startracknyc

Can’t waste all that space in the middle of the track …. #GoStarTrack #GrassTrackRacing

Star Track was proud to be an inaugural recipient of a @rapha Foundation grant, and we still benefit from their support, like these nice jerseys for our Monday all-girls group! #GoStarTrack

Congratulations to our Board President Greg Olsen! In honor and recognition of his volunteer efforts, Star Track has received a $10,000 donation from the @massmutual Foundation. ❤ ☺ For nearly three decades, MassMutual’s Community Service Awards program has recognized the extraordinary ways our affiliated financial professionals serve their communities,” said Dennis Duquette, Head of Community Responsibility and President of the MassMutual Foundation. “As we celebrate MassMutual’s 175th anniversary this year, we’re proud to continue this legacy by supporting financial professionals like Greg Olsen, whose leadership and service have helped create lasting impact in their community.” “We are so appreciative of Greg’s work and this incredible gift will help so many kids from under-resourced communities discover a beautiful sport,” said Star Track co-Executive Director David Harrison. Olsen, a partner with Lenox Advisors, has played a pivotal leadership role at Star Track Cycling for more than 16 years, serving on the Board of Directors for 14 years and as Board President for the past 12. He assumed the presidency following the passing of founder Deirdre Murphy Bader, continuing her legacy with a focus on growth, sustainability, and long-term impact. #GoStarTrack #StarTrackNYC #MassMutualFoundation

All-Girls Mondays don’t replace our 7 weekly co-ed sessions, they supplement them, creating camaraderie through teamwork, with female role models, skill-building and fun. From a handful of racers at the beginning, they’ve grown and grown and grown. #GoStarTrack #StarTrackNYC #MoreGirlsOnTrackBikes #AllGirlsMondays

We’re Back! 200 racers, seven weekly sessions, more than 40 first-time NYC kids discovering the sport — after a long winter, Star Track’s spring semester is on at @kissenavelodrome #GoStarTrack #StarTrackNYC #SpringSemester

Last race of the London trip was the Good Friday race. Was a great event with full fields and strong racers. Had some decent results here and was able to learn even more. Thank you to full gas for running the event it was a blast. Definitely a great trip to London, learned a ton of lessons not just about cycling. Definitely coming back next year for these races. A big thank you to @nycbrit for all the support through this trip. Next up is some local road and then Star track elite team camp in Rockhill.

London Futures Cup UCI, super glad to have the opportunity to race at the Lee valley velodrome and to have such a good strong field of juniors. Glad to come away with a few decent rules, definitely made a few mistakes, but definitely learning from them. Thank you to @nycbrit for all the support throughout the race and for making this trip possible. Also big thank you as always to @startracknyc @kimgeistcoaching and @shumskast for all the support. Next race Good Friday track racing.

Calling on coaches — are you interested in becoming a part of our free-for-every-kid bike racing program? Send your resume & cover letter to [email protected] or message us! #GoStarTrack

Ari Mar 22: It had been a while since Max and I had raced together, but now that Max upgraded to Cat 3, we were super excited to be in the same field at the Verge Series #1 Cat 2/3 Prospect Park road race, along with other friends such as Bennett, Devin, Justin, and Viv. As usual, my goal was to join a breakaway. I even brought my skinsuit to get an extra boost. Max’s goal was to stay tucked in and then send it toward the front on the last lap. The race started off with many breakaway attempts. There were constantly a few riders off the front, and I tried to join most of them. At one point, I was with a group of about 20 riders in a small break, but we never got much separation from the field. I am still amazed that this one got brought back because it had riders from all the major teams, but we were simply not coordinated enough. In the last two laps, four riders individually snuck away, and they eventually formed the winning breakaway. With four riders off the front, the field was fighting for 5th place. With 1km to go, I found myself in poor position on the right side of the road. As I tried to move up, I saw Max flying by on the left side, with Justin on his wheel for a leadout. Max made it all the way to the front with about 400m to go, and Justin took off to win the field sprint. Max then blew up, got passed by a bunch of riders, but still managed to finish 21st in his first Cat 2/3 race. I found an opening and finished 4th in the field sprint and 8th out of 88 overall. This was a really great day for both of us. I got my best Prospect Park field sprint result and finally broke my curse of getting boxed in and not finding good lines. And for Max, this was a hell of a Cat 2/3 debut. Afterward, Max and I hung out with our Star Track teammates and other friends for a while. Then Ian and I rode home along the Belt Parkway to get some Z2 miles in. @Ari.Ebens @Max.Ebens @StarTrackNYC @PlanToPeakCoaching

