...paparazzi

Real fast, I thought I'd share a couple images from the races with y'all.

All of these photosets were found via cyclingreporter.com, which I recently found to be an awesome repository of NYC's local races. let the narcissism commence:

FBF 3/27 via Eddie Mazaev's Flickr

FBF 3/27 via Eddie Mazaev's Flickr

FBF 3/20 via Eddie Mazaev's Flickr

FBF 3/27 via Gina Green @ Organic Athlete

...a quick lesson in race tactics/ettiquete

As a fast follow-up to saturday's race report, I wanted to explore an interesting phenomena that I believe only happens in the 5's.

When recreationally riding or competitively racing, one quickly realizes the benefits of drafting behind others, letting them do the work for you. In time, you get more comfortable riding extremely (onlookers might use the term suicidally) close to others at high rates of speed, building trust amongst the group. There are a multitude of ways to draft, but categorically, they can be divided into two distinct types:

cooperative pacelining and uncooperative drafting (aka wheelsucking)

Study for a moment, if you will, the above diagram showing four of the more common formations. Note that in each, the arrows imply group effort; when the lead rider is tired or has pulled his fair share, he slides to the back, while a fresh rider "pulls through", all the while maintaining the pace.

Obviously this is a grossly idealized representation of cycling in formation as any number issues can and will disrupt the smoothness of the group. Professional teams ride in this way while on training rides; and though things certainly appear more disorganized in a professional-level race, that is simply due to the simple fact that its a race and jockeying for position, blocking, etc.. are obvious tactics to be employed. Nonetheless, talented racers still concede that without the combined efforts of different riders from different teams, the race will suffer.

Now in category 5, my current hovel, racing tactics are either unknown or disregarded by nearly everyone. Even those who, like myself, have familiarized themselves with good racing skills, don't make use of these rudimentary maneuvers.

This is exemplified at pretty much every cat 5 race in the following way:

1. There is a peloton (if it could be called such) and at the front of that group there certainly is a leadout train comprised of 5-10 of the stronger riders in the field. They will do the majority of the work for the entire race.

2. Everyone is worried about getting dropped so nobody risks hard efforts on the front trying to do things like chase breakaways or drive the pace higher.

3. Nearly everyone is gunning for first (who doesn't want to win?), and coupled with the above point, riders huddle en masse, trying to conserve as much energy as possible for the sprint.

4. The pace fluctuates dramatically. Since most are concerned about their ability to just hang on, when one rider who's been pulling for far longer than he really should have tires, nobody pulls through. His pace drops significantly, which in turn slows the whole field.

To this last point, Every time I've pulled on the front to help out of just to try and blow the field apart, those that hang onto my wheel simply stay there. Swerve to the left and the leadout swerves left, swerve right, they go right... At Floyd Bennett Field on the previous weekend, I had to physically turn around, look the next rider in the eye and yell, "PULL! I'M OFF!" only then did someone share in the responsibility of keeping the pace up.

I think that if I can establish a breakaway with some other riders this weekend, we'll likely get an opportunity to make use of some serious progressive pacelining. Then again, when you try to break from the field in the 5's, everyone sees their chances at first disappearing and they all suddenly find their legs, making successful breaks rare.

As an aside, my favorite formation to see or be a part of is what I call progressive pacelining. It's the same as the single paceline illustrated above, but the direction of the arrows is reversed so the last rider rides up and takes the front position from the now-second-in-line rider. This very fast formation is used when you sense the peloton breathing down your neck but you think you've still got a chance to stay away. good stuff.

Hopefully once in the 4's or on a team, I'll have more support from other riders and we can make lemonade of lemons.

that is all.

...Race Report: Prospect Park 4/3

Last week I borrowed a friend's fixed gear bike to putz around on at my leisure... Thursday I met someone for a screening of some rare films set to jazz at the Anthology Film Archives and decided it would be a good opportunity to ride the fixie to work since there is far less to quickly and easily steal off a single gear bicycle than a road bike.

All went according to plan and I had an awesome time. Only after getting home that evening did I realize that April had started.

April fools, legs....

I woke Friday and had the worst ache in both legs; both right above my patella and just below my iliac crest, so I decided to ride the train to work in anticipation of the next day's race. Though I managed to get off a little early that day to go home and soak in the tub, I wasn't feeling 100% Saturday morning.

I arrived at the start line with too little time to do a warm-up lap and barely had my number pinned before they had everyone line up for the start. However, I did manage to wake up on time and eat a decent breakfast, digest it for the most part, and torque test the bike, so all was not lost...

On the first lap the field made it's way up the hill and as I got to about the halfway point where the road snakes a bit, my thighs were pumping not blood and lymph, but pure battery acid. I gritted my teeth and fought through it, staying in contact with the race.

