Road Bike Racing - Floyd Bennett Field Race Report (8.12.08)

I raced. It was easier than I thought. DFL because a fkcing non racer was on the course on the last turn.

This was my first race, BTW.

10 min. to the start, as I'm pinning on my number, my front tire goes pssst. I fix it and make my way to the line. Small field, like 15 guys. They changed the course from the usual 2.3 miles to 1.6 miles, so now we were doing 7 laps instead of 5. This new route had a sweeping 90 degree or so turn, so everyone took it slow the first 2 laps. I took some pulls, then sat in. WOULD have finished midpack or better, but that damn guy on the course really screwed me up.

The ride home on Flatbush Ave. absolutely sucked. Thats all.

That turn was way sharper than 90 degrees. Closer to 120 for sure. It was a lot worst for the 123's, and my 3/4 field, as the passing shower made that turn awfully sketchy, but luckily nothing came of it. The fields were really slimmed down thanks in part to the rain as the amount of flats was probably record breaking.


I ended up in 5th-ish. After an intial jump on the second to last straight with two others, we rode away from the field a bit, but then I jumped harder coming out of the last turn, giving myself a few bike lengths over the slight break. I was going awfully hard, however, just shy of the line i got nicked by a handful of the sprinters. Where they passed me so swiftly suddendly I got caught off gaurd and could do much about it. Oh well, Top five is nice. However, before thing were set it stone, the officials were reviewing the results, and put me as fourth but Mister 5th place guy wasn't quite content with that, and had pictures that seemingly were unrelated to our finish positions, that showed a different standing.

Thing was, I came to race my ass off, and had nothing left to argue with this guy, because he apparently came to mouth his ass off. Whatever, I just don't care to deal with that B.S, so i just took 5th.

FBF is so far from where I live I get Frequent Flyer Miles for driving there.

My comment is to avoid cornering while on the tip of the saddle :) Stick with it, you're like 1/2 to a 1/3 of the age of some of the guys you're racing with.

Way to go on tackling your first race. Now ...

Scooch back and get in them there drops.

How on earth are you riding attached if you have never raced before?

How on earth are you riding attached if you have never raced before?

Lots of people join racing clubs well before they enter their first race.

How on earth are you riding attached if you have never raced before?

I know people who are on a team and have never raced .

I also joined a team before my first race. They believed in me and took me under their wing.

Now look at me. I'm like a super-duper aggressively mediocre racer at best.

I think I was about to get out of the saddle, which would explain my position. Since I lowered my stack height, I hardly ever go in the drops.

I raced. It was easier than I thought. DFL because a fkcing non racer was on the course on the last turn.

This was my first race, BTW.

10 min. to the start, as I'm pinning on my number, my front tire goes pssst. I fix it and make my way to the line. Small field, like 15 guys. They changed the course from the usual 2.3 miles to 1.6 miles, so now we were doing 7 laps instead of 5. This new route had a sweeping 90 degree or so turn, so everyone took it slow the first 2 laps. I took some pulls, then sat in. WOULD have finished midpack or better, but that damn guy on the course really screwed me up.

The ride home on Flatbush Ave. absolutely sucked. Thats all.

Typical rookie mistake. Don't pin your number on through your front tire. ;)