Today was a super fun race – the Lucarelli & Castaldi Cup #1 in Prospect Park, New York City. I was smiling the whole time. There were 55 racers in the Cat 5 field, so it was a big group. I felt safe throughout the race but there were some sketchy riders and someone got disqualified for riding in the runner’s lane. They are very strict about that. It was a little confusing because there was one part where they had just paved, so we couldn’t see where the runner’s lane was. Luckily no one got disqualified in that section.
People were hitting their breaks all the time but it was generally a fast race, yet not as fast as the C field in CRCA Club Race in Central Park the day before. Today was a five-lap race and I held in with the front group for four. After I got dropped, I got stuck behind a crash, so then I had to wait a little, but then I had to wait even longer because the Cat 1/2/3 field was passing me at that time. For the rest of the race I found someone to finish with and sprinted really hard at the end. I placed 35 out of 55 and am really happy with that.
Ari was riding near the front for most of the race but during the final lap he got separated when riders were sprinting up a hill near the end. Ari finished 22nd out of 55 – 25 seconds behind the winner.
