Central Park race (CRCA and non-CRCA), 6/31:

A nice, long race in the park on Saturday that saw a group of Rockstar Cat-4s and a great showing in the women’s race. Mikael, Aaron, Wilson, Paul Y, Robert E, and Laurent lined up for the 7 lap Cat-4 race, which proved to be a nice, safe and fast Cat-4 ride! With sprints atop of Harlem hill every lap, the pace was high and opportunities to try a flyer abound!

Paul briefly went off the front a few times early in the race to gauge the field reaction to an attack after Harlem hill, and Mikael took advantage of this softening of the group on lap 4. After a strong attack on the west side rollers, he shed his original breakaway partner (who lasted 1 pull) and gained 4 new ones. They worked well together for just about 3 laps and gained about a 30sec lead, but it was obvious one guy was very strong on the hills and that spelled doom on their 3rd trip up Harlem Hill, where the break imploded and the field caught up. Things got hairy on the final lap, leading Mikael and Wilson to drop back, but Aaron rode hard at the front and managed a excellent sprint for 3rd place! In the women’s race, Emily U took one hill sprint and then finished 4th overall!