Slippery When Wet in Central Park
This past Sunday was the Lou Maltese Memorial Road Race in Central Park. The weather forecast definitely looked questionably but I didn’t care as long as the temperature was above 70.
As I was waiting for me teammate Colin at 5:00 a.m. on Flushing Ave. in Brooklyn it started to sprinkle; then it started rain a little harder, and harder. By the time I got to Central Park the weather still couldn’t make up it’s mind. The ground was soaked and it couldn’t have been more humid.
The Cat 4 field was full with 80 riders and I think everyone was a little weary of the slick tarmac. If you’ve ever raced in Central Park you know that at the north end of the park there is a big downhill S turn which is dangerous in a pack even in the best conditions. Sure as sh*t, as we came through the S turn on the first lap riders began to slide out in front of me like they were riding on ice. I played it safe, allowed myself plenty of space and rode slow. I managed to stay upright but we had to of lost at least 20-30 guys throughout the race.
Riding in conditions like that you just have to suck it up and resign to be sprayed in the face the whole race by all of the dirt and water coming off the wheels in front of you. I had glasses with yellow lenses which at least kept some of the dirt out of my eyes.
Midway through lap 4 Aviv and I attacked on Harlem Hill, followed by a Foundation rider. Aviv led all the way through the climb and then peeled off and left the Foundation rider an myself on our own. We quickly broke away from the pack and worked the entire rest of the lap to maintain our daylight but neither of us had the strength and were caught at the two laps to go mark.
After negotiating the turn successfully two more times we approached the finish in relatively good fashion; the pack was together and stable. I was sitting second or third wheel and Misha was right behind me. I yelled at him to stay on my wheel and he did. Misha is a pure sprinter and I knew he had a better chance than I did at the win. At the bottom of the hill before the finish he jumped around me and took off with a few other guys. He took second place in a great uphill sprint.
Pics from the race at NY Velocity and Prolly gave me a shoutout as well for the pictures shot by my wife Jennifer Jones.
