R13.22: Kissena Twilight Series 7/17 - Cat 3/4

Another day racing on the Swan, so again, no data.  Jamie came out to watch again, so I figured I would try to employ some of the tactics we had been talking about.  I was able to get an actual warm up in and felt surprisingly good after yesterday's racing.

The first race was a 3 lap snowball.  Jamie told me to sit in for the final sprint.  Instead, I jumped on to Sean's wheel, who took the first sprint.  Unfortunately, he then faded, so I attacked to take the second sprint.  The third was a wash for me.  This was basically the opposite of what we had discussed, so Jamie was not too pleased and hit me on the head with an empty water bottle.

Next was an 8 lap point-a-lap.  We tried for the same strategy this time, treat it as an 8 lap scratch and just sit in.  Of course, I don't listen, so I was able to sit in and pip the other riders at the line for sprints 5-8.  This gave me the win.

The final race was a 10 lap scratch.  Brean attacked early, eugene more or less went with him.  It was somewhere between going with the attack and bridging right away.  A kid from MIT bridged up later on.  Aaron and lucas tried to bring the field back together, which in hindsight is strange if brean was up ahead, but whatever.  DaveC sat on their wheels and I sat on his, outsprinting all of them and almost catching eugene.  This gave me a 4th place finish.

In the end, I was able to take the omnium.

After racing was over, I did some laps with Jamie and HarryZ, though harry disappeared right away.  Before this, though, Andreas was riding slow around the track, and apparently jammed his foot against his front wheel or something and went down.  I didn't hear or see it, but I've been told it resulted in a fractured clavicle.  That sucks.  He just got his cat 3 upgrade, too.  And while we're talking about the latest happenings at the track, it looks like brean finally has enough upgrade points to go to 3.  congrats to him, too.

Also, after looking back at my race reports, I never actually had a R13.02 race, so all these are one number higher than they should be.  Shrug. Turns out I just didn't label R13.02 as a race report.  Carry on, nothing to see here.

Results here: http://kissenavelodrome.info/results/2013/Kissena13TwilightSeriesWeek12.pdf

R13.21: Fuji Super Tuesdays 7/16 - Stagiares

Mark: hm...

write me a race report for last tuesday

Jeremy: Hmmm

Did you win?

Mark: i did

Jeremy: Done

"I won"

In reality, here's a write-up:  I woke up ungodly early to drive out with my parents to PA to pay for a new car that my dad bought.  I tried to sleep most of the way, but that never works well.  The car was beautiful; a great condition 1936 Ford Club Cabriolet convertible.  Afterward, we drove up to my Aunt's to visit, but she was at the doctor for a broken finger, but we still chatted with my cousins for a bit.  Then came dinner, which was at this tacky diner right next to our hotel.  Finally came racing.  I spent a good amount of time hemming and hawing about whether I should race or not because at this point I was completely beat from a long(er than normal) day.  In the end, I went with the mantra "what would Marty do?" and figured if I was this close to the track, I might as well race even if I just ended up getting my ass handed to me.

We showed up at the track not long after Keiran and Andy showed up, which was a pleasant surprise.  Philly Keith and George were also around, so it was a nice group to chat with.  I think Cameron was also around.  I started by warming up as usual:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344711425

Then the first race was a 2km scratch.  These races seem to be on the schedule a lot.  I seem to remember attacking on the back stretch with 2 laps to go.  I came from the back, but I didn't feel like I had a good jump.  It was enough to get away clean, though, and I was able to stay ahead for the win.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344711416

The local news team interviewed me after that first race, which was very cool.  Nothing makes you feel Pro like a tv interview.  The next race was a 20 lap points.  I don't really remember what happened.  I think I grabbed a couple of 4th place points, maybe?  It got me 4th overall.  (note to self: write reports sooner).  Wait, wait.  I think I remember now.  I got some early points in the first sprint, then tried to stay away to win the second sprint.  Something along those lines.  But I got caught on the sprint lap.  After that, I was mostly toast.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344711413

The final race of the evening for the Stagiares was a 10 lap Tempo.  Will P attacked, and I came with him.  We traded pulls for a while, trying to stay away, but somewhere in the middle we got caught.  After that, I sat in and was able to catch the odd point here and there, if memory serves me well.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344711408

In the end, this put me in the lead for the omnium, one point ahead of Will.  I could have sworn he would have won it, so I was super excited.

