March 2000 Race Reports
March 25-26
CRCA Club Race
SBCG was split, with guys in this race plus three different events at the Spring Series in Prospect plus CRCA marshal duty. The field was big. So we gambled and did little for the first five or six laps.
A very good group of about ten or 12 got away with, among others, Kyoo Min, John Loehner and Brent Greenberg of Renaissance, Leon Moser and George Suter of Union Square, and Sean Mannion of ReMax. They gained over a minute and a half with three to go. In the field ReMax was trying to get it going, both by pulling a lot and trying to shame us, and others, into chasing. Charlie I of Breakway pulled quite a bit too. David Ottavio pulled when he could and Walid attacked a few times to try to instigate some acton.
Then with two to go we got active. JT helped drive a move of about eight guys launched by team alumn Rob Neal (now Gold and Blue). This group caught the break at 72 Street on the east side with just over one to go. Unfortunately for us, Brent and Sean were still up the road and stuck it to the end, with Brent winning the longest race in Central Park since the Tour Du Pont.
Behind there was all kinds of action with the field coming together briefly, then Kyoo and Inson Wood (Keith Haring) rolled away down the west side. Inson got swept up by the field, with John Idone of ReMax taking the field sprint. None of our guys were in the top places.
It seemed like every key team in the race except us was using radio communication.
Spring Series Saturday
The talented Mr. Orr did it again in the 3-4 race. Heavily marked after last week's win, he did little early, then joined a five person attack about halfway through and won the sprint.
The Masters was again a CRCA-Sony fest. Sony's Randy Willier attacked solo from an active field about midway into the eight lap race. Kurt joined him and then Sony's Jose Collado made a nice bridge on the next lap. The three worked well together, with Jose winning and Kurt second. That's the fourth different Sony rider to win the Masters out of four races. That is strength in depth.
The pro-1-2-3 race was dominated by a move that went at the start, with Chad, plus Kissena's Dave Melchior and Eric Ragot, Long Island hard man Trevor Sears, Jason from Brielle-Ideal Tile and others. The group got a large gap and it looked like the race was over.
However, a big chase was organized by Toga, Gotham and friends, apparently all working for Pollo Martes of Toga, with Oscar Pineda of 7-Up throwing in some super high speed pulls. The break was caught on the last lap and the race ended in a field sprint, duly won by Pollo. Despite his efforts, Melchior placed in the sprint and is the new leader of the Series.Full results are up. The dissapointing thing is that one of the top guys was DQ'd for going into the joggers lane in Central Park last week, and that's supposed to mean a three month suspension from racing in City parks.
Spring Series Sunday
Simon scored a hat trick, winning the third 3-4 race in a row. This time it was in a field sprint, where he followed a leadout from CRCA-CNC, working for Daniel Byrne. Byrne held on for third.
The pro-1-2-3 was very fast. We did nothing noteworthy. The key element of the race, besides some very sketchy riding, were a multi-lap ultra-high speed break by Scott Mercer of CRCA-Mengoni and Kevin Malloy of CRCA-Renaissance that was caught in the last K by the field. Oscar Pineda of 7-Up won.
The other impressive thing was Enrique Cubillo flatting, getting a quick wheel change from a teammate and making it back to the field.
The Masters race also ended in a field sprint, with Morgan Stebbins of CRCA-Sony winning. Jose Collado and Juan Pimental of Sony and Manny Lopez of Spin Gym filled the other top spots.
CRCA Cup Round 1
Twenty degrees and a scheduled nine laps of Central Park (later shortened to eight), this race promised to be brutal...and it was. CRCA-Hot Tubes (juniors) were in town and started the action, while everyone else was pretty cagey for the first few laps.
About halfway through the race the first big move went, with Hot Tubes, ReMax, Renaissance and Details in a five or six man group. JT tried to cross, but couldn't and was jumped by Stephen Badger of ReMax who was the last guy to make the break (that's racing). And as JT later whined "John Eustice was right there, seeing me crack at the critical moment."
After some persuasion from Charlie Issendorf of Breakaway, we started chasing but were suffering. You know it's a bad day when you're on the front, pulling as hard as you can and someone from another team asks who you're blocking for. So the effort opened us up to a counter led by Scott Mercer (Mengoni) the second to last time over the hill at north end of the Park. That pulled another ten guys away. Simon made the move which was a small consolation (having one of fifteen guys up the road).
