My big goal for the year is the NJ State Crit Championships, which is a few weeks away and I'm feeling great for it. Legs are feeling good, confidence is high, and the racing will pick up on Sunday at Prospect Park where a good result will net me my long awaited cat 3 upgrade. However I have already decided I will finish my season as a 4 to race with my teammates here at Montclair. On a side note, several teammates at my current club have asked if I'm staying here next season. The truth is, I am tempted to go off join the other Montclair club as I am good friends with all the guys there and they are looking to add a sprinter to their roster. However I will stay with my current club for the 2011 season, beyond that who knows. Where does my personal life stand, well this summer I have been working several contract jobs to beef up my resume before I start grad school. Hanging out and drinking beer with new co-workers and friends, all in all I really can't complain about anything.
Showing posts with label racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racing. Show all posts
Friday, August 6, 2010
Super Update
It has been a good while since I've posted anything of worth, or anything at all for that matter. I believe my last post was a wrap up of my collegiate career. This summer has been a monster training affair for me. I did a few races in June to get myself back in shape then July was a nothing but training for me. Over the past few seasons I would race non stop through June/July and wind up being burned out by early August leaving nothing in the tank for the last few big races in the month. This time I took a break from racing in July and caught on my first love of soccer and enjoyed the world cup action all while maintaining a good training plan. The result is that now I feel strong and ready to tackle the last few races of the season with some great form.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
First Race Weekend of 2010 in the books
So we can officially say that the 2010 racing season has begun. Many congrats to Rutgers U for putting on some great races this past weekend. Mother Nature even cooperated by giving us some awesome spring weather. The turnout was awesome, and I'm glad that what will most likely be my last collegiate season had a great start.
The TT went so so; definitely not a time trialist so I don't put much weight into them. Long story short I went out to hard, and put up a rather crappy time. The rest of my team did relatively well in the time trial; they were all happy with their performances. The crit started as usual relatively fast pace; small crash on the second lap. I took a hit on my front wheel which knocked out of true, luckily I did not go down. I got back in the pack and stayed in the top 10-15 the whole time. There were a few sketchy moments were several riders nearly hit the cones coming out of the last turn. The same turn saw a few minor crashes in the B field later in the day; in the end I ended up 16th finished with the front pack as the field wound up being split about halfway through the race. After day 1, I was feeling pretty good and did very well compared to my 2009 collegiate season that saw a string of DNFs and terrible finishes. Our guys in the D field did pretty well with everyone finishing safely in the pack including a top 20finish. My buddy Ray had his first B race as he finally got his cat 3 upgrade. Unfortunately he's been sick w/ an upper respiratory infection which didn't help his race at all. He cramped up and pulled out with a few laps to go. Everyone was very satisifed with how day 1 went, so off we were back to the house for some food and relaxation.
Day 2 saw the circuit race go off in what was once again some great weather. Our guys in the D field rode strongly the whole race, but got caught up in crash on the last lap. Thankfully nothing more than road rash was acquired. They will be back next week ready to race, albeit with a little less skin. In the C race me and teammate rode well always staying near the front marking wheels and staying safe. There was a minor crash early on, simply put some riders touched wheels over reacted and crashed. Maybe they should try going back to down D, but I digress. The was a two man break up the road, the pack chased hard. So hard we caught the C1 field on the last lap, unfortunately for some unknown reason a cop car decided to park at the apex of the last turn. So naturally everyone in the top 10 lost all position including me and my teammate Nick. We burned some matches to get back to the front, being that we caught the tail end of the C1 field, we were sprint through countless guys sitting up. We thought had two top 10s, according the results sheet I had 17th and my guy Nick had 10th. I find that weird b/c I passed Nick well before crossing the finish line. Results aside, I am very satisfied with the first races of 2010. Stevens as a whole is doing well so far, everyone was very happy with how they did despite the crashes. This season is off to a good start, hopefully this is a sign for the bike gods that I'm track for a good season.
