Sep 06, 2014 at 12:08 PM
wheels in/wheels out or is there neutral support? do I bring a second wheelset?
Tour de Fort Lee
Sep 06, 2014 at 02:38 PM
check the race announcement. In past years, they've had SRAM neutral support.Brendan Rigby said:wheels in/wheels out or is there neutral support? do I bring a second wheelset?
Sep 06, 2014 at 02:46 PM
Stupid to drive up? Thinking of it just to bring the trainer to warm up on.
Sep 06, 2014 at 03:01 PM
it's not on the announcement or their website, that's why I askedmugwump said:check the race announcement. In past years, they've had SRAM neutral support.Brendan Rigby said:wheels in/wheels out or is there neutral support? do I bring a second wheelset?
i'll just bring the wheels. I don't want a redo of Harlem (out on the first lap w/ wheel mechanical)
Sep 06, 2014 at 06:58 PM
There's plenty of decent riding right by the race.David Yang said:Stupid to drive up? Thinking of it just to bring the trainer to warm up on.
Sep 06, 2014 at 10:05 PM
FYI, email from the organizers:
Hello TdFL racers!
Thank you for pre-registering for the 2014 Tour de Fort Lee. The weather is looking good, the course is looking good, the prizes are looking good (Lots of great merchandise provided by Strictly Bicycles!), and the fields are looking good! This is going to be a great event!
Number pick up is at the registration table set up behind the start/finish line stage at the intersection of Abbott Blvd and Tremont Ave in Fort Lee. You must sign your waiver and show your USAC license to pick up your number. Registration/number pick up closes15 minutes before your race lines up.
The cat 4 and cat 5 races will be full and close out. There will be a waiting list. If you pre-reg'd and do not pick up your number within half an hour of race time we will start giving away your slots. Please show up by 10:00 am for cat 5 pick up and by 10:30 for the cat 4 pick up. After then you may forfeit your slot.
See you at the race!
Dave Russell
Thank you for pre-registering for the 2014 Tour de Fort Lee. The weather is looking good, the course is looking good, the prizes are looking good (Lots of great merchandise provided by Strictly Bicycles!), and the fields are looking good! This is going to be a great event!
Number pick up is at the registration table set up behind the start/finish line stage at the intersection of Abbott Blvd and Tremont Ave in Fort Lee. You must sign your waiver and show your USAC license to pick up your number. Registration/number pick up closes15 minutes before your race lines up.
The cat 4 and cat 5 races will be full and close out. There will be a waiting list. If you pre-reg'd and do not pick up your number within half an hour of race time we will start giving away your slots. Please show up by 10:00 am for cat 5 pick up and by 10:30 for the cat 4 pick up. After then you may forfeit your slot.
See you at the race!
Dave Russell
Sep 07, 2014 at 05:51 PM
Resbros?
Sep 07, 2014 at 06:01 PM
Nada for me/cat4, pack finish. Left before cat3 finished, but Craig and Rigby were looking good.
Sep 07, 2014 at 06:43 PM
I also left before the cat3 finished. First cat3, first non-mechanical DNF!
Not quite sure what happened but I felt like death. I think the field was smaller than I thought and, without realizing it, I was tailgunning within a couple of laps. Pulled off to let some other people pull through, 2 people did, and then the pace moto. I'd been at the back of the field without realizing it!
Hopefully it's not just that I'm not in shape because I don't think I'm going to be able to train more than I do now. I'd like to think the amount of wine I had last night played a role (woops!). But I might just have to face the reality that I'm no longer training hard enough for the level I'm racing at. Hmmm...maybe I need to focus on warming up more? I haven't ridden since Wednesday. Okay, that's it, I'm out of excuses.
Someone went over his handlebars into a bush. I had my first pedal strike. Also, someone nearly drove into me on a turn. It was exciting while it lasted!
Looking forward to Craig's report.
Sep 07, 2014 at 08:25 PM
Race Report Cat 3's.
I'd say it sucked overall, but that's not true. It was good training and I saw lots of KCC guys that raced and/or stopped by to spectate. I didn't like this course- I found it a lot like Harlem which I strongly dislike because it's dangerous, narrow and people ride like lunatics. I placed most likely DFL because I almost got crashed in the 2nd to last corner and sat up and soft pedaled to the finish. There was no point dying for 15th place. Road-results.com predictor had me coming in 9th here today- just goes to show we are light years away from proper artificial intelligence. Frustrating because I was in the top 5-10 riders all race, only to get screwed with a half lap to go.
By the numbers: Normalized Power: 317 Watts with 271w Avg and Max of 1063. Avg Speed: 23.57 MPH. Race time was 47 Mins for 18.8 Miles.
