Despite a cold and soggy start to the weekend, we still got out to ride bikes! While most of us stayed inside Saturday, Sunday was packed with some racing in Prospect Park and out in Queens at the Kissena velodrome.

Verge Series #2

The Verge Series heated up on Sunday morning and despite the lingering cold temps and overnight rain, saw a decent sized field of roughly fifty racers. Lucia and new teammate Jacob were the first to sign up, with James registering at the last minute to get some speed back in the legs. Jacob had an unfortunate meeting with a car door and the ground on Friday, so he was certainly excused from racing Sunday morning. All images courtesy of Marcos Quezada! Thanks Marcos for the great snaps.

James’ race report:

“I realized I did not do a single road race in 2024 and hadn’t raced in Prospect since 2022! Basing my life around a road racing schedule had been really taxing. I had a lot of fun when I was racing in Texas but I grew pretty tired of it by the end of 2023. Last year, I only did the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo and went back to finding the simple joy of riding bikes for fun. I also found a much more rewarding way to support my teammates, friends, and fellow bike riders through working at ACME.

I was surprised to find that I was motivated and not anxious to jump back into a 2/3 field. I’ve been putting a lot of consistency on the bike over the winter (Zwift zero-to-hero blog post soon!) and was feeling confident in my base fitness to race at the front of the field. I was less confident in my pack skills so I planned to be off the front or at the back. I’m also training for the Wilmington Whiteface 100km up in Lake Placid in June, so I’m treating any park racing as training.

Usually this field is experienced and clever enough to form and ride hard breakaways so I was a bit bummed when I saw NYCC was fielding ten (yes, TEN!) racers. I was guessing it would be a closed race and I was right. NYCC kept it fast from the start and did well to discourage attacks. I tested my legs at the first KOM sprint, ate a whole bunch of wind, but convinced an Onyx rider to continue pushing over the top after the KOM sprinters sat up. We had a nice gap but at the start/finish line I took a peek under my arm to see a wash of NYCC riders at the front of the peloton closing the slight advantage we had.

The rest of the race played out pretty much the same. Any time there was a lull in pace, I would keep my momentum, cruise to the front, and attack if there was an opportunity. I think there were at least three NYCC riders at the front at all times and they tagged every move with more than one rider. Their teammates back in the bunch would then go to the front and keep the gap close. The last real opportunity I saw was the lead-in to the hill with two laps to go, a good mix of riders from all teams formed a group of around eight. It was too large and I was a bit late, as I tagged on to the back the peloton was strung out behind me and we were all absorbed.

I had no real interest in mixing it up in a bunch sprint so I just rolled in at the back but I’m satisfied with the effort and my fitness for goals to come. Hats off to NYCC, their work payed off and they landed another win with Vlad in the leader’s jersey.

It wouldn’t be a TBD blog post without a shoutout to Castelli for providing us with such great versatile threads. I wore a fleece lined CX long sleeve skinsuit and seamless leg warmers, and neoprene Diluvio gloves, staying just warm enough for the whole race.”

View the full photo gallery on the Verge Series Facebook page.

KISSENA SIX DAY

The 2025 track season kicked off this past Sunday at our beloved NYC velodrome. After 3 days of rain cancellations this spring, the 6 Days of Kissena series finally found some dry weather for its season opener. Megan decided the night before that it was time to dust off her track gear and head to the track for a little bit of fun.

Photo courtesy of Jun Aishima. View the full gallery on Facebook.

Megan’s race report:

“After almost two years away from the track, I was both nervous and excited to race without brakes again. After some sprint practice during the Branchbrook series (we won the sprint competition, in case you haven’t heard me blab about it yet), I've been looking to get some longer, harder efforts in the legs before May & June races so I can be more competitive at the finishes. What better way to sharpen the knife than at the track?

Those who race at Kissena know that it’s more than just a velodrome. On race day, you feel the energy and positivity from the moment you enter the parking lot. I’m currently still a Cat 4 on the track, so I lined up in the Women’s B field alongside a handful of really strong juniors that I was sprinting against all day – I was really impressed with both their strategy and their raw power. The field also consisted of a few new racers, as well as racers coming back from injury – all were a pleasure to race against, which is usually a given at Kissena.

Forgetting what gearing is even appropriate on the track, I used whatever was on my bike… which felt great during the first scratch race, until it was time to sprint on the last lap. I rolled across the finish in 3rd at an ungodly fast cadence, wishing I had a heavier gear to push.

After some guidance from some friends in other fields watching me bounce around the track, I changed my gearing for the final points race, which gave me a little more power in those intermediate sprints. I took the win in that final race, pushing me into 2nd place overall for the day! It was a great season opener at the track, and I’m hoping to see more teammates and friends at the track for the remainder of the 6 Days series.”