Hopeful Friday 5/29/2009

Arise racers!

Like a swarm of pre-registered mayflies, we have area races rising out of the ponds to take flight and live for anywhere from 30 minutes to 48 hours this weekend.

On Saturday, racing returns to Central Park with the CRCA Club Race; which is also held at the same time as the CRCA Women’s Racing Clinic.

The Connecticut Stage Race also starts on Saturday with a TT and a circuit race, followed Sunday by a road race.

Sunday has the New York State Crit Championships at the Marshall & Sterling Racing City Grand Prix in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Also on Sunday is another chance for fledgling women racers at the Kissena Women’s Track Clinic.

And finally, there’s the Brooklyn Bike Jumble, which is not a race; but an opportunity to swap, perchance to dream,  in Brooklyn. 

86 Comments

Wheelsucker

D’oh. 545 AM CRCA Start Time. Who wants to spend the night with me at the Flashdancers buffet and just spin over at 5 AM. It’s a good buffet.

Baldwin

You know you got a big mouth. You make a close, this whole place stinks with your farts for a week – how much you just ingested. Oh, what a big man you are! “Hey, let me buy you a pack of gum. I’ll show you how to chew it.” Whoof! You’re pal closes, and all that comes out of your mouth is bile.

Wheelsucker

Big turnout considering the ‘rain’ said the promoter.
The 1/2/3 had about 25-30 and the 4/5 field had about 30-35 dudes, a few sketchers but otherwise big fun.

Wheelsucker

Obviously it’s not too far. So many go as far and further for Battenkill and other races.
It’s only too far to go for this race and NYS Crit Championship isn’t worth traveling to Saratoga for NYC riders.
Then again when NYS Crit Champs were at Harlem, we got a total of about 4 upstaters in 2 years.

Wheelsucker

BETHEL SUMMER SERIES! 1/4 of the season done – everyone is shooting for 2K in cash prizes to the top 6 places…here are current standings….it is not too late to get involved, they take your top 10 results for the CASH prizes, 15 races left.

WEDNESDAY NIGHTS 6PM and 7PMN

Bryan Borgia – Rapha
Leigh Sorrels – FioridiFrutta
Chad Butts – Champion Systems
John Funk – Cycle Fitness
Matt Baldwin – Targetraining
Pat McNamara – Cannondale
Connor Sallee – Williams

Wheelsucker

equally hard for everyone to get to…./great idea, nice turn out

you should extend the registration until next year and change the location as well

Wheelsucker

The Ralpha only races in a gentlemanly manner, in celebration of the glory and suffering unique to road riders.

Wheelsucker

Ralpha race has better publicity than Rockleigh. That promoter must be taking a page from Van Dunk. Enshroud your race in secrecy, that’s sure to improve turn out.

Wheelsucker

Go on the harlem link and everyone talks about how to market, make it big etc.

Maybe Rapha is onto something…people appreciate good, interesting, etc.

That Rapha race has press all over the place….good event, good route, beers, good people, fun times….and WHAM, free press in Bicycling magazine.

Rapha wins on that front.

Wheelsucker

At that hour a visage of the Ralpha will be seen in the northeast sky amidst the cumulus clouds.

We will then be reminded that the greatest highs come from the deepest lows.

Wheelsucker

A Field
1.Joshua Alexander,Foundation
2.Gavin Robertson, Foundation
3.Adam Alexander,Foundation
4.Alejandro Guzman,Foundation
5.Colin Prensky,Sanchez Houlihan-Lokey
6.Kevin Molloy, Empire
7.Chad Marion

B Field
1.Kennardo Dunn,Foundation
2.Abraham Soler, Organic
3.Michael Jacaruso,Nyvelocity
4.Christophe Jammet, FGX
5.Chris Forsyth,Setanta
6.James Westman
7.Eric Kuo,Setanta

C Field
1.Ben Cornish
2.Andy Bateman
3.John Buenaventura
4.Steve Peters
5.Warren St. John
6.Robert Weitzner,Foundation

Wheelsucker

A CRCA president who realizes that posting results 7 deep in 3-4 fields is not rocket science. Thanks, Mike!

Wheelsucker

I didn’t think anything could be more tedious than the Adler jokes, but Rapha jokes take the cake!

Milkman

These guys ride for NYVelocity

1. Ben Cornish,
3. John Buenaventura
5. Warren St. John

Nice work!!

Wheelsucker

If the TT Vegan defeats Canell, Dr Will, Rosenouse and Walters (Legit Cat1s and 2s – Dr Will is a Cat1 level TTer) I think NYVelocity needs to get the interview. I am routing for the Vegan! Watch how many locals sell their Power meters and start to actually enjoy riding again…

Wheelsucker

Maybe this was going on and I didn’t see it, but was surprised to see/hear about a couple of incidents where guys tossed their water bottle in a CRCA race. In a CRCA race? How much do the extra ounces up Harlem hill really cost you? And given our ongoing tenuous relationship with Central Park, is it worth it? [not to mention that the one guy in the B field almost lost control of his bike doing it [???] and they guy in the A field break actually did lose control of his bike [!????]). Come on guys, keep them on the bike.

Wheelsucker

regarding kits?