I started in the last row- big mistake. Took me 2 laps to get to the front and I burned a ton of matches getting there. It was strung out the entire race- literally from the gun just very, very hard. I don't remember a time when the field ever accordioned back. It was just hard and harder. Jesus Martinez tried to get away but couldn't make it stick. Montecci guys rode like shit, which is the norm. If there were a joggers lane on this course, they would've attacked through it.
My major problem was I have no fitness right now as I'm doing base. My top end sucks. However, I can handle the bike well. I saw one place I could make time, turn 3 comes at the bottom of a hill and leads into the short kicker hill into turn 4 into the long finishing straight. I took turn 3 with no brakes almost every time, without being a dive-bomber and pissing the field off. But most guys couldn't handle their bikes well so they'd grab the brakes hard before the turn, virtually coming to a standstill and forcing the riders behind to have to start the acceleration uphill from a dead stop. This was annoying, esp since I have no top-end.
I used my move- get to the front before the turn, cruise through sans brakes and glide up the hill- on 3 laps to go and 2 laps to go. It got really hard into the last 4 laps. I didn't think I could maintain contact, but I did. I tried my move on the last lap but got swarmed in and that was it. I had to come to a virtual stop in turn 3 and got boxed in about 10 riders back. I said F it at that point and rolled into the finish way back.
Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to racing some cross next weekend.
Sep 07, 2014 at 08:38 PM
I was grabbing a lots of brakes every turn, especially right there at the bottom of the hill. Sounds like I wasn't doing much to help myself. I would usually make up the gap on the hill, but then find myself exhausted on the finishing straight. Lessons learned! Bad lines = bad race.Craig London said:I saw one place I could make time, turn 3 comes at the bottom of a hill and leads into the short kicker hill into turn 4 into the long finishing straight. I took turn 3 with no brakes almost every time, without being a dive-bomber and pissing the field off. But most guys couldn't handle their bikes well so they'd grab the brakes hard before the turn, virtually coming to a standstill and forcing the riders behind to have to start the acceleration uphill from a dead stop.
Sep 07, 2014 at 08:52 PM
Yeah I thought in pre-ride that the outside lines would be best and safest. After half a lap I saw otherwise. The inside line was almost always best/fastest/safest.
Also: Pics. These all sum up my day- Chasing, chasing chasing.
Sep 07, 2014 at 08:53 PM
Brendan and me- Maybe lap 1 or 2?
Sep 07, 2014 at 08:53 PM
Brutal all day.
Sep 07, 2014 at 11:22 PM
You guys looked great in the first few laps before we left. That's too bad you got shelled Brendan, I think many in your field were dropped, but yeah:
- 8 min staircase warmup, couple of full gas 10 sec efforts.
- hot lap where you soft pedal the straights but hit the corners as fast as possible--that course could be ridden without braking.
- 8 min staircase warmup, couple of full gas 10 sec efforts.
- hot lap where you soft pedal the straights but hit the corners as fast as possible--that course could be ridden without braking.
Sep 08, 2014 at 02:19 AM
I was DNF. yuck.
Made it 30 minutes. A high powered break was off the front. Two Somerville guys, a German, Stalin, Margarite, two more. The rest of the Somerville squad was chilling. There were plenty of attacks to get a second group away, which is part of what unhinged me.
The course is .85mi. The field was yo-yoing rather than riding. I got popped as the break was closing in on lapping us.
I like this course. Yes, you need to have a quality 10-second stomp that you can repeat every lap and continue powering once you reach the top. Yes, you need to corner well, particularly on turn three. I shouldn't be surprised that even in the 1-2 field, guys didn't know how to corner at speed. I came off after a guy let a gap open in the corner, couldn't close it, and I had to get back on. I did, but the pressure stayed on over the top, and I lost a few seconds as guys were blowing up in front of me. Think three did on this lap. I stayed steady, hoping hte field would sit up. After I came out of turn three solo and was halfway up the hill, three guys came blitzing by, ones who had sat up in front of me. One of them stuck,the other two got dropped the next lap.
I was then pulled because the field was about to get lapped.
The field then sat up for the break. THen Somerville went to the front and kept the pace high. A few people tried attacking their tempo, but couldn't make it. Karl Nelson, who I didn't think was looking strong went for a prime, got it, was caught, then spit out.
On the last lap, it looked like Somerville came out of turn four kind of slowly. Even though the road is narrow, there was a gap on the left side. Stalin went for that gap and got through to win the race. I think about 20 guys finished. I'm sure it was less than half the field.
For reference, my average speed was 25.2mph. average power 232w (3.41w/kg), normalized power 307w (4.51 w/kg), five spikes of 477w (7.01w/kg) or more for at least 30 seconds.
John's correct about a good warmup. My warmup was riding to the race, about five miles. because of work, I got a later start than I wanted. I arrived just as they were printing out the start list. Don't know if I would have made it with a better warmup. I'd like to think it would have taken me at least several more laps. I'm not sure I agree about riding without braking--we were carrying enough speed before the turns that we either sat up before the turn to slow down or braked. I entered turn three on several occasions at 29mph,and I had already scrubbed my speed from the 33mph range. True, I only had one or two occasions when I had an uobstructed shot at it.