This weekend has the always fun Grants Tomb Crit and the all new Stevens Circuit Race at FDR Park. I will be racing on Saturday w/ my club team at Branchbrook Park in the 4/5s, there I will be racing with about 7 teammates as opposed to just 1. We have some strong guys at Montclair, so we should be able to grab a good result. Sunday I'm back to Stevens for some more collegiate action. I'm definitely in much better shape than last year, and I feel strong. Now to carry only if i can carry this form all the way to September then maybe i can upgrade to the 3s. With all the training and racing I'll be doing in the coming weeks, may grades just might plummet. Well I'm graduating in two months, so maybe my professors will have some pity on me :)
I can't end without some pictures, so thanks Dave Hooper for being our unofficial photographer this weekend.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34627682@N02/sets/72157623458795247/
The TT went so so; definitely not a time trialist so I don't put much weight into them. Long story short I went out to hard, and put up a rather crappy time. The rest of my team did relatively well in the time trial; they were all happy with their performances. The crit started as usual relatively fast pace; small crash on the second lap. I took a hit on my front wheel which knocked out of true, luckily I did not go down. I got back in the pack and stayed in the top 10-15 the whole time. There were a few sketchy moments were several riders nearly hit the cones coming out of the last turn. The same turn saw a few minor crashes in the B field later in the day; in the end I ended up 16th finished with the front pack as the field wound up being split about halfway through the race. After day 1, I was feeling pretty good and did very well compared to my 2009 collegiate season that saw a string of DNFs and terrible finishes. Our guys in the D field did pretty well with everyone finishing safely in the pack including a top 20finish. My buddy Ray had his first B race as he finally got his cat 3 upgrade. Unfortunately he's been sick w/ an upper respiratory infection which didn't help his race at all. He cramped up and pulled out with a few laps to go. Everyone was very satisifed with how day 1 went, so off we were back to the house for some food and relaxation.
Day 2 saw the circuit race go off in what was once again some great weather. Our guys in the D field rode strongly the whole race, but got caught up in crash on the last lap. Thankfully nothing more than road rash was acquired. They will be back next week ready to race, albeit with a little less skin. In the C race me and teammate rode well always staying near the front marking wheels and staying safe. There was a minor crash early on, simply put some riders touched wheels over reacted and crashed. Maybe they should try going back to down D, but I digress. The was a two man break up the road, the pack chased hard. So hard we caught the C1 field on the last lap, unfortunately for some unknown reason a cop car decided to park at the apex of the last turn. So naturally everyone in the top 10 lost all position including me and my teammate Nick. We burned some matches to get back to the front, being that we caught the tail end of the C1 field, we were sprint through countless guys sitting up. We thought had two top 10s, according the results sheet I had 17th and my guy Nick had 10th. I find that weird b/c I passed Nick well before crossing the finish line. Results aside, I am very satisfied with the first races of 2010. Stevens as a whole is doing well so far, everyone was very happy with how they did despite the crashes. This season is off to a good start, hopefully this is a sign for the bike gods that I'm track for a good season.
This weekend has the always fun Grants Tomb Crit and the all new Stevens Circuit Race at FDR Park. I will be racing on Saturday w/ my club team at Branchbrook Park in the 4/5s, there I will be racing with about 7 teammates as opposed to just 1. We have some strong guys at Montclair, so we should be able to grab a good result. Sunday I'm back to Stevens for some more collegiate action. I'm definitely in much better shape than last year, and I feel strong. Now to carry only if i can carry this form all the way to September then maybe i can upgrade to the 3s. With all the training and racing I'll be doing in the coming weeks, may grades just might plummet. Well I'm graduating in two months, so maybe my professors will have some pity on me :)
I can't end without some pictures, so thanks Dave Hooper for being our unofficial photographer this weekend.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34627682@N02/sets/72157623458795247/
Friday, August 14, 2009
Ramblings and other thoughts on racing....
