A few months ago, the Pirate John Raguin had an idea. "Let's go down and race in Central Park in March" It's generally warmer down there, and it will be fun to go out in the city afterwards. The idea morphed a bit because the Central Park race costs an unfathomable $75 membership fee, so we decided to do the Grants Tomb Criterium (hey we saved $25! That's 2 drinks at the bar later). We had a large crew going down so we made it a team race.
As the day approach the weather didn't look so good. 3 inches of snow the day before, temps in the teens the night before. But it was supposed to warm up to 32 midday so no problem right?
Chris P decided to be the celebrity Directeur Sportif as he had a lingering knee injury but still wanted to partake in the boondoggle. He met myself, The Pirate, Tom Coleman and Antony at the park and ride so we could ride in style in the Minivan and Saab Wagon caravan. We met Jacob, Diesel Rich Batten, AJ, Mike Westberry, and David McCay. All was good because Tom's 1947 Saab said it was 90 degrees outside (he's a mechanic so his car must be in perfect working order). On the way down we hit Micky D's so I can load up on Sausage Burrito's (Coach Cratty recommends as the #1 pre-race nutrition formula). We notice its still a bit chilly on the way down (20 degrees). Luckily the winds only gust to 40mph.
Other MRC-ers would be down there racing early. We get down there and, not-so-surprisingly, find it very difficult to get a parking spot. We head to Starbucks and buy $50 worth of stuff just to get the combo to the bathroom (upper west side Starbucks combo 02017 FYI). I asked if this was the zip code and the woman said "umm no the year". We were confused. I digress.
We start to get ready for the race. Yes its 26 degrees with EPIC winds, this is going to miserable and dangerous, my favorite combo. My bike was leaning against the building but almost blew over, so I laid it on the ground until a nice New Yorker came by and put it back up. (I love NYers). We're resigned to little to no warm up. I was going to wear my winter jacket over my jersey until the race start, but it was so cold I just pinned the jersey on, AERO BE DAMNED!!!! We still had the Aeroshell and shoe covers so that should replace the lost watts of the jacket.
First up the 3/4. We didn't really ride the course but it looks interesting with lots of elevation including a short punchy hill into the wind. We start and I move to the front immediately. I watch a lot of bike racing, wind = ride at the front or else. The pace seems reasonable so I stay up there pretty easily. I didn't know until later that we split the field in half and it never came back. Good for me, Tom and Jacob, bad for the rest of the team. Chris P mentioned that the wind was coming off the Hudson, so ride toward the city side in both directions. He is dead on, and this was a huge advantage. Getting caught on the wrong side meant wasted watts. Also I had my 60mm wheels on, and while not ideal for these conditions, the extra 20lbs in fat and clothing I'm carrying offset the effects.
A couple of breaks get away but nothing too crazy so we sit in for the first 1/2, the 3 of us staying near the front. Tom rides off the front for a bit but it doesn't amount to anything. Jacob is a regular at the front. Getting down under 10 to go and there is a solo rider with 10 seconds that looks strong. Chris P is encouraging us to chase this down. We we're working for Tom, so I go to the front and in a lap shave 8 seconds off the lead. I pull off at the top of the punchy hill with the leader within "arms length" but no one pulls through and the lead builds back up to 8 seconds. Jacob is back on the front and its back down to only a small gap. With 5 to go, which is when Tom wanted to make his move, we have a quick discuss and I tell him we're going to try the sling shot. It happened fast, he got on my wheel as I sprinted up the right side of the uphill finishing straight to try to catapult him to the winning move. It didn't work as they covered it, but it did finally real in the solo break. Tom unfortunately stayed on the front too long afterwards, so it wasn't looking good. Same spot just before the 1-to-go I try to get away but its nullified. I decide to stay on the front through the banner and string it out, hoping Tom or Jacob could benefits from a hard finish. I make it to the top of the last hill and pull off, job done I soft pedal in. We didn't fare so well in the sprint unfortunately, but its only March 11 and we didn't die. Sadly we did have one casualty, The Pirate crashed and has a bad case of Hamburger Ass. (I won't share the photo, you can thank me later)
We head to the van which is now closer to the course, thank god. I was warm during the race, but frost bite was creeping in quickly. We still have another race with the 2/3 coming up at 2:30. Shivering in the van with the heat full blast, it was hard to imagine lining up for another race. Despite the 100 reasons I could think of to skip the race, we get out of the car at 2:29 and head to the start line. This is a large race, maybe 100 people, so I plan on sitting in for as long as possible. The 1st 3 laps are an outrage, and at one point I look back to find only 1 person behind me (a significant amount of people already dropped). It's almost 2mph faster than the 3/4. Luckily I start to warm up and move up, and bury myself int he pack. I had tunnel vision for the next 45 minutes as I employ every wheel sucking technique I've ever learned. Tom and I converse a few times, and I'm thinking he was feeling the same as me, so I'm not worried about trying to help him get a result. Back to wheelsucking. 3 laps to go and I say to myself "myself, should you try for a result? No, you should hang on for a pack finish. Ok myself, I couldn't have said it better myself." And that's what I did. Two solid races done, time to party.
We head to the hotel, shower and go out to eat at, guess what, a Mexican restaurant. Many margaritas later we head to St Andrews Scottish Pub, send Smudger some unintelligible texts, and I proceed to use the "just one more" trick on the guys until we're stumbling through Times Square. Chris Pare, who didn't even race, is still hungry so we make the regrettable trip to the 2-tiered Mega-McDonalds and load up on double cheeseburgers and chicken mcnuggets. It cured my hiccups so I was happy about that. Next days death march home wasn't so enjoyable, but that's why they call them boondoggles.
Race Team Update: Tom C. and I lead the club with 1.5 points towards the Wachusett Cup!
NYC Trip Report - Grants Tomb Crit
Re: NYC Trip Report - Grants Tomb Crit
All I have to add is that it is 360 days or so until we go down again. That was awesome, even with the cold and hamburger butt.
Re: NYC Trip Report - Grants Tomb Crit
Sorry I missed you down there. It was too cold to hang around for long after my races. I enjoyed reading the race report.
Re: NYC Trip Report - Grants Tomb Crit
As team statistician you and TC are in the lead with 1.5pts. All other "double uppers" DNF resulting in no bonus .5 point.
Re: NYC Trip Report - Grants Tomb Crit
Do I get Hamburger butt dispensation for the second race? Just kidding. I only expect credit for the 1st one... believe me, no one crashes on purpose!
Re: NYC Trip Report - Grants Tomb Crit
We need the Pirate Clause written into the rules: if you crash out of a qualifying race you still get the points 