By Josh Sakofsky

Colin Prensky is a local racer currently on the Affinity Cycles team who grew up in Camp Hill, PA. At the ripe old age of 25, he is in Med school and somehow still manages race VERY competitively both locally and around the country on road, track AND cyclocross. When we say VERY competitively, we mean little results like being the 2009 NY State Champion in plain old track events like the kilo, match sprint and team sprint. Yeah, we know. Kids today just don’t have the same drive we did and are complete underachievers. Slackers, all of them.

And we made him swear not to press charges.

First off, how did you get started in cycling and racing?

Well, I’ve always loved bikes. I’ve ridden for a long time, but never raced, and it was a major hobby that my dad and I shared when I was growing up. From a young age, i knew more professional cyclists than I did baseball or football players, yet racing always seemed like something I would never get the chance to do. Even growing up near enough to Valley Preferred Cycling Center (aka Ttown), I knew about the track but never rode there. When I went to college, I began rowing partly because I thought that all the carbon fiber in the boats was cool, like a giant super-exotic bike. The coach knew I was into bikes and kind of used that to get me hooked on rowing. After college, I tried to keep sculling for a while, but there is not a lot of racing for post-collegiate guys and I needed that competitive outlet. My first winter in NYC (2008, i guess), I ran into Bob Guatelli in Central Park while riding my bike in favor of risking death in the nearly frozen Harlem River. He invited me on a group ride to Nyack with the (at that time) Sanchez-Metro team. I pretty much owe my entire life in this sport at this point to Bob, Vinny and his world famous, and Bloomingdale’s adjacent, Mariella Pizza , Scot and the rest of the team for being so supportive and helping me learn the ropes. Bob never asked for anything in return for his generosity and certainly not for any public recognition, but he deserves a lot of credit with making sure I was able to race without worry. I was hooked after my first CRCA “C” race at the beginning of the 2008 season.

Where did the interest in track racing come from?

Track cycling was always something that I wanted to try. I grew up with Marty Nothstein as an (almost local) hero. I am on the bigger side, which is why I never expected to race on the road. In fact, at my lightest during these past 3 seasons, I think I may have gotten down to 181 pounds. I figured the short distances, flat profiles and high speeds would suit me. In New York, we are really lucky to have a place like Kissena which carries on the tradition finally given due on this website by the Jack Simes piece. The track may be tough to get to for some, but it’s really special. Guys like John Campo and Joe Brennan are what make bike racing work here, and the passion to get new guys and gals into the sport is so important. Alan does a great job running the Wednesday night series. It took me until the end of the 2008 season to finally get out there, but once I did, I couldn’t believe how much fun it was. For anybody who has been waiting to try it but has been finding excuses for not getting there, this is your call to just do it. Opening day is just 6 months away!

Colin in the 15k

What are your likes/dislikes for track racing and road racing?

I like bike racing, plain and simple. Road, Crits, CX, Track all have their charms. Track is nice for a few reasons. First, on an average night, whether at Kissena or Ttown, you get to race 3-5 times. If you mess up, you get to race again. Of course, this becomes less enjoyable when you are doubled-over with exhaustion and you are called to the rail for the third time. Second, the racing is completely distilled. It’s totally exciting. Track racing in a mass start event like the scratch or points race is like a criterium sped up. I mean, on a 250m track like the one in LA, the lap times are 14 seconds during the race! It’s the best part of a road race without all the slogging through the hills for hours. However, it’s every bit as painful, maybe more so. It’s just an acute pain, not long and drawn out. The speed and the intensity is really a rush. The sense of community is also very nice. At Kissena, guys pretty much know that we are a rare breed. This leads to a sense of respect that makes the racing really fun, without the hot headed displays of aggression that can sometimes put people off. Even at Ttown, racing with guys from all over the world, the environment is really welcoming if you just go in with a smile and work hard. I guess, now that I mention TTown, I have to admit that my final reason for liking the track is a bit vain. On a friday night, you get the chance to race under lights, in front of a stadium of cheering fans, with TV cameras with some of the best riders from all over. This summer, the New Zealand National team raced the whole series. We had the Canadian National Sprint team, the Dutch Sprint team, guys from all over racing. You kind of feel like a minor league baseball player, especially when the young kids come into the infield after the race looking for autographs from the riders. It’s like being part of a show. I would be lying if I denied that hearing your name called out with the crowd cheering after a good ride isn’t a huge part of the thrill.

