May 21, 2013 at 04:53 PM
Thanks. I'll be there tonight.
Floyd Bennett Field
May 21, 2013 at 05:55 PM
No Floyd in my future.
***siiighhhhhhh***
The things I do for love.
May 21, 2013 at 05:56 PM
Im racing tonight too
May 21, 2013 at 07:09 PM
i'm n 3/4's (aka, workin 4BiGjohnM. -h;-)
ps ALL will b hot...hydrate&sodium
ps ALL will b hot...hydrate&sodium
May 21, 2013 at 07:17 PM
FBF Virgins - bring lights for the trip home. The "Flatbush Challenge" is far more dangerous than the race itself.
May 21, 2013 at 07:37 PM
^ especially if you're trying to follow Johnny Wrongway or Vlad as they TT through evening traffic all the way to the park.
May 21, 2013 at 07:56 PM
Thanks Jules. Hi viz Brendan's crowd control lights fully charged
May 22, 2013 at 12:07 AM
Rumor has it there were RESULTS BROS! Lets hear the details...
May 22, 2013 at 12:18 AM
Yeahhhhh!!
May 22, 2013 at 01:46 AM
prelim results...
brendan and i took 3rd and 4th respectively in the 5s; adam took 10th; and another kissena, who i have never met before, i think finished top 10.
alyhosha took third and malcolmson eigth in the 3/4s.
not sure about the 1/2/3s.
reports to follow no doubt.
May 22, 2013 at 01:48 AM
BOOYAH!Mark Clifford said:prelim results...brendan and i took 3rd and 4th respectively in the 5s; adam took 10th; and another kissena, who i have never met before, i think finished top 10.alyhosha took third and malcolmson eigth in the 3/4s.not sure about the 1/2/3s.reports to follow no doubt.
May 22, 2013 at 02:34 AM
woooord(s)...that.hurt.
After the first break got caught with 5 to go and as ppl went for the intermediate sprint, i moved up quietly- saw ppl were letting gaps open, hurting quite a bit so I gave a little gas pushed 400W for a bit and looked back, I saw a guy behind me (who I latter found out was frias and who took second in front of me at the finish); I assumed everyone was strung out behind him and that i was towing everyone along but then as I elbowed him to pass through in order to breath a little I saw that we were clear with the rest of the field about 50 meters back- he wouldn't come through and I assumed we were going to get caught so I was pedaling along at threshold. Finally a group of 3 guys blasted by including paul carbonara, a guy from wonderwheel and some other dude so I jumped to catch their wheel and frias wakes up and i get on his wheel to catch onto them- we're 5 at this point. 2 other guys (including nathan brauer from foundation) must have bridged up cause the succeeding break was 7. I honestly didn't have faith in our little group at first because we had 5 laps to go, i was already hurting pretty bad and ppl had a hard time pulling through but we managed to keep it tight and organized until 2 to go where carbonara was shouting at ppl and I answered back to him at one point saying I had just pulled so it's not my job to pull through the guy who was right behind me in the first place cause no one else would- frias however was doing a fine job saving his energy for the final sprint and didn't do much work towards the end, he's kind of a freeloader cause of how our break started as well, he did no work to instigate it and no work to contribute to its real success.
anyway...it all worked out, brauer went too early i sat on 3rd wheel, carbonara and frias zoomed by towards to finish and I starting winding up my slow sprint passing my leadout and just edging out wonderwheel dude who was having a go at it too for 3rd place, i was pushing about 600watts for a while there- sucks that none of my power recorded (i forgot to push start on my garmin) but it was nice having live info during the race.
Loved the cheering from the cat 5 guys, felt pro! thanks dudes.
I barely made it out to this race but riding down with John from the city is what motivated me. as it took 75mins from my house to FBF (about 20miles). I like this course better than last year's to be honest and i'm happy I made it! next week I wanna go to Veselka after the race- many guys congregate there after the race to drink beer and eat perogies. Andy, Konrad, Wilson and I rode home together. good times.
