Jul 01, 2012 at 08:49 PM
Why? God. Why...
FBF Sunday 2012
Jul 01, 2012 at 09:28 PM
I'm quitting my job to run races every night of the week, and afternoons at Floyd Bennett Field. I'm going to be rich. Looking forward, in that wanna look at the horrible accident as you pass on the freeway way, to the race reports. You sickos.
Jul 01, 2012 at 10:18 PM
Fine Marc!
Being that I did my first 123 race in such extreme conditions (primes, heat), today is a day I'll never forget. Also since it's my first 123 I'm writing a long report so I can look back on it.
We had 28 starters. Horace had to permit day of race registration (even though he didn't initially intend to) since only 10 guys pre-registered. The Cat 4's had just gone through hell doing 20 laps, so Horace realized he should shorten the race from 40 to 30 laps. He asked about this the same way he does when he wants to combine fields. Essentially nobody protested. It was pretty hot, probably 95 F.
The race began with a 3-man breakaway forming around the very first turn of the race that nobody bothered to chase. This was caught about 4-5 laps in, I can't remember.
Things were pretty aggressive for a while, and I got dropped with 6-7 other guys on the eighth lap. Vlad managed to stay with the main group.
I started struggling a little bit even in the gruppetto, and when I didn't pull hard enough, a guy behind me (I forget his kit but it was pretty colorful) said "if you're going to ride like this, go home," in a really disdainful way. I guess he hadn't seen me before and knew I just upgraded and felt comfortable speaking that way to me. I stopped pulling, got behind the gruppetto, and began making new race goals.
I didn't want to get lapped.
Barring flats or heat stroke, I would finish the race, even though I had no chance of a decent placing (or so I thought, read on..)
After about a lap or two, it became clear these guys were starting to feel sorry for themselves. We were only doing 20 most of the time, and it started to piss me off. The "go home" comment had been burning me, and I wanted to hurt that guy. I attacked with everything I had, full sprint mode, initially creating a 50 meter lead that increased as the race went on. I kept looking over my shoulder to see what was happening to the rest of the gruppetto. It gradually disintegrated, with that bastard being the first to get dropped. Couldn't believe it.
So I was on my own for several laps with nobody to help. I kept a pretty good tempo; my average speed never dipped below 23 mph (although it had the higher speeds from before I got dropped averaged in).
Unfortunately, goal one (don't get lapped) was never met and I eventually met up with Vlad and three other riders. I had been passed already by a few others. I decided to draft them. When Horace saw me doing this, he said the next prime would be $50 (it was a special one and there were a couple of them, even $100), and told me to go for it. I got so excited. I offered to lead out Vlad, but his legs weren't up for it. So I decided I would give it a go. On the third stretch, approaching the final turn, everybody was really hesitant to pull and we engaged in a chess match trying to do the least amount of work until we turned. I was in front crawling around the turn with a Jordan guy next to me. I waited for him to go, but he was really hesitant, so I said, F it, I'm gone. Went full gas, only to be beaten by the Jordan guy by half a bike length.
After that, it was basically all about survival. I finished a few seconds behind Vlad.
So I thought I took about 20th since I had dropped everyone else behind me. I went to confirm with Horace, but he said I actually took 12th. Apparently, Horace shortened the race to 20 laps and I didn't even notice. Apparently, riders ahead of me abandoned the race and told Horace it was way too hot to do 30 laps. Apparently, since they abandoned, I moved up in placing. I was totally shocked. I still am.
The race was pure attrition, but I actually had a lot of fun.
Jul 01, 2012 at 10:29 PM
also, Floyd's short course is only 1.6 miles around. We therefore rode 32 miles today, and even that was a lot. There was no way we could have done 40 laps without multiple bottle refills.
Jul 02, 2012 at 04:05 AM
Ok. Thanks Christian. My turn.
Just to help set the stage, the Garmin says:
36.67 miles (23 laps)
1:30:59
Avg temp 97
We had around 30 starters. P123 races at Floyd have been tougher than I was expecting and this one was going to be tougher-er. All the right local and out of town talent showed up to this one. The heat was on full blast and Horace was getting people fired up.
What I've come to appreciate is that Floyd is not only a great place to learn about/from your opponents, but more so yourself as a racer. It's a great proving ground. Potentially the best place in NYC to routinely really test
yourself and in my opinion, the ultimate "training" race. I'm not a sprinter. I won some primes in the 3/4 races at Floyd last year, but those came from either long solos off the front or rolling out of small breaks. My plan, as I waited for the starting whistle, was to finish (and to try to do it on the same lap as everyone else). Even though this race was based on primes, that's not why I was there. The sprinter competition was too strong for me to kid myself into thinking I should try to battle them that way. I wanted to wait for the pure sprinters to fall off and go for a good placing, as besides the point of the race that it might have seemed.
The race was held on the short course. The laps were changed from 40 to 30 just before the start, and then to 23 at some point during the race. This didn't make the race any easier. A small group went screaming out from the start. After a few laps, the chase was on and I did my best to take some pulls on the front and cycle through. We caught them in about 2 laps and then it was a slug-fest: jump, surge, chase, repeat. The field thinned. Gaps opened. I had to jump across a few times. There were fewer and fewer people behind me. There was no place to hide. And when you're in the mix, these guys don't let you skate (especially when you're on/near the front as Christian can attest). You either work or get worked... and then you get worked.