Favorite color.

I was a painter before medical school, and am bad at making these kinds of decisions. but if you make me choose…it would be a tie between Cerulean Blue and Alizarin Crimson.

What was it like traveling out to California for the Nats and what was your take on the overall energy surrounding the event?

Racing at nationals is interesting. Like at Ttown, you get to rub shoulders with some of the best in the country. Last year, I had never raced on a wooden track. I had only raced in the cat2/3 stuff at TTown twice. I was totally star-struck warming up on the track and just wanted to survive. This year, I had the benefit of racing with the pros for the full friday night season, so I felt more prepared mentally. I was much less nervous and had very high hopes. Still, it’s very different racing indoors on that track, and that lead to a lot of mistakes for me during the omnium. It took me a while to find my groove. I was actually pretty frustrated with myself for the first two days, but the scratch race felt like things came together a bit better. The track in Carson is nice, but it’s in a part of town that seems far removed from the main population center. Not a lot of people show up to watch, which is a shame, because the racing is great fun to watch on a 250 meter track. I really believe in the entertainment value to track racing and the big crowds at Ttown are a testament to that. Another thing I should add is that the track racing is a little provincial. Each track has a crew, which comes from that community aspect I was talking about. When you get out to Nats, the home track transcends the team to some extent. We all support one another. I am proud to be one of the guys to get there from Kissena; after all, our humble track in Queens has a great tradition in this sport. But there aren’t a lot of guys who really know that track out there. Because I’m from PA and raced this season at Ttown, I had the advantage of being a sort of “dual citizen”. TTown did great this year, and that made for some great energy.

What was the most memorable experience of the event?

I would have to say that the feeling of relief from finishing off our team sprint ride will stick with me. I was really nervous to not let the team down. The two guys I rode with are real-deal sprinters who can go really fast. I am not a sprinter, but can do a decent enough time in the Kilo to ride third in that event if I could get on their wheels. I didn’t know if we won our bronze medal final until I saw Dan Sulivan with his arm up celebrating. I was just so worried that I would let the team down and finishing off the week with a winning ride was really gratifying. In general, it was awesome to be a part of the very successful TTown contingent. We were all cheering for each other. I was as happy for the winning team (which included our Affinity rider, Dave Espinoza) as I was for our bronze medal.

As for the individual events, the scratch race was something that I’ll never forget. I was so close to the podium, but still was super-excited to get 7th after barely qualifying for the finals. There were 3 heats to get the field of 60 or so riders down to the UCI limit of 24 riders on a 250m track. In my heat, I got completely boxed in (my own fault) and actually thought I had lost out. There was a photo finish for 8th place, and I somehow snuck in. The final was really tough. I don’t know what the finishing time was for that race, but it was fast. A lot of attacks, but surprisingly nobody lapped the field so it came down to a massive bunch sprint. I was in a great place, but some bumping and shoving with 2 laps to go pushed me onto the blue band and stuck in traffic. I was able to weave past a couple of guys in the final lap, but never got to really open up my sprint. I just came in with the lead group and immediately counted the guys in front of me after we crossed the line. The decisive moment is burned in my memory, but is nothing I’m really upset about. I just wanted to put down a ride that proved that I could ride well with these guys on this track, and that’s what I did. A medal in the scratch would have been amazing, but a 7th place finish in my first attempt at the event on that track is something I’m very proud of because I really fought for it. A subtle shift of my position with 3 or 4 laps to go would have made the difference. That’s the way it goes on the track, though. Things happen really fast. Just to be fighting for the podium in that race made me feel like I deserved to be there.

