Road Bike Racing - First PP race report

Sorry no pictures this time, the camera was on the fritz.


Well I've officially been bitten, this racing thing is great!!! Timm, thanks for all of the advice, it really helped. As to the race itself... I accomplished one goal, I did not finish dead last, that honor went to another new racer who had more mechanicals than I've ever seen. The race went well from the start and for the first lap and a half of the 5 lap race I was sitting well in the middle of the pack (around 30 strong in the Cat 5/Junior race). Then in the middle of lap two I felt a horrible twinge in my stomach, should have woken up earlier to eat! As I watched the pack pass by I was amazed at how quick getting dropped was. I guess when the pack heads out ~28 mph and you suddenly drop to ~18 for fear of losing your oatmeal you lose contact pretty quickly. After about a lap or so I start to feel better and begin trying to make up some time. As I come up to ~24 mph over the last 2.5 laps I get passed by the Cat 4's, The pro 1-2-3's and the Masters. A bit humbling to say the least. But every time I passed the start/finish my wife was there shouting and waving. This gave me the biggest thrill. SO, while riding alone I missed a major crash and my wife said there were something like 3 abandons on lap 3 or four. So the fact that I finished a strong 2nd to last seems to be good for my first race.

Some things I learned (aka good things that came out of this race):

1) I need to eat more than an hour and a half before the race, and not oatmeal.
2) I have to come up with a better warmup.
3) My wife is now an avid cycling fan. We now watch Tour coverage at night together.
4) Shaving legs is a necessity. After seeing the results of a crash first hand my wife insists that I shave for the next race (Aug 21st).
5) Must work on climbing skills and general LT threshold (then again, don't we all?)

Over all it was an amazing rush to compete, something I haven't done in 7 years (high school wrestling) and I can't wait to do it again. But I have a lot of work to do in the next week.

*New goal, top 10* We'll see how that goes, and I promise pictures next time.

congratulations. my placement was similar to yours for the race i did in june. i wasn't dead last, but was pretty close. i got lapped as well. but for some reason i want more...lots more!

they're fast aren't they!! it's always a bit shocking. good luck training. i'm going to focus my efforts toward the next race in august.

congratulations. my placement was similar to yours for the race i did in june. i wasn't dead last, but was pretty close. i got lapped as well. but for some reason i want more...lots more!

they're fast aren't they!! it's always a bit shocking. good luck training. i'm going to focus my efforts toward the next race in august.


Yeah they are fast. I mean I was shocked and I was expecting it. Which race are you talking about, the 1st or the 21st? And do you train in the park on the weekends? I'm there early (~ 8-8.30) on Saturdays, maybe we can get together for some race simulation rides before the Blistered Butt RR on the 21st. I also found a great hill to practice hill repeats on, Vinegar Hill. It's short but really steep. It should be a good place to train high cadence and high gear drills.

Just some pointer. To do well on the incline in PP, it is recommended you can pedal up with your 53 x 19 or 17. Keep the speed around 19 to 20 mph. If you can do that for several laps or times, you will never get dropped on that climb. Good luck. There is another race on this Sat http://www.racelistings.com/register/events/flyer.asp?ID=154




Sorry no pictures this time, the camera was on the fritz.


Well I've officially been bitten, this racing thing is great!!! Timm, thanks for all of the advice, it really helped. As to the race itself... I accomplished one goal, I did not finish dead last, that honor went to another new racer who had more mechanicals than I've ever seen. The race went well from the start and for the first lap and a half of the 5 lap race I was sitting well in the middle of the pack (around 30 strong in the Cat 5/Junior race). Then in the middle of lap two I felt a horrible twinge in my stomach, should have woken up earlier to eat! As I watched the pack pass by I was amazed at how quick getting dropped was. I guess when the pack heads out ~28 mph and you suddenly drop to ~18 for fear of losing your oatmeal you lose contact pretty quickly. After about a lap or so I start to feel better and begin trying to make up some time. As I come up to ~24 mph over the last 2.5 laps I get passed by the Cat 4's, The pro 1-2-3's and the Masters. A bit humbling to say the least. But every time I passed the start/finish my wife was there shouting and waving. This gave me the biggest thrill. SO, while riding alone I missed a major crash and my wife said there were something like 3 abandons on lap 3 or four. So the fact that I finished a strong 2nd to last seems to be good for my first race.

Some things I learned (aka good things that came out of this race):

1) I need to eat more than an hour and a half before the race, and not oatmeal.
2) I have to come up with a better warmup.
3) My wife is now an avid cycling fan. We now watch Tour coverage at night together.
4) Shaving legs is a necessity. After seeing the results of a crash first hand my wife insists that I shave for the next race (Aug 21st).
5) Must work on climbing skills and general LT threshold (then again, don't we all?)

