Race #2

"When the pack breaks, and it will break, it is better to be the weakest rider in the first group then the strongest rider in the second.” – Anon.

24 miles around Central Park (4 laps) ...a tad faster than last week...still did not finish with the main group, but it was exciting...here is how it unfolded:

Getting to the park in the wee hours of the morning is kind of surreal...streets are very quiet except for the cabs racing each other for the remaining fares of the night...the only people on the streets are dog walkers and the dirty stayouts from Friday night trying to catch those cabs...and they love to slur words of encouragement as you ride by...and you get to play the ever popular game pothole, puddle, manhole cover...I was on this morning and got them all right.

Race starts and the dude in front can't clip in...I have to unclip so to avoid hitting him...so I have to sprint out of the gate to catch up to the field...first lap takes 15:51 minutes, avg 22mph...not too bad...I hung in the middle, not very eventful...second lap the pace picks up to 15:15 @23mph...I felt a bit bolder this morning being a veteran now with one race behind me...I actually moved up to the front...it is a lot safer up there, especially if you keep in amongst the NYVelocity squad...there are certainly a lot of them...I was able to keep that position for the duration of the lap...third lap seems to be my pitfall...on the descent past the skating rink I was hugging the outside corner coming into Harlem Hill, trying to keep my position, when I hit a patch of gravel@30mph...the back wheel slid to the left and I went into a skid then a wobble...this sucks I thought to myself...but I should probably try not crash...so my brain made an SOS call to fire off the synapses that hopefully would help me not crash...I wound up in the joggers lane with the curb looming to my left and cones to my right and a sharp left turn a few seconds away...not a whole lot of room to work with here....so the brain recommended that I ease off the brakes and just let the bike settle itself...voila...good job brain...I managed to pull it together and get back on the road proper and most importantly, not crash...but I lost a lot of speed coming into the hill and once again missed the back of the pack on the climb...I was able to power my way up, but I was dropped...oh well, I knew the drill so started to get into my own rhythm and do my customary solo lap and a half to the finish...but this time on my way I kept passing other dropped rides and using my best organizing skills assembled a group of 10 or so riders...after a bit of coercing I was able to get them into a semi-functional pace line and we actually worked together for the remainder of the race...our pace was about 15 minutes/lap or 22mph and we managed to stay together...I did have to shout for them to rotate off the front, but it all worked out int he end...the 10 grew to about 16 or so as we headed around...we even picked up a couple of dudes from the B field...as we approached the line the group started to break apart and jockey for position... we were going to have our own mini-race to the line...what fun...one guy jumped (FDNY squad) and I grabbed his wheel...two other guys pulled to the right of us and took off as well...I went too soon, pulled ahead only to have FDNY and NYVelocity go and get a couple of bike lengths in front of me...damn...I finished 3rd...what fun. Can't wait for next time...