Balderdash for May 7, 2010

By Daniel McMahon

BIKE RACING IN NYC Week 10 on tap, so get your mugs, and bikes, cleaned up.

Last week I saved any of you kind readers who actually read my banal observations about local bike racing with a Balderdash-free Friday. The reason is, I was too busy at work. And I was thinking that I was going to jinx myself as the next day I was defending my KOM jersey in Prospect. Yeah, it’s just Cat. 4s, but it was a goal nonetheless, and I didn’t want to botch my ride by, well, dwelling on it. Or blogging about it.

Anyway. Round 2 of the Lucarelli & Castaldi Cup in Prospect Park last Saturday was one of those super-eventful race days, at least for me and a few others. As said, I was going in with a lead in the KOM comp and managed to increase it by taking first in both sprints up the hill, thanks to help from my Kissena teammates. In the finish, I sprinted to third place, and that was good for me as I hadn’t gotten a podium in ages and had several near misses this year. So I’m on good form and enjoying it. Of course, it’s easier as Leszek and Savory and Marmo and guys like that have upgraded, or have been upgraded by force, to Cat. 3. I guess it’s the cycle: Guys come up, get some form, get some results, move up, repeat.

Still, I’m chasing that elusive win, which is what we all dream of, right? I was happy to move up to third in the Overall comp, too, so we’ll see how things go. My main goal, which I talked to the team about before Round 1, was to win the KOM jersey, so things are working out so far even better than planned. Next Cup race is June 19, so I’ll be looking to increase my lead. It’s also fun to have a goal within the race, too, as you don’t have to gamble it all on the finish working out, which can be tricky enough, even if you’re feeling really strong.

Speaking of, it was terrible what happened to Leszek, and I was right there to see it all, unfortunately. I won’t forget it anytime soon, and I won’t forget the pain he must have been going through, conveyed loudly and clearly as you know if you were there to hear it. There was much talk about the crash he had in his sprint against Anthony Lowe, but it appears that Leszek did not go down because of Lowe, that it was more his own sprinting and loss of control and loss of his own line that caused him to go down. In sum, I hope he gets better fast. He suffered several broken bones, including a half-dozen ribs and his collarbone.

On the bright side, Chad Butts took advantage of a big move by the Rapha guys with two to go in the Pro123 race and easily won the sprint from the group of eight who got away. Always great to see a break stay away in the park.

One other note: I was leaning against my bike recording the finish of the Pro123 race, standing just a bit past the finish line to the left of traffic. One of the victims of the crash came flying toward me. I jumped out of the way, he missed me, but his bike hit my bike and left a gaping hole in my seat tube. Like, bummer. Like, a thousand-dollar bummer. Had to replace the frame. But once I get the damaged frame repaired, I’ll have a backup bike. Again, Saturday was a little too eventful.

As I had no bike ready to ride Sunday, I took a break from racing to apartment hunt. Now that is hard stuff, way harder than racing. Just dreadful.

Tuesday was Round 1 of the Tuesday Night Racing Series presented by Kissena out at FBF. I had to get my old Merlin ready to race on the quick as my damaged bike was now collecting dust. The old Merlin felt ill-fitting and weird, as expected, and I had not ridden it since December. But I wanted to race and try to get some Sprint comp points in the Cat. 3/4 race. I was working registration and had no replacements so got no warm-up at all, and that hurt. Nothing like going from sitting still to sprinting in the red zone for a few laps to get you going. Ugh.

The main instigators in my race were Sean Smith and Dan Schmaltz and some Deno’s Wonder Wheel guys. Several attackers tried to get away pretty much every lap but none made any real headway or threat. Charlie rang the bell for Sprint No. 1 about lap 4 and I moved up a bit, into top 12, then into top 5 as we rounded last corner. I had recovered from my “warm-up” by now and had bridged a bit here and there to breaks and was feeling fine. Sean Smith, I think, was away up the road, so he got the Sprint points, not that he wanted them, and there was a second rider grabbing the second points. He had tried to bridge to Smith but in vain, though he snagged some Sprint points for his efforts. I gunned it early and held it to line for third, the last points, which was actually one point.

More attacks, more failed attacks.

Sprint 2: A teammate of mine showed up next to me and asked if I wanted a lead-out. Um, yes, please! says I. We hit last turn about fourth and fifth wheels and he starts up the right side, goes for a bit, moves left, I mistakenly think he’s done, so I wind up and go hard, see three guys who had been a bit up the road, pass them, take first in Sprint 2. There was a little more action this time, but I managed to hold on to my absurdly long and early sprint.

More attacks, more interval training ensued.

Into the bell lap we go, and some guys (??) drill it on the front for who I don’t know but do a grand job stringing it out single file. I’m thinking, yes, perfect. We hit second-to-last stretch and Sean Smith is on the front going 30 mph for what seems a long time, and I see 20 riders in front of me perfectly single file. But then Sean fades and I move up to top 10, then come out of last turn top 4. I go with the fast wheel that decides to go way too early and I just draft; he starts to hit stall speed soon enough, then I jump, still too early, but don’t wanna get caught up in traffic. Then I hear someone yelling, then carnage and metal and all the rest behind me. Three guys or so went down but they were okay in the end. I’m already sprinting and keep going straight. I am closing on finish very quickly and thinking maybe, maybe, maybe, but then get passed in a flash by five riders before the line. Ouch.

I started too early out but knew that and didn’t want to muck about with the dodgy riders, of whom there were a few tonight. It was a risk and good for 6th but, yeah, I need to work on timing sprints better. But the unknown factor of who could sprint straight and it being the first race of the series made me think just go for broke. One of the Castaldis from Deno’s won.

I can wear the Sprint jersey at least one time, next week. We’ll see if I can defend against the big bad 3s.

Floyd is just so much more fun and relaxed than the early morning park races. By fun I mean hell. But what a workout. Man, it’s windy out there. If you do Floyd, race Saturday and Sunday in the parks, the other days are recovery mixed in with a little specificity. It’s kind of easy this way actually.

This weekend I head to Prospect Park to race the 4 race and to see what the craic is all about at the Big Apple Bicycle Classic. I am just going to see Joao Correia race in the Pro123s. That should be interesting to see if he can win it.

Sunday I’m doing two races at the Tour de Parc in Wantagh, Long Island: the Cat. 4 race and the masters 35+ immediately after. It’s a great course in that it’s closed off and the surface is smooth.

Tuesday I go to Floyd for Round 2. I need to hop on that Deno’s train led by Anthony Maisto. That’s the ticket.

Finally, it was a year ago this week that I did my first race in about 10 years. It was at Floyd, and I was pack fill. Still, it was good to be back racing. I couldn’t believe how many crashes there were, though. I don’t remember there being that many when I raced back in the day. Are guys sloppier today? Well, later that week, I did Parc and was pack fill again, but that was fun too as I felt better. Today, a year later, I am 30 pounds lighter and have done a bunch of races and it’s just early May. I’ve done more this year already than I did all last year on the road combined. I think I’m on track to do 50 road races this year, upgrade to 3s later, then do 15 or 20 CX races. It’s a lot of fun.

Next week is Bear Mountain, my first time doing that. And at the end of the month there is the Tour of Somerville weekend, for which I’ve registered to do three races, all crits, which I am gunning for. Reg just opened and may fill up fast.

Happy racing!