Jul 07, 2012 at 06:45 PM
Outstanding leadouts by the guys for the two sprints. It put me in the perfect position for the sprint each time. I went hard at the crosswalk and got a gap, then held it to the line.
L&C Cup
Jul 07, 2012 at 06:58 PM
and Dan has a great Hulk pose
My first time in the 4s was fine. I hung near the front with the guys generally and was the front for half of the hill on lap 2 or 3. The first intermediate sprint was fast, I hung in there but was pushing my redline as a result, Jules towed me after the sprint back to the front of the pack by the time we reached the hill but by that point I was cooked. My body shut down shortly thereafter on the hill and I cruised in from there.
Not what I was hoping for, but good experience non-the-less. I learned a few tactical lessons and also know what I need to train in order to get to the next level.
Jul 07, 2012 at 06:59 PM
and don't forget Ben with a 5th in the 5s.
Jul 07, 2012 at 07:41 PM
Nice Ben!
Good weekend. I hope we can replicate your success up in the hills tomorrow.
Good weekend. I hope we can replicate your success up in the hills tomorrow.
Jul 07, 2012 at 08:01 PM
We expect no less.
Jul 07, 2012 at 11:10 PM
some nice action shots from this morning's 4 race....
kissenas drilling it at the front on the first prime (jim, david s. and 2 guys along for the ride unaware of the fury about to be unleashed behind them by todd, yacks and lt. dan):
lt. dan doing his best peter sagan after winning the first sprint
jules attacking before the hill
yack countering off jules' move
david g. solo'ing to the win!
Jul 07, 2012 at 11:14 PM
Excellent results guys! I hope to be back in racing condition (still nursing the hamstring) in 3-4 weeks... not that you guys seem to need me with all this success in the 4s.
Jul 07, 2012 at 11:55 PM
Norm, we *need* you. Don't ever doubt it. A team is not a team without The Normanzo.
Jul 08, 2012 at 12:25 AM
Yes Norm...hurry back...my Skeletor is lonely and surrounded by a sea of Chinese carbon.
Jul 08, 2012 at 01:13 AM
L&C Cup race - yet another.
Most of the local strongmen were keeping their powder dry for Pawling (the state championship) tomorrow, so I thought that today could be a good day to get away with something.
I was right...
The race started quietly, with a sweet tribute to Dave Jordan. After a 30 second moment of silence we were off.
The first couple of laps were uneventful; Dave Gardiner & I had discussed trying our patented "2-man move with 2 laps to go after the last KOM" briefly but there was a lot of race to go before that point.
The third lap was the first sprinters preme so I got to the front and decided I was going to drive the sprint train for a while; I kept looking back for a Blue & Orange train until Jim got up to me and said, "We're all here" and I put the hammer down.
Jim was pretty good about "more" and "ease off" but I'm a little deaf so I'd shout back from time to time. I basically took the front of the field from the Bandshell for about 2 miles at just a hair under 30 mph.
After that I hung around close enough to the front to see Dan win in high style, and then did a bit of work to bring a teammate (new 4) back up to the front.
Somewhere in there an 8 or 10 man break formed that i was part of; I screamed myself horse trying to organize it but no dice; those guys just had no idea how to ride in a pace-line... tragic as there was plenty of strength there, and we spent the better part of a lap trying to organize.
I had a bizarre mid-race conversation with Mike Anderson (a nice guy) from Velocity, "Was that you on the front for the leadout? Great teamwork there. You guys really killed it. I'm not really contesting today; just getting ready for tomorrow. What are you up to this weekend? Wife's racing the new york city triathlon? That's great. I'm not feeling so good, couldn't find the milk this morning, had to eat my cereal with Yoghurt. Really? That's one of my favorite meals. Excited about Pawling? Yes, but it's been a long season. Yeah. You want the yellow wheel there or the green one? Green is fine. Ok, thanks..."
On the second sprint preme I loitered around in the top 10 or 15 just to see how it went - so I had a pretty good view of Dan doing his Sagan-Hulk impersonation which was sweet.
At the two laps to go mark I found Dave G and told him I could lead him out over the hill but was too tired to really do much; so I put down a steady but not insane pace (500 watts?) up the hill and may have (?) inadvertently won a KOM before launching Dan. He didn't stay out there long though and we were back as a bunch before the downhill.
A Waffles & Dinges guy on a black bike was doing some kind of crazy track-swerve moves on the front with Yaks glued to his wheel. I waited and the next time Waffles swerved right I jumped hard on the left, but didn't stay away long as Yaks followed a bridge attempt which found me just before the uphill. Yaks looked over as they passed and I just shook my head, "No." By the top of the hill they were caught too. David countered Yaks' attack and got away for good at the top of the hill.
