Kings County Kermesse
Presented by
Kissena Cycling Club
Brooklyn (Floyd Bennett Field), NY
Saturday, April 16, 2011

Brief Report: Without a doubt, the Kings County Kermesse was the windiest race at Floyd Bennnett Field ever. There were times when riders were going 40+ mph with a tailwind and 12 mph with a headwind. It was brutal. The Cat 3 riders started first followed by the Cat 1-2 riders three minutes later. Cat 3 rider Andrew Clerico strung out the Cat 3 field on the first of 22 laps in the hopes of increasing their lead over the Cat 1-2's. Meanwhile back in the 1-2's, Ken Harris opened up the action with his patented attack-from-gun move. Despite his "no surprise" tactic that works to great success. the 1-2 riders seemed to either not care or perhaps thought it would not work in such windy conditions. Two riders were alert enough to go with Ken - German rider Andreas Fliessgarten and the on-form Gavi Epstein. With 6 riders in the 1-2 race, GS Mengoni missed the move and sent last week's Cherry Blossom Festival winner Augusto Sanchez to try to bridge solo. Sanchez tried desperately to make contact but failed to catch the three riders. Back in the field, the Mengoni riders formed a desperate chase when they realized Sanchez was not making contact. It was too late - Fliessgarten, Harris and Epstein were gone and never to be seen again.

At the front of the race the Cat 3's were staying organized realizing they needed to work together to hold off the 1-2 riders especially in such windy conditions. Fliessgarten, Harris and Epstein slowly reeled in the Cat 3 field and caught the group with 10 laps (about 23 miles) to go. They wasted no time and quickly went to the front causing the Cat 3 field to shatter. Only Cat 3 rider Alessandro Matteucci (Finkraft Cycling Team) stayed with the leading trio. An untimely flat for Harris (his second of the day, he took a free lap earlier in the race) forced him out of the lead group. He received a new wheel at the Start/Finish line but never caught the lead riders and eventually retired from the race. Meanwhile back in the 1-2 field, a small group rolled off the front containing two Mengoni riders - Brian Breach and Jared Bunde. They quickly started gaining ground on the exhausted and shattered Cat 3 riders and eventually made contact. At the head of the race, Gavi Epstein cracked with 2 laps to go leaving Fliessgarten and Matteuchi as the leading duo. Epstein was now riding alone in third and behind him was a group of three Cat 3 riders - Sean Barry, Jeff Cline and Andrew Clerrico. With two laps to go Brian Breach caught those three riders and then dropped them.

At the finish, Fliessgarten outsprinted Matteuchi for the win. Epstein soloed in for 3rd. Breach soloed in 4th and Barry outsprinted Clercio and Cline to take 5th.

These results are provided for informational purposes only.  Please note that
the protest period for this event has expired and no changes can or will be made
to these results.



Pro/Cat 1-2-3 Handicap Race
50 miles

1. Andreas Fliessgarten (Team Schwalbe Trier)
2. Alessandro Matteucci (Finkraft Cycling Team)
3. Gavriel Epstein (Chipotle Development Team)
4. Brian Breach (GS Mengoni)
5. Sean Barry (BVF)
6. Andrew Clerico (CRCA/BH Garneau)
7. Jeff Cline (CRCA/Axis)
8. Eutimo Quintero (CRCA/Foundation)
9. David Anthony (CRCA/BH Garneau)
10. Andrew Walsh (CRCA/ Scottos Coal Fired Pizza)

Category 4
28 miles
40 riders

1. Bryan Fried (CRCA/Teany)
2. Aviv Maizlin (Hudson Furniture Racing Team)
3. Samuel Schaeffer (Unatt)
4. Etsu Taniguchi (CRCA/Teany)
5. Errol Maclean (Major Taylor)

Category 5
12 miles
22 riders

1. Andrew Dasilva (Kissena)
2. John Malcolman (Kissena)
3. Edwin Duarte (Teamhalcones.com)
4. Daniel Diaz (Unatt)
5. Will Mackenzie (Unatt)