patentcad

Brooklyn today. Hooked up with Team GL (Global Locate) @ the Coach Diner in Hackensack, we convoyed down to PP in two vehicles. Registered, found the open bathrooms, and chatted with Dr. W for a moment (he did the 1-2-3 race, more on that later). Today's race was 50% longer than the last Spring Series Race in Central Park. 12 laps of the 3 mile Prospect Park road, 36 miles. There's a small roller a mile after the start which morphs into a bigger hill for laps 8-12 (or so your legs tell you sometimes). Actually it was harder in the first 4 laps, those were in the big ring, after that I was in the 39 tempo-ing up it. The first laps that hill tends to be 17-20mph, later on in the race 15-16mph.

This is how the NY Vets races go: a breakaway always forms with 3-10 guys. The major teams are always represented. After that the chase sort of shuts down. That's what happened today, like 6 guys up the road, one guy got shelled, then it was the peloton chasing (or not chasing) 5 guys. One guy solo'd in, our guy in the break (Gary Steinberg, our points leader in this series) placed again, he got 4th. The reason they gave for not chasing down the solo winner? "He's not a contender in the Spring Series Points, nobody wanted to chase him down". It's comforting to know that EVERYBODY has a Bag of Excuses, even the fast guys. Our race couldn't have been too slow, none of the other fields passed ours, the races often mix on the short 3 mile circuit in Prospect Park. None of that today from what I could gather.

Dr. W. was in his own breakaway off the front of the 1-2-3 race, at one point I though I saw him attempting to solo away from them. He did not succeed in that attempt, and as his four man group approached the line, Dr. W. appeared to snag 2nd or 3rd, he can clarify the final results. Good show Will. His chain remained intact today.

I rode mostly at the back marveling at the speed of the vets peloton, marveling further at the ability of anyone to slip off the front of such a pack, but I was only in one real spot of bother all day. There was a vicious headwind from the base of the descent to the finish line 600-700 meters up the road, if you let a gap open there it was nasty. That's where I struggled on one fast lap, but I was never in real danger of being shelled (as I was last week). Otherwise I was riding more to the middle of the pack towards the end of the race: I went to the front and led the charge down the hill for about a 1/2 mile on the last descent before the finish. That was big fun. Pointless, but that's in perfect keeping with this sport in general. I'll keep at it, get faster and fitter and hopefully start helping my team mates. I am generally impressed with the smoothness and skill shown in the NY vets peloton. 4 races this year, zero point zero crashes.

For me it's a killer workout that makes me faster and racing is like an amazing amusement park ride. Slicing down that hill @ 35mph on Zipps with other guys is just a total blast. NY racing scene is totally cool, the bathrooms were open and there is never any traffic in NY on Sunday between 6-9AM. It doesn't get better than that weenies. I do throughly enjoy it. In May/June/July we meet and park Fort Lee and bicycle over the GWB, down through Manhattan and Brooklyn (via the Brooklyn Bridge), do the race and then ride back to the cars. Looking forward to that.

March 23, 4 races already. That doesn't suck.

P.S. New personal record for Early Rising today. 3:30AM. That's before Last Call at most NY State bars.

botto 

I always hated racing in PP. That little srag of a hill whittles you down big time. Try doing a 100km race there. No fun.

Chapeau pCaddy. You've got 4 more races than I do right now.

btw - why do i always think your teams name is Global Lactate?

patentcad

That course starts to get to you sometime at the top of the second hour of the race. I once did some longer 1-2-3 race (they combined the Vets field that day) in PP. It was 50-60 miles as I recall. On a three mile circuit you start getting dizzy after lap 15. I liked the 12 lap distance, longer than CP, nice workout. Love that screaming descent before the start/finish.

botto 

i almost punched someone on that descent. long story.

ericcox

Bien hecho, Pcad.

