Bruce van-Schalkwyk said:

Results
https://www.bikereg.com/Results/rr/5789/trooper-david-brinkerhoff-memorial-race-series-week-3

Marc, you're listed as a finisher!
Congrats to Sean with 5th place!

Timing seems about right. Strange that a few from the JP group were listed, but not all. I'll continue to be annoyed on his behalf.

Baris Aytan was 4th in the A race.  I don't feel all that terrible about getting my teeth kicked in by the likes of him all last spring in the cat 4s.

David Yang said:

Baris Aytan was 4th in the A race.  I don't feel all that terrible about getting my teeth kicked in by the likes of him all last spring in the cat 4s.

Yeah, there will always be those guys...easy to drop them from your mind as a point of comparison at least.

http://www.road-results.com/racer/92492

So it looks like we were sprinting for 36th.  Because of the wind, I figured I could get a gap early and grind it out.  Unfortunately, those final 400m with the crosswind from the left were really long.  The guy I jumped early came back, as did two other guys.  The guy I jumped won, a guy on my left was second, I was third by a wheel, hidden from the camera/official.  And the guy on my left was much taller than me.  

Not getting placed is minor compared to my frustration for playing the race wrong.  I was feeling good (seven hours of sleep will do that) and with the winds as strong as they were (gusts up to 50mph?), with crosswinds for much of the course, I figured splits would come early and with some judicious forcing of the pace, the field would slim down fast.  I was definitely active early, not going too hard, but in the wind all the same.  

I dropped my chain on the hill the first lap, got off, put it back on, and caught back up.  Al Donahue, who I told was a strongman, was chilling at the back.  Relief.  Then he started moving up.  I followed.  he forced the pace a bit.  Then backed off.  Saw this a lot.  Also saw many weren't good at echeloning.  Thought I could use it to my advantage.

Only it ended up getting me.  At the end of the second lap, I was working pretty hard as I thought the field was ready to split.  Unfortunately, chose a few bad wheels and had to make three big jumps in short succession to close gaps opened by guys in front of me--didn't look back as I figured whomever was behind me wasn't strong enough to help.  Then, I had my moment of crisis.  I couldn't close to the first 15 and then two small groups went by me as I was desperately trying to recover.  Marc was in the first and Keith made it by in the second.  As did others.    

That was it.  I got caught by a sloppy chase.  Tried to get them to echelon.  Took lots of work.  somehow, even though the roads were empty, getting guys to ride point along the  yellow line when the wind is coming from the left was a challenge.  They wouldn't ride close enough together, pull off before getting to the line and then have trouble fading back.  

We caught keith, who rode with until the lap was done, then a lap, and then Marc.  Caught a few more, dropped a few, and that was it.

Also of note.  There was 4,000' of climbing on this flat course in 100k.  Which makes it similar to Central Park, or any number of "hilly" races.  

I got 2785' of climbing. What say the rest of you?

I uploaded to Strava to confirm.  Seems it's there, too.  

Sat in the middle of the pack for about the first 3/4 of the first lap and watched some guys, and a girl or two make a few sketchy moves trying to jockey their way to the front and decided I'd relax for a bit as it was a fairly moderate pace.
 
On the last wrinkle before the end of the first lap took the right side of the white line and got up to the 10-15 spot.  Sat in at about 10-20 for the next 2 laps and watched a lot of people yo yo in and out.

With about a quarter lap to go the front started to push the pace a bit and about 15 of us got a small gap going into the final left turn.  Went in somewhere between 5th and 10th wheel. 

After the corner the large sprinter type in front of me I was planning on following until the last 100 meters decided to make a nice hard move to the left and I had to check the brakes not to crash.  Could not quite catch up to him but went solo to the line passing a few for an eventual 5th.

All in all a great day.  Thanks to Patrick for the ride up and was nice seeing everyone else who made it out.

mugwump said:

I uploaded to Strava to confirm.  Seems it's there, too.  

Strange, well, I'm in line to get a new Joule GPS via warranty due to a mysterious rattle that has developed. Maybe the altimeter is the thing that is jumping around in there...

A mid-pack Cat 4's report from the 3/4 race ...

Executive summary: It was a tough 48 mile effort with that wind. 

I spent the first lap being super lazy and pedaling as little as possible in a compact field.

I spent the second lap chewing watts like gas station beef jerky while learning the wind and responding to real-deal matters.

Once I learned the wind and where to be on the course, I was able ride the correct gutter and generally play at the front with all the Cat 3 hitters.

I made my one effort on the last lap with about eight miles to go. There was a lead car ahead of the echelon of seven or so about 100 meters up the road from what was left of the field, where I was. I thought that was the race (it wasn't -- there was a breakaway minutes up the road ... I guess with its own car?). So right after a series of field-stretching attacks I rolled off the front in a stiff right-to-left crosswind, taking the right side of the road to leave a draft behind. I would either bring the peloton across or it would be a break. I figured Patrick was near the front and is a savvy finisher, so bringing everyone up wasn't a bad option. I didn't look back until I'd done about 30 seconds. When I finally did look back it turned out to be a break.

