Aug 26, 2014 at 02:22 AM
Anyone want to lend a bike? Then I can go! When is it? Sigh... maybe next year
NY State Track Champs
Aug 26, 2014 at 02:50 AM
Brendan you're welcome to borrow my ancient and possibly too small for you steel track bike. Has a 50x15 setup on it which might also be too small for you.
Aug 26, 2014 at 02:59 AM
@mugwump. It seems that way considering the amount of time he spends at T-Town, but no. Still living with his folks in Long Island.
Aug 28, 2014 at 01:23 PM
I'm in! Cat 4 though.
Aug 28, 2014 at 07:54 PM
Guys, please spread the word and help recruit any friends/fans/family to volunteer at the Track Champs this weekend. Volunteering is easy as pie, and Alan needs all the help he can get to pull this off.
No volunteers = no State Track Champs, yo
Per Facebook: "With the state champs coming up, this race needs many volunteers to help run the event successfully. We need holders for the TT's and Match Sprints, folks to help with the entrance gate, and setup/takedown. Racers who are willing to help out are eligible to have their entry fee to states reimbursed; cat 5 riders are eligible to receive up to 2 credits towards the 2015 Twilight Series."
Sep 01, 2014 at 12:10 AM
The short version:
In the 123:
Andy picked up a Gold, a silver, three bronze metals and 2nd place in the overall.
JP picked up 2 silvers and 6th in the overall.
In the 4s.
Our team sprint won silver.
I won the overall and also picked up 2 golds in the scratch and points.
Ros won gold in the match sprints in pretty awesome fashion, and picked up two bronze metals in the kilo and scratch race along the way. This led him to a second place in the overall.
To add to his silver in the points race, Jesse nabbed a bronze in the points race.
I'm sunburned, tired, and really spent after a hard day of racing. Phewwwwww.
Sep 01, 2014 at 01:30 AM
Long Day... Fun Day. Report tmrw.
Sep 01, 2014 at 01:33 AM
Way to Go Mike and Andy and Ros and Jessee
Sep 01, 2014 at 02:43 AM
I don't count.
guess because I didn't threepeat in the points race.
I think Andy and I worked well together in the points and scratch races. The races were shortened to make sure we finished before the rain. The points race was shortened to 16 laps with sprints every four laps, rather than 25 and 5. I think the longer distance would have been much more favorable for us. After a few parries, I tried going long. Didn't think my jump was good, and I'd rather tire the others out. The first sprint came and my jump wasn't good. I got gapped. Andy was in the middle of things, looking fast, so I hoped I could chase back on, and either take advantage of the others napping and Andy frustrating them, or set andy up for future sprints. I got on, attacked, got chased down, gapped again. I repeated. Same scenario. Third time, I moved up the track so I could come from behind and then shoot down the banking--I had stayed low unsuccessfully before. that was the charm. The others played match sprint and I gained about 3/4 of lap in less than three laps. Another lap of their inactivity and I would ahve lapped the field. Alas.
Shortened scratch race as well. For this, a new guy showed up. Andy had to watch Mark Wagner, as the key to the omnium was beating Mark. After a few laps of tempo, the new guy attacked, and no one responded. After a lap or so of sitting around, the pink rhino was at the front and I rushed past him on the finishing straight to see if that would help gap the field. Not sure what happened behind, but I was hoping to drive through the headwind back straight to shake everyone. It didn't work. The rhino was with me. I ended up pulling on the headwind and he the tailwind. We caught the leader with two to go and went straight through. I pulled into the headwind thinking I'd rush the guy through the headwind on the final lap. But he softened a bit on his tailwind pull and then surprised me by driving harder than I thought he had into headwind. Second it was.
In the match sprint, I ended up in the repechage with Andy and Pink Rhino. Andy needed to beat rhino to get second. I wound up the sprint and let Andy choose his moment. He did and won, going into the finals.
