let's have more than fun! looking forward to reading this race w/ u.

mugwump said:

For the 3/3/13 Spring Series race, it looks like we've got...

for the 1/2/3's: Hubbard, JP, Myles, Vlad,  Anyone else?  (marc, you know you should)

other fields?

No racing for me. But I'll be there cheer-screaming at all of you.

Lots of info shared at today's CP course breakdown. Here are 3 top tips for you to dream about.

1. The course winds, left and right, rises and falls constantly. If you find yourself in the wind, in bad position, don't panic and try to slam yourself back into the field. Remain calm and watch as the next turn comes up and the whole field comes back to you. It's like magic.

2. Similarly, if the course goes right, so does the field, generally, leaving some lanes on the left for you to move up safely.

3. On your last lap, coming out of Horseshit Alley, YOU MUST BE TOP 20. Starting the final drop before the final uphill sprint, get yourself into top 10 and...wait, wait, wait. Someone's going to lead out that sprint from the bottom. That's too soon for mere mortals. 10 seconds into the climb is when you turn on your turbos.

last minute.... I'm going to show up tmrw for the 3/4 race.

Seriously? Marc if I have to see your hairy-assed arms waving Pom poms from the side lines I might throw up. Get up and pin a number on. My gosh. Yes. I plan to be there. FYI snowing in ct hope its not heading south. I'm also happy to stay to help out at the clinic afterwards. I'm hoping marc has time to change out of that cheerleaders skirt beforehand, I'm not sure I'm ready to see that.....

tut tut

JP got dick spot in the 123's!!!

vlad said:

JP got dick spot in the 123's!!!

Vlad, please translate to english.

Allow me. I got to the park after a few laps had been run off the 1/2/3s race. Off the front, with a 1 minute gap to the field was Brian Breach of Mengoni and 3 other dudes. Chasing at about 25 seconds was Gavi "Someone Stole My Garmin Development Jersey & Bike" Epstein and one other dude. Back in the field, JP was at/near the front doing his thing.

In the end the break stuck, Gavi and other dude stayed away and JP wasn't giving up on the field sprint. He looked solid, and it looked like he maybe snuck into the top 10. Alas, he reports 11th place (although "official" AVD results say 12), one out of the money.

Solid performances in the 3/4 field too. Alyoshas and Andrew da Silva were front and center when the action was hot. Was Hubbard in the 3/4 field or the 1/2/3s? Or neither...my brain was/is a little frozen.

Andy did well in the final field sprint, and with 2 away, he still managed to get 4th or 6th or something impressive like that.

Not sure how our Cat 5s faired. And we didn't have any Master's 45+ starters.

All who raced. Please discuss here how the teamwork went today. Good communication or "needs improvement?"

Money winners, please consider sharing your prizes with your teammates. Chances are they helped you succeed in some way.

It's an honor system with us. Last year at several races where my teammates did well, I declined any cut of the cash-money because in some cases I was unable to do anything to help the team

Racing with Myles is fun

ok I'll go: I found Andy a few times during the race and thought he was my only teammate since I never met Phillip before and he wasn't in kit.
Overall a fast-ish race, Paul and the would-be winner of the race took off on the 90th street straightaway after the 'two to go' bell. No one chased and by the time ppl woke up, it was too late. I was tired from an effort I had just made previously and thought to myself: what are 2 guys up the road going to create knowing that one of them just dug deep 5 minutes prior (referring to Paul Yeates from rockstar).
The field was strung single file after the final bell lap and the strong men finally woke up and tried to attack the peloton, but by that time nothing was getting away.
I saw Andy right before horse shit alley and asked him if he was planning on sprinting- I told him to get on my wheel and that we were gonna move up- I took the right side on the inside of the turn and maneuvered to about 10th place, I was still feeling strong but Andy jumped on the wheel of a guy who passed me and who blew his load way too fast. I think Andy launched his sprint when that guy from bicycle planet faded (almost from the bottom of cat's paw). He took 6th (4th in the bunch sprint) and I followed not far behind. I wish he had stuck onto my wheel a little longer and not have to jump from so far away, I think we could have managed a 3rd place-
I spoke to Paul afterwards and we seemed to agree that a good way to make a break happen is to keep attacking the field repetitively until shit happens. I should have followed him and even though I felt weak, everyone else wasn't feeling good either and I could have mustered the strength (or at least that's what I tell myself). I think also that it was the way he non-threateningly rolled off the front of the pack. Everyone else who attacked the field seemed to be sprinting for an imaginary finish line.
We went for coffee afterwards and although I insistingly declined, Andy split his winnings with me.
This was a very positive experience with lots to improve on and good results to look towards to, whether by making the break or leading out at the finish line.

