Had a great time racing and watching races with teammates. What a fantastic course, highly encourage others to get out there next year.

Watched Ros and Jay and Kayt rock and/or roll in their respective fields.

In the cat 4 race I totally biffed the end and thought there was another lap to go (didn't hear the bell). By the time I realized it was the sprint there was like 20m to go. D'oh!!! If you look at the results Niall, myself and Jeff white were clustered around Brendan in anticipation of leading him out for a sprint in the non-existent next lap. Damn.

The 3/4 race was the first time I've been in a field with a higher category. It was quite the eye opener and I spent the whole time trying to stay up front, finding shelter, and counting down the laps. Pack finish for me. Congrats to John and Andy on their super results.

Spent the next few pleasant hours eating pizza, hanging with friends, and watching and discussing the highly entertaining 3 race where Club Champ Ragot placed in the decisive break. Kudos to Mike and Vlad who kept the pace high in the main pack at the end to give Eric a winning chance

I even had a great time watching the kids race!

Cool course that seems almost tailor made for bike racing. Good times.

This is a really great race. It's a highlight of the local calendar. It's a place where virtually everyone can do well. The ability to watch the race unfold completely as a spectator is rare.

Image poached from Phil G's Instagram. Please tell me we didn't lose a spot to Rog?

Rog dropped out of the field to the break to help it catch the field. This is a big no no. Moto official stop him and told him to get out. We told him the same thing. He then tried to bridge back to deal The field. He never made it and was it out.

Dog?

As the 2/3 race ended, I heard a 6 Cycle guy gleefully tell his teammate that this was 'a 6 Cycle controlled race'. What he (and perhaps the majority of his teammates) didn't know is that they fucked it up royally.

Dog, Rog, what's the difference?

My report is SunTrust simple. I didn't wasn't to kill myself but instead be opportunistic. I stayed near the front, went to bridge to a move with Wrongway because I didn't like the makeup of that group. Then I stayed in the front and slowly, the race came apart. I had to make one bridge, but that was it and eventually the elastic snapped and the break came close to catching. It didn't thanks to teammates. I followed Robert Lattanzi, normally a better result getter than me from breaks, and unfortunately it caused me to make up to much ground on the bell lap. I passed one or two in the sprint during the last turn..

I should have stood up and charged harder, but I kept it seated and tried to spin it up. I'm not upset given that I wasn't trying to rode too hard in the 2/3 race.

Interesting to note. I felt calm and in control the while time and while it hurry s bit, it was never killer. Then I look at power. NP was 325w. My threshold. Further, my 2.1 minute and 30 second high power numbers all came at the end of the race. So it may explain why, despite carefully managing the break, I didn't have a better result.

The 123 race saw me drip out after 30 minutes at am effort level that mirrored the earlier race.

I love this course, but then again, I've taken 4,5,6 over the last three years. Its also just the beginning of coming out of my training hole up to my racing level. I see goodbthings ahead.

Men's 4 was an interesting time.  It was slow for a while and 2 folks got away. I bridged to them and promptly died; highest HR of the race.  When I got up to the two guys, which took me an entire lap if I recall correctly, one of the guys asked me to pull through and I declined.  I pointed out that I had just bridged up to him, the fool!  Others joined.  Then we had a break of maybe 6 or so but nobody was working together.  It was comical.  I'm talking people riding off the front, off to the side, just all over.  Pure chicanery.  Predictably, our antics dragged us back into the field.  Except for one guy who attacked from behind as the field closed; he stayed away I think.  Once I smelled the field coming I dropped back rather than try to bridge up to that guy.  In retrospect maybe I should have stayed with him.  He got first?

@Brendan I've tried and demo'd a lot of saddles. Thanks to Thierry, today I was rocking the Romin and it's the first race where at some point I wasn't moving around the saddle to get comfortable. On the rivet or cruising on the tops, this thing seems to perform very well. The only caveat is I'm still yet to go long on it.