It was good watching the others race well. Nice long moves by Jersey Mike, good tactics by Ros and Jesse in the mass start events. Impressive kick by Ros to finish off the match sprint.
Sep 01, 2014 at 03:04 AM
JP, thought you had that scratch. Making the points race shorter ruined it.
Sep 01, 2014 at 03:39 AM
Sorry JP. You're just old hat at winning all these...
Sep 01, 2014 at 11:32 AM
Here's my long version:
Team Sprint: This was my first time doing any sort of standing start or team event. I was to be the anchor. Jesse launched an incredibly powerful start and got a bit of a gap on Ros. I got right on Ros's wheel, initially, but when he accelerated to catch Jesse he lost me. (I was also riding a bigger gear than I'm used to). So basically the three of us spent the early part chasing each other. I was able to get on Ros's wheel eventually, and powered home for 2nd. I seem to think if we could smooth this out we'd have a pretty killer time.
Kilo: I sucked more than I thought at this. I did a 1:20.96 which was good enough for 4th, but I kinda thought this should have been my event. I think I just didn't give the initial surge enough power to get on top of the gear. I also should have been on rollers staying warm for this.
Points Race: This is where it got fun for me. I started 2nd on the rail, and we rolled off neutral and as soon as we got the whistle I dove down the bank and that was that. I opened up about a 1/4 lap lead very easily, and stretched it out to 1/2 a lap. My intention was to pick up the early points and hope for a bridging group to save some energy and then take points after getting a rest. Instead, I just kept my head down, kept an eye on the gap, and pushed forward. When the sprints came, my gap would shrink, but then it would open again immediately afterwards. After the 3rd sprint, the field slowed considerably. I kept the power on and connected with the field to get my 20 bonus points for lapping. Rolled through with them to finish it off for 35 points.
Scratch Race: Spoke with JP and Andy about tactics on this before the race. Other riders would anticipate a long move I thought, so what to do? The answer was, look for a bridging group. The race started very slow for 3 laps or so and I kept position up front. A few attack here and there and I covered them, but the field stayed all together. Eventually a pretty big bearded gentleman attacked and I just kinda rolled with him. I encouraged him to take 1/2 laps pulls with me and he did. I took the headwinds, he took the tailwind. We built up a 1/2 lap lead on the field and nobody seemed to chase in earnest. With about 3 to go, I knew the field would be winding up for the sprint, and my partner was getting gapped and I was having to wait for him, so I decided to leave him. I pushed on for the win. I'm happy he was able to hang on for second, just barely, in front of a fast charging Ros.
Match Sprints: I seeded 8th in the flying 200, so barely made it to the sprints (top 9 go). In the first one, the guy who won the kilo caught me with a long move and I couldn't get on. In the second one, the guy who was leading opened it up early and I just couldn't get around him. I guess I was tired. What was more fun about this was watching Ros. He put on a clinic. It was super fun to watch.
Sep 01, 2014 at 09:23 PM
JP and I corresponded prior to the race to decide on a plan of action. JP would go for a third points race title I'd try and ride consistent across the events keeping Mark Wagner in my sights. What ended up happening was defending second place in the overall.
Mark asked me to do the team sprint with him a few weeks ago. I took him up on it because we have a bit of experience doing them together, and if we won it would act to cancel out the points going into the remainder of the omnium.
I rode a decent Kilo. I felt like I had something left in the tank when I was finished. That's not good for the Kilo. That said I had a good enough ride for third. On a day with a larger field I would have been mid pack with that time... maybe.
Points race. As JP said above we got the news on the rail that our race had been shortened. I made a little bit of a stink because I knew the shorter distance would hurt both JP and I. Hurt JP because it gave him less time to get off the front. It hurt me because my strength in the points race lately has been that i seem to get stronger through out the race as everyone else starts to fatigue. Oh well. JP summed up what went down. I sucked up a few points, scoring each sprint and ended up with another third.