I'd seen Yaks go off the back when he was caught so I had this crazy idea that I'd drop back and pace him up to the front as my last dying effort. I dropped to the back and couldn't see him, so I loitered for a bit and realized, "Shit, this is the *last* place I want to be; dead last on the final lap of a Cat 4 race" I needed to either sit up or drill it to the front.
I was able to charge up on the right and as I was getting to the front I heard Jim or Dan call out "Dave's up the road!" which was awesome since I couldn't even see him.
The pack had started to really move (or it felt like it) and I clawed my way to the front with Jim and by the bottom of the downhill we could sit up a bit side by side and scrub some speed from the chasing pack.
I thought Dave had a bigger margin to win with, but I'm happy to say it was enough. He crossed the finish line with his arms up in triumph, as it should be.
Jul 08, 2012 at 02:02 AM
Great photos. Love seeing Kissena arms up at a finish.
Jul 08, 2012 at 02:17 AM
Great racing by a smaller than normal Kissena team. We continue to punch above our weight with great organization.
Jul 08, 2012 at 10:21 AM
You guys are totally inspiring me out here. Dan - that shot of you imitating Sagan is priceless. And the victory shot for the race. Complete awesomeness. Congratulations to the entire team.
And - a little note. I went for a ride yesterday with a guy who used to ride for NCVC (a friend of Norm's who now lives here in Geneva). He said that one thing he didn't like about NCVC was how cliquish it was. And it made me think about Kissena, and how we don't have that. That gives me great pride, to be associated even from afar to the kick ass motley crew that we are. I hope our good vibe and success continues to roll.
Jul 08, 2012 at 11:01 AM
Jules awesome race report pretty much tells as it is. The first couple of laps I did nothing, just sat in and tried to use as little energy as possible. When the bell for first sprint came I was really impressed by the team’s organized lead out for Dan. It was a whole lap in which Kissena put the hammer down. It was a beautiful thing to see. I think the same guy from Nyvelocity that had the conversation with Jules told me that it was great to see the team make the race hard. I told him that we had the points leader and that was why we were so freaking awesome. I felt bad that I didn’t help out the first sprint so I moved up to the front for the second. Jim and Dave were at the front with an Argentinian guy from a NJ team who I have talked to in other races as the third wheel. I asked him in Spanish if I could take Jim’s wheel, he didn’t seem to happy at first but he eventually let me in. With 400 yard to go I was at the front and just tried to make it as fast as possible so no one but Dan could come around. Indeed he did and got another bunch of points. I congratulated Dan and thanked the Argentinian for his cooperation.
I told Jules that we should try something with 2 to go, since the last time I raced we broke away with 3 left and got caught with 1 to go. He led me out amazingly up the hill and at the top I attacked. I was hoping guys would come with me but no one did and I quickly got caught before the downhill. I thought it would end in a bunch sprint. I always suck at those and have never placed in a mass sprint as a 4. So I thought my last move would be a suicide move surprising the sprinters around the ice rink.
On the last time up the hill people were sprinting with caution for the last KOM. And at the top of the hill everyone slowed down to try to recover for the final sprint. I thought that was my opportunity to go solo. I knew that taking off alone would not worry the field and that less than a lap would be right the distance for me to maybe make it, at least mentally.
So I took off. I don’t have a fancy power meter so I can only tell you speed. I took off at about almost 28 miles on the flats after the hill. I knew that in order to make it to the end I had to have a huge gap at the bottom of the hill, where the field could see me and where everyone starts to speed up for the finish. I was really hurting at the temple trying to hold 26 miles and by the Ice rink I was dead dropping my speed to 22. I could hear the wheels of the field coming in closer and closer on me but I made it just in time to put my arms up and yell YEAH!!! I had an average speed of 26.2 for that final lap.
After the race I told Jim, it was the Wednesday am time trials that tuned me up perfectly for V.
I told Jules that we should try something with 2 to go, since the last time I raced we broke away with 3 left and got caught with 1 to go. He led me out amazingly up the hill and at the top I attacked. I was hoping guys would come with me but no one did and I quickly got caught before the downhill. I thought it would end in a bunch sprint. I always suck at those and have never placed in a mass sprint as a 4. So I thought my last move would be a suicide move surprising the sprinters around the ice rink.
On the last time up the hill people were sprinting with caution for the last KOM. And at the top of the hill everyone slowed down to try to recover for the final sprint. I thought that was my opportunity to go solo. I knew that taking off alone would not worry the field and that less than a lap would be right the distance for me to maybe make it, at least mentally.
