around!
That is a SEXY start to the season!
That is a SEXY start to the season!
Mar 02, 2013 at 07:27 PM
in the 35 + the cream of the field went up the road. I am old, and the vision is worse every season...but I could see the new Kissena orange crush helmets if I were standing on the moon! Once I saw two of those garish things bouncing in the distance, I knew it was a done deal. I blocked with Jeff Condon and nobody got pissy about it. You don't hear a lot of yelling in the masters. Even without the blocks the break was a done deal. That course is the perfect venue for breaks as it gets a little technical and narrow which works to the advantage of the break. Nice riding to Ryan and Eric. The computrainer has paid dividends!
In the 4/5 35 + I was going to give a lead out to Rick Perner, but he lost the wheel and a I freelanced to a 3rd. An ugly sounding crash happened behind me with the guy causing it taking a ride in an ambulance.
See you guys in a few weeks..or months as I need to rest my patella tendon. Overuse & old age will get you eventually. Yacks
Mar 02, 2013 at 07:52 PM
Sitting in an airport reading this I can smell the burning brake pads... awesome job guys, can wait to get in on some of that sweet old man on old man action...
Mar 02, 2013 at 08:00 PM
Good racing today.
In the masters 35+, about 15 minutes in, I was remembering what Eric had said before the race, which was (loosely) "Here's how this race will go. Diaslowski and Dursa will go after 4 or 5 laps, and that will be it and we'll be in that move or we won't." There had been some early moves, I was getting warmed up, and I figured I might as well try to take the race to the big boys if it was gonna happen anyway.
So I attacked about 1/2km before the turn shortly after an early move by Hubs. Diaslowski joined (I didn't know it was him) and oddly I did most of the work to establish the gap. At one point I actually told him, annoyed, that there was "no point if I was going to do all the pulling - we might as well just sit up." Then he started working more. After a couple minutes he was like "we have a big gap." So I said "I can't stay away with just two of us but let's keep the tempo high as long as we can and if we stay away long enough maybe someone will get antsy and bridge." So that's what we did, and sure enough the bridge showed up and like Eric said, I was happy to see him.
The rest of the break was a total bitch, those guys are all way stronger than me, especially with no inclines at all on the course. By bell lap I just couldn't keep it steady. I wasn't rotating onto the back cleanly and that was causing gaps to open that I had to close. Finally there was one I couldn't close and I said goodbye to the big boys and rode in solo for 5th.
After Eric talked to me about not being obligated to work in that situation. He was basically saying "look, you started the move, and then there were two of us so as long as I'm working, no one is going to care if you sit on. For all they know you're protected and I'm working for you." Which made total sense after the fact.
Overall, while I wish I'd ridden a little better in the break so maybe we wouldn't have been 4th and 5th out of 5. But I'm also pretty stoked, and had a lot of fun. And big thanks to the guys in the pack helping us stay away.
The 123 race, I agree with everything Mike said. I was able to sit in OK, but I just didn't have the snap to follow the accelerations in that race, so I was pretty much useless to the team.
Mar 02, 2013 at 08:03 PM
since you asked, @mperlberg, you shall receive
if you raced a tactical race, i raced a tactless one. i just happened to be in the right place at the right time at the end and i kept pedaling when i think some other people had assumed the race was over for them. i put the branch back in branchbrook: there was a tree branch poking out into the right side of the road somewhere around the final stretch. people were leaving a gap for this branch, but i instead just powered through this branch and crept up on the outside. this allowed me to skip around the chaotic pile of spinning metal that is the middle of the pack when it is within eyesight of the finish.
mostly, this race was a great opportunity to learn how to do things wrong:
- it's pointless to stay right up front at the beginning if there's not going to be any breaks! better to conserve and move up later, methinks.
- i had a momentary laps of comprehension. a lap disappeared on me: i heard them yell three laps, then the next time we passed the line, i heard them ring the last-lap bell. so i had this mental funk where i thought, somehow, that the last lap would be the lap after the bell lap. i should have tried to move up after i heard the bell.
- @alyoshas attacked and rather than let him go for a break or block for him i accelerated to catch him, pulling those behind with me. bad form by me. i was afraid the race was getting away!
- i pulled for a lap, which is just pointless unless you're going to go for a break or will pull hard enough to drop people. which i guess you're not on a flat course like this. i certainly wasn't going to at the pace i was going. i'm lucky no one attacked after i pulled off. thank you @alyoshas for the mid-race guidance on this one, gently reminding me to pull off and let someone else tire themselves out before i blew up. this was the first time someone told me i was "taking", rather than producing, too much wind.
- i guess i had a couple dicey cat 5 squirrel moments. one particularly annoying rider took it upon himself to tell me to "watch wheels" right from the get go, even though i was overlapping wheels so little that my tire wasn't even in plane with their derailleur, and i was about a foot off to the side with no one on the outside of me: i could have moved to my right if that person pulled some funky sudden moves. the line between aggressive maneuvering and unacceptable chopping is thin and i may have crossed it.
