Quick Race Report:
The morning ended up being wet due to the overnight rain that literally stopped as we were lined up to start the race. The field was on the smaller side because of the weather and the higher payout of the Harlem Skyscraper crit that was happening just a little later in the day. The race was a points race with the top 3 on each lap collecting points towards the finish placing - meaning the sprinters would be going hard for the win, but knowing that the weather was less than ideal, I also figured that a strong break could stick it. My race was going to be a little more challenging because my power-meter died right before the race, so I was basically going on perceived effort and watching heart-rate to control my pacing.
When the race started, Ben (Blue Ribbon) went full gas, so I hopped on his wheel and the initial break was started - this one ended up being only 4-5 riders, and we were quickly reabsorbed. I made sure to stick toward the front of the race to watch for any dangerous moves, but we basically finished the 1st lap (of 8) as a big group. Small attacks moved on lap 2, but again things basically held together for the entire lap.
After the 3rd run up Harlem hill, I was sitting on Bill Ash (Foundation) and someone behind us yelled that we had a gap - I looked back to see we had caused a decent split on the climb and we now had a group of 10 - 2 Foundation (including Bill), 2 Rockstar, 3 GF Capital, 2 Dave Jordan and myself. The group worked reasonably well until the run into Cat's Paw (the lap start/finish), when Jesus (DJ), Bill, Tom (Rockstar) and one of the GF dudes started jockeying for the sprint, so another GF guy and I just kept rolling. Jesus, Bill and Tom still managed to shoot around us for the sprint, but when we regrouped on the start of lap 4, it was down to 5 of us - Jesus, Bill, Tom, the GF sprinter and myself.
We worked together for the next 2 laps with the sprint always being a duke-out between Jesus and Bill with Tom snagging 3rd (and usually me rolling for 4th), but on the start of lap 6, Bill and Jesus kept on the gas after the sprint, so now we were 3 chasing the leading 2 with a field somewhere behind us. At this point the GF guy was toast and basically either hanging on or taking the front for a second before pulling off, meaning it was up to Tom and I to do the chasing. Bill was in full TT mode with Jesus sitting on his wheel, so I was hoping we could catch them, however they held a 20-30s gap for the rest of the race.
Our new group of 3 kept rolling along and trying to keep a solid pace for the remaining 2 laps, however as we exited the rollers of the West side on the final lap, Tom said he saw a moto light behind us, meaning the field was getting close. With basically 4-5min of racing left, I was in no mood for getting caught after being away all race, so I dug in deep and pulled from the entry of horseshit alley. Tom was sitting on my wheel and the GF racer was fighting to stay in contact (and losing), but what ended up being a small group of racers was closing fast. As we hit the base of Cat's Paw, Tom came around and shouted for me to jump on his wheel. I caught some draft and pushed with all the juice left in the legs towards the line. In the end I was pipped by another Foundation rider right at the line, but I think the 5th place was a solid result for the effort.
After the race Tom thanked me for the driving effort of the break, mentioning he didn't think he could have kept the pace without me dragging us along. He figured that it was the hardest and fastest CRCA race of the year, and while I didn't have power data, I did record a new PR 90min heartrate, so I am inclined to believe that at least the effort was high!
Time to recover and then the next two weekends are the CRCA Open-race omnium - let's see if I can snag some more good results!