We are officially half way through August, which mean most people are either done for the season or getting ready to wrap it up for year. Personally I only have 3 more races this summer, all being criteriums, all in the next 3 weeks. My latest race was at the final Cadence Cup this past Saturday. I felt really good during the race, I threw down a mean attack on the final climb of the day. The goal of that move was to soften up the lead out trains from BVF and Kissena. It seems to have worked as going into the sprint there was no organized leadout, with guys fighting tooth and nail for a wheel. I had legs to sprint in the end and was able to grab 11th, just being nipped at the line for the final pay out spot. This was my last race in Brooklyn for the season, and I have to say thank heavens I'm not coming back till next February.
During my tenure at Prospect Park I have noticed several things that are different than most other venues I have raced at:
1) On the downhill why the hell are the guys at the front killing themselves to sprint down the hill at 40mph when they can relax a bit at 37mph and not cause pile ups.
1.a) attacking at the bottleneck only causes carnage, so why do people constantly try it
2) No one attacks at the top of the hill in the cat 4 field, why??? Every time I have attacked there, I have stayed away for at least a lap before realize I can't Time Trial worth a damn
2.a)I should really work on my Time Trial ability
2.c)This means I should actually race a time trial every now again
3) The pace is always high, we seem to avg. around 25-26 every race. In other 4 races, the pace seems much slower
4) Getting up at 4am, for a 6:30am race is never much fun.
With only 3 crits remaining in my season, I hope to grab top 10 in each of them. The most important of them is the NJ Crit Championship. Luckily most of this seasons cat4 sandbaggers have moved up to cat.3, should make the race just a little easier if not more competitive. As I get ready to go back to Stevens, I am relieved I no longer have a Eboard position on the team. Myself and Ray Junkins who have worked tirelessly for two years to bring a collegiate team to Stevens leave the team in capable hands. I can actually focus on training and having some fun during my senior year.
Now this year, along w/ my own training I will be helping to develop our new riders and some of our old as well. I may not be a Pro or even a 3(yet anyway), but I do have two full seasons of racing under my belt. More than most the guys/girls on the team, which will hopefully go a long way. I do look forward to teaching/relating my experience to the younger guys, luckily I have a plan for this:
1.) Crash course on how to suck wheel
1.a) i.e pass/fail racing, which has helped me a few time when I wasn't in shape.
2.)How to drink beer and still race well...assuming I can learn that first so can teach it later
3.)How to sprint like a champ
3.a)How to not crash in sprint
3.b)How to actually sprint in a bunch sprint
4.)Recovery=good timesw/ beer(in moderation)
5.)Racing in the rain = why the hell am I racing in the rain?
Assuming this plan works(why wouldn't it?) we should have riders in D,C,B this coming road season and some women racers as well. Well it looks like I have to get back to work as the boss just asked why I'm blogging at 11am instead for actually working. For the meanwhile, I found this pretty funny(via bikeforums)
During my tenure at Prospect Park I have noticed several things that are different than most other venues I have raced at:
1) On the downhill why the hell are the guys at the front killing themselves to sprint down the hill at 40mph when they can relax a bit at 37mph and not cause pile ups.
1.a) attacking at the bottleneck only causes carnage, so why do people constantly try it
2) No one attacks at the top of the hill in the cat 4 field, why??? Every time I have attacked there, I have stayed away for at least a lap before realize I can't Time Trial worth a damn
2.a)I should really work on my Time Trial ability
2.c)This means I should actually race a time trial every now again
3) The pace is always high, we seem to avg. around 25-26 every race. In other 4 races, the pace seems much slower
4) Getting up at 4am, for a 6:30am race is never much fun.
With only 3 crits remaining in my season, I hope to grab top 10 in each of them. The most important of them is the NJ Crit Championship. Luckily most of this seasons cat4 sandbaggers have moved up to cat.3, should make the race just a little easier if not more competitive. As I get ready to go back to Stevens, I am relieved I no longer have a Eboard position on the team. Myself and Ray Junkins who have worked tirelessly for two years to bring a collegiate team to Stevens leave the team in capable hands. I can actually focus on training and having some fun during my senior year.
