Someone needs a lap counter...

You'd think someone that a college graduate working in Finance would be able to count to 5. Well, not being one to follow trends, I someone managed to do just the opposite on Saturday's Race in Prospect park. All the customary cat 5 sketchiness aside, the race was going really well. I've become a fan of the open races put on by Kissena in PP because they're short, flat, and usually end in pack sprints. that's a pretty good set up for yours truly. just hang out and sprint for a little action at the end. got me 3rd last time.



The most frustrating part of Saturday was that my legs felt great. I had the legs for a win, and i had even been visualizing it all week. Maybe it's because I didn't have any teammates in the field with me this time, but for some reason, I failed to hear the bell on the last lap, and could have sworn there was one more lap left. with less than 1 km to go in the race, i noticed everyone speeding up. I thought out loud, "is this the last lap or something??"

"yes!"

"SHIT!"

i spun up and sprinted as much as i could, and i think i managed top 15. not great, but given that i found out at the last second, I don't mind. At least I didn't get caught in the customary cat 5 pre-finish line crash/mechanical. Overall it was a good race- I felt good, and was near the front for most of it.

There was also a silly fist fight after the B race. from what I gathered, some rider in Green kept going into the rec lane (big no no); one of the Kissena racers screamed at him and told him to get out of the lane after he kept doing it. after the race, Green meanie goes up to the Kissena guy and starts talkin' tough. Tthen all of a sudden he sucker punches the kissena guy (named Eric I believe- nice guy) then the spandex-clad brawl starts and everyone's holding someone back. The guy in green ran off, but not before we took his race number down. He'll probably have his license revoked. good riddance. there's no place for fighting in amateur bike racing. its stupid and ruins the sport for everyone. I also consider it a general rule that unless you're a super hero, you should never fight in spandex. or else you end up looking like these two:



So that was fun. but now, I've got my sights set on next week's big race:

The Harlem Crit.

I've never done a crit, but I'm hoping i do well in them. I know there's a ton a speeding up and slowing down. I'm going to do my best to stay near the front, but something tells me that most people are going to have the same Idea. I've been that 'cross and crits are the same in terms of cardio effort, so we'll see how it compares. a top 10 finish in the combined 4/5 field would be fantastic. Let's see what happens. At the moment, my current bout of crappy eating makes me think I look like this when i'm being led out for the sprint:


In other news, I had a fantastic BBQ on my rooftop yesterday- complete with teammates and great beer. I think my boot-chalice makes me the Snoop dogg of white people.



For Rizzy.

Back to it! 3rd place @ the Big Apple Classic

Wahoo!

got back into the racing swing of things today @ the Big Apple Classic race put on by Kissena in Prospect Park. This was my second time racing in prospect, and I was excited to see what I could do now that I had a better sense of the course and where/when to sprint.

The race a was a short one, at 17 mi. I think that was well suited for me, as I think the short distance prevented any breaks from being successful.

The cat 5 race was sketchy as hell. I've definitely noticed that the non CRCA cat 5 races are much sketchier than the C races in central park. I think that's due to all the coaching that's available to cat 5's in the CRCA. kudos to my racing club, they do things right.

we had 5 NYVelocity riders in the cat 5 field, and none in the 4's, as all the cat 4's and above are going to be racing up at Bear mountain tomorrow. I'm marshalling that race tomorrow, should be awesome. So anyway, this meant that we cat 5's had to make due today. good stuff.

I made sure to stay near the front and protect myself from the sketchy riders. I've noticed this one guy in the cat five field- he's enormous. not in a fat way, he's just a big man- at least 6'5". I try and stick to his wheel at every race I'm in- It's akin to sitting in the shad on an august day- it's fantstic. Thanks, big guy.

Once the last lap came around and we crested the "hill" I tried to stay near the top ten position for the sprint. as we came down the last mile, I heard the unfortunate but familiar crunch of a bike accident in progress behind me. I caught it in my peripheral vision and for a minute I thought it was a teammate of mine. As luck would have it, it wasn't. I was happy as hell to be near the front.

I noticed some CRCA guys were trying to organize a lead out for the sprint, and did my best to position myself.

Then, all of a sudden, my boy Bill (who was doing his first race) comes out of nowhere to lead me out.

Awesome, man. The lead out might have been a tad early, but he put his heart into it and ripped himself a new one to lead me out. Big ups to you, Bill.

I pulled around him and stuck on another guy and went for it. I barely missed second , but nabbed third in the sprint. Hoo-rah.

I was really happy with the result.

silly photos and team shots ensued.


Saturday's NYVC cat 5 squad:





Who bought tickets to the gun show?



The spoils of the (3rd place) victor? a medal!



I'm easily amused, but when I was a kid, I was a bit of a fattie and never really won anything sports-related. doing well in these bike races is pretty damn cathartic for me. its the fatty in me sticking it to the skinny grade school/high school kids that got all the glory in high school. it feels good.

That being said, I ended up speaking to a guy named Luke today that reads this fine blog. we got into a convo of the NY racing scene, and the prevalent theme is this- if you're not 21 and a cat one, you shouldn't take yourself too seriously. have fun, enjoy the fantastic hobby/sport that you do, but don't take yourself too seriously.



I also met a cool photographer named Richard, who was visiting from France- he does photos for a bunch of cycling magazines, and had some amazing shots of the 'cross races in Belgium. uber-jealous.

I'm not out to win a tour- I'm out to have fun, compete, do my best, and enjoy myself. I'm never going to be a pro, nor do i desire to make 14K a year doing so. I've got a full time job, a full time life, and this full time hobby- I do what I can and enjoy the spoils of it.



'nuff said.

Marshalling bear mtn tomorrow. should be fun.

Time for food and alcohol!

-Stophe