Scratch Race. JP summed up the action. I was watching Mark. Out sprinted him again in the end for, you guessed it, Third in the scratch race.
Things got a little anxiety provoking for me in the Match Sprint. I need to beat this Pink Rhino dude to lock up second place in the overall. In hindsight i qualified almost a full second faster than him, so i shouldn't have had much too worry about. But it's the fear of the unknown. He was psyching both Mark and I out just because we had never raced against him. We made a little contact in the points race and my first thought was "wow this guy is physical" when in reality was he just just couldnt handle his bike in turn 4. That said I also have a history of shitting the bed in the match sprint. My flying 200 qualifier is decent for me. 13.1. Again like the Kilo, not great but good enough. First heat is vs. Sakofsky and unknown pink rhino bro. Sokofsky has more watts than me, hands down. I speak with Ross's coach Ben Berczeski. I say i want to just focus on pink rhino. Ben tells me to ride for the win. He seems confident I can out tactic Josh and gives me a game plan for riding the front. Basically pulling the old "Blade" which is making them think you are going 100% then when the pull into the wind kick again and hold them at your hip. I do that... and from what I'm told I actually manage to hold Josh on my hip into turn 4 but he is just stronger than me and gets the win. That said I did hold Pink rhino bro at my hip with this move which if anything gives me confidence for the next round where ill face him again. Next round JP gives me the lead out and I ride Pink Rhino bro off my wheel... sort of.
I feel a great sense of relief knowing i have silver locked up. The final is Mark, Josh and I. Mark beats Josh, Josh sits up when he sees mark is winning and I come underneath him for the silver in the match sprint. Hey not sure the next time I'm going to get silver in a match sprint.
Ross gave a great demonstration of how the match sprint is just as much about tactics as it is about strength and speed. He qualified third with but beat guys who rode almost half a second faster than him. Very cool.
Jesse looked like he had been riding for years the way he was racing in the mass start events.
Mike just made everyone's jaw drop when lapped the field solo in the points race.
And as always it was a pleasure riding with JP in the omnium. Thanks for the leadout in the end.
The filed was small, but getting silver in the the elite NY State Champ. Omnium is my best result to date. So I'm feeling pretty darn good about how I rode.
Sep 02, 2014 at 09:03 PM
I want to hear Ross and Jesse's reports?!? even though i was there. You guys had a big field. It looked like a fun field.
Sep 02, 2014 at 10:04 PM
@Andy, I'll have one up by tonight/tomorrow!
Sep 02, 2014 at 10:51 PM
Edit nvm
Sep 03, 2014 at 02:19 PM
Great writeups by Andy and Michael. Similar to Andy, this was my best result so far.
Team Sprint was a bummer. We absolutely could've taken first if we hadn't had the start snafu, but that's racing. The fact that we still nabbed second even though Michael was riding in the wind for his entire first lap is an amazing testament of how strong a rider he is. That and the fact that he lapped the field later on...
After finding out we got 2nd in the Team Sprint, I decided to do the Kilo even though I knew I hadn't trained for it. Ended up serving as a nice benchmark for me, as I dropped over 3.5 seconds off my previous Kilo time at this year's Spring Classic. Finished 9th of 18.
The Points Race was where it started to get fun. I was, for the first time ever, consciously working for another rider the whole race, which in this case was Ros. This involved lots of chatter back and forth about positioning and timing which was fun, and distracted me from how tired I was. Somehow ended up taking 3rd.
Scratch race was another fun one. Worked for Ros again the whole race, and on the final lap, he and I strung out the field with a long lead out. Around turn 3 Ros made his jump past me and flew up to grab 3rd place, while I finished in 4th. No medal, but very proud of the race and our teamwork.
