Jul 23, 2018 at 06:15 PM

Neversink Road Race

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neversink-road-race-registration-48043230596

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28146492

120 Km, 2,000 meters of elevation

eloy

Jul 23, 2018 at 06:17 PM

Highly likely that I'll be there. LMK if you wanna join.

jim_nelson

Jul 23, 2018 at 07:56 PM

I'll be out of town so not there but I've ridden many of these roads and they are a joy.

eloy

Aug 03, 2018 at 08:18 PM

bump. mentioned today at look sharp.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neversink-road-race-registration-48043230596

eloy

Aug 12, 2018 at 03:08 AM

Quick report:

This was probably the hardest course I have raced in my entire life.
Should say "raced"
good sized peloton for the first half (65ish km) and then we hit the climbs (another 60ish km)
30% grades what what.
Mega 4x4 gravel rocky omg omg
Finished over 1 hour down on some UCI european kid, Trevor Raab and the Chabs.
It was super wet rainy stormy, but also the hotness.
Trimble organized this totally grassroots, and it was better put together than most any USAC race ever
You reading this, I missed you. Honest.

Let's go race bikes!

eloy

Aug 13, 2018 at 04:16 PM

some photos from Saturday.

These are awesome, still not sure they do justice at how out of this world this was.

https://instagram.com/p/Bma1P6mhyUs/embed/

https://instagram.com/p/BmZkG_LBvN3/embed/

https://instagram.com/p/BmZTKHQBxt5/embed/

https://instagram.com/p/BmZxHJbhQE-/embed/

David Yang

Aug 13, 2018 at 05:10 PM

Damn that's OG Rapha levels of epic. Someone remind me to get in shape in 2019 so I can do this race.

Mark Taylor

Aug 13, 2018 at 06:20 PM

Cool , was @keith snyder there ? , i know he did the race in its infancy

eloy

Aug 13, 2018 at 07:06 PM

Keith was not there, I mentioned it a week ago at the L&C race -- I really wanted a teammate! But he was not interested.

As my last report bullet says: I missed you. Honest.

Jules

Aug 13, 2018 at 08:00 PM

Damn that looks amazeballs. USAC race?

eloy

Aug 13, 2018 at 08:11 PM

Jules said:

Damn that looks amazeballs. USAC race?

Unsanctioned. Trimble Racing event.

PatrickGrehan

Aug 14, 2018 at 01:20 PM

Looks amazing. Curious about what bike (CX or road) and tires you rode

eloy

Aug 14, 2018 at 03:21 PM

Rode the Giant TCR with brand new 28 tires from Redbeard, a Vittoria Corsa G+ Control (their winter/all weather) on the rear, and a standard Vittoria Corsa G+ at the front. Which were basically awesome.

Most people had something similar. A few rode 25s.

I'd say there were 3 or 4 riders on cross bikes but with similar road tires.

Some of the "gravel" was full on Jeep rocky crazyness, tho. Some of us just took the downhills mellow.

Discs brakes, for sure, had an advantage on the descends, specially on the first half while the group was mostly together and the rain hardcore. One or two riders had alloy rims, which also probably had an advantage.

Changed the cassette to 11-30 with the 36 in the front. This was not even close to enough. SO.MUCH.PAIN. If there's a next time, I might bring a 34x32 or even 34x34.

David Yang

Aug 14, 2018 at 03:34 PM

1. I'm kind of awestruck by how much clearance there is on new road frames
2. This sounds like the perfect race/ride for you, Eloy
3. Stop making me want to buy a new bike with discs
4. 1:1 ratio = Seriously, someone whip me into shape for this next year, this sounds awesome.

eloy

Aug 14, 2018 at 05:14 PM

@David Yang one of the (many) reasons I started riding and racing again, was seeing the photos of the previous edition of Neversink in 2014.

eloy

Jul 23, 2024 at 07:42 PM

As some of you know, old friend, former Kissenista, Red Hook Crit founder, Girona resident, Dave Trimble was back in town, and organized the second "Race against the sun" last Saturday night.

Simple concept: We'll ride from the GWB Fort Lee, NJ to Beacon, NY -- Start at 6pm and try to reach the finish line before sunset. Mostly on 9W and then 9D

Quick, but very likely way too long report:

The new cool NYC club is "Race against the sun" where only 40 riders are allowed to start
Like in any cool club, I am by far the oldest person around haha
The list includes a ton of hitters, Ross Baldwin, Ben Brown, Dan Chabanov, Even Murphy, Roman Siromakha, Trevor Raab, actual current masters track World Champion Brittany O'Neal, etc etc
Strangely, it also just feels like a ton of old and new friends, the intimidation factor is low. Trimble and Evan Murphy are specially kind as we wait for the start
Dave mentions something about a neutral start, it never happens
I find myself immediately off the back in a small group, with Brittany, Amelia Laia, Franco Garrido, Diago Valle, Darcy Budworth, and a few others
Mention the names because we share the "chase" others are sitting in or dropping off
Franco is crazy strong and appears super frustrated to have missed the front group
He's motor pacing us when pulling
Darcy is the founder of the running Take The Bridge alleycat races. I ran one of her events on Thursday, a 11~12km race from a Bronx bar to the GWB and back. I explain that's slide 1 on my excuses power point... She is in her first bike race ever.
We reach Nyack faster than ever before
The race is essentially 3 sections:
1. 9W to Nyack
2. Nyack/Rockland/Haverstraw/ to the Bear Mountain bridge
3. East side of the Hudson
Once the hills to Rockland lake appear by Oak road, the group explodes, Brittany, Franco, and Diago disappear up the road
I am solo for a just a few seconds, Amelia comes around me, I am able to hold
Darcy appears to be a fighter and comes back right before we hit the climb from the old toga/gas station to Rockland lake
At the top is just Amelia and me, we'll ride the rest of the course together
Amelia is able to big time motor on the flats, I seem slightly/barely better when the road tilts up, we trade pulls, and the combo appears great for both
Sidenote: I likely been riding bikes longer than Amelia has been alive
Around Bear Mountain we see a rider up the road
I mention an old frame sticker: "Be The Shark'..., you know what that means?" She answers: "if we see someone... we get them!"
A bit past the Bear bridge, she asks for water, I share. I notice she started with two bottles. "Let me know if you need more"
Around Garrison, we pass a gas station where Brittany and Alyosha have stopped for water, we all wave at each other
"Do you need to stop for water, Amelia?" "No"
That's when it hits me...
Amelia is not just a motor, she is WINNING this fucking race
Except, I cannot properly explain how quickly Alyosha and Brittany are back on our wheel
Brittany and Amelia are Weiss teammates, btw
We ride the next few miles all four of us trading pulls moving crazy fast
The level of sharp is high
I take the front on the last real hill on course, and set my tempo/threshold like previous climbs
"Aw fuck!" "Cramps?" "ugh, yeah" the dialog behind
By the top is just Amelia and me
"We got this, Amelia" "Yeah we do"
We bomb the last 10 km or so
It starts full blast summer raining on us, because that's the only way this can get more epic
We cross the line
Amelia is all smiles, high fives, and hugs
I quietly ask "so... how many women in front?" she whispers back "ZERO" 👌

The level of post race awesome is high as we wait for the next train back to the city, same on the train ride back with like 20 cyclists (the top hitters managed an earlier train... phew) we share so many stories and food. The most awesome part of these type of events is how much of a shared experience they are.

You reading this. I missed you. Honestly wish you would have been there too.

Let's go race bikes.

Photos by Tak, Hunter Kelley, Jesus Perez (Wells), and myself...