I'de rather have Kuato living in me than ride carbon tubulars in Prospect...Vlad take back your wheels and slide them straight in your caboose.  They're aero so they will slide right in.   3 races on them and never made it past lap 3....twice I double flatted hitting potholes and once felled by broken spokes.   Aluminum clinchers, I'm your huckleberry.  Congrats to Dan and Eloy...was a beautiful day for racing in the park....mild and no wind.  But alas...potholes abound and shame on me for NOT riding my clinchers.  Carbon tubs are going bye-bye.  The hubs are awesome so I may just cut them out and use the rims for ring toss...

Straight swap Yacks... I'll even have it delivered to your door.

This was my first competitive cycling race, and my first actual race since boardercross in my 20's and racing slalom and GS as a teenager.  So now its time to find something competitive in my 30's to distract myself ...

Felt good at the start and stayed strong with the pack for 2.5 laps.  As we were going up the hill for the 3rd time, the ladies were also climbing.  I got a bit jammed near the top and bump in the road jarred me a little, lots of riders at the apex.  As we started moving downhill it was clear that I had been dropped.  I pushed as hard as I could to get to the pack and finally caught back up to them near Centre Drive.  I thought I'd have a moment to pedal and rest but I totally gassed myself getting back to the group and they slowly pulled away, leaving me in their wake.  Finished as best as I could completing the last 1.5 laps on my own.  Found another straggler on the final lap and we pulled each other on the backside, but made sure to finish strong up the hill and through the finish.

Was an awesome time, great to see Jill do her first race too! Fun to ride with Christopher and another Kissena (can't remember your name, sorry) in the Cat 5, and looks like we may have interest with a new member Edward who was also Cat 5 (Redbeard, strong, rode with JP, Jeff, Jill and I last weekend).  Stoked as well to meet other members of Kissena this morning.

Really enjoyed it and will be heading out to FBF tomorrow, Phil is also making the trip ... Bummed I'll be missing L&C race next weekend (but not bummed to be headed out to Colorado to ride the Rockies for a couple of days with the pops).

Looking forward to the next batch of rides / crits this month and into September.

I've never been so proud of a finish #TeamDan

Hey this is Kasia! Awesome racing with you Jill and Kristina! Thanks for the help with number pinning, Phil and Jeff! Great seeing y'all out there. So, like a total amateur, I forgot my Fizik saddle bag at the bag drop. Any chance anyone found it? I'd love to get it back, flat fix stuff and lights attached to it. I messaged the race organizer but thought I'd post here in case anyone has it. I'm at 718-502-4554, call or text is fine. Thank you! 

Bad wheels...banished to the boiler room

Chris, I'll take those off your hands. 

I will sell them to you for what Vlad sold them to me for...$500...with tubulars 

deal

Dan Reiners said:

deal

I can bring them to the next L & C race next Saturday at Prospect.  I can bring them in a double wheelbag with a shoulder strap so you can ride home with them.  I'll get the wheel bag back from you whenever I can.  Give me a check when we make the transaction.

First Race Ever, R&A 8/8/15 Race Report:

First off, I spent the whole week prior to the race feeling like I had signed up for some sort of battle that I was unsure of whether I would make it out of alive.  

I was very surprised that they started the women's race first since it meant that we were neutralized almost immediately.  The first few laps felt extremely slow, so this tricked me into thinking that this racing stuff was going to be easy.  Then, the KOMs and sprints started.  After the 4th uphill I thought I was going to get dropped, but somehow managed to chase my way back to the pack.  This happened once or twice more, but inevitably the pace slowed after the KOM or sprint and I got back in.  I tried my best to always be in the top 10 and to stay on a few strong ladies' wheels that I had chosen before the race.  I managed to do this until the final uphill, when my calves decided to cramp and my lead-filled legs made it a very difficult final hill and sprint to the finish. 

In the end I was happy to have stayed upright and in the pack- my two goals for my first race accomplished!  I finished 15th out of about 24.  I had fun, met some friends, and have been encouraged to race in the CRCA development series the next three weekends in CP and I may even sign up for GMSR!  

Nice work Jill!

anticipating when the surges will happen, and being ready for them is a skill you develop with time. This might not work in a smaller peleton is the "uphill drift back" starting a shorter hill (like at Prospect Park) at the front and going just a little bit slower and burning less energy, and drifting back through the pack so that you've timed it just right that you're near the back (but not off the back) by the end of the hill. This is great on those times up the hill there isn't a KOM, or the final lap. It allows you to save just enough gas for the laps that matter.

This takes practice to get good at, because you kind of have to time it just right for the size of the pack and how much you think you can safely drift without losing contact and being forced to chase back on (which negates all that energy savings of going uphill slower).

Nice job Jill! Finishing your first race, let alone near the front group, is an achievement to be proud of.

Dan's hill climbing advice is sage, Francesco Moser (yes that Francesco Moser) used that very same tactic when he jumped into a PP race. That's also how I made it through the Tour of the Catskills weighing 192lbs. 

Kudos to Jill! She was killing it out there!

My race report will be short and sweet... the first few laps felt pretty good. Halfway up the hill on the first lap, I looked around and thought damn, we're halfway up this hill and I didn't even realize! Two laps later at the top of the climb I got dropped off the back when we had a weird scramble with the men's race coming through, but luckily another lady yelled back to me to grab her wheel and we sprinted through the start and were able to catch back up to the pack, at which point it started to get fuzzy as to when exactly my tire flatted... because I was working insanely hard and could not keep up for the life of me. When I heard a rattling and looked down to see the front wheel was flat, I was almost relieved, mostly because I couldn't figure out why I was working so hard to go nowhere.

As luck would have it, I was pretty much at exactly the halfway point around the park, but I must say nothing else would have had me walking through the middle of the park at 6am in the awesome, glowing morning sunlight. 

Looking forward to continue racing, and to continue to learn! I now have an itch to get out there and train harder.
I would be happy to join you Jill but will be out of town the next few weekends.