Match sprints flying 200 seeded me at 4th of 18, which put me up against Ros and Cesar, who was ahead of both of us in the Omnium. I used the opportunity to lead Ros out again, and ALMOST took 2nd at the line. There's a photo I'm trying to track down (EDIT: found the photo, posted below), but it really came down to inches. Losing the first race put me into a consolation bracket, but poor strategy caused me to lose my second race, ending my day.
Overall, it was an amazing day of being a member of Kissena. Getting coaching and advice, working for teammates, and sharing post-race smoothies is what being on a team is all about, and this year's State Championship was the best day I've had on two wheels thanks to Andy and Ros. Still amazed that I finished 6th overall, despite all of the drama this season has contained. I know I owe that result largely to my teammates who've helped me learn about racing and training throughout this year. Can't wait for next season!
Some photos from the race here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.935804179766761.1073741837.304907619523090&type=1
Sep 03, 2014 at 03:47 PM
@Andy, you asked for it. I think I wrote a damn book here, so sorry in advance...
- - - -
Sunday was a blast through and through! I ended up doing 7 races in total, and that's not counting the flying 200 qualifiers. With the long day and sun beating us down, it was mentally & physically challenging for all. I am still recovering. My brain was a humid mushy tired mess, but this is what I remember from the day…
As Mike already mentioned, our Team Sprint was less than perfect. As Jesse took off from the gun like a bat out of Hell, it took me a tad too long to get my 96" gear going (which I ran for all the races) and when the gap between Jesse and I had opened up I was screaming for Jesse to keep going because I knew it would close it soon and didn't want him to stall, but I stupidly did not consider my quick acceleration could be a surprise to Mike behind me (I should have gently eased into it and caught on) and so I created a big gap behind me, then needed to slow a bit so Mike can get on and essentially had to knock out 1 1/2 laps before dropping Mike off for his lap. I thought because our ride was such a mess, there was no way in Hell we placed anywhere near the top5. But I guess as shitty as our form was, our speed somehow made up for it. Will take 2nd place in that situation any day, but we clearly need to practice as a group! No way we don't win it if we had stuck together.
Next was the Kilo. I have not practiced that distance all year (“need to practice the Kilo to be good at the Kilo” –Hoy?), focusing on much shorter efforts. I considered maybe saving such a massive effort and skipping it, but because I wanted a shot at the Omnium I had to start it. I eventually figured I will give it all I got and see how it pans out. I bested my Spring Classic time by 5sec! Finishing at 1:20.03 for 3rd place. Big surprise to me! I focused on keeping a hard (~95%) but steady pace and did not dip at all until the line. Andy keeps telling me it's technically a sprint event, now maybe I believe him
My legs were still a bit out of it, but it was quickly time for the Points race. I knew at 20 laps and 4 sprints, I was probably not going to challenge for this one right after that Kilo effort (legs were still mush and missing pop). I wanted to go for the first sprint and see what happens. Jesse basically lead me around the pack all race and would sling-shot me into the sprints. My jump was not there to totally come around and Jesse kept grabbing points just right ahead of me screaming “Oh shit, I'm sorry!” LOL. It was pretty funny. He was riding with great jump in his legs and managed 3rd place even though he was working his tail off for me. The most impressive thing was watching Mike just literally ride away from the field like it was a Prospect Park training day for him and take the win by a landslide. He made it look easy!