Those chasers caught all of the break except two Hot Tubes guys who won, and Simon got sixth, saving us from total embarassment. There was all kinds of action in that sprint, with Badger getting hooked severely (whether it was intentional or not depends on who you talk to) and ending up in the bushes.
Meanwhile, Eugene rode away from the field with a lap to go, was caught by a couple guys, then crashed in another "hooking incident" (this one an accident) just before the line. JT did the field sprint for the few places left (out of 20) and got the last one. A good day of racing -- with the race finishing in at least four different groups -- though not so good for us.
1. Ian Stuart (HotTubes) 125 pts, 2. Dustin Rademacher (HotTubes) 100 pts, 3. Sony rider (John McGovern?) 75 pts, 4. Renaissance rider (Kevin Malloy?) 70 pts, 5. Morgan Stebbins (Sony) 60 pts, 6. Simon Orr (SBCG) 55 pts, 7 Scott Mercer (Mengoni) 50 pts, 8. Eric Min (Renaissance) 45 pts, Keith Haring Foundation rider (Enrique or Lane?) 40 pts, Inson Wood (Keith Haring Foundation) 35 pts, 11. Sean Mannion (ReMax) 30 pts, 12. Keith Haring Foundation rider 28 pts*, 13. Josh Davison (Renaissance) 26 pts*, 14. Stephen Badger (ReMax) 25 pts, 15. Mat Wilson (Hot Tubes) 23 pts*, 16. Peter Barlin (ReMax) 20 pts*, 17. David Gitt (ReMax) 18 pts*, 18. ReMax rider (John Idone or Mihael) 17 pts*, 19. Renaissance rider (Ray Diaz?) 16 pts*, 20. John Tomlinson (SBCG) 15 pts
(* means no points scored, but places kept from other teams)
Team Standings: 1. Hot Tubes 225 pts, 2. Sony 135 pts, 3. Renaissance 115 pts, 4. Keith Haring Foundation 75 pts, 5. SBCG 70 pts, 6. ReMax 55 pts, 7. Mengoni 50 pts
We didn't have anyone in the women's race, but observed with rapt attention:
1. Loren Launen (Renaissance) 125 pts, 2. Julie Walsh (RLX-Polo) 100 pts, 3. Kristi Roberts (WSF-Setanta) 75 pts,Heather Baiman (RLX-Polo) 65 pts, 5. Aubin Sullivan (Renaissance) 55 pts, 6. Jane Moloney (CRCA Gold and Blue) 45 pts, 7. Julie Deardorff (CRCA Gold and Blue) 30 pts
Team Standings: 1. Renaissance 180 pts, 2. RLX Polo 165 pts, 3. WSF-Setanta 75 pts, 4. CRCA Gold and Blue 75 pts
Spring Series
Century-SBCG got its first win of the year in the 3-4. Simon was our only guy in the race and he attacked halfway through, was caught by the field which he said was "all strung out" and then went again, riding the last lap solo in grand style. We hope someone got a photo.
The pro-1-2-3 ended with Matt Koschara (Navigators) riding away from the field down the west side on the last lap and sticking to the end. Very impressive. Other than that, there was lots of action. Our guys -- Eugene, JT and Walid -- were in some of it but didn't have much horsepower.
And the riding was quite hairy -- with a crash in the last 300 meters. Plus some guys busted a move through the joggers lane in the sprint and were, thankfully, disqualified. Eugene got tenth. Dave Melchior of Kissena also continued to impress with the first attack of the day and a place in the sprint.
In the Masters CRCA-Sony pulled a big deception, with Morgan Stebbins sitting tight while highly marked, letting three of his teammates get in the big break. Paul from our team made the move and got third.
1. Juan Pimental (CRCA-Sony), 2. Jose Collado (CRCA-Sony), 3. Paul Carbonara (Century-SBCG)
One last thing about the Spring Series race. It was in the low thirties and you could tell who had raced the day before -- they were the ones not moaning about it being cold!
March 11-12
CRCA Club Race
Eight lap handicap. Eight laps. Eight laps at 6:15 in the morning. That's pretty hard and the racing was good. In the As, Details started the action and there was tons of attacking.
Eventually a group of about ten guys got clear, with Simon and Chad from our team, Dave Jordan of Union Square, Inson Wood and Enrique Cubillo of Details (who were constantly attacking the group -- with over an hour of racing to go), Sean Mannion of ReMax, at least one Bennett's rider and others. Wilson Vasquez of Mengoni was one of the last guys to join the move, with a very impressive bridge. The group got a good gap and we were satisfied, but Renaissance wasn't. They led a chase, with help from Sony and some others.