Marty asked me if I wanted to race the Pro/Am feature, which I kinda did, so I said sure.  It was stupid fast.  I bumped up to my 96" gear, and felt like I was spinning out again.  The avg speed was 30+mph.  It was a 10km scratch, and I lasted over halfway through.  I was just sitting near the back hanging on for dear life when a gap opened in front of me that I couldn't close.  I also wanted to keep some kind of power in my legs for k-town the next day, so I wasn't too upset by this.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344711403

I packed up, picked up my prize money, and went to our hotel for the night.  It's nice not having to drive home right away.  Or drive at all.

Results here:

http://www.thevelodrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/7-16-results.pdf

2013.34: 7/15 - 7/21

Sunday: Team sprint practice in the morning with Keiran and Andy.  We did two undergeared half lap efforts, and then one full-on race effort.  Our speeds seemed good.  I think with a little more practice, we'll be golden.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/346330523

In the afternoon I rode with Dan to spin the legs out.  I was on the evo, so no power.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/346330476
NP/IF/TSS: N/A

Saturday: I was thinking about going in to brooklyn to race some goldsprints for that J-Pro fundraiser, but I was tired, my knees hurt, and to be honest, I just don't really care that much.  Don't do sketchy races without insurance where you can get your face ripped off if you don't want to get your face ripped off.  It seems simple to me.

Friday: post-work intervals.  3x6min with 4 min rest.  These went much better than last week's intervals.  Congrats to me on sucking ever so slightly less.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/345112399
Int / Avg Power / Max Power / Avg Cadence / Avg HR
1 - 248 - 297 - 106 - 160
2 - 250 - 317 - 105 - 167
3 - 250 - 296 - 105 - 171

Thursday: Rest day.  Rested.

Wednesday: K-town.  See race report.

Tuesday: T-town.  See race report.

Monday: Rode to work on the evo.  Almost got hit by a dipshit in a huntington town truck.  I called the cops and they said "well he probably just wasn't paying attention.  no worries".  right.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/343229723
NP/IF/TSS: N/A

R13.20: Kissena Twilight Series 7/10 - Cat 3/4

I rode the Swan again today, this time with the official wheels.  Still no data, though.

The first race was a full-on elimination down to two riders.  I can't say I remember ever doing that at k-town.  I rode it at the front for once.  It was a combination of questioning myself after last week and trying to mitigate the effects of this constant fatigue i have.  Being at the front is much steadier than trying to play the devil in the back.  In the end, I came out 4th.

Next was a scratch.  I wish I could remember how many laps.  Maybe 6.  4 laps.  Regardless, I attacked in turn 2 with 2 to go, got a good gap and held it to the line for the win.

The last race was a five lap tempo, which I originally planned on attacking with 3 to go, trying to hold everybody off, but i saw a good moment to attack at the beginning, so I went hard and got first in the first two sprints and second in the third.  I then sat in to recover, but wasn't able to snag any of the final lap points.  Unfortunately, Andreas ended up using my original strategy, so although we had the same number of points, his better finish gave him the win.,

Results here:  http://kissenavelodrome.info/results/2013/Kissena13TwilightSeriesWeek11.pdf

2013.33: 7/8 - 7/14

Sunday: Sleepy day, but I got out for a little bit at the end of the day.  not quite the long ride I was hoping for.  I almost got hit by a smithtown public safety patrol car going down to short beach, so I took a detour on the way home to file a complaint.  Only one junior officer was on duty, so he asked if I could come back the next day to complain.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/342694491
NP/IF/TSS: N/A

Saturday: again, nada.