The next race was a 15 lap Scratch and I knew if Mike did his thang at the front and Jesse and I stayed patient in the group, I could have a good shot at the sprint at the end and pick up some points. As we rolled off I felt my legs had recovered and we would do some damage. Jesse and I had talked game plan before and he again navigated me around the group as best he could to keep us at the right spots before the last few laps. I just tried to ride him really tight and had to fight a few guys off trying to steal my wheel at times, but Jesse mostly made my job easy and closed any gaps ahead when they happened. We kept talking throughout the whole race to stay patient and wait until it was the right time to do any serious work. With just over 2 laps to go, Jesse launched our planned attack and we were off. At this point I had no clue what was happening up the road and that Mike was up there with another rider. It was all tunnel vision pain-cave-mode. I came around Jesse's leadout somewhere around turn 3, going full gas. I looked behind and saw that our attack had shattered the field and we had what seemed a massive gap, I just put my head down and finish it off to the line. With Mike and that other guy ahead of us in the break, I placed 3rd. Jesse came in 4th close behind. It was a big thrill to execute a pre-race plan to such perfection with Jesse and made it very sweet. Also Mike taking the win, it was too perfect! Kissena ALMOST had the entire podium in this one
We had little time to get ourselves ready for the flying 200 qualifiers. I ended up placing 3rd with a time of 13.39, but knew right away when I was done with mine that it wasn't my best. I don't know why but mentally I definitely held back just a tad. Either way I knew the real racing was to come and qualifying 3rd was as good as 1st for me. I was ready for the match sprints! Been waiting for them all day and really targeting it!
In the opening round of the Match Sprints, I quickly found out that one of the two riders I would be facing was Jesse! We talked about just duking it out between each other at first, but as soon as we heard that the third rider was Cesar and was sitting 3rd in Omnium points, we knew we had to keep him away from Mike's Omnium lead. Beating Cesar would also potentially help bump my Omnium total up as well, so Jesse again played the awesome teammate and we agreed to double-team Cesar both riding from the front. I think he expected us to ride HIM from the back? Not sure, but he kept screaming at us the entire slow first lap: “I hate you guys! What the Hell are you going to do?! Damn it, I hate you two!” It was cute and comical, as he seemed a bit perplexed. Then Jesse and I went to work… Jesse had the front and with a little over a lap to go stepped on the gas hard. I jumped on his wheel and off we went, slowly revving up. With just over 200meters to go I look back and see Cesar barely able to hold on to my wheel, with maybe a gap of 4–5 bike lengths. As we're coming around turn 3 I notice Cesar is giving it his all, turning red, and just slowly beginning to close now, so that was my cue to open up my full sprint, pop around Jesse, and leave Cesar behind. I took the win, but owe A LOT to Jesse who was my partner in crime the entire day. Working together with him like this made these races 100x more fun!
I then had to wait for the consolation brackets to get sorted out and the semifinals quickly followed. I was hoping Jesse or Mike would be able to pull out a win in their second matches to win the chance to get back into the winner's bracket, but it was not to be. My semifinals was against some dude who I did not recognize and Yves Allemann. Yves is a very strong long distance rider (he won the day's Kilo!) and I thought he may go long. Half a lap in Yves is on the rail and this other dude is riding the sprinter's lane. Everyone is going slow as Hell and on different parts of the track. WTF!? It messed with what I was expecting. I first stayed on Yves' wheel until the guy down track, all alone, started to jerk a little and look like he would jump. It was still early and I decided I wanted to get them both together so I can manage them better. I shot from behind Yves' wheel at about 90% straight down to the sprinter's lane thinking they both will follow or attack behind and we can get into one solid group and go from there. But Yves played it smarter and called my BS, he just shot out from turn 4 OVER ME up track like a cannon and decided to just go for it right there. He knew he could hold it to the line. I was left scrambling down track to get onto of my 96" gear as he blasted past me above full gas. His gap became huge and I just put my head down and went as hard as I could hoping I would cover ground fast. Right before turn 3, approaching the finish, I looked up and still saw a big gap in front. I thought to myself that there is NO WAY now. He got me beat. I'm gaining, but from experience this season I know there's not enough time or track left. And then coming out of turn 4, I again look up and there's his rear wheel sitting closer than ever! Like a damn carrot! I think that gave me a massive rush of adrenaline and I kicked it into overdrive one last time with all there was left. I saw him look back and slump as he saw me near his hip. Right there I knew I had him. I nipped him by less than half a wheel at the line! So much fun and such a rush!
