I'm in going to go sign up now.

We have a new guy, Raymond racing the 123s as well.

Another 50% Kissena field. Love it.
This time last year I was writing Charlie nasty-grams saying "WTF there are 18 Kissenas in one field!" to which he replied, "Oh, most of them aren't really ready to race. HA!"

John, my sprint is largely untested. Remember, I've only competed in about 14 races. I've only been led out once (by Jules,) and it wasn't that awesome. However, I have ridden over 1100 miles since Christmas (101 miles on Super Bowl Sunday) and feel my fitness is decent. I have trained TT's indoors, done several triangle rides, done hill repeats, and have drilled the sprinting technique several times. So, if given the opportunity, I may do some good, but I wouldn't say my sprint is awesome. Don't know how it compares to others.

@ Christian... okey dokey, maybe we do a few warm ups before the race and see what your jump is like? The leaner meaner Kaiser 2012 edition I am thinking will be huge for the train and sprint. Wish I was a bit leaner—I punished the scales at 195.8 this morning :B

Yeah let's warm up together. And be thankful you're <200 :/

Bone dry, I'm 219. More like 222. I did not lose as much weight this winter as I wanted to!

Text me the night before (631 275 1454). Looking forward to it.

Anyone interested in a group leg opener tomorrow?

Posted By: mperlbergWe have a new guy, Raymond racing the 123s as well.

More info please on "new guy."

Posted By: Jules RoazenAnother 50% Kissena field. Love it.
This time last year I was writing Charlie nasty-grams saying "WTF there are 18 Kissenas in one field!" to which he replied, "Oh, most of them aren't really ready to race. HA!"

I gotta say, this is not the first time I feel as though Charlie has disrespected Kissena racers. During the catch Kissena events when I was on the other side, he would always down-talk the Kissena's talking about how they were mostly cat 3s and 4s. I don't know if it was just him trying to motivate the field to catch, or what, but it always struck me as a little stinky. Not so much as to have really said anything publicly about it before now, but enough for me to bring it up after Jules reported something similar.

Whatever though there's no question we have the best cat 4 team in the city...we just gotta make it happen in the 1/2/3s now. I only had one slice of pizza and a salad for lunch yesterday, so I'm doing my part!

Charlie's comments don't really rub me the wrong way. I think he was just trying to assuage Jules's concerns about an unfair race. Fact is, we welcome folks of all levels. It's just part of Kissena and we get a rap for that, fairly or unfairly.

I agree with Whitey - I think he was more trying to talk down the obvious and massive advantage KCC had.

you guys are probably right. I'm just in a pissy mood because of some nasty patients who are trying my patience today.

What do you do Marc?

16march
oh looks like 7am cat5 clinic in Central Park a)requires - pre-reg. & b)is closed...so
cat 5's lets coordinate a time to ride in prospect tomorrow sat17th march...how about 10am?
-h

718-640-8680 mobile (txt/sms me)

Posted By: Christian RefakisWhat do you do Marc?

I'm a nurse in Mount Sinai's emergency department. That patient and I made up later in the day. And now I'm home for the weekend! woo hoo!

registered for sunday's race. let's do this!

Im aiming to be in there from midday opening them legs

OK all, looks like we're back up. Let's hear those race reports!

From AVD

FROM: 2012 New York City Spring Bicycle Racing Series - Series Registration
-------------------------------------------------

hello Racer

We great regret the MCA has to cancel the Sunday March 25, 2012. Starting today and continuing until Monday March 26, 2012 the Department of Transportation will begin to repave the roadway.

Both The Parks department as well as our organization feel there may be some safety issues and feel the best course is to cancel the event.

You can get a refund or move your entry to another date. Just let use know.

We apologize for the cancelation but a safe event is what we all strive for.

Sincerely
Anthony Jay Van Dunk
MCA

Hallelujah!

Well, that makes my decision on if I should try and race both days a little easier!

The 3/4 race saw a nice breakaway that materialized around the seventh(?) lap with our own Jeff Condon and four others successfully holding the rest of the peloton off. This left me and John M contending for the sprint finish. Jeff and John placed in the money (3rd and 7th;) I finished 10th. I think placing three Kissenas in the top ten this early in the season is an encouraging start! I want to thank Adam, John M, Jeff W, and Jules for shouting out instructions to me in the midst of the race, they were personally helpful to me and our team effort as a whole.