Ari Mar 14: Yes, finally, at the CRCA Central Park road race, I managed to get into a break in a Cat 1/2/3 field. This has been a big goal for me, and it finally worked! My experience has been that these Cat 1/2/3 fields often have winning breaks, and if you miss them, you are out of contention for a podium spot and left racing for honor in the field sprint. To get into a break, I was previously either racing too aggressively and chasing after everything, which burned too many matches, or I tried staying more tucked in to conserve energy but ended up missing the breaks. Today, I found a good middle ground. Our race was 5 laps for nearly 50km, and today I got into the break by following one rider who attacked on the final lap on Harlem Hill. We worked together for about 8km and, with 1km to go, we even managed to catch the two riders who had gone off the front earlier in the race. I was near my limit by the time we caught them, but I tried to pass them with the momentum I had because I wanted to avoid the field catching us. That backfired, and I ended up leading out the sprint and finishing 4th/32. In the meantime, the field caught up, and I crossed the finish line just 4 seconds ahead of it. I have always aspired to be a breakaway rider because of the strength it takes to ride hard for dozens of kilometers, so I finally proved to myself that becoming one is possible. Granted, this breakaway was only 8km long, the field was rather small, and I am sure there was also a good amount of luck involved, but at least this one succeeded. Max raced the Cat 3/4 field in Central Park for the first time and had a fantastic race. His race was 4 laps for nearly 40km. He went solo for about 2km to try to catch a break that formed near the start of the third lap, but he just missed it. So for him, it came down to the field sprint, and he finished 18th/44. This was also my first CRCA Club Race of the year, and it felt really special to race in Central Park again and catch up with the CRCA community and the Star Track riders who were also racing today: Ian, Ilai, Logan, Viv, and Zara. @Ari.Ebens @Max.Ebens @StarTrackNYC @PlanToPeakCoaching

Central Park, New Jersey, Connecticut — Star Track spent winter’s final weekend racing and riding together all over the tri-state area. #GoStarTrack #StarTrackNYC #Time4Spring

Ari Mar 7: After just racing two of the most popular U.S. junior stage races, Valley of the Sun and La Primavera Lago Vista, you might think that going to the local @LucarelliAndCastaldi Branchbrook race would be a letdown, but that is far from the truth. For one, this was my first New York City-area race this season, and it was great to catch up with many people I hadn’t seen since last season. Also, Branchbrook is one of my favorite races. I raced the Cat 1/2/3, and my field included my @StarTrackNYC /@StarTrackUCI teammates @JustinChrisPak , @OtisEngel , and @VivCarlow . We planned on using team tactics, and my job was to chase down anyone who didn’t have Star Track on their jersey. I was close to my limit for the entire race, chasing down nearly every attack. There were moments when I thought I had burned all of my matches, but I found one extra in me. Well, there was one breakaway I didn’t catch, and it included my teammate Otis along with six other riders. Of course, I would love to tell you that I didn’t chase that one because it would have been a bad idea to bring back my own teammate’s breakaway, but honestly, even if I had wanted to, I was just too gassed, and the break was super strong. Otis finished 3rd, and I came in 12th in the field sprint for 19th place out of 82 riders. You can watch the GoPro footage from my race on our YouTube channel. Link in bio. Coincidentally, it was less than a year ago that I raced my first Cat 1/2/3, right here at Branchbrook. At the time, I was nervous about racing in the Cat 1/2/3 field and could not have imagined that I would be chasing breaks in the same field a year later. Can’t wait to be back at Branchbrook on Sunday. My plan is to conserve more energy so that I have enough left to hopefully make the winning break. I feel so lucky to be a bike racer in New York. Not only are there more races than one could possibly do, but the event organizers are super generous and either let juniors race for free or at heavily discounted prices. Yes, it feels good to be back! #BranchbrookRoadRace #BikeRacing #RoadCycling #JuniorCycling #NYCCycling