Sick yet again. Fun cold attacking my lungs. Will be sleeping this off. Plan to be healthier for the next L & C. Good luck to all and have a blast! 

Hey gang, I just got home from an event and I have a bad stomach ache. I don’t think I’ll be waking up early to be the Marshall patroller. I am very sorry about the last minute notice.

I'd like to point out that Patrick is one point out of 3rd place in the Best Masters/Silver Jersey competition in the 4s.

3rd place pays $100.

Looks like we have a job to do, boys.

How did it go? Rumor has it there was some random who wore a number from a prior race and snuck into the 4 field....

The best part is that he was caught on the finish line camera with what looked like his cell phone in his hand.

The race went well enough. There was at least a couple of Kissena riders at the front on every lap helping to keep things fast or blocking when we had riders up the road. We had a Kissena rider in almost every break (as I recall), although none of them got organized enough to stick.

It got ridiculously slow at 2 laps to go and really bunched up at the end. It was hard to find clear lines and we didn't get ourselves organized enough to do a lead out. We all finished in proximity to each other in the pack.

Not the finish we would have liked, but one of the Rapha riders came up to me afterwards and said how much fun they had racing against us that day since we were always up at the front with both guns blazing.

Agreed that the Cat 4 team was super active and involved or initated every break. I suggest we consider doing the following in future races:

1. While there were 4 or more Kissena near the front on last lap, we were all separated and weren’t able organize a leadout for Ricky. Let’s plan on assembling on one side of the road (right side) about 10-20 places back between the top of the downhill and the temple. Once together we can  move up and start a proper leadout on the uphill and for the sprint. 

2. We can practice organizing ourselves on the first green jersey sprint as it would allow us to recover properly for the finish. We can also plan to send someone up the road after the jersey sprints.

3. It would make sense to plan to attack with some strong guys from other teams. A break with other teams represented has a better chance of staying away than a Kissena only break. 

4. jim_nelson said:

I'd like to point out that Patrick is one point out of 3rd place in the Best Masters/Silver Jersey competition in the 4s.

3rd place pays $100.

I had no idea I was in running given I missed first few races of year and had a mediocre finish Sunday. I can make two of the next three L&C races and could aim to get points by being one of last leadout guys with Ricky and Eric

L&C this Saturday.

Is Patrick still in the running?  IV's want to know.

Anyone else looking to pin on and go fast?

I'll be there. Not sure about the fast part

I’m in

I don’t love the threat of rain but I’m in. 

Given that I just came back from vacation with a cold I am not sure how I will feel Saturday. That didn't stop me from having a fever dream that I won an L&C race at prospect and forgot to tell my wife about it. Fat chance. I'm in.

I'm going to miss this one. We're going out of town that day. Good luck guys!

I"m in.

I'll be making an appearance for the Cat 4s.

Foolish as this may be, I plan to race (and volunteer) even though I'm going to a concert tonight. 

MaxThorn said:

Foolish as this may be, I plan to race (and volunteer) even though I'm going to a concert tonight. 

We'll remember to give you sign language signals about when to attack so your eardrums can recover.

Ears should be okay: it's a metal band, so I'm bringing earplugs. But if my eyelids are too heavy to hold open, that would be a problem...

I didn’t prereg. But racing is super fun and I feel left out so I’ll be there. Hopefully my legs work!

Good luck to everyone racing, still in Iowa for Ragbrai and won't make it back in time

JohnOlsson said:

Good luck to everyone racing, still in Iowa for Ragbrai and won't make it back in time

How was it? Looking forward to a report.

Fun race today.

• Was relatively fast at 41.3 Km/h (25.66 mph)
• The first 2 or 3 laps were even faster, it sure was fun
• No one would stay away today, barely anyone tried
• Did my best to hold the front
• Great to see Dan Reiners racing like the fire
• Niall looked amazing
• Last lap Patrick comes up to me, and I say "think I'm out, this is looking skeeeetchy"
• Not two seconds go by, someone hits and locks their brakes in front of Patrick, causing a cascade that results in Erik P. and a few others crashing
• Somehow, Rick and Patrick manage a great position coming out of the climb to the finish
• Kaputs!! That sound we all hate, again, seriously, bikes crashing all across the road, taking out rick, and forcing the rest of us out of contention
• Erik will need a new helmet
• Otherwise Rick and Erik look ok after the race, with nothing major to their bikes.
• Lots of advil, ice, and rest today. Play it by ear tomorrow
• The rest of us live another day, looking for form come cyclocross season
• Having teammates crash is the worst. 
• But those few moments the pack was moving at 30~40 mph full bloc, those were fun and the best moments.

Let's go race bikes.

Hope everyone got away with minor injuries and the bike damage is cheap. Chapeau to Patrick’s spidey sense too. 

Photo by Victor, more to come...

Jeff and I were in the I/2/3 race.  

I told Jeff that considering the past races, and how field sprints seemed to be where the field was going, we shouldn't do anything until the last five laps, and even then, know that probably after 2 to go, nothing was going to go away.

Then, when I noticed that Foundation only had a few riders, I started to reconsider.

The first half of the race was pretty fast.  Jeff looked great; never seemed under pressure, always had good position in the field.  the only blip was a guy swerved in front of me, causing me to brake, which caused Dave Vollbach to crash into me.  It's a bad feeling to sense someone leaning on your bike--I tried to ride as straight as possible so the person behind could correct themselves, but then I heard it didn't work.  feel bad about that.

Then, the field started to lose a bit of interest in chasing.  They got a bit slower at responding to attacks.  I started to feel the balance of racing start to move in favor of a break.  But I wanted to stick with the conservative plan.  And one of the few people I'd have expected to be in the break, mike Perlberg, looked like he wasn't having a good day.

I was wrong.  He had one good attack in him.  And won the race thanks to other guys crashing each other out.

I attacked on the flats with two to go, just to see if I could do something to bring the break back.  Nope.  Then I did the same  on the last lap, planning on going till I blew, asi didn't want to sprint.  sigh.

Jeff was riding really well; gotta get him to use that good form for some results.  

So many crashes!? Does Charlie not read the riot act anymore?

Was Vollbach ok in the end?

Jules said:

Was Vollbach ok in the end?

I wrote him immediately thereafter.  He told me he was.