- i need to be a better teammate. i didn't do anything to help the fellow blue and oranges.
i think the lack of strategic observations indicates my underdeveloped riding sense. all these observations @mperlberg made: this break, that attack, x people attacking at y turn, are things that i didn't even notice. i need to get better about counting riders, remembering numbers, and reading the plays. then again, and someone else can correct me here, it didn't seem there were any real "moves" in our race. the same guy that kept giving unnecessary lectures (colavita? not sure? white kit) would do these pointless 1-minute-effort breakaway things that got swallowed up as easily as he spit out unwelcome commentary.
i'm happy that i lost my race-ginity in branchbrook rather than at grant's tomb.
today's race was not without cost, @twoyacks will be unhappy to hear that my speedbell did not survive the journey home. too many tourists on the wrong side of the brooklyn bridge bike lane divide. i tried to pull the (bell's) hammer down, only to have it snap off and fly off into a throng of bewildered north dakotans. unbellievable.
Mar 02, 2013 at 08:08 PM
The crash hurt, and I feel awful. I was in the 35+ 4/5.
Rick did a great job in his first race - on the path train there we talked strategy, and to make sure we weren’t both up front at the same time – no need for both of us to pull when one can be drafting. After a turn up front on one of the laps, I waived off and Rick pulled through, carrying the rest of the group behind him. It was a good site. And Yaks, you’re bike stands out so even a quick glance to the side makes me know you’re there. I especially liked you telling me the knees were a bit iffy, and then you come in 3rd. I’d like knees like that.
On the final lap (always on the final damned lap), after our hard turn, the race picked up, then slowed again, picked up again, causing us to bunch up. I was on the far right and, with the finish in site, watched a guy, two up on the right, wrench his front wheel to the right. His rear went out and to the left, catching a rider and as they went down, I went into them. I had no time to react, and believe me, I’ve been searching for that time in the aftermath and can’t find it. It was fast. (I think he went to sprint, pushing down on his left leg, and pulled his right handlebar, pulling the front wheel out from under him).
My face is banged up and I need a new helmet, scrapes on my knees and elbow, and my left quad is swollen. My right hand is sprained. Someone hit me from behind and I think it was his helmet that went into my leg. My bike will need new spokes in the rear wheel, and possibly new shifters. I’ll take it apart and check the frame and other components.
One thing to note – as soon as the crash happened, Rick pulled out and came back for me. Because of this, he’s not listed in the finishers. The director came to the ambulance later, made sure I was okay and checked my bib number. He put my number as having finished the race.
Shout out to Rick for coming back and sacrificing his results to make sure I was okay. Drafting, racing, blocking is all good; his coming back for me makes me know I’m on the right team.
Mar 02, 2013 at 09:19 PM
I am impressed with the overall professionalism of the race promoters. This was the first time I had my license scanned in lieu of filling out a release. The porta-pods were clean and accessible and they had doughnuts at the end ! The results were posted quickly and prizes handed out right after results were posted. It is the perfect early season venue. I shudder to think what would happen if you squeezed 100 plus riders into a field on that course, just too narrow on the back stretch. Glad you are ok Bruce...when are you getting your kit? yacks
Mar 02, 2013 at 10:42 PM
Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't even think of that. I met some of you for the first time today, including you, Yacks, and I was wearing my Prospect Peloton group blue and black kit. When introducing myself, I didn't say I was a new member of the club, and I wasn't wearing KCC kit. I haven't been able to get to the club rides, and the weather has been bad on the weekends, and really haven't met many of you. I do need to get some KCC kit and get out to ride with you guys. Unfortunately, now, I'm going to have to take some time off.
I have updated my profile picture so you can see my face, and hope to get back out on the road soon.
Mar 02, 2013 at 10:52 PM
Bruce,
Very sorry to read about the tumble. As you'll hear often it isn't "if" but "when"
Rest assured you are in good company; check out the sprains thread on treatment for road rash.
Heal up soon,
J
Very sorry to read about the tumble. As you'll hear often it isn't "if" but "when"
Rest assured you are in good company; check out the sprains thread on treatment for road rash.
Heal up soon,
J
Mar 02, 2013 at 11:31 PM
Sorry to hear about your crash, Bruce. Feel better soon. Solid of Rick for coming back.
Mar 03, 2013 at 12:32 AM
@Ryan. Your attack and successful break riding was great on two accounts. One, you started the break, stayed in the break and managed to throw a sarcasti-zinger Disalowski's way that got him to man up. Two, you've managed to continue the trend that is observed in the last couple of years, namely, Kissena is good peoples to have in breaks. Hopefully we'll get some of that action going tomorrow with a healthy group of 1/2/3s racing in CP.
Mar 03, 2013 at 12:43 PM
I don't have any pictures of me riding a bike. Does anyone know where that guy with a camera that looked like a hobbyist sports photographer is making his Branchbrook pictures available, if he is?