Not sure if this is the right thread, but plan on heading out this Thursday.  Anyone want to meet at GAP?  Cat 5 is at 6:26, so plan to leave GAP at 5:30 or so.

@Scott Kuhlke Eddie and I will be riding out from GAP at 515. 

alright, I'll try and be there by that time.  give me a 5 min what, but if you don't see me by 5:20, head on off.

Well that was a very different FBF experience. Rolled out with @Scott Kuhlke and @EduardSpektor. It was probably the windiest  it's been there for me and I think this had an effect on the race. The only team that seemed properly represented were Verrazano. Plan was to not get dropped. I picked good wheels the whole race, mostly the Verrazano guys surrounding the race leader. They closed down the all of the breaks but a lightweight 2 man break. Lots of slower riding. Stayed top ten wheels towards the end. Finished 9th overall. Super happy. 

F10jne2016

hi ALL,
may want to post "FBF Thursday" nights in this thread...
-harryB;-)

This Thurdsay. My last race for Kissena in NYC (I'll race in Kissena kit until I sign up for a
British club).

Who's joining me?

I shall be there.

Good times with James and Harry in the 4/5.  We all attacked a bit, were out front, back and all around.  Wind was a non-issue. I don't really know what happened on the final sprint, was fairly gassed out by that point after pushing hard for a bit.

Finished up, headed to Franklin Park in full kit for beers and burgers.  Riley met us there to join in the post-race fun.

Final Kissena race report. Last night I learned how to burn my short matches. It was hard but fun.

Almost didn't happen, got a hefty puncture on the way to GAP which I repaired with a paper tyre boot. It lasted somehow.

As Scott said Harry was down with us which was awesome and there was also very little wind and a relatively small field.

Harry rode around the front having fun. I went for a break on lap 2 and got a relatively good gap, one of the Verrazano guys came up to keep me company but the effort, lack of wind and pack meant we were caught easily enough after a very short time. 

A few other little breaks went off. I chose to pull one back on my own which was hard work but fun to tow the main bunch. 

Ended in a massive bunch 'sprint'. At least 5 abreast on the last turn and then everyone just went. I didn't bother/had nothing left and had no interest in fighting for 10-20th place. It was a lot of fun. Two things I learned. I want to learn how to sprint - I find getting to that next level quite difficult, especially on my geared bike. Also breakaways and gauging that threshold type effort is super difficult. I guess if the peloton want to reel you in they will but the effort levels are hard to gauge. In my head you go balls out to get a gap and then settle into something slightly less aggressive and 'sustainable'. Knowing what those things are seem to be the tricky bit though.

I've made 14 appearances for Kissena (road and track) and each one ha been memorable and fun. The last few months have been awesome. Thanks all.

FBF Cat 4 - 5 race report, Thursday June 30. 

Short version, woop woop, I won! 

Longer version, the peloton of 20 - 30 people got off to a pretty fast start and I stayed up with the guys ahead with the ambition of not doing anything too dramatic until late in the race but at the same time being able to follow any breaks that would come. In the first laps there was some activity, but no one got away, and the people who tried seemed not strong enough to pull it off. 

Then after approximately 15 minutes (out of the 45 set aside for the race), a few of the stronger looking riders tried to break and I went with them. Turned out they didn't have the energy and so I was alone. I accelerated further and quickly had a big gap, maybe half a length of road. Going at a high effort from then on (pulse consistently between 90 and 95% of max), I was able to maintain the lead for the remainder of the race, being in the solo break for a good 30 minutes. At first the peloton was getting a bit closer, especially on the two very windy sides, but in the end their organization seemed to collapse, and at the final round I led by more than one length of road, being out of sight of the peloton. Having suffered through getting caught just before goal on Tuesday, where I finished second, I pushed through and believe I finished a good 2 minutes ahead of the pack. 

Yea, first race win ever (fourth race after joining) and a good day to be wearing Kissena colors!

That is awesome! congrats!!

Wow, 30 minute solo at Floyd. Well Done!

HELLLLLL YEAH!

No surprises here Andreas, you're a beast. Awesome.

Wow indeed, big congrats Andreas! A second and a third in the same week no less. 
Kissena's own wattage cottage. 

There has been a Sasquatch sighting at floyd

Pics — or as Yacks demonstrates — it didn't happen. 

Incidentally, last racer to pull that one off... Dave Anthony... :^B 

Headed down to Floyd tomorrow evening. Any others?

Fun times at Floyd tonight, good to meet Patrick pre-race. 5's race was a small field, split immediately  for a lot of cat and mousing. I attacked into the wind on the last lap knowing I would stand a better chance against the sprinters if I got ahead early and held a hard pace. Dropped a few guys but a couple latched on and went for it at the finish line. Took a comfortable 3rd.

Congrats Riley!

Floyd.  This Thursday.  Any takers?  I'm still 50/50 (depends on work), but will know tmrw am.  Plan on meeting at GAP at 5:20pm

No takers. Sorry to break it to you but Thursday Floyd is officially over. 

vlad said:

No takers. Sorry to break it to you but Thursday Floyd is officially over. 

Ugh.  Bummer.  Thanks for saving me the ride down there.  I assume Tuesday's are still open, so I'll plan for that.

@Scott Kuhlke are thursdays still going at floyd? I don't see it on bike reg any more.

Went to Floyd last night.  As did Patrick.

My forays to Floyd have been sporadic.  I'm particularly wary of showing up mid-season, as there are lots of guys primed, used to the course, and ready to race and I'm usually going because I'm lacking in race miles.  Worse is that I don't know whom to watch.  

I usually try to cover the first few moves, settle down, ride more conservatively, then look for moments later in the race.

I did the above.  could tell I was out of Floyd shape, but hung on ok.  Very few attacks seemed like they had committed riders.  The headwind on the home straight seemed to be a real discouragement, either they'd fight down the home straight and give up on the second stretch, or make the attack before the home straight and then not have the commitment or legs to push through.

It was a sprint finish.  I tried to avoid the trains by launching between turns three and four, but I didn't have the legs.  Finished at the back.  

OTOH, Victor got some good pics of us.

(I always think of Floyd as gritty and urban, but the images shot rarely show that aspect of the venue)

JP, by gritty and urban you mean the specific type of road rash you get at floyd?

Racing this tonight. Anyone else?

The 3/4 race starts at 7:02. I will leave GAP at 5:45.