Friday: nada.  I don't remember why.  I think it was rainy, maybe.  rain is a pretty good bet this summer.

Thursday: despite a long day of work, my subpar results yesterday motivated me to do some AE style intervals of one sort or another.  I was aiming for 3 or 4 6.5 min intervals with 3.5min rest, but in the end I did 3 intervals, 6 min, 5.5 min, 4.5 min.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/342694510
Int / Avg Power / Max Power / Avg Cadence / Avg HR
1 - 247 - 274 - 108 - 165
2 - 239 - 328 - 108 - 172
3 - 241 - 407 - 108 - 175

Wednesday: k-town.  See race report.

Tuesday: instead of heading to t-town to very likely get trounced, I helped haley with a green trek bike ride for her work.  it was the debut ride on the new evo.  the thing rides sweeet.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/340142782
NP/IF/TSS: N/A

Monday: toooo tired from the weekend.  rest day.

2013.32: 7/1 - 7/7

Sunday: Worked, then helped bring the christeen back to oyster bay.  What a fantastic sail!  The weather was great, there was a big storm system to our west, which provided a nice breeze as well as a good lightning show, and there were fireworks on both sides of the LI sound.  I think this was my favoritest of sails to date.  No riding, though.

Saturday: volunteered all day on the christeen doing sails out of glen cove.  Toooo hot.

Friday: Rode to work and back.  I think I also put an angled shim on my right cleat today, but I can't remember for sure which day it was.  I'm very sure I put a new chain on Gigi today.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/338017005
NP/IF/TSS:191W/0.896/190

Thursday: had the day off for independence day.  at some point in the day I actually rode.  It was very hot, so I just bummed around a lot.  I went along the port jeff bike path, which is very interesting.  I also witnessed the closure of sheep pasture road because somebody obliterated a telephone pole.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/337574675
NP/IF/TSS: 172W/0.808/174

Wednesday: no k-town racing scheduled.

Tuesday: nothing.  I think I skipped t-town because of a poor weather forecast.  It was probably rainy here, so no riding.

Monday: nada.

R13.19: Kissena Twilight Series 6/26

This wednesday I raced on the Swan.  The wheels still weren't built up, so I used my volos track wheels.  I don't have a garmin mount on the bike, so no data.  Jamie was there to watch, which was nice.  Too bad I still suffered from a lack of any kind of fitness.  In addition, I didn't eat lunch because I was stuck running the shop solo for most of the day.  This also meant that I left work to race 45 minutes later than normal, which lead to me barely making it in time and not warming up in the least.

The first race was a points race.  I think 12 laps.  I think I spent most of the race chasing guys who were actually getting points.  Somehow I managed one point to put me in 5th place.

Next was a scratch.  I don't remember how long.  Same deal, lots of me in the wind, not me in the win.  Look how clever that was.

Finally, there was a miss and out.  I went out fairly early because I got myself boxed in.  The 3/4 field seemed pretty aggressive today.  I don't know what that was all about.  A few guys throwing elbows and shit.

One general theme I noticed is that with the exception of brean and new rhino, nobody really wanted to put any effort in.  I realize this included me, but that's because I had no fuel in me to go hard with.  Unfortunate, as I would have loved to attack the hell out of everybody.

Results here: http://kissenavelodrome.info/results/2013/Kissena13TwilightSeriesWeek10.pdf

R13.18: Fuji Super Tuesdays 6/25 - Stagiares

It's a pretty good assumption that the forecast was 30% chance of thunderstorms.   That's the theme for this summer.  I picked up jen in brooklyn.  She drove us through manhattan into jersey, where it started to rain.  I switched to driving, picked up a sketchy roast beast sandwich in some convenience store and we continued on.  We got there on time, and all.  I don't even know what's worth writing about.  Here's a warm up for you:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/334584526

The first race was a 2k scratch.  I've once again been suffering from knee pain and general fatigue/lack of snap.  I can't remember if I had my disc on, but I'm pretty sure I did for that extra ooomph.  Regardless, I attacked hard, but just didn't have anything in my legs to stick it.  I finished in 6th, just out of the omnium points.  This'll be the theme for the evening.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/334584508