Now this year, along w/ my own training I will be helping to develop our new riders and some of our old as well. I may not be a Pro or even a 3(yet anyway), but I do have two full seasons of racing under my belt. More than most the guys/girls on the team, which will hopefully go a long way. I do look forward to teaching/relating my experience to the younger guys, luckily I have a plan for this:
1.) Crash course on how to suck wheel
1.a) i.e pass/fail racing, which has helped me a few time when I wasn't in shape.
2.)How to drink beer and still race well...assuming I can learn that first so can teach it later
3.)How to sprint like a champ
3.a)How to not crash in sprint
3.b)How to actually sprint in a bunch sprint
4.)Recovery=good timesw/ beer(in moderation)
5.)Racing in the rain = why the hell am I racing in the rain?
Assuming this plan works(why wouldn't it?) we should have riders in D,C,B this coming road season and some women racers as well. Well it looks like I have to get back to work as the boss just asked why I'm blogging at 11am instead for actually working. For the meanwhile, I found this pretty funny(via bikeforums)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Updates and other ramblings
So, its been a while since my last post. The last post was about my prep for the State TT, well sadly I was unable to attend due to a family situation that arose the night before. Nonetheless my teammates at Montclair represented well with two riders taking wins in their respective age groups. For June I was scheduled to race a few times at the watermelon crit and prospect park. That did not happen either due to not getting paid at work for a month, so instead I focused my efforts on my training. I basically spent the entire month of June training with my teammates most days of the week. The majority of the guys on my team are masters 35+ and higher, with our coach being a 45+ racer. The benefit of this is that our Tuesday night training race turns into a balls to the wall hammerfest and our Saturday ride into a 15mile free for all. In one month I figured why my collegiate season this year went less than stellar: lack of discipline in training(school work and beer are blame). As a cat.4 my teammates expect a little more from me than most of new members, so naturally I was to improve my fitness and race awareness during my training.
Now that July is here, I finally got paid which I can race again. My first race back was last Saturday at Prospect Park. The turn out was pretty good, with almost 20 additional racers showing up the day of for the cat.4 field. The race wasn't superfast, but their was a breakaway attempt on everylap. This made for constant speed changes on a course that can take its toll after 8 laps of racing. I got myself into the last breakaway, as their was about a lap and half to go. They were already out there for a lap and had a 30second gap on the field. I figured if this was going to be the one to stick, I better try to get into it. I bridged the gap to breakaway, but it seems that move caused a panick or something in the pack as we got caught on the last lap at the top of the hill. I burned a big match to bridge the breakaway, and didn't have much gas to sprint in the end. A few riders at the end of the race told me if had used that effort to bridge the breakaway in the sprint I would have had top 5, but oh well that;s bike racing.
Next on tap for me is the Giro del Cielo in sussex county, I can't climb as well I used to but at the least it will help my fitness for the remaining races on my schedule.
Now that July is here, I finally got paid which I can race again. My first race back was last Saturday at Prospect Park. The turn out was pretty good, with almost 20 additional racers showing up the day of for the cat.4 field. The race wasn't superfast, but their was a breakaway attempt on everylap. This made for constant speed changes on a course that can take its toll after 8 laps of racing. I got myself into the last breakaway, as their was about a lap and half to go. They were already out there for a lap and had a 30second gap on the field. I figured if this was going to be the one to stick, I better try to get into it. I bridged the gap to breakaway, but it seems that move caused a panick or something in the pack as we got caught on the last lap at the top of the hill. I burned a big match to bridge the breakaway, and didn't have much gas to sprint in the end. A few riders at the end of the race told me if had used that effort to bridge the breakaway in the sprint I would have had top 5, but oh well that;s bike racing.