With the recent Central Park crashes and sketchy riding in mind, I began my race a little timid. I clipped in late off the line, pinning myself to the back. This was unfortunate as I knew practically our whole team began the race at the front. Safe to say though, as the race progressed, I got meaner. Spending about 3 laps fighting for the front, I made my way up to Jules who was ~ 2/3 of the way up and worked my way further with him. Once at the front, I chased down a couple attacks. Two of these I remember clearly (my race memory isn't the best.) The first time, I had just linked up with Jeff W when someone attacked, creating a 30 meter gap. Now, I don't find solo attacks in Prospect Park worthy of much alarm, but I was on this guy like a missile the second Jeff W shouted at me to get him. I caught the guy, and it was just us two for about 30 seconds until the rest bridged up. The second time, I was at the front with a bunch of Hudson guys, who I thought controlled the front very well for the majority of the race. They seemed like an example we may want to follow in the future. Anyway, I was actually beginning to resent their masterful control of the front when I noticed they were blocking for two of their team mates who had just created a 50 meter gap. A United guy kept shouting "they're blocking, they're blocking," and I had just been sitting in the front when I looked up ahead and saw the two guys in red kinda far away. I realized, "that United guy is right!" So I said, no effing way. I shot out ahead of the blockers and caught up to the two in front. I think I pulled up everyone with me on that move.

Throughout the race, we all had to dodge about 3-4 bottles that had jettisoned from peoples cages as they went over bad bumps at high speed. Seems pretty inexcusable to me. I went from tenth wheel to dead last desperately swerving away from one. I had to enter the jogger's lane to dodge it as I was on the edge of the left side when the bottle suddenly came across. The people who lost bottles know who they are, and I hope they will get a better cage or a bottle that fits more snugly.

The last four laps, the break put itself together, and I don't really recall how it happened. I'll let Jeff C tell that part of the story. I linked up with Adam right before his mechanical on the south east corner, and we were about 20th wheel when he shouted at me to go up with John M. Good advice on his part though it was my plan from the start. I linked up with John M and we tried to discuss some strategy, but I couldn't hear him well. For the last four laps then, I fought to retain control of the front without being in the wind too much. I was probably fifth wheel (of the rest) as we hit the 100 meter mark on the last lap when I jumped. I was ahead of everyone coming over the hill, but got beat by a few guys including John M with about 15 meters to go. I think I should have jumped a little later and used one of the other guys as a leadout, but rookie me, I got so excited at the prospect of actually being best of the rest, I just went for it. Lesson learned for next time. Looking forward to hearing John M's recollection of the finish.


I saw Harry as he was finishing his go-around lap, but have no clue how the 5's did. Eager to hear how the other races went.

Congrats to all who placed and those who helped make it happen.

AVD was kind enough to post a video of the finish on youtube. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyvv7UgH9Ps&feature=related

Indeed! Weather looks ok for CP on Sat too. Racing there in the wet sucks.

Sweet. I wrote my report on the 8.5x11" college ruled paper just like William instructed.

Here we go:

JP off from the gun with Dioslaki of Metra. The were working well and got a nice gap. Former Kissena Tad came to the front and started the chase in earnest. I slotted in on his wheel, Ragot slotted in 4th wheel to discourage an organized chase. Tad didn't seem to care and pulled the field hard to 1.5 laps and brought JP within reach. A group tried to bridge across but ended up causing the field to absorb the 2 man, turned 5, turned 11 man break.

From there, attacks were frequent. Kissena was all over everything. Unfortunately, people seemed unwilling to commit to working all out to make the break establish. WIll of Will Schneider of www.vo2maxout.com powered by Will Schneider presented by Will Schneider coached by Will Schneider was riding like his typical self, but what really got me this time was his audacity to complain about breaks not sticking. Well will, when you take 1 pull and then try to sit and and skip pulls when we have a 5 second gap, well that type of behavior will obviously not help. Jeez. Moving on.

I got away with Al for 1/2 a lap, but that didn’t stick. I actually can’t count home many times I found myself in a group off the front, or I was at the front of the pack watching Eric, JP, Marc, Rene, and Joe cover moves.

One thing I did much better this race was staying persistent and slotting back in in the top 10 even after a tough move or a hard effort.

With 3 laps to go I was starting to get pissed that nothing was sticking. I had conflicting voices in my head. One voice was saying, “relax due, it’s over, go to the back.” Another voice that sounded just like Marc said “go collect your sprinter and set it up for the finish.” I was being indecisive but action seemed to be happening at the front so I decided to stay put.

On the downhill coming into the final lap, Inson Wood rolled off the front and I jumped onto his wheel. He pulled to the flats and I came through. I took a long pull and we had a gap. He refused to pull through, or couldn’t. He was trying to say something but I couldn’t hear. I kept pulling and eventually he came through and took one pull. I pulled back through going into one lap to go and he couldn’t hold my wheel.

So here I am, dangling off the front solo. I head up the hill, solo, and hurting. I see the field charging behind. Over the crest I’m still solo until Bret from Mangoseed / WS United pulls up next to me. I figure it is the front of the field but its actually just him, and then Brian, Stephen, and Ariel come across. I jump on and we start working together surprisingly well.

On the downhill I’m pretty confident the gap is big enough for the win. Towards the temple Brian skips a pull and I think Bret does too. We encourage each other and everyone takes another turn. I’m now very confident it will stick. I try to set up for the sprint.