Next was a 20 lap points race.  Same deal as in the 2k scratch.  Nothing in the legs and continually 5th across the line, so no points.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/334584499

The last race was a 10 lap tempo.  I don't even remember, but I think I got away with another rider.  I tried swapping pulls with him, but he just wanted to stay on the front.  I just got a handful of single points, maybe three of them, but it wasn't enough to place in the omnium again.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/334584488

The final was a madison, which Gavi was interested in partnering with me for, but they had enough fast teams.  I sat out and drank some hard cider that I brought.  I showered, Jen picked up a veggie burger from Applebees, and we drove off with the ventures playing on the tape deck.  Coming home, we dropped down to route 22 for a 'natural break', where we saw lots of police speed traps.  It was weird stuff.

That is all.

2013.31: 6/24-6/30

Sunday: Ditto.  Volunteered on the Christeen.

Saturday: Nada. Worked and slept.

Friday: Three LT Reps/Sprints down at long beach.  There was a tough headwind, but they felt half-assed at best.  Time to get this season turned around.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/334584471
Interval -Max Speed - Max Power (W) - Max Cadence (RPM)
1 - 31.1 - 911 - 112
2 - 30.6 - 1047 - 119
3 - 28.4 - 952 - 166?

Thursday: Workity work.

Wednesday: K-town.  See report.

Tuesday: T-town.  See report

Monday: Nada

R13.17: Kissena Twilight Series 6/19 - Cat 3/4

This wednesday was the longest twilight race of the season.  As such, we did a sprint tournament.  It wasn't really bracketed, just random pairings among the riders with the closest 200 times.  Only the riders who didn't have a flying 200m time on record did those, so I sure didn't.  What I did do was warm up though, so have a look at that data:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/330787677

My first sprint was against JoshS and Lucas.  Josh led, I sat on his wheel and Lucas sat on mine.  There were a few times where I felt a good ol' attack would make sense, but I decided to try to stifle those feelings and wait for a shorter sprint.  This probably was a dumb idea since Josh is a super sprinter now.  Regardless, his jump finally came in turn 4 just before the bell lap.  I jumped.  Lucas jumped.  Lucas snapped his chain.  I faltered.  Josh immediately had a massive lead.  I tried to bridge up, but no dice.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/330787673

The second sprint for me for the evening was once again against josh, but with Andreas as the third man.  I switched to my disc wheel which meant I went from my 15t to my 14t, making my intentions pretty obvious. I think I might have even said to them "yeah, I'm just going to try to ramp up the pace and sprint long".  Which is what I did.  And it worked out alright for me.  I won, then Josh, then Andreas.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/330787663

Here's some results:
http://kissenavelodrome.info/results/2013/Kissena13TwilightSeriesWeek9.pdf

Wasn't that interesting?

2013.30: 6/17 - 6/23

Sunday: Rode to northport with the brother.  It was a pretty good ride.  Still felt sluggish, though.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/332423993
NP/IF/TSS: 180W/0.843/221

Saturday: No riding.  I don't remember when exactly I did it, but since today is pretty empty I'll say it was today.  I switched my right cleat on my road shoes to a red cleat with more float.

Friday: Rode to work and back.  My legs just felt dead.  And my knee was killing me.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/331217814
NP/IF/TSS: 193W/0.905/212

Thursday: nada.

Wednesday: K-town.  See race report

Tuesday: After much waffling, I decided to take the trip out to t-town despite a dark forecast.  It looked like the storm in question just might pass to the south of the track, which it did.  But racing still got cancelled.  I rode around for about 5 minutes, then drove home.  At least I got a cali burrito beforehand.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/330787687
NP/IF/TSS: N/A

Monday: Went for a short ride after work to check on the rhododendrons.  Nothing to report.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/329532418
NP/IF/TSS: 205W/0.962/57