Next on tap for me is the Giro del Cielo in sussex county, I can't climb as well I used to but at the least it will help my fitness for the remaining races on my schedule.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Race Report
Well my start of the 2009 collegiate season has officially started. Didn't go to well to say the least...
In the ITT, I had mechanical issues and did the first portion of the course in my small ring which caused my to lose a minimum of 30 seconds. In the crit I did OK, but didn't finish where i wanted. I question the fitness level of some of these racers. They may be strong now, but come June will they be burnt out??? Well if they just race collegiate, then more power to you. But for USCF racers like me, there is no need to be that fit this early. The bulk of my season is in June anyway, so I if get wrecked now no big worries.
In the Circuit Race, I took a nasty spill in the C2 field w/ 3 laps to go. An out of true wheel is to blame as i went down on a slippery right hand turn. The most annoying part was that I felt really good during the race. Oh well, that bike racing for you. I hope to see everyone out at the Stevens Crit this coming weekend.
In the ITT, I had mechanical issues and did the first portion of the course in my small ring which caused my to lose a minimum of 30 seconds. In the crit I did OK, but didn't finish where i wanted. I question the fitness level of some of these racers. They may be strong now, but come June will they be burnt out??? Well if they just race collegiate, then more power to you. But for USCF racers like me, there is no need to be that fit this early. The bulk of my season is in June anyway, so I if get wrecked now no big worries.
In the Circuit Race, I took a nasty spill in the C2 field w/ 3 laps to go. An out of true wheel is to blame as i went down on a slippery right hand turn. The most annoying part was that I felt really good during the race. Oh well, that bike racing for you. I hope to see everyone out at the Stevens Crit this coming weekend.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Good Start to the season
So now that my racing season has officially started, I will be regularly writing race and training reports w/ some ramblings here and there. Today was a good start for my first race of 2009. I showed up to Prospect Park on two hours of sleep after a night out. Nonetheless I still felt ready to race.
This year the race director has added KOM and Sprint points during the race. This may sound like a good idea, but during the race no one really new which lap was a sprint. Naturally the 4 field assumed every lap was a sprint and KOM lap. At least this kept the pace high. My goals for this race were to attack the field at least once, take one pull at the front and be in position to contest the sprint. I have to say that I completed all of them.
Two laps in I attacked about a mile before the start/finish as I thought it was a sprint lap. WRONG, it was not and I went for nothing. But my first goal was complete, and right before I took the front to help reel in a break but I turned that into my planned attack. I stayed up front most of the race, working w/ the two Rutgers who also raced the 4 field today. Coincidentally we ended up working together in the final lap going into the sprint. Here I used the pack position skills I learned last year to get in prime position to contest the sprint. I got a clear view of the winning move and reacted. Unfortunately I did not have the legs to really gun the sprint. I guess that's what happens when you race on two hours of sleep.
I learned today that the 4's are much smoother than the 5's in Prospect and that 4's don't like to work at the front. It seemed today that only 2 teams were working at the front today: Brooklyn Velo Force(won the final sprint in a squirely leadout train) and Kissena. I also learned that there are some cat 4's who should have their licenses ripped up. There were a few wankers who attacked on the downhill and nearly caused crashes. In the final sprint, a few more very small minded racer took creative lines. Causing several near misses at 35mph and totally disrupting the leadout. Finally I saw that I am ready for next week when it really counts at the season opener. Legs feel good, form is good, all is good...
This year the race director has added KOM and Sprint points during the race. This may sound like a good idea, but during the race no one really new which lap was a sprint. Naturally the 4 field assumed every lap was a sprint and KOM lap. At least this kept the pace high. My goals for this race were to attack the field at least once, take one pull at the front and be in position to contest the sprint. I have to say that I completed all of them.
