Rode it today for the first time and if aggro racers and clueless rec lane users don't figure it out it smelled like disaster.

it is going to be a game day decision for me whether I race on Saturday. I've been working on getting over what I picked up in Oregon. I can't say I am going to feel awesome, but if I am hacking up a lung I am going to useless to everybody. 

@Dan - If you're not up for racing this weekend, any chance you still want to get up early and marshal the rec lane that Jules posted?  Post race muffins and coffee on me.

If no one can marshall that rec lane, I'll do it. I love being an authority figure and I have a whistle.

Phillip is off the front in pursuit of "teammate of the year"...

^  ^  god knows i can't do it on the bike..

Bump

Calling all Cat 1/2/3s! I just pre-reged and it looks like by Saturday morning we're going to have a field of over 100 people. As many of you know PP races can be fast as balls, or bizarrely dawdling. Looking at the teams registered, I'm going to guess Saturday is going to be fast and hard.

Here's who is registered from KCC:

chris	yack	malverne	NY	Kissena bike club	4/17/14
J.P.	Partland	New York	NY	Kissena Cycling Club	4/15/14
Marc	Bertucco	New York	NY	Kissena Cycling Club	4/17/14
Eric	Robertson	Brooklyn	NY	Kissena Cycling Club	4/16/14
Ryan	Johnston	Brooklyn	NY	Kissena Cycling Club	4/16/14
David	Vollbach	Brooklyn	NY	Kissena Cycling Club	4/15/14
Joaquin	C de Baca	Brooklyn	NY	Kissena Cycling Club	4/16/14
David	Stokes	New York	NY	Kissena Cycling Club	4/16/14
Dusan	Strika	Parlin	NJ	Kissena Cycling Team

And double top secret friend of KCC Mike Garrigan.

This is going to be a tough race to control, but we need a plan and a group of motivated riders at the front of the field. It's going to be incredibly easy to get shuffled too far back and when splits, breaks, whatever happens, you want to be in a position to decide what to do about the action.

Ideally, JP, Garrigan, Joaquin, Ryan would be able to keep their powder dry until the real action starts. But for that to happen that means, myself, yacks, Robertson, Stokes, Strika and Vollbach  are in position to make a difference.

I didn't pre-reg because I'm working registration table tomorrow.  Figured I'll just do it then.  If this means I can't race I will be so sad.  But we're well below the bikereg.com cap so I don't think it will be an issue.

In the KoM, Mengoni's Eugene is leading teammate Karl Nelson, Erin Korff, Michael Goret, and Stalin Quiterio.  I don't see Eugene contending for this, but I could be wrong.  Stalin is probably the fastest of the guys with points. but Karl is pretty quick, too.

Looks like over 10 in the 4's so I'll be going stealth cloaking device and you won't notice when I avoid the field sprint.

Final roll call:

Holler if you intend to sign up (day of registration) for the cat 4 team tomorrow morning. I'll post some race strategy guidelines before dinner time.

Good Luck IV's....Patrick needs to stay in Dots.

Well...crap, I have to follow up Patrick's excellent break-down. Well someone has to do it. 1/2/3s listen up.

I would like to emphasize a couple of things.

1. Jump right in, the water's fine! Yacks, this means you! You are an experienced racer with a closet full of green jerseys. We need you in the action from the get-go. Plus, you risk missing out on dangerous splits, and/or just being too tired from hanging on at the back of the pack all day long where it's always harder. Think about the swelling/tadpole effect. The boys at the front always get to rest first and longest, while if you are stuck further behind, you are in the tail of the tadpole, still hammering when the guys up front are soft pedaling.

2. Garrigan, Partland, Johnston, De Baca, only go after that quality shit. Leave the garbage to the rest of us. So if you see me at the front riding tempo, let me do my thing. Don't come over the top of me (unless you are chasing down a danger-move, or I'm about to get massively swarmed), I won't let you down.

3. Think about splits, moves and numbers. There's no hard rule here, but if we've just got one guy in a break that numbers 8-12, we should think about getting another dude or two up there, by either just bringing the move back with steady chasing, or helping a strong dude bridge. If the odds are better than that, we're either actively blocking, or passively doing nothing just keeping an eye on potential dangerous counter-attacks.

4. SPRINT. So here's the thing. With 100+ guys there's a good chance that this race is just going to be fast all day and come down to a bunch sprint. Not sure if Garrigan is going to be sporting a KCC jersey tomorrow, but it would be worth leading him out for the experience points either way. Obviously, dude doesn't need us to do that for him, but it would be good to give it a shot. Also, I want a front-row seat to him giving Anthony Lowe the "whatever dude, you're too slow stink eye" when United gets all roid-rag'n aggro.

5. Don't let JP give away the grey jersey. I think it would torture him to have to wear the old man kit for another week, so let's make sure he doesn't have to chase down an last lap stupid go nowhere attacks. That's for us workhorses.

Since the numbers are over 10, I'm going black kit and sportingly won't be able to help out. Sorry but it would actually look worse for someone to assist "sneaky reporter"-like. And I'm fat and out of shape anyway so you'll be missing nothing!

Patrick
I won't be able to make it tomorrow because I'm in the Catskills with the family.

I'm out.  The kind N train commuters passed on to me the bug they've had all week.  Back on the bike in a few days, and sorely disappointed I don't get to pin on a number tomorrow.