That was a good day. Got in nice and early for Kayts races. I was anxious about getting registered for the 2/3, so I lurked around looking for some one to talk to about that the second I got out of the car. I quickly spotted my buddy Liz. She is sporting a radio and looks in charge or something. I go over and she says "yeah of course no problem" and I'm good. Stick around and watch Kay's races, the second of which she did a spectacular job duking it out with the 3/4 women. Craig was nice enough to buy a whole bunch of munchkins at the dunkin donuts down ion city island. I felt really good in the 3/4 race. Took a 4/5 lap flyer around 20min into the race. Craig told me he rolled up to one of the six cycles guys and said something like" you guys don't like prize money? why aren't you sending some one up there". To which they responded something snarky like"we know what we are doing Kissena". Anyways, I got drawn back. Going in the sprint I'm on Johns wheel. I pedaled through the last turn all day without a problem but going into the sprint I almost lost it. Luckily I didn't and was able to regain balance and sprint in for 8th. Team raced great. John was unstoppable. 2/3 is a blur. I followed a attack in the first lap, but got gapped off by a six cycle dude... it got caught anyways and I know I wouldn't have survived in that break from the gun but still. Towards the end Mike directed Vlad and I to come towards the front. I was spent and it took me a while to make it up there. I eventually did at around 3 laps to go. I put I in one really hard, everything I had left half lap pull at the front before getting dropped on the last lap. Overall good day for the team. A new favorite for sure.

Who needs speed plays? I have plenty of clearance. It just take a few near misses to grind them down a bit

Andrew Da Silva said:

 I pedaled through the last turn all day without a problem but going into the sprint I almost lost it.

I did the same exact thing. I started laughing when the guy in front of my clipped then I ended up doing it right after him.

Andy, I like how you pip McGarity to take 8th in the sprint.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UEcbruTFDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MO8DT1R2ho

Hahaha dude just gave up.

A few thoughts watching this video. 

HOLY MOLEY that looks windy.  The tape flying sideways... wow.

eragot said:

Interesting to note. I felt calm and in control the while time and while it hurry s bit, it was never killer. Then I look at power. NP was 325w. My threshold.

Woa.

My threshold is 260 watts. So you know...if anyone is wondering where I'm at in the next 1/2/3 park race, it will be just on the corner of Suffering and DearLordWhatJustHappened.

I drove up with a friend yesterday in 30min flat from Park Slope to Orchard Beach. Got to the course with ~40min to spare, which was great since it seemed like my 4/5 race began about 10min early!? Hmmmm.

This was my very first time being at Orchard Beach (beautiful venue for a bike race!) and my first time racing a crit of any kind. I did the obligatory online reading on crit tips and high-speed cornering techniques, but as expected, theory only goes so far compared to the practice.

It became quickly apparent to me that knowing what I should be doing and being comfortable/having a feel for doing it is a very different thing, especially at speed & when surrounded by riders who did not look very in control of their lines. This was a style of race I've never done before, and in the middle of it I decided I should focus on riding within myself (control-wise) and just really pay attention and take in the experience. There were lots to notice and consider. I spent most of the time in the middle & back of the field (where I felt most comfortable), spent a lap at the front (top 5), and tested moving around the inside. Very cool experience that I'm still digesting and am happy to have not been involved in the crash that happened in the middle of our race in front of me.

At the end, I rolled in somewhere in the middle of the pack, but was not really challenged physically and felt I had the legs/horse-power to do something with some more confidence & crit experience in me. My Normalized Power was 263W for the race and left me with plenty in the tank. 'Till next time.

Generally, had a great time and am looking forward to doing more crits. I got to watch Kayt do her thang, but missed the pizza party and the other races since my buddy had to get back to Brooklyn by noon. Congrats on all the good results and to Malcolmson on 2nd!

Cat 4 finish

too bad I can't both LOL and Agree

Men's 4:

One thing that's worth mentioning about the 123 race is that the first time I saw the Somerville kit this year was when all of a sudden four of those guys were in the winning break. That's right, four.... out of maybe 9 or 10 with another guy from the field looking like he was going to solo bridge across to them late.