Between the Renaissance chase and mad infighting in the break, the field caught them on the west side on the penultimate lap -- though Inson and Sean. Meanwhile the Bs (and Cs) must have been hammering because they were still clear.
With more pushing from Renaissance, the whole race came together at the bottom of the Park the bell. It was very chaotic riding through the other fields, and there was a largish crash behind the Met. More attacking. Then eight or ten guys slipped away the last time up the hill at the North end of the Park and sort of held it to the line, with the first three places coming from the break and the other places a mix of break and field -- and Renaissance with well-deserved top spots.
1. Kevin Malloy (Renaissance), 2. Ray Diaz (Renaissance), 3. John Idone (ReMax), 4. Frankie Arroyo (Sony), 5. Eugene Boronow (SBCG), 6. Dave Gitt (ReMax), 7. Leon Moser (Union Square).
Spring Series
Like last week, we had only three guys in the pro-1-2-3 in Sunday's Spring Series race in Central Park. But with serious rain the field was small so maybe we had the biggest team! There was a lot of attacking -- Dave Melchior (Kissena) was active. Matt Koschara (Navigators) was active and fast. We (Chad, Eugne and JT) were active, as were others, so the field kept splitting from the pressure and poor conditions. But nothing stuck and the race ended in a sprint. Our best guy was Eugene in 12th -- out of the money.
1. Wilson Vasquez (CRCA-Mengoni), 2. Pollo Martes (Toga) 3. Ryan Oelkers (Torelli).
The Masters was brutal, as usual. We had three guys and CRCA-Sony had...a dozen? And they rode well. The race went from the gun, started breaking up on the descent at Lasker Rink and by the top of the hill at the North end was shattered -- with a front group of about ten (we had Kurt and Lance in that group), a second group of about five (with David from Century-SBCG plus ex-team member Caryl Gale, now on Spin Gym) and the field suffering behind. There was constant attacking in front, with John McGovern of Sony arriving solo and claiming "I wasn't supposed to win today", and his teammate Morgan Stebbins taking the group sprint in front of Kurt.
1. John McGovern (CRCA-Sony), 2. Morgan Stebbins (CRCA-Sony) 3. Kurt Gustafsson (Century-SBCG).
The season in New York City started with the CRCA club race in Central Park. Seven laps. We had our new SBCG clothing and it looked good -- thanks to Verge for quick delivery and Walid for the very attractive design.
The race itself went not as well. New team member Lance was very good at covering early stuff, and Tim got into the break, but was in the wrong half when it split. Jason Priest of CRCA-Renaissance took the win from Stephen Badger of CRCA-ReMax and some other Renaissance and Keith Haring riders. Jason had a pretty good turn of speed at the end. Or, as he put it, "I wouldn't have been able to face Kyoo (Min -- the Renaissance manager) if I hadn't won." And Kyoo took the field sprint for about sixth place.
The next day's Spring series race went quite a bit better for Century-SBCG. After both typical (late start) and atypical (one lap added, not cut as usual) Spring Series shenanigans, the races began.
In the pro-1-2-3 we had only three guys. Kissena's Dave Melchior went from the gun and Chad went after him. After Chad was caught JT went, then when he was caught Eugene went (at 72nd Street on the West side). There was about 30 seconds hesitation in the field, then Mark Brinken (Kissena), Enrique Cubillo (CRCA-Keith Haring) and a few other guys responded. They joined Eugene and the group rode away. Race over.
Or so we thought. The break had 45 seconds with one six mile lap to go when CRCA-Breakaway Courier's Charlie Issendorf persuaded a bunch of the strong guys in the bunch (Juan Pineda of 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist, Scott Mercer and Wilson Vasquz of Mengoni, Juan Pablo Castro who was back from the Vuelta Independencia Nacional in the Dominican Republic, George Suter of CRCA-Union Square and some others) to lead a mad chase. Pineda in particular made it wicked fast.
But the break held on by a few seconds, with a big guy (Bryan Leigh) with an Australian or New Zealand accent winning, Cubillo takind second and the Spring Series leader's jersey (he'd pre-registered, which is worth some points), Eugene third and Melchior fourth.
In the Masters the move went from the gun. Lance and Paul from our team were in it, though Paul later came out. Morgan Stebbins of CRCA-Sony won followed by Doug O'Neill (Spin Gym). Lance was fourth and Paul sixth.
Full results from both Spring Series races are up.
****