The past five days have brought four days of glorious spring weather, which are great for the beginnings of a solid bike tan, and one day of cold, wind, and heavy rains. Finally, spring has sprung in North Jersey and with it has come pleasant rides in short sleeves as early as 7 am this week! As for the one day of cold and rainy weather, that happened to fall on the Saturday morning… the one morning I raced this weekend! Luckily, Pat and myself both braved and survived the nasty weather and have come out of it for the better with a couple more podium placings and a few days of beautiful spring weather to enjoy post-race.
The Lucarelli and Castaldi Cup Series started last week and will run for eight weeks in Prospect Park, NY. The series races include Cat 5, 4, and 1/2/3 fields with each race offering jerseys/bibs to Overall leaders (yellow), King of the Mountains (polka dot), and Sprint (Green). Prospect Park has one 600 meter long incline at a gradient of around 5%, so King of the Mountains is loosely used but it’s great that they have the competition. The 3.1 mile loop is fast, open, and full of sweeping turns. It is not a course that favors climbers or breakaways… both of which are favorites of mine. I awoke at 4 am to the sound of wind and rain and upon looking at the temp on my phone, 40 degrees, was hesitant to ride. Luckily, Pat convinced me otherwise as he is looking for Cat 3 upgrade points and we headed into the city to race. Our Cat 4 field included about 45 riders, mostly from NYC clubs. Because of the rain and winds I figured no breaks would go off and stick, so I decided to sit in and go for the sprint, mountain and overall points. Kissena was strongly represented and seemed intent on drawing out chasers to keep the pace high. Luckily, Moshe and his Speedwell teammate were present to help Pat and I control the Kissena tactics and keep the race in hand. After a few laps of chasing small breaks with Pat and Moshe the bell rang for the first of two sprint points. I fell in line and followed the Kissena wheels until I was second wheel 400 meters from the line. At this point I hit it, and held on for the sprint points win. On the next lap I led Pat out for KOM points where he ended up second to Joe M from Kissena, who is a strong rider in his own right taking 2nd at Battenkill. Sprint point 2 was contested by myself and a few others and I nipped a rider at the line for max points. Next lap, KOM point 2 was led out by the Kissena train while Pat and I sat in. I managed to get around Pat and Joe M to take those points and lead over the top. At this point a lap and a half remained and I was intent on seeing the race stay together for a bunch sprint, as I felt I had good sprint legs this day. Luckily Moshe helped to pin back a few breaks and I was able to sit third wheel until the slight rise to the finish where I hit it and again held the field off for the overall win. Pat ended up third and sits in third overall in the KOM race and third in the Overall Cat 4 field. I ended up getting the Overall lead, the lead in the sprints competition, and sit in second in the KOM race. Much thanks to the Speedwell boys for working with Pat and I, we’ll do our best to repay you in the coming weeks!
The last few days have been great for riding and it’s great to be in the swing of daily training again, after my post-Battenkill swoon (no more shuffleboard and beer nights for a while). One ride even included a hilly loop that passed by the former King of Morocco's NJ vacation home in Basking Ridge, NJ. It’s great to be able to wake up and get in a 3 hour ride before leaving for work at 10 am… and even better to do so in short sleeves and shorts. It has made the build up to the Cat 3 race at Killington a welcome challenge! I’m sure in a few weeks I’ll be whining for 50 degree weather and less humidity, but for now bring on the sun, heat, humidity, and even the mosquitos that come along with that post winter weather. Anything to avoid sub freezing temps and hours on the trainer! The next few days brings more of the same weather (hopefully) and week two of the series at Prospect Park, where I will be defending my lead while wearing the yellow leaders jersey and hoping to help Pat into the lead of the KOM race.
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| Climbing over Natirar Park |
Enjoy the Spring temps and get your bike tan on!
-JJ
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