As you mentioned, your team came in third in the team sprint, nice podium finish. Have you guys worked together a lot on this event? Can you tell us how this race played out for you guys?

As a matter of fact, our team sprint was a pretty last minute thing. We never practiced together, and it showed during our warm up. We probably had equal chances of medalling and failing spectacularly. This is why I was so nervous for my own ride; I knew that I had two really fast team mates. The event is done with three riders, lined up like a pursuit, where each rider pulls for a lap. The difference is, only the final rider is timed. It is like a three-stage rocket. I had the pleasure of riding all three laps. Dan Sullivan has a super-fast start. Jon Linchitz pulled me around, giving me a really fast launch for my final lap where I just tried to maintain the speed. Since we didn’t practice before, we had some trouble with our start during qualifiers. In the final ride, we didn’t ride perfectly but we were able to go quite a bit faster. It may have not been the prettiest team sprint ever, but it was good enough. In fact, our times were very tight with the winning time from last year. In fact, the team sprint was the one sprint event with consistently faster times this year. It made me happy to know that we showed we are capable of a good performance when it counts, especially when it’s a team event.

This one’s a two parter: a. did you wear a skin suit and b. did you enjoy it?

Always wear a skin suit on the track. Of course it’s enjoyable! The tricky part is finding a chamois cream that works under the higher G-forces.

How do you pick your gear ratio for track events?

This is a tricky question that leads to major anxiety for me when racing on a track that I am unfamiliar with. Typically, the gear is chosen based on the type of race, the competition, the speed of the track and the rider’s strategy. It’s a whole crazy discussion. I typically chose my gears very poorly at Nationals due to my unfamiliarity with the track, and was often pushing a bigger gear than I should have been. The 15K scratch race was probably the closest I got to picking a good gear, and that was a 95 1/2″, or 53X15. My favorite gear for racing at Ttown this summer was a 96 1/2″ or a 50X14. In the longer races like points races (30K) and Madison (50K) riders typically go smaller. In the short, fast races, riders typically go bigger. The Keirin riders ride huge gears, over 100″.

You’re currently working very hard at being a full time student in med school. How in the hell do you balance that with your training schedule? And can you run us through a typical day for you?

Well, about halfway through the summer, my schedule changed immensely. I am currently on a scholarly leave to pursue research. This is something that about 20% of my class is doing between 3rd and 4th year. This has given me the chance to race Friday nights. Still, it has been tough. Last year, I was working the full-on third year clinical rotation schedules. I didn’t really train at all until late June, if I was lucky, racing on the weekend would coincide with the one day per week that I was given off. Last season was much worse, though. In fact, the only way I was able to race the few times at Ttown that I did a year ago was by doing my overnight OB call on labor and delivery Monday night. I would work from Monday 5:45AM until Tuesday 8:30AM so that I would have Tuesday afternoon off. I would try to get an hour or two of sleep and then rush off down to PA. It was pretty surreal to go from delivering babies to racing my bike with nearly no sleep and then getting back to New York at 1am on Wednesday morning to be ready for work at 5:45AM again. That was crazy. So, by comparison, this season was much easier, even though my schedule only normalized in time for me to start racing without a hint of preseason “base miles” in my legs. The thing that was really tough about this year was essentially missing the road season. Many of my friends have had awesome results and made huge steps in their own racing and it was frustrating to be stuck inside, not sharing with them.

Colin and his dad

Favorite pro cyclist and why?

That’s tough. Eric Heiden is pretty cool to me, because he got to excel in sports and medicine. I would never want to go up against a guy with his CV when applying for a job. As far as active cyclists, there’s a bunch of guys I like. It’s really exciting to see Tyler Farrar put US sprinters on the map. Taylor Phinney is an easy choice for guys that will hopefully provide many years of entertainment and inspiration. I don’t think I need to explain why. As far at track cyclists, I am in awe of what Cameron Meyer was able to do at Worlds, winning just about everything he dipped his front wheel into. In the Commonwealth games points race the other day, he took 3 laps to win with an enormous 89 points. He is incredible to watch.

