TWTW: How Much Racing is Too Much Racing
After a rest week for TWTW to recover from the long drive to Rasputitsa we're officially back after another busy weekend of racing. It was one of those weekends with multiple options within a few hours of New York City including Quabbin on Saturday in Ware, Massachusetts for road racers, Lime Rock the following day in Litchfield, Connecticut and on the local side the latest L&C Cup Race in Prospect Park. And of course there was also a little fixed gear criterium in Red Hook.
The Week That Was (TWTW) for To Be Determined
The first race of the weekend took place well north of New York City where Ted, Steve and Colin K lined up for the long-running Quabbin Road Road in Ware, Massachusetts. As ever Quabbin is a beautiful rolling course with a tough climb to the finish but the most memorable element of the 2018 Quabbin Experience™️ for TBD will be the 15-year old that absolute lit the race on fire and took home the win, confirming once again that juniors have way too much energy. Somewhat limited results notwithstanding it was a good opportunity to check our legs ahead of the upcoming Bear Mountain Classic / New York State Road Race Championships in just a few weeks. (Quabbin Results)
On Saturday the Slowboiz started things off for the squad on a very wet morning in Prospect Park. Despite racing aggressively in bleak weather it was a field sprint kind of day with Cullen going early on the final climb after some nice teamwork by Clay. Unfortunately Cullen wound up getting swallowed up just before the line and finished 17th. In the M123 field myself and Chris took one look at the weather forecast and wet roads at 4AM and collectively decided to go straight back to bed, confirming that we are older and hopefully a bit wiser for all of our years racing in NYC. For the Slowboiz though the post race coffee was delicious even if the morning required intense amounts of Oxyclean to rescue the team kit. (Lucarelli & Castaldi Cup Results)
The final race of the weekend took place late on Sunday at Lime Rock. Despite a great venue and a pretty terrific afternoon for racing the turnout was on the light side so the M123 and M3 fields were combined and Scott Smith, formerly of JAM Fund, put on a solo show in the 3's while Ted flew the TBD colors to a 5th place finish. Hopefully next year Lime Rock won't fall on such an action packed weekend of racing and the turnout will improve because it is truly a great venue for racing. (Lime Rock Results)
Ted in action at Lime Rock
Outside of the races most of the team headed to Red Hook on Saturday night for yet another rainy edition of the RHC (seriously, RHC has some of the worst luck with weather). For this edition of RHC the squad also took over the Garneau Instagram account as part of an upcoming project with some of the former Quebecor-Garneau riders including former Canadian National Champ Bruno Langlois. Stay tuned for the video from TBD's own Greg Addo in the coming days to recap the entire day at the races.
Outside of all that the team also snuck in a few miles on Saturday morning across the GWB. All in all not a bad week of playing bicycles in and around NYC for the squad.
Reading, Links and Random Facts
Zach Koop Memorial Crit at Orchard Beach is coming up this weekend. We're less than one week out and registration is trailing massively behind last year's race. Big Wheels Racing is coming back to Orchard Beach, multi-field entries are just $10 and as always there will be tons of pizza for all registrants. What's not to like? Get over to Bikereg and register.
As cycling struggles to find a viable economic model in the US and around the globe the USA CRITS series is experimenting with an interesting model for 2018: "D1" teams buy into the series and earn commissions on the sale of video subscription as the series invests heavily live streaming. $55 for the year is no small ask but given crits remain the most spectator friendly form of racing we certainly hop the effort succeeds. CyclingTips has a good summary of the effort: USA CRITS season preview: Criterium racing, American style (CyclingTips)
"Amsterdam has almost a million bicycles. In total, they cover about two million kilometers each day." Living in a city (NYC) run by a mayor and governor who cannot fathom progressive transit policy it is difficult imagining a municipal government declaring cyclists the "lifeblood" of the city. But that is certainly the case for Amsterdam as detailed in the latest edition of Plan Amsterdam that is full of amazing tidbits for transit fans.
"If you have ever run a marathon, you know that the effort can cause elation, exhaustion, achy legs, blackened toenails and an overwhelming urge to eat. But it is unlikely to have made you vulnerable to colds or other illnesses afterward, according to a myth-busting new review of the latest science about immunity and endurance exercise. The review concludes that, contrary to widespread belief, a long, tiring workout or race can amplify immune responses, not suppress them." How Strenuous Exercise Affects Our Immune System (New York Times)
"I can remember the exact moment I laid eyes on my first Complete Cookie. Well, a wrapper for a Complete Cookie. It was in the trash." To Be Determined's own Steve Rousseau reviews the Complete Cookie in "My Complete Cookie Obsession"