BTW, I plan on covering breaks along with others. Latching onto a break would take the pressure off a lead out train for the KOM.

One suggestion Patrick and Brendan and company: final leadout train on left side. The clinical facts prove that trying to get the train through on the right will likely get blocked or pinched or cut off as the pack mushrooms after the downhill.

Interesting race today. Patrick ended up defending the dots and Rigby pretty much freelanced to 6th after the leadout blew up.

From the 1/2/3s. KCC had (this part always makes me nervous, because I might forget someone) Stokes, Partland, Yack, Johnston, Vollbach, Strika, Bertucco and on the double-down low, Mike Garrigan.

Again, very pleased with how the team rode. Seemed like a pretty quick race to me, but some of the other guys didn't think it all that tough. As I looked around, I truly felt that everyone was giving it their all. The usual suspects were stand-out performers, but me and a few other dudes, got in our digs too. Related, several non-KCC riders were giving Ryan an earful because he wasn't riding the race they wanted him to. This tells me we're doing something right. The more we're a part of the race, the more we're going to frustrate others. You have to learn how to tune out the aggro behavior, and just race the race that makes most sense for you and the your team. It can be hard though. Because there are a lot of bullies and assholes out there.

Anyway, with about 8 laps to go, Garrigan bridges up to and through a move that had been dangling for some time. Turns out he had former KCC and pro crit stand-out Neil Bedzdek with him. And those two just crushed it.

Mike and Neil cranked out some serious watts and by all reports worked well together to put over 90 seconds on the field. I assumed that they were just going their version of threshold (which would have been enough probably), but Mike corrected me by saying that after the climb he was full on the gas until the descent because he didn't want to get caught by the field. In the end, those two sprinted side by side, on opposite sides of the road. "Canadian Tractor Pull" Garrigan called it. Mike had more training miles but generously gave a chunk of his 1st place winnings to JP to distribute at the usual post-race coffee stop.

Meanwhile back in the pack was the usual nonsense. Attacks, chases, bunching up, etc. With one lap to go, Yack and Vollbach (both of whom had been strong and active all day) found JP and got him to the pointed end of the peloton when it counted. I kind of held my breath as Yack barged his way through some riders. He seemed to do it without contact, but just! Anyway, with about a kilometer to go, JP was able to hang on and finish well in front of the grey jersey leader, so I'm sure he'll be the outright owner of the translucent grey shorts again for the next round of fun.

my apologies for the argy-bargy in the finale.  I got a little spooked when a Mengoni and a Carl Hart rider (both looked to be about 6'2") decided to lean on each other and almost stack it when positioning for the sprint.  I was hoping to hit the front before any real lead out started as I knew I didn't have the power left to get into the wind.  I saw J.P. on the way up and informed him that I was going early and that he should get on my wheel....not sure if he did or if I helped him at all.  I saw Volback on the left drilling it and decided to get in front of him and go as hard as I could...this lasted for maybe 100 yards as I cramped badly in both quads.  The 2 strongest guys left the field behind and good for them.  As far as the chase was concerned...Ryan was up front all day (which is really the safest position to be in, especially with a baby on the way).  I don't know much about tactics at this level but it dawned on me that Lupus, Mengoni and United had real sprinters in the field and I never saw any organized chase by any of those teams.  This struck me as odd but it was explained to me after the race that those guys race for themselves...which struck me as even more odd.  After years on Kissena watching guys slay it for each other, the thought of riding for oneself on a team seems foreign.  I heard a Mengoni after the race asking Rene were he was all day and Rene said he flatted and his teammate seemed genuinely perturbed at him.  Seeing things like that make me happy to be on Kissena.  I spent the entire race looking for an orange helmet to ride near and this seemed to work as there was always one to be found near the front.  I hope we can keep JP in his see through grey shorts for the series.  That would be a pretty cool accomplishment.  I really enjoy having coffee after the race as well...the small things in life make me happiest...like seeing Jules roll in with his kids in tow.  Hat's of to Garrigan for throwing some cabbage our way...what a nice gesture.  So cool I feel like a square standing next to him.  Yacks

Speaking of which, Rene flats out of every race!  Seriously, I believe he's flatted the last four times I've raced against him: Branchbrook, CP, FBF, and now PP.

I spoke to Rene while I was marshaling and he was complaining about the vredestein tires he was on. Pinched flatted Today.

Thanks for the props guys! Ryan, I assured Neil that I had a few friends in the group to get him to stop looking back and roll it (hope you got a coffee Ryan) With 9 to go I saw the group off the front with a kissena and VD rider in it and decided to get up there, but quickly found myself off the front with Neil coming out of the group to join me. We rolled pretty hard for a few laps and agreed a 3rd rider with us would have been a good idea but, in my best Neil Bezdek accent " let's just keep roll'n" me- feck yeah! So we kept it pretty Steady till the end. Last lap we eased off some after I told Neil a cagey sprint was not on the agenda. We shook hands at the bottom of the hill and rolled side by side to the roller rink steady tempo agreeing on the sprint start at the washrooms. Sorry I missed you guys at konditori, i wanted to get in some steady hours. Really like racing here in the city.

@Garrigan: We like having you here!
Full Tilt Boogie wins the day.