Giro di Jersey Pictures

Here I'm begging Tboughts for another bottle

Guess I got it back

Circuit Race

Field sprint

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Giro di Jersey Circuit Race

Last day of the GdJ, more rain. The circuit race can be pretty hard. Because you've got four corners and three hills to sprint up every lap, if enough guys decide to turn the screws (like last year) it can be a real hour of suffering.


The race started out hard this year. Kelly Benefits was defending their leaders jersey and every time an attack would go, they'd jump on. After two laps, I didn't know if I'd make it to the end. A few guys got popped off the back in those first couple laps. On lap three a single guy got away and Kelly let him go. Since its an omnium (points not time), he didn't pose any GC threat no matter how much time he got. The rest of the race eased up a bit and I felt much more comfortable.


On the last lap Kelly and Westwood cranked it up a bit. Not so fast that I was in trouble, but fast enough that it was strung out and I couldn't move up very easily. On the back stretch I was sitting about 20th. Through turns 3 and 4, I took some sweet lines and shot up the inside to 10th place. As everyone opened up the sprint, I jumped from wheel to wheel until with 100 to go I jumped up the inside and came even with the leader and

...almost got him at the line.

My third and tenth were good enough for 7th in the GC, the first cat 4 in the race. Racing in the rain was fun, not that I'd want to do it every day, but it was a good change of pace.

I did a lot better this year than I did last; certainly a lot of that is due to smaller fields, but I raced a lot smarter. No more silly attacks off the front, any time I put in some effort it was with a lot of thought and I really think that paid off.

Giro di Jersey Rocky Hill RR

The Rocky Hill road race is one of my favorites.  Its a rolling course around the Millstone creek with one big climb.  Its hard enough to make things interesting, but not so hard that it makes you consider taking up a nice gentle sport like yoga.  

All the talk before the race was about whether or not the impending thunderstorms would hold off until after the race.  Sure enough, halfway through lap one sprinkles started coming down.  By lap three it was a full blow rainstorm.  The rain added another element to the race.  Everyone stayed upright, but people were hesitant to respond to attacks in the rain.  

Laps one and two were pretty boring.  I lost my bottle taking a bad line over the bridge after the downhill, but Tboughts got it back to me by lap three.  Halfway through lap three, I went back to take a quick nature back and by the time I chased back on the lead car was gone.  I asked around about what was going on, but no one knew if there is a break away.  It stayed this way for the rest of the race.  Westwood had numbers and the leaders jersey, but they didn't want to chase.  

On the back stretch of the last lap, everyone at the front was making attacks.  They weren't very good attacks (I was sitting on them in my little ring), but they served to bring the break back into sight by the final time up the hill.  The pace up the final climb was fast, but I was able to hold on with just a little cramping.  In fact, I came into the descent 3rd wheel.  Going downhill in the rain was tense.  Everyone was jockeying for position trying get in good position for the sprint.  I followed the best wheels I could, got boxed out a couple times but was able to set up about 20th.  I jumped a little early and made my way through the crowd, but I didn't have quite enough left and ended up tenth.  

Tboughts and I stuck around to watch the pros finish.  Troy Wells got in a late break and looked to be in good position for the win, but got his chain all wrapped up in his frame coming into the sprint and had to roll in fourth.  

Giro di Jersey TT

Today was the start of the Giro di Jersey, a 12 mile rolling time trial. I'm still not the best at time trials, I have no idea how to pace myself. I tried to start easy, since I usually peg it off the line and end up hurting in the second half. I guess I started too easy, because I was passed in the first 2 miles. After that, I used him as a rabbit and I almost immediately caught my 30 second man. I kept going, and got passed again but passed my minute man too. In the end I got 35th place.  Its not as good as I was hoping for, but there were a lot of fast cat 3s.  

Tomorrow is the Rocky Hill road race. Last year it was a ton of fun, the climb is a great place to let it rip and string the whole field out. My climbing hasn't been quite as good this year, but I'm still hoping for good things.

Friction and wear tests

The last two and a half weeks I've been doing ball on flat tribotesting. It may be the most boring material test in the world.

9:00 Prepare test, start test.
11:00 Check test
1:00 Check test
3:00 Check test
5:00 Check test
7:00 Check test
7:15 Test over, remove sample.

Now, I'm all for time intensive protocols, but the whole thing is completely anticlimactic. Usually during testing something breaks or changes, all this test does it put a tiny scratch in the surface of my polymers. Only one more week...

In the mail today...

I got an unmarked envelope in the mail today, delivered from Phoenix AZ.  Open in and I find this cryptic page:


With this cryptic note in the upper corner.

Uh oh, guess this means I need to start checking my credit card statements again.

Another weekend of racing

Two more races last weekend, but not without some bad luck.  

Saturday morning, bright and early, was the Tour of New York, aka nine laps around Prospect Park.  A big field showed up with lots of tough guys.  Larry, Rob and I represented East End.  Pretty standard stuff for most of the race, a few guys would get a gap and the team without a presence would chase chase chase.  I led Rob out for the prime halfway through and he took it pretty easily.  In the end, Larry tried to set me up for the sprint, but I forgot where I was and went to early.  When I eased up to look for a wheel, the Kissena train simultaneously ran out of gas and I found myself with nowhere to go, so I sat up and let the second surge go by.  

Next morning was AVD's nutty floyd crit.  I was the only Kreb guy, but the field was quite a bit smaller.  I felt pretty good and I think I was reading the race pretty well, but halfway through my tire went nice and flat.  I had good legs for both races, but it didn't work out the way I wanted.  Next week I'm going to do the Giro di Jersey, which was my favorite race this year.  A little rain is in the forecast, but I'm still excited.  

Sunday night I went to see The Hangover.  Its hilarious, just about 90 straight minutes of laughing, Animal House style.  

Highbridge Photos

Tboughts won the womens field, again.

At least I look fast

Stolen without remorse from Anthony Collins, FullFramePro, Frank G and others.

NYCMTB Highbridge '09

Attempt #2 at the only race I've done that emphasizes technical skill over fitness.

It was a pretty uneventful race except for a full on, head first, dazed and confused rookie crash on the first lap. After that I spent most of my time chasing back. Its a tough race course, but a fun day and its amazing the difference in Highbridge Park that NYCMTB has made in just the last year.

schmalz When you're in the pack, and it's a slow day and the break's away, who do you usually chat up? Is it just your teammates, or is it someone you never think to talk to, but there he is and I might as well see if we can have a conversation?

VDV A lot of times it's teammates, actually, which is kinda weird 'cause you think you wouldn't want to talk to your teammates after you've spent every waking moment with them. A lot of times you do end up speaking with your teammates a lot. I speak with Dave Millar quite often, last year I spoke with Levi quite a bit, Bradley Wiggins, Jens Voigt I had a long conversation with. He's the social butterfly. He wins the prize.

schmalz He chats with everybody, huh?

VDV Everybody, in every language. He's the most nervous, too, so he'd be in mid sentence and all of a sudden he'd just jump away and back into a breakaway or something. "I have to go! Have to make money!"

http://nyvelocity.com/content/interviews/2009/vdv-post-giro

Everybody's favorite racer is Jens Voigt. The more about him I learn the more I like him.