So I took off. I don’t have a fancy power meter so I can only tell you speed. I took off at about almost 28 miles on the flats after the hill. I knew that in order to make it to the end I had to have a huge gap at the bottom of the hill, where the field could see me and where everyone starts to speed up for the finish. I was really hurting at the temple trying to hold 26 miles and by the Ice rink I was dead dropping my speed to 22. I could hear the wheels of the field coming in closer and closer on me but I made it just in time to put my arms up and yell YEAH!!! I had an average speed of 26.2 for that final lap.
After the race I told Jim, it was the Wednesday am time trials that tuned me up perfectly for V.
Jul 08, 2012 at 01:22 PM
Congratulations to all you stud L&C-ers. As I wrote on our FB page, very impressive have guys across all categories kicking ass!
Jul 08, 2012 at 05:31 PM
Today i did the 8am kissena ride when I got back I stopped at a Bodega to buy a Coke. Guy there starts asking me if there was a race today. I said there was one yesterday. Who won? He asked, I said I did. He bought me the coke and had me give him my autograph on a dollar bill. After I drank it, he said: "yeah i saw it on tv yesterday" I didn't have the heart to tell him that in fact I did not win in the Tour d france yesterday.
Jul 08, 2012 at 05:32 PM
Poser
Jul 08, 2012 at 09:21 PM
That is awesome! I bet Tour stage winners don't get a free bodega Coke. Hopefully it was the Mexican style.
Jul 08, 2012 at 09:27 PM
I love it. Just showcases the New York Centrist World View. Of *course* people you see on TV are wandering around at all hours buying cokes from bodegas. This is NYC baby!
Jul 09, 2012 at 01:29 AM
Yeah only in NYC. I hope he doesn't come after me with a knife when he realizes the truth.
Jul 09, 2012 at 01:54 PM
Dave, you were my Hero-of-the-day on both Saturday and Sunday this week.
Jul 09, 2012 at 05:36 PM
Today i did the 8am kissena ride when I got back I stopped at a Bodega to buy a Coke. Guy there starts asking me if there was a race today. I said there was one yesterday. Who won? He asked, I said I did. He bought me the coke and had me give him my autograph on a dollar bill. After I drank it, he said: "yeah i saw it on tv yesterday" I didn't have the heart to tell him that in fact I did not win in the Tour d france yesterday.the best!
Jul 23, 2012 at 07:45 PM
Hey 4's.
So Dan's got the lock on the green jersey and Yacks has a commanding 2nd place but it would be sort of a shame to put our lead out train away without wrapping up the sprint podium. I'd like to toss my hat into the ring for the 3rd spot and try to get some extra end of series muffin money. (50 bucks that we can actually share without having to create a sign up sheet (Yacks can I borrow the helmet for Whirlybird Cross?)).
Anyone up for more fun?
That said, there is also a pretty open competition for the 3rd place in the KOM. I'll bet we could grab that too if we tried.....
Jul 23, 2012 at 08:40 PM
I'm in. Happy to pull for you Jim!
Jul 23, 2012 at 11:41 PM
I think this is a brilliant idea. three Kissena's on the podium.
Jul 24, 2012 at 12:34 AM
Would LOVE to help make this happen....but I am riding my bike out to Montauk Saturday and staying overnight. I will certainly help Jim in the finale race....a team podium sweep is soooo Gewiss !!! Yacks
Jul 24, 2012 at 11:21 AM
Finally a weekend I don't have to work. I will be there to help out as well.
Jul 24, 2012 at 01:19 PM
So per Jim's post it looks like the 3rd place cat 4 KOM overall is up for grabs. Sergey has first locked with 17 points and Vollbach's sitting pretty at 2nd with 11 points. Right now the guy in 3rd has 4 points and there are bunch of folks that have 3 points including myself and Tito. I was thinking about making a run for 3rd overall to go for the $50. Perhaps we could double team it with myself and Tito to secure maximum points.
Anyone interested in this pursuit? If we pull this off and combine it with Jim's potential sprint winnings we could be looking at a proper Cat 4 muffin fest (does that sound dirty?) next week, hell we could even go for eggs.
Jul 24, 2012 at 03:17 PM
I'm on the fence about the race - I'll be at work until 4am. I could conceivably crash at my brother's place for about an hour and get up again and come race (he lives super close to the park). Race-wise, I think I'd actually be fine (provided I sleep well the night before) but I'd be a hot mess for the rest of the day.
That said, I'd like to make a run at 3rd for KOM if I'm there. Or help Jeff get it.
Jul 25, 2012 at 10:12 PM