There were five of us. We spent the next few miles in an echelon trying to get across to the "front" group. We worked reasonably well together; a couple younger dudes thankfully responded to our yelling and turned out to be very quick studies on how to ride echelon. I looked back the first time to see a large gap back to the field, and again to see that we had our own tail car. By the time we made the right turn before the one steep "hill" around 2 block headwind miles from the finish we were within maybe 100 feet of catching the group up the road. I looked back after the turn to see the tail car was gone and the snaking peloton was making contact with our group.

At this point, I was done. I could have kept working with my group, but to see all those guys (and gals to be fair -- holy crap they were impressive) back on terms with us, I knew my empty matchbook wouldn't add up to much. So I let myself crack and rode the rest of the course at tempo.

Brinkerhoff 2016 starts this Saturday.  
Low-key road race series.  Flat-ish (big ring rises, lots of false flat, 4000' climbing in 100k).  Can be windy.

https://www.bikereg.com/trooper-david-brinkerhoff-memorial-race-series

anyone going?

I'm planning on going if weather permits. Looks to be mighty cold.

These are some of the very best races in the area. I absolutely love them, (although not as much as laying on the sofa drinking wine, eating chocolate and fretting about my next long business trip to somewhere shite).

If you can find a way to do one of these - DO IT. So, so, so much better than riding round a park.

I signed up for the 4/5 which is now sold out.  And yes, watching the weather.

Wish I could join you all, definitely on my bucket list of races to do, but just can't find the time or fitness for now.

David Yang said:

Wish I could join you all, definitely on my bucket list of races to do, but just can't find the time or fitness for now.

You just want to explain to your co-workers that you spent the weekend in Coxsackie, then giggle like a tween.

For the weekend of April 16/17, I'm trying to decide between racing Trooper Brinkerhoff on Saturday or the Army Spring Classic on Sunday. Any advice? Any 4s or 5s racing those? I'd love to race with other Kissenas. Army Spring Classic is accessible by public transit, but it looks like getting to Coxsackie means I'd need to tag along in someone's car.

do both.

I apologize if I confused anyone with my earlier post. I made a mistake: the Army Spring Classic Harriman Road Race will take place Saturday, April 16, not Sunday, April 17. 

Anybody racing either Army or Brinkerhoff have space in the car? Holler at me. 

I'm doing Brinkerhoff. Max Thorn is in my car. Space for one more. Do not miss this chance for Coxsackie glory. 

only 8 spots left in the 4/5 race so let's get this sorted out. 

Awesome, thanks Jeff. Now I have to quickly decide whether to register for the 4/5 race or the 5 race...

@MaxThorn do the 4/5

OK, I'm reg'd for the 3/4 field with Jeff C. and Sean. I have space for two more in my car. Any takers?

Have I lost my spot in your car, @Jeffrey White, or did you get a bigger one since you wrote "Max Thorn is in my car. Space for one more"? I reg'd for the 4/5 field. Anybody wanna join me? Looking forward to watching Jeff W, Jeff C and Sean sweep the podium in the 3/4 field. 

Jeffrey White said:

OK, I'm reg'd for the 3/4 field with Jeff C. and Sean. I have space for two more in my car. Any takers?

wish I could.  sigh.

Results B?

Just received official results.

Looks like I got 10th place in the B race. The race was generally slow with a couple of hard parts. One guy went off solo pretty much from the gun and stayed away for about 2 laps.  We were pretty active in the front for the first lap and I took a flyer with some guys but felt it was too early.   

At some point a massively strong guy from the C race caught up to us and we were neutralized for a bit until he passed. Eventually we caught our B race soloist and everything came together for the last couple of laps. With narrow roads and strictly enforced yellow line rule it tended to be difficult to move up, but you could pick your spots.

On the last lap I knew I had to be one of the first ones over the hill and to hold position until the end. Fortunately I was able to do that. After the hill i hugged the yellow line and didn't let anyone pass. I was probably about 8th wheel going into the left hander.  I had to swerve around some guy who basically stopped sprinting, but from there I opened it up. I probably started my sprint a little too early and in one gear too hard, but I gave it my all to the line.

Pretty happy with a top 10 especially since some of the guys ahead of me are nearly 1/3 my age (no kidding).

It was great to race with Sean and Jeff W. who both made moves in the last lap to try to animate the pack. 

On to the next one. 

Just received this info via email from the Brinkerhoff race organizers:

Greeting Racers:

The Trooper David Brinkerhoff Memorial (TBM) Race Serice (week 1) is only 12 days away (Saturday April 8). Note that last day for the $35 advanced pre-registration ($25 for D field) is this Friday (March 31)!

https://www.bikereg.com/Events/trooper-david-brinkerhoff-memorial-race-series

As always, race proceeds are donated to the Brinkerhoff Memorial fund and other local charities. Hope to see your there.

CBRC.

(PS: don't forget to Renew your USAC license)

And don't forget that they run the same race again the following weekend, April 15. Any Kissena interest?

I'm in for next weekend. Anyone else?