CP training yo
After the first break got caught with 5 to go and as ppl went for the intermediate sprint, i moved up quietly- saw ppl were letting gaps open, hurting quite a bit so I gave a little gas pushed 400W for a bit and looked back, I saw a guy behind me (who I latter found out was frias and who took second in front of me at the finish); I assumed everyone was strung out behind him and that i was towing everyone along but then as I elbowed him to pass through in order to breath a little I saw that we were clear with the rest of the field about 50 meters back- he wouldn't come through and I assumed we were going to get caught so I was pedaling along at threshold. Finally a group of 3 guys blasted by including paul carbonara, a guy from wonderwheel and some other dude so I jumped to catch their wheel and frias wakes up and i get on his wheel to catch onto them- we're 5 at this point. 2 other guys (including nathan brauer from foundation) must have bridged up cause the succeeding break was 7. I honestly didn't have faith in our little group at first because we had 5 laps to go, i was already hurting pretty bad and ppl had a hard time pulling through but we managed to keep it tight and organized until 2 to go where carbonara was shouting at ppl and I answered back to him at one point saying I had just pulled so it's not my job to pull through the guy who was right behind me in the first place cause no one else would- frias however was doing a fine job saving his energy for the final sprint and didn't do much work towards the end, he's kind of a freeloader cause of how our break started as well, he did no work to instigate it and no work to contribute to its real success.
anyway...it all worked out, brauer went too early i sat on 3rd wheel, carbonara and frias zoomed by towards to finish and I starting winding up my slow sprint passing my leadout and just edging out wonderwheel dude who was having a go at it too for 3rd place, i was pushing about 600watts for a while there- sucks that none of my power recorded (i forgot to push start on my garmin) but it was nice having live info during the race.
Loved the cheering from the cat 5 guys, felt pro! thanks dudes.
I barely made it out to this race but riding down with John from the city is what motivated me. as it took 75mins from my house to FBF (about 20miles). I like this course better than last year's to be honest and i'm happy I made it! next week I wanna go to Veselka after the race- many guys congregate there after the race to drink beer and eat perogies. Andy, Konrad, Wilson and I rode home together. good times.
CP training yo
May 22, 2013 at 04:01 AM
FBF- TNR
race3, 21apr2013, cat3/4:
20mi/11laps, 25.25avg,
fast, mostly, w/2 breaks, 1st 4-6laps(w/JohnM), 2nd w/3 5go,
rode in front3rd of pack til5 2go, out front w/AlyoshaS as he(AS) &1other counter attacked off 2nd sprint lap &@turn2 i took front of pack, &encouraged others to join-in break, held front inside until turn 3intorode steady hard then drifted left to block view of break in gutter ahead, axis plus a couple joined 2bridge up2 break, let them go, held front& a polite conversation w/yellow jersey from Siggis...break was clear by 300m by turn4(135d), @bell lap rode both yellow&green wheels 2final straight, as BiG JohnM rrrroared past me @500m 2go, finished my now standard 18th...felt good as did double PPK VOmax training&FBF;
shoutOut 2Alyosha for greatStrong work in final break&3rd place finish,
PhillipM strong/smart riding, Konrad patrolling front& AndyDS leadOuts 4BiG JohnM& JM's 8th!
-harryB;-)
ps. congrats@ 5's 3rd&4th!
race3, 21apr2013, cat3/4:
20mi/11laps, 25.25avg,
fast, mostly, w/2 breaks, 1st 4-6laps(w/JohnM), 2nd w/3 5go,
rode in front3rd of pack til5 2go, out front w/AlyoshaS as he(AS) &1other counter attacked off 2nd sprint lap &@turn2 i took front of pack, &encouraged others to join-in break, held front inside until turn 3intorode steady hard then drifted left to block view of break in gutter ahead, axis plus a couple joined 2bridge up2 break, let them go, held front& a polite conversation w/yellow jersey from Siggis...break was clear by 300m by turn4(135d), @bell lap rode both yellow&green wheels 2final straight, as BiG JohnM rrrroared past me @500m 2go, finished my now standard 18th...felt good as did double PPK VOmax training&FBF;
shoutOut 2Alyosha for greatStrong work in final break&3rd place finish,
PhillipM strong/smart riding, Konrad patrolling front& AndyDS leadOuts 4BiG JohnM& JM's 8th!
-harryB;-)
ps. congrats@ 5's 3rd&4th!
May 22, 2013 at 01:20 PM
Good job 3/4's and Alyosha for taking third. Andrew Da Silva bridged solo up to an early promising break of 4 (nice work) and drove that for a few laps. They were close to getting pulled back, so I marked an attack and bridged, giving us two Kissena's in the break. Unfortunately there wasn't quite enough firepower there (or tired legs). We managed to hold off a hard charge from the bunch for sprint 1. Andrew's Speedplay seized and was out (gotta grease those!), but I managed to get away to take second in S1 (RB sat on for a free ride). It's all coming back together and Alyosha made a sweet counter which pulled 5 riders. I was tempted to get on a bridging move with Foundation, as all the strong teams were rep'd, it wouldn't have been much fuss—maybe a missed opportunity for yellow competition in hindsight. Harry did an excellent job of patrolling the front but not interrupting. S2 the two leaders sprinted for no points (3 deep guys!)... I wonder when they'll figure that out 
Yellow jersey gets nervous, tries to bridge and we dangle him out there. Took the bunch sprint to get some points.