patentcad

My pal Don showed up with his brandy new Cervelo Soloist SL with factory fresh Zipps, Dura Ace, etc. Very light bicycle. Then I loaded my pal Nelson's 7 speed (no kidding) steel bike onto my car roof rack in the parking lot. Man, that bike is heavy. Nelson (perhaps our fastest sprinter, we do like to get him to the end @ the front of the race) got dropped for the 4th straight race, he's trying to get back into shape. I wanted to say something to him about his velo-hardware: if anyone would benefit from a light, modern CF racing bike, it's him. A $3000 CF Ultegra race bike from any major manufacturer would be a quantum leap from his current setup. I honestly think that if I were riding a 21+ lb. steel bike with non-aero clinchers I would have gotten shelled too. You're riding against a peloton full of people on 15-17lb CF bikes, half of them with Zipps or similar wheels. It can't help if you're on a retro-tank. I think the newer bike would help him hang on when he's out of shape, and maybe give him a bike length in the sprint when he starts winning races for us later in the season. And he probably will either way (he is fast, he just has to get some fitness).

You sort of gotta love a guy who places in sprints on a bike that's too heavy for one person to lift up onto a Thule rack. Regardless, Nelson will never change or buy a new bicycle. That's cool. Where else can I see Suntour Superbe components anymore?

botto 

I honestly doubt that it makes much of a difference at PP.

patentcad

I need all the help I can get. TRUST me b.

waterrockets 

Congrats. It's a good feeling to get to the point that you're not just trying to survive in such a fast pack. You certainly will be making some moves this season. Sounds like your Masters race about like ours -- must be similar everywhere (there's always a break, etc.).

botto 

patentcad

What's wrong with Placebo? All of bike racing is a Placebo. It makes you think you're fast when you really aren't. Sometimes. Much of the time it makes you feel like a massive meatball.

ericcox

I'm kind of dissapointed Waterrockets didn't take the bait on your little ditty about your pal Nelson's riding a heavy steel rig...

botto 

maybe he's been busy celebrating the resurrection of the baby jesus.

patentcad

You had to pick up this steel bike with older components. I felt like a piano mover.

ericcox

eh, could be. the end of our celebration at present is seeing if the sugar-fueled littlest one (who was just in the hospital with food poisoning two days ago) will go to sleep.

botto 

dude, that's because laura bush has bigger biceps than you.

ericcox

I was working on my lovely 8spd steel bianchi on the garage followed by quick maintenance on the orbea. The difference is noticeable to say the least. Mine at least has lovely old shimano 600 STI. Though i did commit a sin by using WD-40 on the front shifter. It was a last resort, I swear.

botto 

nothing wrong with some wd-40 getting squirted into a 15 year old STI lever.

ericcox

and since before application it did not work, and after application it did, I am at least in better shape than I was before said application. Now if I could just find something on the bike to use duct tape on, my TX red neck repair would be complete.

michaelmc

Just wrap a few turns around the top tube. You know, in case you need it on a ride to patch a tube, or fix a broken frame, or wrap up a compound fracture. So useful, that stuff!

patentcad

The blind acceptance of placebo in the pursuit of bike schwag is no vice. Indeed it is the first step on the path to Pcad Cycling Zen.

Silly botto. You have much to learn my skeptical expatriate brother. Pcad will show guide you (if he doesn't get shelled on lap 4).

botto 

i use black electricians tape to keep a pin in, on my left sti lever.

waterrockets 

I'm just a skimmer with poor reading comprehension. You actually read through pcad's posts?

I'd be pissed if I was on a 21 lb steel bike too! 19 lbs here, and I'm 178, so %-wise, I'm just like a 140 lb rider on a 15 lb bike. Still, when I bought my bike, I had very little interest in racing again. When I replace the current rig in 2 years, I'll be shopping with a different goal, and will come home with a lighter bike.

Until then, I'm going to get on the podium with this current rig, and piss off a lot people

patentcad

What's a 'podium'? Is there prize money for DFL + 10?

ericcox

One of the benefits of being a college prof. I am used to quickly reading tripe and evaluating.*

*any implication that Pcad's posts are tripe was probably intended, though fueled by a glass of red wine from the great state of Georgia -- the former Soviet one, not the US one.