Kissena Forum Archive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__BORWT33p0

Jun 13, 2014 at 12:56 AM

I'm getting on that train !!!!

http://roadcyclinguk.com/sportive/twelve-more-must-ride-climbs-for-your-bucket-list.html/11

Jun 13, 2014 at 12:57 AM

Thant's not a noif...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyXhysmMNhE

Jun 13, 2014 at 01:43 AM

I imagine the final hill is gonna go something like this...

Jun 14, 2014 at 12:14 AM

Odds of the race happening tomorrow? I'm feeling lazy about changing brake pads and wheels.

Jun 14, 2014 at 12:39 AM

Craig Zolan said:

Odds of the race happening tomorrow? I'm feeling lazy about changing brake pads and wheels.

Pretty high I reckon. Charlie says he has his own high-capacity pump now. Looks like the storm has passed.

vlad

Jun 14, 2014 at 12:50 AM

Rule: When in doubt, race is always on... always.

Jun 14, 2014 at 12:52 AM

I was looking for odds. I'm a gambling man.

dstearns

Jun 14, 2014 at 09:05 AM

Is the race happening? Last I heard Charlie was still pumping water.

Jun 14, 2014 at 09:06 AM

Don't know. I haven't seen the 4 am email he indicated he would send out.

Jun 14, 2014 at 09:09 AM

Dunno. I'm guessing his phone died. I'm heading out in a bit

Jun 14, 2014 at 01:36 PM

Ragot 4th; super fun race for me until I flatted.

The 3rd street finish is the best thing since sliced toast. Sounds like there was a pileup at the bottom of the final uphill... one of the United guys konked his head pretty bad.

Jun 14, 2014 at 02:04 PM

Also, Yacks takes 3rd in both intermediate sprints. Good race until I blew up (I expected it). Paul Carbonara gave me a push up the hill one lap (and then took 2nd).

Jun 14, 2014 at 02:28 PM

3rd I believe but still impressive

Jun 14, 2014 at 02:50 PM

Nice race....not as brutal as last week. avg weighted power down about 15 watts from last weeks death march. Ragot drove the hill on both sprint laps allowing me to just try and find Kevin Molly's rear wheel...which I did but both times he jumped I found myself lacking that last little bit to stick his wheel...I finished those sprints gapped between Kevin and the field...which was getting gapped on the climb. I've got 3 whopping sprint points now...I owe each of them to the Big Ragot. I felt concussed after the 2nd sprint and spent the rest of the race hanging on...I didn't even know we were on the last lap. I did see something orange bobbing up the road before we hit the climb for the finale...shortly thereafter I saw the yellow jersey go flying into the left gutter and another group of dudes stacking it into the right gutter...I saw a blue United kit guy sprawled out looking hurt....the yellow jersey just looked pissed. Since I wasn't sure it was the last lap I slowed thinking that's what you do when the yellow jersey is down...CURSE YOU Phil Ligget ! I wound up pushing a Weather Channel guy up the hill who looked shaken up...then I just followed some wheels through the finish where guys were sitting up cus that's what you do when a race is over...gadzooks !

Jun 14, 2014 at 03:03 PM

Craig Zolan said:

Also, Yacks takes 3rd in both intermediate sprints. Good race until I blew up (I expected it). Paul Carbonara gave me a push up the hill one lap (and then took 2nd).

should have put on those race wheels...just sayin

Jun 14, 2014 at 03:51 PM

The real star of the day was Jules' day-glow orange POC helmet.

poc-skull-x-helmet-orange.jpg

Jun 15, 2014 at 01:14 AM

That helmet fits like a glove. Unlike your Pirate Shirt Jersey....

Jun 15, 2014 at 01:15 AM

After a week or two of rest I was excited to get back to racing. Infinitely more excited when I learned the traditional Prospect Park finish line was gong to be replaced with one just 30 seconds after the top of the hill - finally a venue where I could gun for a strong finish without taking my "life into my hands" as is required in the faster flat finish.

The alarm went off and I rolled with seemingly great leisure (thanks to a friday number pickup at R&A) to the 3rd street entrance where I met up with Erin Korf from Axis and we started a couple of warmup laps.

We ran into Charlie at the pinch point still draining water with his garden-hose sump pump (dude, if you don't want to be there all night, you need the 2 1/2 inch kind). On the second trip around we stopped to help him sweep some dirt and then hustled to the start line.

It was a pretty - nah, a VERY tame start but somehow my plans to keep my powder dry until the second half went up in smoke. After a nice little break was caught I countered around the 20 minute mark. I stayed away solo for a minute before being joined by some large, locomotive type.

I'm happy with this because I stayed away without blowing my motor and we worked well together, although I was trying not to bury myself in the hopes that people would bridge and we'd have enough horsepower to last.

Looking at the power numbers (thanks VIRB Edit) I feel I did a respectable job and pulled as much of my weight as was reasonable.

After a little over ten minutes we were caught by Carbo and some others; that jackass Mariella Pizza guy started dicking around instantly (why chase if you don't want to work when you catch?!?) and things fell apart pretty quickly.

After that it was pretty much a case of follow moves that Eric wasn't in and try to stay close to the front until.... psssst. Actually it was silent, but on the uphill I felt an odd thunka-thunka-thunka....

Looking down I definitely had a front flat. Sigh.

I rolled up to Keith and said "hi". We chatted a bit about the relative merits of High-Vis Flouro helmets before I made my way back to the start/finish to see the rest of the gang.

I can't really complain; I've had fantastic luck re: flatting in races... but I *did* feel very good today and I'm bummed I missed that finish. Fingers crossed Charlie manages to make it a regular affair.

The highlight of my day was sneaking home and finding Isaiah up playing in his PJ's; we grabbed some shoes for both of us and got back to the coffee shop in time to see the rest of the team. Good times.

PS, yes there will be video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Pkqs2WGgg&feature=youtu.be

Jun 15, 2014 at 07:30 PM

Enjoy. This is a private video, so please keep it within the club. As it stands, anyone with the link can watch it, but it isn't searchable or listed. The catch & break (my break) happen at about 20:00. The GPS looks like it got kind of hosed (too damp?) so later on the video doesn't seem to match the location on the map. C'est la vie.

mperlberg

Jun 15, 2014 at 10:17 PM

I love that you roll up to Keith at the end. I was waiting for him to pull out a gun and put you out of your misery. All calm like. Maybe with that air compressor gun from no country for old men.

In seriousness though, from this and the FBF video you posted earlier, when you are in the pack you spend wayyyyyy to much time in the wind. It seems like you generally ride kinda to the right of the bunch, and when you are in the bunch you sit far back and not dead on the draft of the rider in front of you. For example, you'll be behind two riders and sitting dead between them, but not directly on either draft. You might only be saving 10-20 watts in that situation, and 40-50 watts when you're to the side, but those all add up. Especially at the end when it gets hard.

Jun 17, 2014 at 02:31 AM

Mike, thanks for taking the time to watch these, and for the feedback. I'll dial up the dare-to-follow-close a few notches next time and see how it looks on the big screen.