I barely had time to rest until it was time for the finals (a two-up match sprint this time!). I was really surprised to learn that Kevin Yoo was the rider I would face to close out the night. He's a nice dude, but rides all the Weds night races the same way: Always just goes from the gun (he's a big boy) and tries to muscle his way to wins, which does not happen often. I just played it pretty simple with him. Took him up track. Pinned him a little to the rail the first lap, he maybe got a little nervous I think, made the first move with more than a lap to go, he went hard and I rode his wheel until turn 3, jumped him by turn 4, he started to slowly gas and I took the win!
At the end, the Match Sprint win, 2nd place in the Team Sprint, 3rd in the Kilo and 3rd in the Scratch moved me up to 2nd in the Omnium with 17 points, just 2 points behind Mike.
The day was really hard for all of us and so rewarding. Mike was vintage with his State Champ win, Andy did amazing with his 2nd place in the 1/2/3 Omnium, JP picked up two silvers and Jesse (aside from his own two medals & 6th place overall!) was truly the ultimate teammate and worked his ass off!
No better way to end my first track season!
Aug 21, 2016 at 12:06 AM
Bump!
Somehow the 2015 States are on another thread. (but I digress)
Today was a rainout!
I got to Flushing at noon on the 7 train, just as it started pouring. So I had my lunch in the station. It let up around 12:20, and I rode to the track. It was still wet, so I sat under a tent jawing. One other Kissena guy there (and I've forgotten his name! Apologies). Just as it looked like most of the track, save turn 2 was dry, it started drizzling, then raining, then drizzling.
It was called at 2:30, and I was about to go, but then it really dumped.
I left at 3:30, when it finally let up.
Supposed to be on again at 9am tomorrow. All the events.
Check it out.
Somehow the 2015 States are on another thread. (but I digress)
Today was a rainout!
I got to Flushing at noon on the 7 train, just as it started pouring. So I had my lunch in the station. It let up around 12:20, and I rode to the track. It was still wet, so I sat under a tent jawing. One other Kissena guy there (and I've forgotten his name! Apologies). Just as it looked like most of the track, save turn 2 was dry, it started drizzling, then raining, then drizzling.
It was called at 2:30, and I was about to go, but then it really dumped.
I left at 3:30, when it finally let up.
Supposed to be on again at 9am tomorrow. All the events.
Check it out.
Aug 21, 2016 at 01:16 AM
good luck dude!!!
Aug 21, 2016 at 02:13 AM
I'm going to try to be there around 1230 or 1 to check out.
Aug 21, 2016 at 07:07 PM
JP crossing the kilo finish. It's as terrible as it looks.
Aug 21, 2016 at 09:33 PM
JP as well, Miss and Out elimination. Dave - i guess we just missed each other.
Aug 21, 2016 at 09:40 PM
Ah bummer, next time swing by.
Aug 22, 2016 at 02:12 AM
Fixed.mugwump said:Bump!
Somehow the 2015 States are on another thread. (but I digress)
Awesome painface.
Aug 10, 2023 at 04:01 PM
BUMP!
Mass start state track championships are next Sunday, AUGUST 20TH at kissena.
There could be a masters event if enough masters register.
https://www.bikereg.com/nys-elite-track-championships
Mass start state track championships are next Sunday, AUGUST 20TH at kissena.
There could be a masters event if enough masters register.
https://www.bikereg.com/nys-elite-track-championships
Aug 17, 2023 at 05:01 PM
JP are you registering?
Aug 17, 2023 at 05:06 PM
Aug 17, 2023 at 06:01 PM
Yes.David Yang said:JP are you registering?
Aug 17, 2023 at 06:27 PM
How kosher would it be for this to be my first track event with little to I fixed gear riding experience?mugwump said:BUMP!
Mass start state track championships are next Sunday, AUGUST 20TH at kissena.
There could be a masters event if enough masters register.
https://www.bikereg.com/nys-elite-track-championships
Also, do they have loner bikes?