While there weren't any crashes (update: come to think of it there was one crash, but it was some guy who made himself fall on the sprint... we all got a good chuckle out of that), there were a couple squirrely, ego-driven riders (namely a guy in a yellow kit with purple cotton[?] arm and leg warmers) who made the whole damn race a nerve fest once again. I've decided that the only place to be in a prospect race is on the front. Granted, it takes a lot more energy to be on the front for the whole race, but not having to worry about the crappy bike-handlers all around you, makes it that much more pleasant.

On the second lap a guy in an orange champion system kit, who happened to be pulling on the front the first lap, rode away. I saw him go and wanted to give chase but I was boxed in in the middle right of the field, so first chance I got I broke away and tried valiantly to bridge to the solo rider up the road. In retrospect, I launched at a pretty good spot, on the slightly uphill section about half a K from the finish line, just after the pace slowed for that one-lane business after the downhill.

Apparently I yanked the peloton behind me for a while before they let me go, though I realized on the hill that no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't going to catch the Champion System guy, I'd likely blow my cork trying, and would probably be better off settling back in with the pack to vie for second place, so that's what I did.

As I crested the hill, the peloton caught me. When I climb I sorta go at my own pace and get irritated when I have to ride uncomfortably slow to not be that dick weaving through everyone, so I rode next to two Hudson riders who had been pulling on the front most of the time.

The first one says to me with a Slavic accent, "let him go."
Not realizing he was advising me to do what I'd just decided to, I said, "huh?"
he says, "that guy has won every race he's been in.... He's a former pro or something."

This kinda threw me for a loop because my legs were finally waking up after that hard effort and I was chomping at the bit to reel him in somehow. I asked those two If they were interested in organizing a break to try and catch him and they both silently shook their heads no.

Oh well, I slid back to about tenth place and stayed there for most of the rest of the race.

Somehow I moved back about 5-10 places where the road narrows and wasn't in a very good spot for the sprint so I just sat up, let the crazies battle it out and rolled over the line toward the front-ish of the pack. 20th maybe?

After the race I was riding home, mulling over the mornings events and started to feel a little annoyed at myself. This was my fourth race ever, but I felt as though I wasn't putting down the power I should, and wasn't racing as intelligently as I normally do. My minorly bummed 'tude became morphed into majorly bummed/pissed after I got completely cut off by a cop making a right turn into me (against the light, of course).

I went to the diner and resolved to do better in the future (what else can you do aside from making shallow promises to yourself) over a big plate of complex carbohydrates.

...Race Report: Prospect Park 3/28

I just spent an hour scouring the web for photos of yesterday's race at Prospect Park but have come up empty-handed... I guess it takes the photographers a while to post. Considering there were at least a dozen scattered around the course, I have no doubt I'll soon come across stunning images of myself sitting, scared shitless, in the middle of the peloton.

I think that's the best summary of the race: scary as fuck. the field was limited to 50 and it was either totally full or exceeded by ten to twenty; save the 5boro bike tour, I've never ridden with so many people at once...

I awoke at 4:30am sharp and proceeded to do a very abbreviated version of what I guess is becoming my pre-race ritual: I showered, ran a razor over the knees (stubbly knees are terrible for riding), ate a couple bowls of cereal and some bananas while air-drying the "crotchal region", dressed, ran a baby-wipe or two over the bike, oiled the chain a little, and double checked that all my supplies were in order.

I got to the start about half an hour before we got under way and was stoked that being of the internet generation, I had the foresight to preregister. The line for registration was really, really long.

The start was fairly different from how it's done at FBF, instead of intermittent start times, all the racers were instructed to line up in packs according to field, with us lowly cat5's at the very back. We rolled up to the line and with a peep of the whistle, we were off.

I felt really pensive about this race for several reasons. First, to me this is home-court, I ride here damn near every day and know the route like the back of my hand, giving me somewhat of an edge over the bridge and tunnel racers. Secondly, and as I said before, there were a LOT of people... seeing the park literally packed from edge to edge with bicycles was beguiling to say the least.

We rolled around at a not-too-tiring pace for the entire "race".

On the back stretch, the course rapidly narrows to one lane from two and there's a line of fixed white plastic bollards that divide the road there. in front of those the organizers had placed a line of six miniature orange cones to compress the field for that turn.On the first lap I was following a wheel on the extreme right of the road when the field tightened up for that turn, he veered scarily to the left and I was presented with a line of cones to roll over and there was nothing I could do about it.

I totally expected to crash but didn't (whew!) but I sent all six cones bouncing around in the peloton.

On the very next lap, after passing the Grand Army Plaza entrance, a BSR rider crashed somehow. Fortunately I was all the way to the right of the field and it happened all the way to the left, so I don't know the exact circumstances of how it transpired. All I saw was a lone bicycle fly up over the peloton, followed by three riders and their bikes, and then a tangle of 5-8 laying on the ground.

The pace quickened after that as though everyone not involved saw an opportunity to make a move... you should never look behind you (unless you're definitely in the lead), so I'm not certain, but I think that crash cut the field in two; those who jumped after the crash (of which I was a part) and those caught in the fray who had to slow down and go around.

