Jules said:

Boom

eloy said:

this guy Ben rides in the mornings, and while I have never crossed a word with him, his way of riding, has striked me as foolish, not surprised he might not be a good wheel.

Good times at Floyd last night. 

Right as I was rolling up to FBF, the *one* cloud over NYC decided to release its contents. The rain was heavy for about 15 minutes, and then miraculously stopped right as the Cat 5s were lining up. 

30 minutes later we were dry, but the course was still covered in car-sized puddles. I haven't ever raced in the wet, so my main goal quickly became to make it out without crashing. Fortunately, it seems like the rest of the field was on the same page, since with the exception of two or three sketchy dudes it was a safe race. 

Our young friend Ben attacked from the gun, despite Charlie having told us 30 seconds before that we were going to be neutralized sooner than later. We reeled Ben back in and then sort of hung out until we were neutralized on lap 3(?). After this attacks started to go, most of which only succeeded in stringing out the field - looked like nobody was willing to work once they were out front. After a few rounds of this I saw an opportunity and opened it up going into the first corner, hoping I could coax another strong rider or two with me (I didn't). I did, however, put in a pretty nice sized gap and hopefully got some good pictures out of it. I was off the front for just under a lap, when I realized I couldn't keep it up for 30 more minutes and sat up. 

After that hat there were more attacks and almost-splits, but people still didn't seem keen on doing work. I was feeling pretty alright going into the last corner, and marked what I thought would be a good wheel to follow for the sprint - it wasn't. Not that it mattered because I super double hamstring cramped with about 100m to go and rolled in somewhere in the teens. I believe Jeff got 6th. 

I really really like these races. I feel like I've learned more in two Floyd races than I have in all leading up to them. The general vibe at these races is also great, at least compared to the its-5:30-and-everyone-is-grumpy vibes I'm used to (although that could definitely be me projecting my 5:30 grumpiness onto others). 

Hoping I can keep coming out on Tuesdays and maybe get some results by the end of the summer. 

SebastianVidal said:

@eloy & @GregStreiff, I'm planning on riding out suuuuuper easy with some time to spare. Was thinking 8:45am @ GAP?

K. sounds good.

• Last time I raced Floyd was probably 2009. 8 years.
• Sign up last minute, somewhat reluctantly, but where else would I ride today?
• Show up at GAP at 8:45 am. Seb and Greg missing. Peeps, please.
• Ride flatbush the most empty I've ever seen it
• Memories come flushing in, the smells, the quality of the ride down flatbush, the way the sun hits, the wind, all bringing me back to a time of real fitness, skinniness, and actual speed
• I am ready to hurt, as I know Floyd will forever be the hardest place I've raced
• Takes me a minute to find the start/finish registration -- some things have changed since I last was here
• Course is short -- I guess that's how the kids do it nowdays
• Seb looks hot
• Greg totally handsome, but has the wrong shorts. Peeps, please.
• Paul Yates and Kim Granlund are there, I tell them I am expecting havoc from them
• Race starts
• Hello, rude awakenings
• Paul and Kim totally deliver
• Sebastian looks like the fire, takes one of the infinite primes. Go, Seb, go!!
• I'll get on a late move with Yates, he screams, "Let's go, let's go!" I am like "dude! 32 mph!"
• We'll get caught after a couple of turns
• Eventually, Paul goes again, and rides the last two laps solo, the pack will catch him with 150 meters to go
• Race over, grab a bunch of FBF watermelon
• Receive an email from Training Peaks, it alerts me of a new heart rate threshold
• At 42.9 Km/H (26.66 mph) is the fastest race my strava has recorded
• I find some tacos with Jess, and now getting ready to grill the afternoon away

Ended up driving out to FBF so I could hit the beach afterward. Apologies for not communicating better, Eloy. 

It was my first CAT 4 race and first time racing since April. It was a fast race with laps averaging 27/28mph. Hit 32mph at one point.
There was some wind, but not nearly as bad as I've experienced at other FBF races.

I didn't start the race with any conviction on strategy. Which was probably where I went wrong, at least partially. I made a couple half ass attempts at grabbing some of the primes, but was never well positioned coming around the turn, which meant sprinting from the middle or back of the pack.  

I cramp up a lot and took my first HotShot before yesterday's race. I felt like I was going to hurl the entire time. Not sure if it was the HotShot or the sheer speed of the race. Like Eloy, I too set a new HR threshold. 

4 laps to go, started falling of the back and didn’t want to do the work to get back on. I need to get Rule #5 painted on my top tube! My legs were fine. I regret not hanging on! Argh!

Sebastian did a nice job grabbing that prime. I noticed some of the guys that won primes would pullout afterward. In hindsight, I think the strategy has to be binary, either go all in for the primes and be ok with not placing, or hide in the pack to conserve energy until that last lap. Either way, hiding in the pack and holding on was a feat in and of itself.

Spent the day at the beach after the race. Ate some ice cream. Ate some ribs.