The Highs (And Lows) of Central Park BIke Racing: DJCPC 2021
We previewed the Dave Jordan Central Park Classic last week and highlighted how the introduction of a second women’s field contributed to significant growth in total women’s field registration. Given that backdrop, our post race recap also focuses on those two women’s fields, with race reports from Liz in the P/1/2/3 field and Sasha in the 4/5 field on a day that featured all of the highs of Central Park racing and perhaps one low (a massive box truck blocking part of the Elite Women’s field finish).
DJCPC Women’s 1/2/3 Report From Liz
Even though the Saturday morning forecast was not very encouraging, the STOKE level for DJ CPC was high this year! I’ve had some fun races in Central Park this season but this race was extra special because Lisa and Lucia decided to dip a toe in road and race with me this time around.
The field was big relative to regular CRCA Club races. Given the small size of our squad, we didn’t go into the race with any grand plans to control the field. We decided to take the first couple of laps to observe. I mused that it would be cool to make a break. But other than that, we had no real plans or expectations.
The first couple of laps were pretty chill. We were riding at a decent clip but there weren’t any attacks and it was easy just to sit in and coast. At around lap 3 or 4, the field finally got spicy and people started attacking. Between the three of us, we had the attacks covered on the off chance that anything got away. Lucia threw down for a beautiful attack on the east side of the park and I sped to the front to see if I could slow things down a bit. The riders at the front quickly wised up to my game so we eventually caught Lucia. In the back of my mind, I thought it made sense to counter, but it didn’t make sense to counter just before the downhill S-turn at Lasker (right?!). So again we were a cohesive field.
My mojo was interrupted when there was a minor crash going up Harlem Hill. I later learned that two riders were fighting over a wheel and collided. Thankfully, everyone was okay, but it definitely thew me off. The crash was right in front of me and the last time two riders collided right in front of me, I ended up in the ER and needed an emergency spinal fusion. Soooooo needless to say, my brain immediately went to some dark places. Thankfully, Lisa was there to snap me out of it. All she did was ask me if I was okay. Her question gave me a moment to reflect and think, “yeah, I am okay. Yeah! I’m okay!” So I was back in it. (Thanks Lisa I love you.)
Lucia and Lisa continued to check on me throughout the race. We were trying to figure out how to get me into a break. But, with nothing getting away it soon became clear the race would come down to a sprint.
As we rounded the south end of the park on the last lap, I could see that people were starting to organize for it. I’m not naive enough to think I stand a chance in a Central Park sprint, but I did decide to pick a place in the field and hold my position til the finish. I wasn’t going to let myself slowly drift to the back out of fear as I am wont to do (see earlier paragraph, re: terrible crash).
Lisa went to the front to drive up the pace and string things out a bit, which was great because things immediately felt safer as we rounded the corner after Cat’s Paw. But wait, what? OH SH*T. As we rounded the corner, I could see that there was a BOX TRUCK in the middle of our finishing stretch! I imagine that the truck threw a lot of people off. But thankfully, the finish was safe and somehow I managed to nab a perfectly respectable 12th place.
DJCPC Women’s 4/5 Report From Sasha
The forecast was looking really grim so even though I signed up to race weeks ago, I wasn’t sure if I was going to go through with it. I prepared the night before just in case and luckily when I woke up at 4:30am, it wasn’t raining so I geared up and headed out.
There were so many people at race start. A lot of them I knew but most of them I didn’t. I have not raced much this summer at all, so I was excited to get back out there especially because Naveen agreed to join me. Together we chatted about how we had no expectations except to just have fun and complete all the laps.
We rolled off and the initial pace was set higher than I expected. The field blew apart really quickly. Someone attacked after Harlem Hill and I made sure to push to make it into the front group. A handful of women got away and we spent about two laps trying to bring them back. Eventually we absorbed a couple of them but the others were able to stay away.
The third lap was really chill compared to the beginning of the race. I know I haven’t really raced since prior to Covid, but I have to comment on the peloton I was in. There was no structure, several Rec Lane violations, and a lot of unpredictable movement within the field. Because of this, I hung mostly at the back. Skills will come eventually with more experience and coaching.
The fourth lap had a lot of surges in the spots that you would expect: Harlem Hill, after the third sister, and cats paw. By this time in the morning, the wind had picked up and I did my best to hide from it. It was difficult to gain positioning because no one from our group had dropped. Some of the women began sprinting too early and because of that, they could not maintain their effort. That was where I took my shot and came out from behind. I was able to sprint passed the majority of the pack but couldnt get passed the lead women. Overall, I took 9th. Not bad for barely riding and not training all summer.
Photo Gallery by Matt
A perfect Sunday ride, with perfect weather and an excellent crew