I had to chase back on a few times. The immediacy of that type of urgency is so powerful at Floyd. I feel like I'm starting to discover this mental toughness that my pudgy little brain knew nothing about just a few short months ago. Being gassed and telling yourself that it's over if you don't close the 75 m gap before the next turn while knowing that you won't get any recovery on the headwind section right after that turn is hard to swallow. It kind of rules. It's like doing bike racing push-ups. Lap after lap, there's no rest.
At about an hour in, I fell off the back of the lead group (field?) which was now rolling at about 14 deep. I picked up Rob Mecea who fell of about 50m after I did and convinced him to try to chase back on with me. "Maybe they'll sit up" I told him. "If we chase back on, that's a victory." We picked up another casualty and got close, maybe 10s away. They were right there but we couldn't finish it. They hit the gas and slowly pulled away. We continued to work together, picked up a couple more stragglers, and finished... most of us on the same lap as the guys up the road.
Somehow I wound up 8th. People faded hard. At one point we came by a Metra guy and I'm pretty sure he was crying. I worked hard and did what I had hoped to do. I finished. Even if it wasn't with the main/lead group, which had dwindled down to around 5, I finished right behind them. This is the best placing I've had in the P123's at Floyd. In a race that wasn't about placing, it still means a lot to me right now. Let me know if I'm in the wrong on that. I'm still very new to bike racing.
I also set a new 90min power personal best - 283W avg.... so that's good.
http://tpks.ws/gGIz
It was hot out there.
Just to help set the stage, the Garmin says:
36.67 miles (23 laps)
1:30:59
Avg temp 97
We had around 30 starters. P123 races at Floyd have been tougher than I was expecting and this one was going to be tougher-er. All the right local and out of town talent showed up to this one. The heat was on full blast and Horace was getting people fired up.
What I've come to appreciate is that Floyd is not only a great place to learn about/from your opponents, but more so yourself as a racer. It's a great proving ground. Potentially the best place in NYC to routinely really test
yourself and in my opinion, the ultimate "training" race. I'm not a sprinter. I won some primes in the 3/4 races at Floyd last year, but those came from either long solos off the front or rolling out of small breaks. My plan, as I waited for the starting whistle, was to finish (and to try to do it on the same lap as everyone else). Even though this race was based on primes, that's not why I was there. The sprinter competition was too strong for me to kid myself into thinking I should try to battle them that way. I wanted to wait for the pure sprinters to fall off and go for a good placing, as besides the point of the race that it might have seemed.
The race was held on the short course. The laps were changed from 40 to 30 just before the start, and then to 23 at some point during the race. This didn't make the race any easier. A small group went screaming out from the start. After a few laps, the chase was on and I did my best to take some pulls on the front and cycle through. We caught them in about 2 laps and then it was a slug-fest: jump, surge, chase, repeat. The field thinned. Gaps opened. I had to jump across a few times. There were fewer and fewer people behind me. There was no place to hide. And when you're in the mix, these guys don't let you skate (especially when you're on/near the front as Christian can attest). You either work or get worked... and then you get worked.
I had to chase back on a few times. The immediacy of that type of urgency is so powerful at Floyd. I feel like I'm starting to discover this mental toughness that my pudgy little brain knew nothing about just a few short months ago. Being gassed and telling yourself that it's over if you don't close the 75 m gap before the next turn while knowing that you won't get any recovery on the headwind section right after that turn is hard to swallow. It kind of rules. It's like doing bike racing push-ups. Lap after lap, there's no rest.
At about an hour in, I fell off the back of the lead group (field?) which was now rolling at about 14 deep. I picked up Rob Mecea who fell of about 50m after I did and convinced him to try to chase back on with me. "Maybe they'll sit up" I told him. "If we chase back on, that's a victory." We picked up another casualty and got close, maybe 10s away. They were right there but we couldn't finish it. They hit the gas and slowly pulled away. We continued to work together, picked up a couple more stragglers, and finished... most of us on the same lap as the guys up the road.
Somehow I wound up 8th. People faded hard. At one point we came by a Metra guy and I'm pretty sure he was crying. I worked hard and did what I had hoped to do. I finished. Even if it wasn't with the main/lead group, which had dwindled down to around 5, I finished right behind them. This is the best placing I've had in the P123's at Floyd. In a race that wasn't about placing, it still means a lot to me right now. Let me know if I'm in the wrong on that. I'm still very new to bike racing.
I also set a new 90min power personal best - 283W avg.... so that's good.
http://tpks.ws/gGIz
It was hot out there.
Jul 02, 2012 at 12:45 PM
Nice report Vlad. Good race...you did really well out there.
I especially liked:
"Being gassed and telling yourself that it's over if you don't close the 75 m gap before the next turn while knowing that you won't get any recovery on the headwind section right after that turn is hard to swallow. It kind of rules. It's like doing bike racing push-ups. Lap after lap, there's no rest."
I especially liked:
"Being gassed and telling yourself that it's over if you don't close the 75 m gap before the next turn while knowing that you won't get any recovery on the headwind section right after that turn is hard to swallow. It kind of rules. It's like doing bike racing push-ups. Lap after lap, there's no rest."
Jul 02, 2012 at 02:10 PM
283 watts for 90 minutes. I've never done that for 60, let alone on a day like yesterday.
Jul 02, 2012 at 03:19 PM
i did that for 20minutes once . . . damn Vladimir!
Jul 02, 2012 at 03:41 PM
Nice effort Vlad, those numbers in that heat are all the more impressive.
Welcome to the 3's Christian—strong debut this weekend.
Jul 02, 2012 at 04:33 PM
Vlad that is an awesome report. Really inspires me to find SOME way to get out to those races. Nicely done!