Yellow jersey gets nervous, tries to bridge and we dangle him out there. Took the bunch sprint to get some points. Learnings:
- on this awesome short course, top 5 into final corner is a must if you are planning on placing.
- chasing your own team not a good look. Let's be more attentive to who's in the break—ask a teammate or, even better, be up the front! Good to over-communicate too; keep your teammates in the know if they've been down the back. We're lucky Field Marshal Bertucco wasn't there.
- Floyd is the filthiest, grimiest, diesel-fest you'll ever race.
May 22, 2013 at 01:29 PM
A question to the more seasoned veterans..
In the 3/4 race yesterday, I was towards the front with 5 laps (or maybe 4) to go. We have a guy in the break (I don't know how big the break was). A big guy from Organic rolls through the front and gets a small gap, the yellow jersey guy jumps after him, and I jump too. The Organic guy does a long pull then fade, and yellow jersey guy keeps going and I stick to his wheel. I don't know if we maintained the gap from the field. We eventually get caught (or rather I look back and see the whole field strung out behind me after two corners).
Was this a waste of energy for me? My original thoughts were, follow these two guys, and maybe disrupt their rhythm by sitting in the back or get a free ride up to the break. I guess the follow up question is, should I have picked these guys to follow or not (or how would you know who to follow)?
May 22, 2013 at 01:46 PM
123s
Kieth, Rene, myself all in there. None of us really made the break but were active up front. Dragged the field almost back back but jump across. Rene and I were close to the front coming into last corner and dragged it out for 17th (Rene), 18th me. 26.7mph avg. Like this course except for the potholes.
Sommerville for the 3s should be good.
Kieth, Rene, myself all in there. None of us really made the break but were active up front. Dragged the field almost back back but jump across. Rene and I were close to the front coming into last corner and dragged it out for 17th (Rene), 18th me. 26.7mph avg. Like this course except for the potholes.
Sommerville for the 3s should be good.
May 22, 2013 at 01:53 PM
Nice work to Aly and all the FBF clan! Way to go
May 22, 2013 at 01:55 PM
Good job everyone.
I was in the first break from the gun. John bridged up, I was happy to see him. Everything blows apart after the green sprint(I didn't sprint), as I'm getting caught my pedal pulls out of my crank.
End of the race for me.
I'm definitely not racing track tonight!
I was in the first break from the gun. John bridged up, I was happy to see him. Everything blows apart after the green sprint(I didn't sprint), as I'm getting caught my pedal pulls out of my crank.
End of the race for me.
I'm definitely not racing track tonight!
May 22, 2013 at 02:02 PM
@Phillip No, that was smart, Lance and the yellow jersey are both dangerous riders. The only calcalation (as Sean Kelly would say) would be re the jerseys. Next week we'll powwow before the race and make a plan. It'd be nice to figure out how we want to attack the yellow/green jerseys.
May 22, 2013 at 02:19 PM
Thanks John. Now that I know how long it takes to get there from midtown, Ill get there earlier to discuss strategy.
May 22, 2013 at 03:29 PM
for the 5s...
usual story in that the first few laps were a lesson in jovial group riding. a few people tried short-lived breaks but no one had any real heart. with about two to go, sitting about 6 or 7 wheels back, i let adam know that i was going to break coming into turn 3. as people were slowing to corner i pushed through and put in an into-the-wind effort into turn 4; i look back and see i have a good gap and also a strong foundation guy, charles, has bridged up. game on.
as we both approached the line for the bell lap, a siggis guy, with quads thicker than my waist, blows past both of us. i try and bridge with charles, but ultimately i was still recovering from the previous balls-out effort. i find myself in limbo: unable to catch the new break, but with maybe 50m on the main group. i feel myself fading and so decide to slow down, recover, and set myself up for the sprint.
before the race started, brendan and i agreed that if we were both coming into the final corner together, he should jump on my wheel and i'd lead him out. we found ourselves in that exact scenario and the plan actually worked out: brendan jumped on, we powered down the final straight, passed a bunch of guys that went too early, and came in together.
on the negative side i was kinda pissed that i couldn't stick with the winning break that i helped start. but after looking at my data when i got back, i realized that during that break i set new power records on everything from 30s to 5m. i was happy with that, and at the end of the day, the two other guys were just more powerful. end of story.
on the plus side, my cornering abilities were much enhanced after marc's workshop last week. i found myself at worst maintaining position and at best moving up during turns. a marked difference from previous races. thanks marc!
it was great to hang back and watch alyosha and john do well. we were shouting like fools as they came in. next week we'll have flags.
