mugwump said:

I'm thinking of hitting the first or second FBF because there's so little local racing right now.  I haven't raced since mid-March and need some of that brutal intensity back in my life.

I remember going to Sid's bike shop when I moved to New York in 2009 looking for insight on where to ride. They had pictures on the wall of what I found out later was Floyd Bennett Race. I was really impressed by how rugged the whole scene looked having no idea where this could even be. 

I went to watch several races since. That race has always fascinated me. I'd really like to race it but it inevitably conflicts with my work schedule. This year doesn't seem to be any different unfortunately.

Maybe later in the summer.

There's definitely a learning curve to racing at FBF. Pre-race riding of the course, even if you've raced there before, is helpful. Conditions seems to change constantly - most notably sand on the inside of the corners and the wind conditions. I always race with a little less tire pressure than on a smooth course. For NYC racing I find the scene there to be a welcome bit of variety from the typical pre-dawn starts. Everyone seems more relaxed, and I know I'm certainly more alert! It's also really serene and beautiful out there - 360 degrees of sky that you don't really get anywhere else in the city. A super fun and always memorable race in my experience.

Alright I’m signed up for the first FBF and I see a lot of Kissenas on the reg list. Cool! Seeya there!

Tomorrow at Rapha NYC, 6pm, screening of Harry Zernike's FBF film and a Q&A:

"Rapha NYC will be hosting a Q&A for racers— those who have never had the (dubious?) pleasure and old hands alike— this Tuesday May 17th. 
To set the scene, we’ll begin with a screening of my 16’ film “Tuesday Night Special”, made during the 2013 racing season at Floyd. 6 PM, 159 Prince Street! BYOB! Veselka Pierogis while they last!"

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CdmNwL1gF58

I should be there this Tuesday.  Gotta get my Floyd on.

I was planning on, (and really looking forward to), racing tomorrow at FBF, but COVID caught me a couple of weeks ago, so I've been off the bike for a while. I may ride out to cheer everyone else on!

Planning on heading out there and starting my FBF season May 31st.

I'll be there this Tuesday! For those racing, any interest in meeting up somewhere (GAP?) to ride over together? And does anyone know if the course will be open for pre-riding before the Cat 5s? 

@JonathanAdler FBF is open everyday, so it should be open to pre-ride.

Tomorrow is our first FBF race in a while, and sounds like a first FBF for a few of you!

Please remember to take pics, post to your socials if you do that, tag our team - @kissenacycling, email them to me, whatever works for you. Pics of your ride there/ride home, pinning up, teammates racing, etc...

But mostly look sharp and have fun!

(gonna try to make it but can't leave until after 6pm)

@JonathanAdler im down to meet at GAP and ride down with you. was thinking of being there at 5? 

The ride from GAP to FBF is part of the ritual. Don't miss it. I eagerly await race reports!

Yep, the worst and best of rides at the same time

Last night was my first FBF experience.  It met all my expectations.  I'm coming off a rest/recovery week and didn't get a chance to do any openers on Monday, so was really hoping for the best. (Gotta get those excuses in early, right??) Thankfully, the wind wasn't too bad, especially after hearing @mugwump 's tales of hitting 50mph in the tail wind.  My season goal is to get points for an upgrade to Cat 3 - I'm 1 point away. I knew I wasn't going to be contesting the intermediate sprints, but I also knew I needed to hang on during those laps.   

First laps, attacks tried to go, but kept getting pulled back.  Then intermediate bunch sprint (which appeared to be chaos). Rinse and Repeat.  That is until the P123 field rolls past us.  Confusion ensued.  The more seasoned folks yelled to sit up and let them go by; others felt differently.  They eventually made it by, but in doing so, their field split.  Then their back group just stayed at ~10 seconds in front of us for 2-3 laps.  More confusion including me mistaking it as a split in our field, trying to bridge only to slink back in embarrassment. (Question: Could I have bridged and gone by that group?  Or is that a no-no?)  We eventually said, screw it and passed the P123 back group.  I had the pleasure of riding JP's wheel for a bit. 