Two laps in I attacked about a mile before the start/finish as I thought it was a sprint lap. WRONG, it was not and I went for nothing. But my first goal was complete, and right before I took the front to help reel in a break but I turned that into my planned attack. I stayed up front most of the race, working w/ the two Rutgers who also raced the 4 field today. Coincidentally we ended up working together in the final lap going into the sprint. Here I used the pack position skills I learned last year to get in prime position to contest the sprint. I got a clear view of the winning move and reacted. Unfortunately I did not have the legs to really gun the sprint. I guess that's what happens when you race on two hours of sleep.
I learned today that the 4's are much smoother than the 5's in Prospect and that 4's don't like to work at the front. It seemed today that only 2 teams were working at the front today: Brooklyn Velo Force(won the final sprint in a squirely leadout train) and Kissena. I also learned that there are some cat 4's who should have their licenses ripped up. There were a few wankers who attacked on the downhill and nearly caused crashes. In the final sprint, a few more very small minded racer took creative lines. Causing several near misses at 35mph and totally disrupting the leadout. Finally I saw that I am ready for next week when it really counts at the season opener. Legs feel good, form is good, all is good...
Friday, February 27, 2009
So it begins again...
Tomorrow will be my first race of the seaon, Prospect Park.
I did the bulk of my season there last summer and had a blast. Yes; there were crashes, arguments, breakaways, and late starts. But that's Brooklyn for you...
The vibe there is pretty good, post race everyone is pretty friendly and happy to have finished unscathed(most of the time). However, during the race is a whole another story. You got bumping, elbows, yelling arguing and nervousness and that's just while you're lining up. During the race it's an every man for himself hammerfest that doesn't ease up till the end. I did I mention the screaming downhill that always sees a nasty crash..
I missed only two races of last year's cadence cup, and with the addition of KOM points this season I will be there for all of them. Last year my sprint wasn't enough to contest the win, but after a good period of base training that will definitely change.
I can not leave out the crit paradise that is NJ racing. Every other weekend you can race several crits with some squirelly racers and either get shelled or get some cool prizes on the prime laps. As much as I enjoy Prospect, there is nothing like a NJ crit. You got tight turns, potholes, 60 man fields, and super fast master's races. Racing crits every weekend with some hardened racers will make you much more aggressive and squirelly, which will help me next week at Rutgers.If you ever want to learn how to be a better crit racer than there is no place better than NJ.
As you can tell, I am definitely ready to start my season off on the right foot. I have been training hard and working on all my weak areas. I feel good and my form is progressing along nicely. I think I will end this rant here as I tend to ramble on and on. One final thought, Prospect Park means I need to leave at 4:30 am. I guess that means no partying tonight :(
I did the bulk of my season there last summer and had a blast. Yes; there were crashes, arguments, breakaways, and late starts. But that's Brooklyn for you...
The vibe there is pretty good, post race everyone is pretty friendly and happy to have finished unscathed(most of the time). However, during the race is a whole another story. You got bumping, elbows, yelling arguing and nervousness and that's just while you're lining up. During the race it's an every man for himself hammerfest that doesn't ease up till the end. I did I mention the screaming downhill that always sees a nasty crash..
I missed only two races of last year's cadence cup, and with the addition of KOM points this season I will be there for all of them. Last year my sprint wasn't enough to contest the win, but after a good period of base training that will definitely change.
I can not leave out the crit paradise that is NJ racing. Every other weekend you can race several crits with some squirelly racers and either get shelled or get some cool prizes on the prime laps. As much as I enjoy Prospect, there is nothing like a NJ crit. You got tight turns, potholes, 60 man fields, and super fast master's races. Racing crits every weekend with some hardened racers will make you much more aggressive and squirelly, which will help me next week at Rutgers.If you ever want to learn how to be a better crit racer than there is no place better than NJ.
As you can tell, I am definitely ready to start my season off on the right foot. I have been training hard and working on all my weak areas. I feel good and my form is progressing along nicely. I think I will end this rant here as I tend to ramble on and on. One final thought, Prospect Park means I need to leave at 4:30 am. I guess that means no partying tonight :(
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