May 22, 2013 at 03:42 PM
cat 5 race report. disclaimer: i'm still not good with keeping track of # of laps and stuff; apologies for omissions and errors. might overstate my own effort.
summary: 6 laps is a short race. hindsight is 20/20; should've chased break more. clifford provided an ideal lead-out deserved third. i pipped him at the line. as far as i'm concerned he gets third and i get fourth. he was so bent on his leadout that he didn't even get out of the saddle!
first lap began with the lone female rider hitting the gas right away. let her pedal away in the wind. she gassed fairly soon, ~1 lap, but not until after she sliced me so hard that she apologized without any sound from me. the bicycle ends at the rear wheel, not the buttocks. luckily there was no one next to me so i just moved sideways, avoiding a first-lap crash.
i realized i was pulling for some time and that was stupid, so as we turned into the wind on one of the laps i let off the gas significantly and clifford began a roll-off-the-front break. this was the break that stuck, albeit not with mark in it.
once the folks behind me realized that i had just let my teammate roll of the front (i think i actually giggled to myself at one point because it felt so sneaky; he accelerated and i decelerated), they attacked. i did not; mark was in the break.
eventually the break started to break and mark came back to us. then began several laps of wind consumption. i thought the folks behind me would be conserving, so i didn't want to go too hard in my efforts to chase the break back. this was a mistake. i think i didn't realize just how short a 6-lap race is. by the time they had their big gap, it was only 2 laps to go.
tried to organize some sort of chase; said "it's almost bell lap, we need to close that gap" and "bell lap, need to bring them back". i think clifford and adam were one or two wheels beyond earshot. ARC rider behind me pulls up to say "no one is willing to do any work" after i attempted to wave him in front of me. i am no pro, but i feel qualified to offer this pro tip: don't tell the guy who has been at the front for at least a lap that no one is willing to do any work when you have been riding his wheel for lap after lap. certainly do not make that comment and then proceed to drop back onto his wheel. that makes you a class-A board-certified dingus. i digress...
let off the gas on the penultimate straightaway in order to conserve for the final sprint. started to think this was a terrible idea as people passed me, but it worked out fine. came out of the final corner a bike or two length and a car lane over from mark's wheel. swung over to it with the kind of finesse that would have caused a crash if anyone else had been trying for his wheel. whoops. i had a bit of a pacing issue, as mark got a ahead of me so that my drafting attempt wasn't really drafting. (could have been his sneaky delivery of massive power while seated)
dropped the hammer, felt a little weird in my post-bike-fit higher-up handlebars, and felt especially odd to go over potholes/sand at ~33 mph (strava says we hit 36 but i don't trust it), and pipped mark at the line like a boss dickhead. just trying to beat those behind him!
excepting the break, this race was quite lovely. KCC always at the front but not getting gassed; lead-out plan actually came together. goal next race: stick together with the teammates so that when we want to do things like chase down breaks, we can paceline rather than entertain the useless blather of the riders who would rather comment from behind than command from the front.
food for thought:
- don't be afraid of puddles? a break was taking an uber wide line down the finish-line straight in order to have a more natural arc around that turn 1 puddle. i cut out some distance by opting for an inside line down the entire straight and then going through the puddle. i could feel the rider's surprise when i suddenly appeared on the inside of him. it made me smile.
- "Madness? This is Sparta FBF's last turn!" someone please show me a line next time. we sucked at it. i did some sketchy stuff; got out of the saddle to gas out of the turn and i picked my rear wheel up while my bike was tilted. this forced my rear wheel outboard by (what felt like) about six inches to a foot and radically altered my line. sorry, folks behind me!
May 22, 2013 at 06:25 PM
This just in - specially designed FBF wheels, straight from Italy...
May 27, 2013 at 04:45 PM
Anyone know if the time moved back to 7pm for tomorrow's race?
May 27, 2013 at 10:45 PM
I'd suggest friending Regional Orthopedics Tuesday Race Series on facebook for updates.
May 27, 2013 at 11:29 PM
Back to regular times.
May 27, 2013 at 11:33 PM
Thanks. Looks like rain tomorrow evening. I'll play it by ear.
May 28, 2013 at 01:38 AM
Highly unlikely FBF will be on. Showers and thunderstorms forecast from 10am on. Takes little rain to flood Floyd because it doesn't drain.
May 28, 2013 at 01:42 AM
That means morning training John...theres no escape.
May 28, 2013 at 12:52 PM
% chance for rain seems to be reducing.