Lucarelli & Castaldi Cup #5 Prospect Park - Cat 5 Men's Bike Race

I got 36th out of a field that started with more than 70 racers 🫤. I pushed to get to the front on lap 4 and joined a break that fell apart on the hill going into the final lap. My mistake was not latching onto the field as it passed after the break failed. Moving up felt impossible after I fell back.

Here is my Strava Post:   / strava  

6:42 - "what are we doing?" There was a break up the hill and I felt like the guys up front should not have let it go
7:27 - someone else says "we gotta bring that back"
22:42 - I was proud of myself watching this video and seeing that I surged a bit over the hill to make up positions. In my mind, this is what fitness looks like 🙂

24:39 - pushing to get to the front on lap 4/5

27:07 - I follow an attempt to bring back a two man break - we catch them and a counterattack begins

28:06 - Break attempt falls apart. I can feel it - I call out "rotate" in a feeble attempt to keep it going. Whatever separation we had is slowly evaporating

28:37 - The guy (racer 903) who abandons the broken break makes the RIGHT MOVE. He knows the peloton is coming and he doesn't want to get stuck behind tired people when everyone passes us

29:20 - i'm stuck and it is my fault

30:29 - "YOU GOTTA MOVE UP!" no - i should have moved away. Getting stuck here going into the final lap was my mistake

30:59 - I finally move out...after losing about 40 wheels

31:13 - final lap. I struggle to move up.

33:25 - when sketchy stuff happens at 30mph, i'm 100% screaming out "CUIDADO!!" 😅

34:35 - missed opportunity to move up. Look at how wide open the left side is! I don't know what i was thinking here.

35:57 - I slow down bc people are getting really close to the normal park cyclist who is in the way of the race. Given the "whoa whoa whoa" i think I almost caused a crash here. Sorry 😞

37:34 - Things start moving again - this is likely because someone in the front of the race sent a big attack up the hill that spread things out. I am content to get through traffic and sit down through the finish.