Sep 08, 2014 at 02:26 AM
Just looked at the previous two times I raced this course. 2014 had Higher power than 2013. The speed was the same as 2013. 2012 was slower and lower power. 2013 I was probably feeling better, as my max heart rate was higher then. Interestingly, my power spikes were lower in 2013.
Sep 08, 2014 at 01:55 PM
How hard was the race, you ask?
JP got dropped. 'nuff said.
JP got dropped. 'nuff said.
Sep 08, 2014 at 02:41 PM
Looks like about half my field also DNFd. I don't feel so bad now. http://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?year=2014&id=1851
Sep 08, 2014 at 02:52 PM
Kind of wish USADA was there for this one. Since it's inception, this race has been plagued by "unusual" performances.
This Cat 3 guy reeks. That whole Motecci squad is a joke. Somerville BS wannabes.
Sep 08, 2014 at 03:09 PM
The first time I did this race, one of the promoters mentioned something about the former.vlad said:Kind of wish USADA was there for this one. Since it's inception, this race has been plagued by "unusual" performances.
This Cat 3 guy reeks. That whole Motecci squad is a joke. Somerville BS wannabes.
BTW, looking at the results, Ray Diaz, was 20th, one of the toughest guys around in his heyday was among those who blitzed me (apologized when we talked), and he was dropped two laps after I was. Molloy and Nelson rode the last several laps solo.
Sep 08, 2014 at 03:10 PM
I should write something about the cat 4 race since Brendan, Craig, and JP took the time to post some great stuff about their races. Nothing exciting, but here are some bullet points:
- I came into this race with little fitness and sporadic race experience in the last 2 months
- I tried to race it like I was stronger and smarter than I actually am
- Tried to hang on to the first few break attempts all on Lap 1 knowing that an early break would stick, but when the winning one went up the road I was powerless to jump on. Deja vu of White Plains/NYS crit champs.
- Typical cat 4 chase attempts fizzled when only 2 or 3 guys would rotate at the front. I was one of the dummies and promptly blew up after a few laps of that. Should have been smarter and sat in like the rest of the wheelsuckers scheming on taking 3rd through 10th place instead of trying to chase down the winning move and actually win the race.
- Had an "OH SHIT" moment after a hard pedal strike on corner 2 trying to power through to close a gap. Felt like I was flying sideways forever. Somehow stuck the landing and stayed upright.
- "Fake it till you make it". I kept repeating that to myself halfway through the race by moving way up before corner 3 and being one of the first to exit. I slid back into the field going up the hill into corner 4, but not OFF the back.
- Didn't even realize there was another Kissena in the field with me (Patrick, lets work together next time!)
Racing is hard.
Sep 08, 2014 at 04:14 PM
Sep 08, 2014 at 04:14 PM
Lots of good pain faces too.
Sep 08, 2014 at 05:35 PM
I wish I did this instead of that fondo thingy in NJ.
Sep 08, 2014 at 05:45 PM
Heh, a few of those top of the hill shots show my "fake it till you make it" strategy.
Aug 24, 2015 at 03:06 PM
Tour de Fort Lee is coming up soon, Sept 13. I'll be in the Cat 5 field, woop woop!
Aug 24, 2015 at 03:58 PM
Scott, you should check out the course. It's only a few miles south from the GWB so you can probably preview it after a group ride up to Piermont.
Aug 24, 2015 at 05:26 PM
a little more than a mile.David Yang said:Scott, you should check out the course. It's only a few miles south from the GWB so you can probably preview it after a group ride up to Piermont.
Aug 27, 2015 at 04:48 PM
Bump!
https://www.bikereg.com/tour-de-fort-lee
You should do this race. People with GMSR fitness and the Burlington crit in their legs should be fine. People who have CX aspirations should be fine. People who have been riding hard should be fine.
This is not a course where you can just sit in.
The number of good crits that we can easily ride to, over the course of the season, I believe, is three. Grant's Tomb, White Plains, and Fort Lee. Add in the ones we can take a train easily and the number goes up to six (Sterling, Bound Brook, Raritan). Maybe, if Danbury comes back, and the timing is right, that will be the seventh.
do it.
https://www.bikereg.com/tour-de-fort-lee
You should do this race. People with GMSR fitness and the Burlington crit in their legs should be fine. People who have CX aspirations should be fine. People who have been riding hard should be fine.
This is not a course where you can just sit in.
The number of good crits that we can easily ride to, over the course of the season, I believe, is three. Grant's Tomb, White Plains, and Fort Lee. Add in the ones we can take a train easily and the number goes up to six (Sterling, Bound Brook, Raritan). Maybe, if Danbury comes back, and the timing is right, that will be the seventh.
do it.