Coming past the bathroom I am 4th wheel. Stephen leads out the sprint, and Brian and Ariel react. I quickly come around Stephen but I can’t close the gap to Brian and Ariel. Across the line 3rd. It really was a great team effort. I knew I had great legs coming in. Great workout on Tuesday, a few days of rest during the week to work, and a nice Saturday clinic warmup.

Really great team effort. I can't say that enough. I think I should let Eric and William explain what they did up the hill on the final lap to help make my little break stick. But suffice it to say, that move wouldn't have worked without Kissena behind me.

Here are the stats for the race:

Duration 1:51:07
Distance 47.82 miles
Work 1764 kJ
Average Power 265 watts
xPower 298 watts
Max Power 1121 watts
Average Heart Rate 176 bpm
95% Heartrate 192 bpm
Average Cadence 94 rpm
Average Speed 25.8 mph

To sum up my first ever race essentially I more or less wasted my chances in the 5's by finding myself in front of the pace car on the 3rd or 4th lap and thinking it was fair game to attack when I realized I was on my own. Threw down what materialized as nothing more than a pointless ftp test drowning my own kracken until I realized I had actually made a mistake, clearly had not read the rules appropriately and had to wait for 2 minutes 40 seconds for the car to catch up. Along with the wait my normalized power was 4.216w/kg for 25 minutes which I was off the front which got me nowhere and left me with a measly 8.4 w/kg for 15 seconds in the sprint when I got caught. I tried to jump but had nothing left and more or less sat up knowing I was a gonner and coasted to the finish. I think I still got top 15, maybe top 10 based on the pictures I saw online not sure.

All in all a great experience and I certainly learned a lot in my first race.

PS Harry is the most vocal cyclist I've ever met, racing with him is like listening to people go at it on Jerry Springer.

Damnit! I'm probably working this weekend and can't make the Saturday race. Anyone doing the Bethel race?

"He drowned his own Kraken"

That may stick as the metaphor of the year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken

Here's my take on the 3/4 race.

I believe a 3-4 man breakaway go off pretty early in the race including a Hudson guy. The definitely got some distance and the field didn't seem that motivated to bring them back. I saw a bunch of Kissenas working the front (John, Ally, Christian, Jeff W,Adam, myself) to bring them back, but no one seemed to want to help the effort even though they were dangling out front within striking distance. Hudson definitely controlled things for a while at the front protecting the series leader and perhaps slowing things down for their breakaway man until he faded back into the pack.

With about 3 1/2 laps to go Whitey took a flyer from the pack and two guys (I think) jumped in with him and they got some distance as they tried to bridge. I moved up the front to cover any people who tried to chase down who tried to join them. They probably held on between the pack and the breakaway (which was now 2 guys I believe) for a good half lap. A the hill with 3 to go I saw Jeff W sit up a bit and one of guys (I think the one who won) fire up the hill. I jumped on his wheel and motored up the hill with another guy in tow (perhaps I was on the end I can't remember). Anyway the three of us bridged up to the breakaway two and started to work together to get more distance from the field. The breakaway was pretty well organized with everyone taking pulls but the guy in yellow (second place finisher). That guy refused to pull and everyone just rotated in front of him. I'm not going to lie, I was hanging on for dear life (as Jules could attest from my pained face as I rode by with 2 to go) and my pulls were probably shorter than others but I did what I could.

I would sometimes loose a bike length and someone would come around but managed to power through and hang on. On the last lap I thought if I could just hold on on the hill I'd be assured top 5 which would be sweet. After taking pulls down the hill we saw we had a safe gap and the jockeying started around the temple. A couple guys surged but everyone responded. At the end the sprint happened around the bottom of the incline. Though I didn't have enough to really contest the sprint, I had enough of a kick in the end and was able to hold off two guys who rolled.

It's my best Cat 4 finish to date so I was (am) pretty excited.

From what I heard Christian and John were controlling the field so they wouldn't bridge. Thanks for that.

Looking forward to Battenkill now which will be a whole lot different.

I raced like an ass. Perhaps I was nervous (first race of the season - wait, wasn't that Grants?) or the early hour left my brain addled, or the 2 lap warmup wasn't enough; either way when the gun went I charged to the front where I chatted briefly with Jeff about keeping the pace "high" for the first lap to keep things safe. I was concerned with all this early season fitness, nerves and some bad road people would be sketchy in the first few laps, so tiring everyone a bit would be a good thing.

That translated to 2 minutes at 380 followed by a couple of failed attacks. The second one left me so gassed that I couldn't catch back on.

Extremely frustrating, I tried my best to create some positives out of the experience. Here are my lessons:

1) I need at least a 3 lap warmup that early in the morning
2) races that long the winning gap is less likely to go early
3) to Mike's earlier point; more tenacity when the pack catches me after a break

Hearing afterwards that Aly followed my early drive with more of his own, then Whitey went in the break and finally Jeff C finished 3rd I feel somewhat mollified.

Having 3 guys in the top 10 is phenomenal; Big Chapeau to Condon, Johnny Wrongway and the Kaiser.

Sunday's news from Bethel certainly put my minor disappointment(s) in perspective.