Final lap I was prepared mentally.  I knew the wind.  Going into the last corner I saw my buddy Greg from Veselka go up the left on the wheel of another strong guy.  Greg is a solid sprinter, so I hoped on his wheel.  Idk how hard these guys were pushing, but I couldn't stay attached @350W.  Coming out of the last corner I found myself in a familiar position: not sheltered from the wind.  Got swarmed and sat up. 

Not the race I was hoping for, but overall a pretty solid performance all things considered.  I really need to work on my wheel holding and wind positioning because I feel like last night was a gentle breeze compared to what it can normally be.

Latching on to a different field is definitely a no-no. Not that it hasn't been done - it's not looked kindly on. No idea what the race officials might do but you'll definitely loose standings in public opinion

Great to hear FBF races are alive & well again!

Glad we are back racing at FBF, hope to make out there next race, ideally Tuesday May 31st. 

If a field is overtaking another, absolutely you shall not mix or jump on their draft -- they are literally another race.

That said, the official motos are there to manage this, and we should follow their orders. They'll do their best to keep everyone separate and safe. It can definitely get chaotic, specially if the moto is missing (ahead with a break, for example)

-- Moto officials often have to make hard quick decisions while in motion on whether to slow down one field and let another pass, generally once a field has been passed by another, they shouldn't let you pass again.

I wasn't there yesterday, so don't know what it looked, perhaps some chaos on the first FBF after a while? 

Thanks @Jules and @eloy, that's kinda what I figured re: leapfrogging the field that just passed. (not that I had the legs to do it anyway...)  I'm not sure what kind of commands the motos were giving the guys on the front anyway and they were a bit of a shit show (one ended up slowing down and going back through the middle of our pack.  Hopefully they get the kinks worked out for next week.

I was racing the 1/2/3.  The passing was a disaster.

We were racing kind of hard and we saw the 3/4 up ahead.  It took us longer to catch than I expected.  Some guys even advocated for sitting up on the narrow section so we could pass when we had room.  But the 3/4's weren't moving over.  I had been near the front for much of the race and expected that stronger riders in the 1/2/3 would try to take advantage of the pass to cause chaos.

Seemed like we were catching just around the current finish line.  We even saw a crash in the 3/4, which further confused things.  

I definitely blew it in having wasted some efforts shortly before the catch in hopes of being at the front on the catch.

it felt like the 3/4's didn't give one inch for us to pass.  And when I got by, they weren't sitting up.

I think one of the problems was no pace motos.  At least I think I didn't see any.

I made an effort to ask people in the 3/4 field to get off my wheel and let me race, but no one was listening.

Super-frustrating.  I think most of those who didn't go with the split.  When they wouldn't let me ride, I dropped back a good bit, mostly to avoid crashing.  When the sprint for the 3/4 was over.  I kept riding.

A sucky end to an otherwise excellent evening.

My ride out was a bit faster than expected.  I spied 40+ hardman Jerry Kapko getting onto Flatbush at GAP.  I followed him from about 4 bike lengths most of the way down Flatbush.  He was riding 22-25mph and often in the middle of the road.  At that speed, with that traffic, it felt like a relatively smart idea.

I was pretty decent during the race.  As I expected, the spikes in effort were hard, but I could cruise ok.  I rolled off the front at the start, and was able to close gaps pretty well in the first part of the race.

And the ride back, as usual, was excellent.  We had our Kissena pack, plus a guy from Veselka, Kevin.  We caught the TBD pack and followed them.  Taking up a whole lane is the safe way to go home in the dark.  @JonathanAdler and Kevin and I turned off of Bedford at Eastern Parkway, because we figured we knew our way back better from GAP.  We went over the Manhattan Bridge and broke up around 15th street.  I finished with a quiet ride through Central Park.

@eloy my Wahoo screwed up at FBF and my race was 9.5 miles long.  Considering the openness of an air field, it was weird.  

Also my first FBF and such a great event. I was a little nervous going into my first 3/4 race but was very happy to be on the flats after that day at bear mountain. I felt good and tried to mix it up in a few attacks early on, then I sat in for most of the race. I was in ok position on the last lap going into turn 3. something happened to cause a few people to swerve in front of me, I hit my brake and fell back quickly. I came out of the final turn 30ish and rolled into the finish.  