This one may get you in a lot of trouble, but remember, the gun is to your head. Least favorite NY team kit and why?

Probably Rapha, and only because their stuff is so nice that I could never afford to race in it when the weather is iffy. That, and I’ve never seen any of those guys with a skinsuit!

How about the best?

I will always love the Sanchez Houlihan-Lokey kits, no matter what. They gave me my start in this sport, and I still owe them a lot. I am a very sentimental person and that kit gave me my first sense of belonging in this NYC cycling community.

Who did you sell your soul to in order to pay for that Lightweight rear disc wheel?

This is a good chance to thank the people who have generously supported me with kind words and borrowed equipment over the past couple of seasons. That wheel belongs to Alan Buday, who has been racing all year at Kissena and finally got out to Ttown with me a few times towards the end of the season. He never so much as asked (in fact, refused) to take anything in return for offering rides, etc., to the track. He found out that my own disc wheel, a rebranded Zipp, was cracked, and just gave me his Lightweight wheel to use. The thing is amazing, and it got a lot of attention. In fact, it made me more nervous that I would embarrass myself by riding slowly with such a fancy wheel. I would say that the wheel performed very well and my doubts about its stiffness, despite weighing something silly like 750 grams, were put to rest from the first time on the boards.

Speaking of equipment, what’s your preferred track setup (frameset, cranks, bars, stem, wheels)?

For Nationals, I got my team-issue Affinity Kissena dialed in. It wound up working really well on the steep track. It’s an aero aluminum frame that puts a premium on stiffness over weight. Even so, in race mode it weighed out to just over 16 pounds. It felt very balanced under me, and I would never really want a bike that tried to be light when racing on the track as a 190 pound guy. It ended up getting a lot of compliments at Nationals for its good looks, as well, so that’s always nice. The setup changes a little bit based on event. I used steel sprint bars for the team sprint and other sprint events that I didn’t race at Nationals. For endurance races, I use a narrow road bar. The aerobars that I found to be comfortable need to have drop between the basebar and the arm rests. I use 170mm cranks. I have a set of Reynolds DV46 track wheels, and usually use a rear disc. There are two really important things. I’ve found an esoteric saddle to be comfortable on the track. I love the old Fizik Chrono. It no longer exists, and barely did for that matter. It’s really short, has a good amount of padding and has a wide nose. It actually can still be bought as the Flash BMX/Mountain bike saddle with a different cover. The other thing I think is important is to have pedals that don’t accidentally release. Sprinters usually use toe straps, even with clipless pedals. I have a set of Keywin pedals with a special track locking pin that must be manually opened to release from the pedals. It is one less thing to worry about. Pulling out of a pedal isn’t pretty.

How about road?

My road bike is fairly standard. I haven’t even done much with it this year. But I can take the time here to answer the one question that I always get asked. The crazy looking stem I use is the Syntace VRO. I like it because it is very adjustable, but also stiff due to the really wide clamping area.

Last question and it’s another two parter: a. do you read nyvelocity and b. do you ever post comments?

I do read nyvelocity, and occasionally comment. I’d probably participate more if there was more track coverage, but that’s O.K.

I also would like to take the chance to thank a few more people. I’d like to thank my dad. He may not be a world class soigneur, but he is an incredibly loving and supporting father. Affinity Cycles track team has been great this year with Andrew Lacorte’s enthusiasm making sure we had what we needed. There are a bunch of people in New York whose passion will hopefully continue to make track racing grow in New York. Dave Jordan helped me a lot with figuring out how best to prepare given the limited time (queue “give him the hook” music!) available. The equipment loans from Alan and Bill really made a big difference. All the Kissena regulars need credit for racing the bumpiest track in active service!

Thanks Colin for taking the time from your obviously busy schedule. And for not pressing charges for the whole gun thing.

No problem, the gun was totally unnecessary, though.