A guy started the B race yesterday in a Popeye themed kit with the bib straps pulled over the jersey. Another rider in a CRCA shoulder logo Rockstar Games had a great save on lap 3.

What’s the rule?

Wheelsucker

The rule is mind your own business, Mr. Blackwell. Get your own life instead of ragging on people who aren’t as pro as you clearly are. God forbid someone sully your Cat 4 crawl.

Wheelsucker

2:35: Crawl back under your rock, you CRC of A cretin, and stop blaspheming the true CRCA with your inaccurate postings. The rule is never to “mind your own business.” Our Associates are – at all times and circumstances – strongly encouraged to hold each other to the highest standards of etiquette and race protocol.

As any CRCAssociate who has passed his initiation can attest, riders are required to wear CRCA jerseys in any race, club or otherwise, unless forming a composite team in a national caliber race or with other exceptions ratified by the VP of racing or majority vote of the board.

An acceptable jersey may either be the classic gold-and-blue, or a sub-team jersey (which has its own specialized design constraints). The race referee will give allowances for cold-weather jackets or rain clothes, but I highly doubt that a “Popeye-themed kit with the bib straps pulled over the jersey” would suffice.

It’s a SFr50 (~$46.82) fine for a first offense.

Wheelsucker

ttvegan put up around a 52:30, Cannell blasted the course with a 50:29, O’Donnell was a 52:24 with Walters a coupla seconds back.

So ttvegan didn’t crush the big guns but he was around 4th fastest on the day (results not posted yet). Pretty solid ride I’d say.

Wheelsucker

No, it’s part of the NJ cat 3 cup. As prizes, last year, they gave out baked goods. True story.

Wheelsucker

Foundation guy. Got a sick sprint and took the B race bunch sprint by about 3 bike lenghts. Rumor has it he holds an international license and is a former national champ of an island nation. No mention of him on the Foundation website (or a lot of other guys on their team it seems)

Anyone know the true facts?

Wheelsucker

That, and didn’t do a lick of work during the race. No surprise that he kicked it in the sprint.

Wheelsucker

No surprise you’re still a Cat 4.

Wise up. People don’t work out of some inherent sense of duty. They work because they have to work.

Wheelsucker

@ 8:58

Yeah, it looks like that strategy totally didn’t work out for him.

Don’t be a hater. If you can’t deal with the whole concept of drafting then focus on time trialing.

Wheelsucker

Just wanted to point something out. I truly believe that the Cat4 field is stronger today than in years past. It is harder to upgrade. I’m not sure why, but I think it has something to do with the fact that more riders are trainer smarter despite their lack of race experience. PMs and the internet give lots of guys all they need to gain fitness, whereas ten years ago new riders were flailing in terms of tactics AND training. I bet you’d find that Cat4s, on average, are training smarter than many 3s.

So you have a bunch of guys who are in shape, but race like fools.

Wheelsucker

ever since i started racing, cat 4s have been saying it was harder to upgrade now than it used to be. but with all the power meters and coaches, i am almost starting to believe it. when i was a cat 4 i didn’t even know what an interval was. i just rode my bike hard some days, easy some days, raced on the weekend. now cat 5s study data more than most pros.

Wheelsucker

Dont upgrade just to have a 3 or 2 on your lisence. Cat 4s are fun because you can train with limited time and still be in the mix. You jump to the 3s and you are racing against lifers who have been strong for a long time and dont want to make the jump to the next level (guys like Aaron W, Prinsloo etc.) or young 19-25 year olds who are just flying through the categories. You have to train much harder to be top 20 in Cat3 races out of town. Forget about Cat1-2 out of town racing if you want to have a life outside of cycling. Anyway, all the 4s killing themselves to upgrade, be careful of what you wish for.

Wheelsucker

Totally upgrade to get a 2 on your license, you’ll get mad ass. Do you think all the hotties hanging around the finish line at the park races are looking to hook up with a 5?

Wheelsucker

Anyone know what happened when the a racer in the B field’s rear wheel either came out of the dropout or cracked? The guy did an incredible job of keeping control of his bike. One moment he was being pulled in from a quick break away and was 20 feet in front of the peleton, the next moment he was totally sideways in front of the field, and he finally got the bike straightened out and seemed to stop without further incident.

Wheelsucker

seems like 10:28 has too much time on his/her hands. since you seem to need everything spelled out for you, let me be more explicit in my questions (i’ll use caps too so you follow along):

DID THE WHEEL BREAK? I THINK IT WAS A CARBON WHEEL AND IF/WHEN THEY BREAK I WAS INTERESTED IN THE CIRCUMSTANCE.

DID THE WHEEL POP OUT OF THE DROPOUT?

SOMEONE IN THE PELETON SAID THEY THOUGHT HIS CHAIN SNAPPED FIRST?

DID THE RIDER TRULY GET AWAY WITHOUT INJURY TO HIMSELF/OTHERS?

Wheelsucker

Here’s what happened in the B’s on the East side (since this didn’t get moved to the hangover page): Mark Heitoff’s (sp?) rear skewer broke, the wheel came out of the drop outs and locked, and he used handling skills he’d picked up riding in snow (growing up in Minnesota) to handle the skids without going down. Awesome bike handling skills, Mark! Great that you had the space you needed. DC

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