Central Park March 16 Spring Series Vets Race Report
 

With Bethel cancelled due to a forecast of snow and the weatherman predicting rain and snow for NY City, it didn't auger well for the CP race this AM. I get up @ 4AM and let the dog out and it's pissing rain. "F This Today" I tell myself. But I have my coffee. "Maybe I'll try it" I conclude and I get in the car. In the first five miles I almost turn around 3x, then I figure (like last week), 'What the hell'.

I get to Manhattan and it's barely drizzling, the roadway is damp, but all things considered the conditions are remarkably benign. The turnout however is very light. This means that the typical 60 man vets peloton will be 35 guys, the hardest core guys, i.e., it will be very easy to get shelled today. The race begins. I'm hoping they'll take it easy on the first lap to test the slick tarmac, instead it is:

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Fastest lap in CP for me in a long time, after the 110th Street hill the pace accelerated. That was Pcad's Spot of Bother today, almost came off, looked up, I was getting gapped, figured I'd keep the watts going for another 45 secs in the hopes they would slow down, they did, I regrouped. After that I was pretty much OK for the whole race. I can't tell you how fast we were going, I never looked @ my speedo, I was trying not to crash all day, good race, zero incidents, very smooth. But the surface was very slick, at one point my Zipp hit a bump and when it came back down it didn't have great traction. Yikes. P.S., it started pissing rain moderately hard halfway through the race, so it was a horse manure car wash for laps 3/4.

Even went to the front on lap three to block for my team mates (we had two guys up the road). Bottom line: break of 4 chased by a group of 3, we had a man in each group, they placed 4th (my good pal Don) and 5th (my other pal Gary). Pcad finished mid pack in the tiny sub-20 man remaining peloton (a bunch of guys got shelled on lap one today, including my pal/teammate Nelson, who placed on the track in the 40+ nationals, he's very fast, but not in shape yet).

Another week of dread (like Frodo about to enter Mordor) that turned into a very positive race experience. And all I had to do was show up. Actually I went down today because it pissed me off that I got shelled in the wet CP race last year. I wanted to finish this one. Mission accomplished. You can't get better at racing unless you race. I may suck at this, but that peloton is a friggin rush. Man those boys are fast. That's three races, no DNFs or DFLs and no crashes. Yet.

rainy day races are always so freaken hard.

Moral of the story for rain-soaked races: BRING DRY CLOTHES TO CHANGE INTO AFTER THE RACE. Ooffaaa. I just had a dry T shirt, I wore that wet racing bib all the way home, it was 38 degree outside, it wasn't pleasant. Thank God for heated car seats. Of course it's 11AM, I got my race in and I'm home all toasty and dry.

It doesn't get better than that weenies. This was a Pcad Cycling Zen Weekend.

The weather was a non-event here. The Bethel race got canceled for no reason, but in defense of CDR, the forecast was pretty bleak. I went for a 2 hour ride on my mtb this morning instead (in case the forecast was right). Did some dirt, but mostly pavement ... nice ride ..... The sun's actually poking out a bit here & there !

Trying to hold bicycle races in the NE in March can be pretty sucky. I thought the decision to cancel the Bethel event in light of the forecast was the right move, but I'm sure some people showed up this AM saying 'What the F' regardless...

Well done. I was comfortable at home with the fireplace going, French Toast and coffee not even thinking of riding let alone racing (well, not totally true--my mountain biking buddy called and we thought we might get in an afternoon ride if the weather breaks...we canned the idea).

Nice bonus to wet races in Central Park is that it's not just water and dirt spraying you in the face.. it's horse dung.. and lots of it. Taking a big breath in the elevator when coming home was quite the reminder.

Was quite something racing CAT 5 in there. The usually encouraging pre-race remarks from higher-ranked acquaintances felt more like farewells today. Overall though, the whole event went quite well.

so, you started racing, eh? i was wondering when you were going to put all those bear mountain base miles to good use. ;)

Hi,

Why on earth would an elderly and sane bicycle racer like yourself, subject said self to such pain and risk. ;)

I have memories (but who knows if it really happened) of racing in CP in the rain and they are not pleasant memories. As for racing in the NE in March, I have vivid memories of snowbanks on the side of the road -- at least they made crashing less painful.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed it. :)

No racing for me today or next week -- family stuff. I'll be at Knott's Berry Farm (amusement park) shortly to help celebrate my youngest son's birthday. My going with my kids and another kid is an early birthday present to my wife. :)

This is why I sponsored this team - to help my pal who was cutting the check himself this year - and to get in with a serious bunch of racers who expect you to show up on days like today. I don't really have any obligation beyond writing that check, but you know how it goes, you want to feel like you're part of the team. So far it's working as planned - I have much more motivation to show up in general, and on days like today I would NEVER, EVER go down to race without the incentive of the team thing. Today I actually helped them a tiny bit, and hopefully I'll improve. If I don't get killed of course.

Not to hijack Pcad's thread.. but Yep. It's damn good fun :p

It's even fun when you suck. I can only imagine how much fun it is when you don't. There really is nothing quite like going 30mph in a peloton or fast paceline. What a gas.

I was in the 3/4. Commute is a lot shorter though (<10 mins on bike).

It was rainy. it was cold. It was tons of fun.

Was in the winning break until I made the mistake of pulling them up to the bottom of harlem hill. Got gapped and went back to the field tail-between-legs. Guess I was a little gassed ater two races yesterday.

Our field passed through, over, under, around and into Pcad's field right before the finish, total chaos. Think I passed that crazy old bugger (at least a few guys in the right kit).

Pcad, was going to say hi after the race, but the uncontrollable shivers made me want to peace right on home in a hurry.

Racing in CP is tons of fun. Can't wait for some summer races here.

Indeed. That winning 3/4 break caught and passed the Vets field on lap 2 or so, and man, those boys had a HUGE gap, as evidenced by the fact that their field didn't catch us until 2 miles from the end. I recall turning around on the northbound 5th Avenue stretch as that break caught us figuring I'd see the peloton 300 meters behind and they were nowhere to be seen. Impressive. The combined peloton finish was utter chaos, but fortunately it didn't particularly impact the results of either race since in both instances the money (first 5 places) was up the road from either peloton. I turned to one guy from the other race at the end and said 'confusing, isn't it?'. He did not appear amused.

Stupid soggy ass Road Nazis.

The reason that first lap in the Vets race was so fast was the breakaways at the front, the leading one (that my pal Don bridged to) being driven by Doug O'Neil. If you know NY vets racing, you know all about Doug, he's an animal and a half. He wins a lot of races. I'm not sure if Douggy won the race today, but it wouldn't be a surprise. For this idiot, being able to hang in the peloton that was chasing Doug is like Dancing with the Stars.

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aren't you a cat 2?

btw - it's 110th street hill.

Everybody I know calls it the Harlem hill except botto.

yeah, but you hang with the T&B racing gang. ;)


maybe all of the cheap PBR down here is having a negative effect on my memory.

I don't remember the last time I drank a PBR.:rolleyes:

I don't either, but I was told it was last night.

$5 a pitcher. :beer:

Isn't that "free" when converted into Euros?:rolleyes:

T & B? Testosterone & Beer?

By the way b, my team (Globallocate) is what Sony morphed into...

iirc sony was set up by a chubby lawyer, who had sony as a client.

correct or incorrect?

No reply until you tell me what T & B means, but that sounds about right.

Erroneous on both counts.

Actually, seeing as it's been over a year since some results, I couldn't even upgrade to 2 if I wanted to.