Race Report: Philly Phlyer

By the numbers (tentative):
Finished with the field, roughly 23/60.
26.04 mi (4 laps) in 1h 12m 01s
Speed: 21.6 (avg) / X (max)
Cadence: 75 RPM (avg) / X (max)
HR: 162 (avg) / X (max)
Power: 255 W (avg) / 1102 W (max)
Energy: 1111 kilojoules

In short: Blocking works all to well when people aren't willing to work. Breaking doesn't work without teammates to help.

Once again, I braved the usual nemesis, cold, to participate in today's race.

Last week, Lenny Klipper, a rider on B2SB this summer, invited me down to Philadelphia to race in the Philly Phlyer. I decided to accept, since I enjoy seeing new places, meeting new people, and keeping myself entertained. Getting to the race was very easy: I took a Chinatown bus to Philadelphia, then, with my trusty Edge 705 leading the way, cycled 2.5 miles to the race course.

The Phlyer is a major collegiate race event. I saw a number of people I haven't seen in a while: some Bike and Builders, some MIT cyclists, and Clay, the president of Penn State cycling who will help our group find a place to stay in State College, PA this summer.

I arrived at the race course at about 11am, with many hours to go before my 2:15pm race. Due to the travel, I didn't have a chance to eat as much good food as I would have liked, nor did I hydrate properly. Lesson learned.

TODO: Course description. It was a beautiful course.

A break formed about halfway through the first lap, on a climb. I knew it would form, but I wasn't in a good enough spot to catch it. The pack slowed down dramatically as teammates of the guys in the break sandbagged like, well, blocks of sand. Everybody was complaining about it, but nobody was doing anything about it. Horrible. I tried to bridge twice, on the long straightaway on the course. When I failed, I re-joined the pack and waited for the inevitable pack finish.

I can't let this keep happening. These "races" just become pricey group rides when people stop working.