@aly From your description, you definitely earned a share of the prize. 

Alyoshas, very nice teamwork. It's a natural fit. You are a strong endurance type rider and Andy has high speed track racing in his blood. I'm thrilled you made it work in the end (when it counts!)

Philip and all with no Jersey. Be sure to either ask a teammate the night before to borrow a jersey, or at least, introduce yourself before the racing get's started. Ideally, you will have brief team meetings before and after your races too.

"dick spot"=the first non-paying place.

Andrew Da Silva said:

I jumped too early(should have gone to the CP course review) and started fading around 50 meters to the line.  

Not for nothing...but we did talk about and practice sprinting up Cat's Paw Hill. Still great job you two.

My fitness isnt up to par yet but I'll get better after the next few races and I'll be able to contribute. I faded on the last lap. I would have liked to meet before the race but I got there just as the 1/2/3s started. Dang late night... Good first race however..

Teasing aside...let's talk about the leadout/sprint combo. It's totally natural that you are on your leadout man's wheel and you see someone else jump and you want to jump to that wheel. Occasionally that will work out okay, but more often than not, you would be better off trusting your leadout man and letting him diesel you up to maximum launching velocity.

Similarly, when you've got teammates working to chase down a break, I can't tell you the number of times I've been drilling it at the front, when some jamokes think I'm going too slow (usually when the breakaway is within eyeshot), and jump out of the line and attempt to bridge solo.

And you know what happens EVERY TIME? They get 1/2 way across or less and I diesel past them in about 15 seconds.

The moral here is "TRUST IN YOUR TEAMMATES."

I mean, frankly, for you and Alyoshas to have done what you did, basically with very little experience riding together is kind of amazing. So you should both feel good about riding that bull like professional cowboys in the first race weekend of the year!

JP, I've noticed this trend the last few years, but the WS United team, the brothers at least, are SLOW starters to the season. They will struggle for the next few months if history is any indication. Please, no-one question anyone's manhood...we don't want to awaken the sleeping giants prematurely.

Good race 1/2/3s! Unfortunately, some of our strong guys have seem to have sworn off the AVD races (CP ones for sure), so that means you guys have to work hard to help spring JP or Vlad into winning breaks. I'm constantly impressed with how strong Myles races despite having very few training hours in his legs. That's experience for you! 11th place is good. Unfortunately, for the series/points thing, since AVD can't be bothered to pick more than 10 places, 11th is as good as 50th.

Regardless, between yesterday in Jersey and today in NYC, Team DevoTrafficConeHeads is off to a really great start. Lets keep up the good work. Build, build, build and get stronger.

@mperlberg:  Oh, and don't forget the "nice evening with Bo" also.

@Perlberg...fair enough. It is a long season and it's really easy to burn out when racing started yesterday. I'm cutting Spring Series racing out of my season almost altogether. Time for new adventures.

I'm glad there are so many strong guys who can step up this year. With new-ish crews of 2/3s racing, pre-race communication is going to be extra important. So make sure you guys racing are chatting during the week too!

Im hungry to make a comeback.

Is anybody racing Sunday in the Cat 5 park race? I'm signed up. My back is a lot better. I'm regretting withdrawing from Grant's Tomb. It hurt like hell at the time that I did. Oh well

Is anybody doing this race? I'm thinking of signing up but I'm not sure the conditions will be very good. I think it should be fine but I want to get other people's thoughts on this-

I'll be there...

Daylight savings time!!!

Going to make getting up and racing in the dark pretty interesting.

I'll be there.