Nothing interesting happened in the next four laps, except that I made damn sure to stay in the middle on that dang turn where I nearly ate it.

In a slightly bullshitty turn of events, the Pro1/2/3 breakaway caught the 5's on the downhill right before our finish, so the commisare was forced to neutralize our field (meaning pace gets regulated by the commisare's car, not supported by it, and attacks are not allowed) until about 50-100m from the line. This, of course, meant the peloton expanded like a slinky going in for the finish and not wanting to muscle my way up through ten to twenty egomaniacal riders, I sat in for about 15th place.

In retrospect, this race suffered from a few things that it doesn't take a seasoned pro to notice.

First, the leadout was completely disorganized, resulting as I said, in a pretty slow race. we finished seven laps (25mi) in 1:04:36 (at least that was my time, and I finished with the front). When I train at Prospect Park, I do seven laps in exactly one hour. I don't know how to get people to share an effort on the front, especially when it could very well cost them valuable energy required for the sprint, but someone's gotta take charge. maybe next week that'll be me.

Secondly, the only attacks came on the downhill section. I'm not sure what advice they've been listening to but that's a seriously futile effort. the peloton rapidly gobbled them back up and they finished with nothing to show for it.

Lastly (though not least-ly), because of the general lack of skill in the 5's, tactics (aside from attacking and riding fast), are pretty much useless. This is kind of a bummer, but makes me want to get to the 4's that much quicker, since I'll be both more familiar with the other riders, and all the non-hackers will be in the 5's still.

Not to give away my master plan, but considering the lazy speed with which this race went off, I think this coming Saturday I'm going to do the following: start at the middle of the peloton and hold my position for two to three laps. on the fourth or fifth lap I'm going to make my way, slowly and quietly, into the leadout train. I'll take a pull or two, and then attack on the main hill at the bell lap. I think this'll work 'cause the peloton was only doing 17-19mph up that hill and if I'm feeling rested, I can shoot up that fucker at 25 easy. considering uphill sections negate the positive effects of drafting, I don't expect too many people to follow closely. I'll put my head down and hammer that shit to the finish. Unless the leadout train can pull it's head out of it's ass and get organized, I should have a pretty good chance of staying away and coming out with 1st. If I don't, at least it'll have been a good effort and I won't finish feeling just-warmed-up.

Criticism aside, bicycle racing is still probably the most fun I've had doing a "sport" ever, and you can rest assured that even the most negative experiences I (have had/will have) are at least educational and therefore positive to some degree.

Lookin' forward to this weekend... come out if you can pull yourself out of bed before 6:30am and watch me either win or hurt myself trying.

...Race Report: FBF 3/27

Since I laid out the nature of the Floyd Bennett course last week, I'll spare you its description suffice to say it is very flat and very windy.

Last weekend Kissena included several women's fields in the lineup, though not this week, so when I arrived at the staging area it felt strangely empty. Considering it was a mere 40 degrees out despite being sunny, I think most people were content to hang out in their cars prior to the start so as to keep their toes warm. Basically I was one of only a handful of people hanging out by the start/finish.

A guy I raced with last week had a car and offered I sit with him for a while and let my toes thaw a bit right before the race, which I was most grateful for since we all know, cold feet are slow feet.

Charlie (Kissena's magnanimous race director), called the Pro1/2/3 field to the line and had us 5's line up behind them as usual, and after a brief lecture about racing smart, we were off.

Not to spoil the story, but luckily there were no crashes or major mechanicals that morning. The field started off at a moderate pace of around 22mph and stayed there for pretty much the rest of the race.

Using what I learned from last week, I hung out a lot more in with the peloton trying to conserve energy for a hard effort on the last few laps. While sitting back there I was joking around with a few other racers that this seemed more like a tepid Sunday ride than a race-with-a-capital-r.

To be honest I got a little fed up just sitting in the pack so I moved up and started driving at the front with another guy I met last week (in yellow, above, I'm the one in black and white on his wheel). Apparently (and according to these photos I found), after the third lap or so we managed to drop over half the field... I only realized this when I floated toward what I thought was the middle of the peloton for some r&r before the final laps only to find that I was at the very back of the group!

We again joked around about the pace and that pretty much everyone left was going to get a top-ten spot.

I drove hard again on the front, hoping to either establish a break or obliterate the field some more (that's me above, punishing my competitors), which seemed to work at least a bit.

I was leading by a bike length or two on the bell lap which would've been fine had I really worn out everyone else. However, with about half a mile to go, a young polish guy launched an attack that I and only six others managed to hang onto.

Now we're racing! I dropped two or three cogs and stood, made it to about 35mph at the line but only managed to snag fifth or so (I've found that unless you're first or second with a big gap, it's pretty difficult to gauge where you finished). Considering I was last to grab onto the attack, and passed two or three people before the line, it wasn't a total loss.

I guess could look at it as though I was the fourth-best loser (how's that for optimism?), but I want better. I want to win.