Love this shot of Tito, Jeff, and Aly:

http://www.oneimagingphotography.com/Cycling/LucarelliCastaldiCupRace84/Lucarellicuprace84/24581551_bg54sL#!i=2007977981&k=w86gRbW

they look smaller, faster, and/or cleaner than everyone else around them.  It's almost as if they where photoshopped in.  

What a great pic! This direct comparison makes it clear just our cool our new kit is. 

Konditori love. 

Nice!  Jim looks like a Manchurian philosopher with a pipe, Whitey is posing for a school photograph, Vlad is the stern coach and I, apparently am some sort of freakish big-eared muffin-monster.

Nice!  Jim looks like a Manchurian philosopher with a pipe, Whitey is posing for a school photograph, Vlad is the stern coach and I, apparently am some sort of freakish big-eared muffin-monster.

Ha! Spot on. Awesome.

or:




or:




I like #3.

@ Owens: Insufficient Ear Acreage...

We are about a month away from the Casaldi Cup series....my knee is coming about and I plan on being ready.  Dan or Brendan are our best bet for green in the IV's...I will take a flyer at the KOM...here is little motivation for race prep:

I would totally go for the green jersey again, unless somebody else wants the honor? I also totally can work for everybody else in this.

I think konrad is interested in kom and andy dasilva is interested in the green.

We can always do what we do best. Stacking the podium. I don't think it is a bad idea to take all three steps of the KOM and Sprint podiums.

Like I said, I am happy to work for somebody else who wants this, and work to keep points out of other team's hands.

OK....I am all in.  My loyalty lies in Konrad riding a Spooky...otherwise I would tell him to get in line.  The thought of one Spooky leading out another one flames a passion in me !

I'd like to take a stab at the KOM, and will be happy to work on more two-up strategies up the hill to stack things in our favor.  We had some success with this last year, and I think we could get better at it.

Is there a reason why no one is suggesting or volunteering for the leader's jersey? I feel like Marc has aked this question before - seems like a reasonable goal for the contingent of 4s we have.

I'm not saying I'm the man for the job, but I'm personally most interested in the leader's contest. I feel like we can get a group of 3 or 4 that focuses on getting overall points - perhaps some by trying to get into breaks and some by contesting bunch sprints. We'll know soon after the frist few races, who's realistically in contention and focus our efforts on the ones with the most points. This will however require some strategy and determining of individual responsibilities. And of course that may all go out the window after the race starts. 

@Yaks when will you be hosting the nipple shaving clinic?

do we cat5's still get all these cool jerseys and things in our races?

I think y'all get some fugly medals.

All the more reason to get your 10 in ASAP and upgrade.

that is true.  also, if i upgrade i get a better discount at ride brooklyn!   alas, i am afraid that if i upgrade, the peloton will refuse to let me race in my hi vis.  they will protest my selection of garment by jamming things in my spokes like in that cycling movie that i cannot recall the name of right now.

Having the green jersey for a hot minute would be pretty rad...  

As somebody who has worn the green jersey, i can tell you, yes it is RAD! The green socks definitely impart superpowers. Not sure which superpowers, but they do impart something.

when I wore it...I switched to Aim toothpaste...I'm very superstitious about this stuff.

superpowers?  Lt. Dan - we've got pictures to prove that it literally will turn you into a superhero on 2 wheels. 

I hear the leaders jersey gives you X-ray vision!

LOL y'all just spitting out crazy talk but since we're at it...I wanna try for either leader's or KOM.

I'd like to see a commitment in the 4's to taking the overall leaders jersey this year—we have numbers and the firepower to make this happen. This goal will net more podium$ too. We'd need to designate a couple of contenders so if one gets upgraded, the other takes over.

Attention cat 4 competitors planning on participating in the L&C Cup:

TIME TO STEP UP!

You guys rocked the Green Jersey competition last year (been-there-done-that), now it's time to take that experience organizing and doing leadouts and applying it to a trickier phase of the race. Namely the finish.

As with any series long competition, consistency is going to be step 1 in ensuring your world domination. So who is committed to racing every race (baring illness/emergencies) of the series? Those people should get first crack at the leaders jersey. Next, think about the madness of the final group sprint. Hopefully, with good legs and good organization, the Kissena train can keep things neat and tidy in the final few K, but y'all know how these things play out sometimes. Shit can get hairy. Are you ready and willing?

If memory serves, there will be weeks where there are like 25 Kissena Cat 4s and while that will be good to ensure you have enough warm bodies to go after multiple jerseys, we need a committed group of guys going for and/or supporting for the yellow jersey competition.

You should also nominate a road captain (or two) for the series. I'm thinking Dan Reiners, with good experience from last year's victorious quest for Green, knows what it takes from a logistical point of view and is probably going to be your guy.

So far, guys who have expressed interest in going for leaders jerseys:

Green: Reiners, Da Silva, Konrad (maybe...he hasn't spoken up for himself on this thread though)
Dots: Tito
Yellow: Condon

Again, I really think it would be great if you guys took your pack-dominating mid-race sprint competition experience and focused it on yellow. It's the next big challenge for you as a team.

ouch, that hurts.

alyoshas said:

ouch, that hurts.

Sorry Alyoshas...I wrote that post after being up multiple times in the night with the baby...missed your post/request. Here's a revise:

Green: Reiners, Da Silva, Konrad
Dots: Tito, Alyoshas
Yellow: Condon, Alyoshas

Anyone else? Let's keep the conversation going.

don't be too offended @alyoshas; this is a big club and i'm always forgetting who's who and what's what.  i believe someone thought i was a cat4 the other day.  i support your bid for yellow.  and for world domination!