Addiscombe starting to break the USA

[the other Steve Dennis]

Hi All.

SO this is the race results thread so I am keeping this one to just that. I promise to send my first 'Letter from America' re life etc soon.

Saturday morning at 6am - thats when you register for racing in the Parks in NYC. My whole reason for road racing was to get away from early morning tt starts!!

I am a 5th Cat over here. A beginner. When I finish 10 road races I will be a 4th Cat unless I score points in the meantime. I didi tell the USCF that I was a 3rd Cat but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth, besides I deserve the confidence boost a few good results should give.

Besides it wasn't that easy. And to stop any later dissappointment when reading this 'I did not walk all over it'. lol.

40 of us to start, as well as a field of 60 4th's, 60 masters and women (actually abou 8 women of mixed cats who actually race the second longest distance of all the fields and have a hard time mixing it with the masters...) and the about 80 in thr Pro 1,2 and 3 field. Each field has a lead car and must pull to one side as their race is neutralized if lapped. Prospect Park in Brooklyn is 3.4miles round and luckily only 5 minutes away from our appartment. It basically starts with a 200m climb in the big ring, then drops for half a lap at upto 40mph and then a long flat finishing section. Previous experience taught me that it always finishes in a sprint and a week of training proved it would be difficult to escape on the descent and survive a lap alone.

I'll start to be brief. 1 scary moment, riding to registration I saw a rider in a Brixon Cycles jersey, stared at him, yelled and looked forward just in time to miss the back of a jogger by inches!!! I nearly died. Turns out the guy had lived in Brixton for a couple of years but didnt race and wasn't really very friendly. Second scary moment was the start of the race and the standard of bike handling in this beginners cat. No offence to beginners who I support in racing whole heartedly but I was scared, made mental notes of which riders to keep away from and decided to ride at the front as usual. To be honest it was pretty darn quick, Myself and a few others tried attacks and keeping the pace high through each lap but no one managed to stay away for more than half a lap - oh yeah the whole race was only 18miles!! - and it was destined to be a sprint. On the fourth climb I was in 2nd and heard a glimmer of hope as a crash behind brought down a few guys and broke the field for a bit but it came together again on the descent. There are photos to come of an ACC jersey in the US race scene and in fact leading the race. Last time up the hill and I struggled but used the descent to get to the front, I was in the top 20 for the sprint. Unfortunately I was against the cones seperating us from the joggers lane and disqualification and even though I used my shoulders to stop myself from being pushed into the path the way ahed was blocked. A gap opened 50m from the line and I swung into the centre of the pack and passed a few guys in the dying metres but only finished 14th ish. Pretty dissappointed actually. Normally happy if I have ridden 'a la Keith Knight' and had a lot of fun, but I just knew that I should have been on the side in the sprint and could have easily gained a placing if I'd been in the centre - oh well next time. Not a tough race but Im not a climber and that just made it hard enough and then ofcourse you have to take into account the lazy (or some would say smart) guys who just sit in the bunch till the last corner and have an armchair ride to the finish..not for me. This week I am without bike in Chicago aiming to recreate scenes from Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the Breakfast Club but a week or so of laps in the park later will lead to a result soon. Next Tuesay night I may race at Floyd Bennet which is a deserted airfield. Flat as a pancake and fast but apparently if you come off, the surface will scrape the metal off your bike and we won't mention what it does to skin.

Hope you guys and gals are all having a swell time. I am always checking this forum and londoncyclesport for any news and have even found a place that has Cycling Weekly onsale on Fridays seemingly at the same price! Though I am trying to ween myself off it. The US does not have an equivalent.

Keep in touch. As I said 'A Letter From AMerica' to follow soon.

PS Watching the TOur live at 9am is inpossible unless you have OLN which repeats it all day (ALL DAY). The Tour is not news here unless Lance is winning. Last Saturday 50 cinemas across the US screened the stage live from 7am with breakfast and competitions and were treated to Lance doing it again!!!!
I am no Lance fan but I cannot believe what he is doing or maybe what others are failing to do. Basso and Mancebo also continue to gain respect daily.
6 days left.....luckily I am staying with Sarahs father who does have OLN so my mornings will be planned out. I'll be sitting there waiting for Ullrich to do something stunning.
This country will be unbearable if Lance wins.
On that subject his comments after giving the stage to Basso on Friday went down really badly with riders over here they are more than aware of his arrogance and its only helping Tyler to become America's cycling hero.

Have a nice day..