TWTW: Coming Back from Vacation is Hard
Coming back after any sort of stretch off the bike is rarely easy and vacation is certainly no exception. While Cullen was busy leading the TWTW for the past two weeks I was wandering around Norway taking too many photographs and eating far too much food. Transitioning back into a training routine this past week was not easy but with Intelligentsia Cup looming in just a few weeks time is definitely short to find the form that I have been missing for most of the year. Thankfully there was a busy week of racing and riding on tap in New York City...
The Week That Was (TWTW) for To Be Determined
Racing kicked off as it so often does with a Thursday night at the Rockleigh Crit where, no suprise, Ted raced aggressively and got into a small late race break. Unfortunately cooperation was sparse, the break was caught in the second to last corner. In the field sprint that followed there was a nasty crash that sent Daghan and Corey into full evasive maneuvers. Thankfully they kept the rubber side down and were able to piece together another 80ish mile day of racing and riding on a Thursday in New York City. (Rockleigh Crit Results)
Weekend racing kicked off with Saturday's Castelli Series race in Prospect Park where the hardest part of the morning, at least for those coming from outside the geographic boundaries of Brooklyn, is the vicious early morning alarm (3:50AM in my case). We lost one TBD racer to hitting the snooze button a few too many times and very nearly lost another when Corey developed a nasty bubble in his tire after flatting on the Manhattan bridge. Thankfully with a combination of a dollar bill and a chunk of the old tube we were able to get him on the start line all of thirty seconds before the race rolled off. As for the racing it was pretty vanilla with the 2/3 field avoiding what looked like a nasty pile-up in the Masters field and no particularly dangerous breaks forming. In fact the most intense moment of the race may have been when a recreational rider swung across the road and almost swept out Rich Spencer of the 5th Floor. Thus the race came down to a field sprint and while I was well positioned over the crest of the hill shortly thereafter my vacation legs (two weeks off the bike = ouch) kicked in and I imploded spectacularly while the Series leader took home the win. No results notwithstanding the post race coffee was delicious and we threw in some post race park laps for good measure. (Castelli Series Results)
While most of the squad stuck to skinny tires on Saturday, Ted was back on the Mountain Bike at Ramsey's Revenge where he scored his second consecutive win. Our favorite part of Ted winning Mountain Bike races? Getting to see his MTB podium fashion sense on full display.
We closed out the weekend at the Historic Riverton Criterium where Steve and Ted raced aggressively and things were looking good until rain and a crosswalk paint strip conspired to foil Ted's leadout with Steve holding on to finish in the money in 8th place. It may not have been the result we were looking for but with a very Intelligentsia Cup like scene including a promoter that lives on the course who opened his home to racers we will definitely be back at Riverton next year.
Reading, Links and Random Facts
Normally we fill this section of TWTW with various links to interesting articles and internet memes that are at least tangentially related to cycling. However our normal reading veered distinctly off course this week when we learned of Anthony Bourdain's passing. As universal fans of Bourdain and his message of diversity, inclusion, and empathy we're just going to leave this week's Reading, Links and Random Facts as the compilation of writing that TBD'er Steve Rousseau put together at his day job at Digg.com: A Profound Loss: The Best Writing on Anthony Bourdain.
Parting Shot
On Friday we previewed the Red Hook Crit piece that Daghan and Greg produced with our friends from Garneau. If you haven't seen it we think it is worth a look: TBD x Garneau X Velo Cartel at the Red Hook Crit
A New York City based cyclist and sometimes photographer. Part adventure rider, part crit racer, and fully obsessed with an English bulldog named Winifred.
Instagram: @photorhetoric
E-mail: matthew@tobedetermined.cc