Over all it was an amazing rush to compete, something I haven't done in 7 years (high school wrestling) and I can't wait to do it again. But I have a lot of work to do in the next week.

*New goal, top 10* We'll see how that goes, and I promise pictures next time.

Yeah they are fast. I mean I was shocked and I was expecting it. Which race are you talking about, the 1st or the 21st? And do you train in the park on the weekends? I'm there early (~ 8-8.30) on Saturdays, maybe we can get together for some race simulation rides before the Blistered Butt RR on the 21st. I also found a great hill to practice hill repeats on, Vinegar Hill. It's short but really steep. It should be a good place to train high cadence and high gear drills.

i did the one on june 12 - the tour of new york. my training right now is all over the place, i've been so busy i barely can put together a riding schedule with any coherence. i do go to PP a few times a month however, and i could meet up for some training on saturday mornings. i'll PM you on which days i'll be free and maybe we can meet up there.

where is vinegar hill? any idea on the grade? i desperately need to work on my climbing.

Just some pointer. To do well on the incline in PP, it is recommended you can pedal up with your 53 x 19 or 17. Keep the speed around 19 to 20 mph. If you can do that for several laps or times, you will never get dropped on that climb. Good luck. There is another race on this Sat http://www.racelistings.com/register/events/flyer.asp?ID=154

good advice DuraAce. are you doing the race this saturday? i'll probably swing by and watch that.

i did the one on june 12 - the tour of new york. my training right now is all over the place, i've been so busy i barely can put together a riding schedule with any coherence. i do go to PP a few times a month however, and i could meet up for some training on saturday mornings. i'll PM you on which days i'll be free and maybe we can meet up there.

where is vinegar hill? any idea on the grade? i desperately need to work on my climbing.


Yeah, just e-mail me when you want to do some early morning Saturday race pace rides, I need all the help I can get.

Vinegar Hill is the really short but steep hill that seperates Brooklyn Heights (my neighborhood) and DUMBO. It's right on old Fulton street. I'll see if I can scare up a topo map and see what the grade is.

-Dan, djs249@yahoo.com

I think so. I am still recovering from this past Sunday's Union Vale race. See how my legs go. If my legs feel fresh later in the week, I will race.


good advice DuraAce. are you doing the race this saturday? i'll probably swing by and watch that.

So who's gonna race tomorrow?

EDIT: I guess if I join I WILL finish dead last.

So who's gonna race tomorrow?

EDIT: I guess if I join I WILL finish dead last.


Unfortunately I won't be there. I'm visiting the inlaws upstate this weekend. My next race will be the Blistered Butt on Aug. 21st. Although I took a race-paced ride last night and my week of new training is already starting to pay off. Did 5 laps of the park along the race route. Took the hill in my 19 at 17mph for three laps, then some parks and rec workers were messing around with the barriers and broke my rhythm. It was hard to get back into it so I dropped to ~15 on the hill and 18 on the flats. But I finally got a good lap in at 20mph while pulling one of the speed skating rollerbladers. Anyway, to get back to topic I won't be there, but best of luck and I'll see you all after the weekend.

So who's gonna race tomorrow?

EDIT: I guess if I join I WILL finish dead last.


sadly i will not be able to view it or race in it. i've had so many social obligations this past week that i haven't been able to ride much, and would get whooped if i raced in it.

sadly i will not be able to view it or race in it. i've had so many social obligations this past week that i haven't been able to ride much, and would get whooped if i raced in it.

how did it go, slvoid? was it cancel because of the rain today?

Sorry by tomorrow, I meant saturday, as the time was after midnight. Hehe.
You going to race there tomorrow? It should be pretty fun

Anybody doing the CRCA racing clinic on the 31st? I was looking at it, but 5 is really early, even for me.

Sorry by tomorrow, I meant saturday, as the time was after midnight. Hehe.
You going to race there tomorrow? It should be pretty fun

Is the race free? Do you need notice to join the race or you just go there and give you a number to race?
And what time is it?
Btw where do you guys get the info on races and stuff?

Is the race free? Do you need notice to join the race or you just go there and give you a number to race?
And what time is it?
Btw where do you guys get the info on races and stuff?


I think it's something like $5. But like I said registration starts at 5.15, even though the race itself doesn't start until i believe 6. Check out www.racelistings.com for race information. You can also pre-register which is a good idea for big races (it also saves you a good chunk of change as well).

Wow it's $25 to register there.

doubt there'll be a race if this rain keeps up...

7/24 race cancelled??? Just got an email that the promoter is either refunding the fee or put it towards as credits to another race because the race was cancelled. Well, I didn't even show up at all. I figured that the heavy down pour would flood the entrance near Coney Island Ave. Last year they had their Kissena team car trying to "splash out" the water. The race was delayed some 30 minutes.