All in, it was a great learning experience and an even better night out. Leave work early, ride down to the beach, race and ride back with a huge group...  I will miss next week, but hoping to be at as many as possible this summer. 

Does anyone know - Is there a race at FBF 5/31? Is there no pre-reegistration? Start time?

It looks like it is still on perthis Facebook post:

https://www.facebook.com/556753257754006/posts/pfbid028qGVZLsPihQsLsQz1ZEUNb1L1MsQxxGgxPmzH21sd43pF1J2b9aCi6NwrVVhzMvml/

Not sure about registration though.

If you missed Tom's email, Floyd is in person registration only this week.  Try to bring exact change and get there a little earlier to fill out a few waivers.

Was hoping to join, but work will get on the way this week. Hope to join next week.

Another week of Floyd down and it was a hot one.

In my more-often-than-not fashion, I was cutting it real close to making it to FBF in time.  I was ripping it alobg the Belt Parkway bike path and made it as the 5s were getting their bell.

This week Tom decided to start the 3/4s first.  Apparently this is how it was done prepandemic (idk why he changed it up), so no field overtaking drama this week.  Learning for last week, I wanted to stay out of the wind as much as possible. This meant moving from side to side in the pack as we moved around the course.   We had a tailwind finish, so the lead up to the last corner was going to be a cross head from the left.  I was finding that I could move up quite a bit in this section without much, if any, effort.  This would come in handy later.  Per usual, none of the breaks stuck and everyone wanted to just try their luck in a bunch sprint.  Going into the atraight before the last corner, I did my usual slid up the right side.  Got all the way up to like 6th wheel.  Coming out of the last corner I loat my wheel and did my best to hold on.  Opened my sprint a bit too early, but I don't have a super powerful sprint anyway, so it's really all I could do.  Died with about 20m to go and held on for like maybe 12th 9th.

Overall, I did what I wanted to so during the race.  That finish straight is deceivingly long.  Ready for next week.

I arrived early enough to do a couple of pre-race recon laps and mentally prepare a game plan. It's been about a month since I tested positive for COVID, so I wasn't sure what I would be capable of - although the 2 times I'd been out on training rides in the last week seemed to indicate that I hadn't lost as much as I'd feared. The course looked pretty much how I remembered it- except for possibly more encroachment of poison ivy and tree, (black cherry? grey birch? sumac?) branches after the first turn. I made a mental note to stay hunkered down after that turn as there was a pretty healthy head wind on the back side of the course. I also sketched out where I wanted to hit the turns, (appreciating a relatively a low level of sand), remembering how much energy can be lost being stuck on the outside edge playing catch-up as the field sprints out of the turn. James was there taking photos, but after 3 days racing at Killington couldn't be talked into racing. I thought I was going to be the only Kissena, but Greg showed up close to start time and I lined up with him in the front row. The pace was fast, but not crazy fast and the pack mostly stayed together. I knew I was racing at FBF by the sound of rocks pingging off of carbon fiber. It made me smile, but when when a rock pingged off my teeth I remembered to keep my mouth closed tight. I was able to ride near the front and hit the turns where I wanted to hit them. Towards the end of  lap 5 I found myself 3rd rider from the front. We could see a small group of riders on a break ahead. The rider in the front pulled off and pleaded with the rest of us to help chase them down or they would get away. I thought it was going to do me in for the race, but I moved to the front and I was able to dig deep and bridge the gap to the break and then slip back into the pack to recover. All was going well and I was plotting out my moves for the remaining laps when I felt my rim hitting the road. I was hoping it was just the busted up surface doing its thing, but soon realized that my rear wheel was flat. I walked my bike back to the start as the sun was setting over the trees at the western end of the course. As I was  putting a new tube in my tire alongside the the 1/2 dozen other riders who suffered a similar fate, we discussed the perils and joys of racing at FBF and wished each other better luck next week. 

reports are awesome big time FOMO from me!

if anyone wants to ride down together tomorrow, I plan on being at GAP at 5:45/ 

Tomorrow June 14 if you are able to, come race or spectate!
Reg opens around 5-5:30.
$30, reusing numbers if you've raced FBF this year.
First race at 6:30.