oh lord

still not an excuse, but you will be missed . . .

OK - COFFEE AND MUFFINS FOR EVERYONE BUY RYAN!

MAKE A LINE!

@Ryan
I will bring my tools and come over before 8 - I'll get you going again. A front deraileur is what you need? I can do that - braze on I hope? Otherwise, I'll find an adapter clamp!
Anything to get you out there to suffer.

Ride the small ring - seriously.

really really nice ride today

a whole gaggle of us (including new member Avi - hey buddy!) started at the GWB and rode up river road to sparkill.

joe brought the ruckus going up alpine, attacking repeatedly and quickly shredding the group to just me and him

we traded sharp accelerations (new to me and very different form just trying to do a long, steady drag) all the way till the top, when i took the opportunity to throw in one last dig while he was "checking in" on foursquare and had a hand off the bars. norm had closed a huge gap and came in just behind joe - apparently tying his PR. i did not time, but norm did - i'd be curious to know the _:_ _.

we rode up 9w and stokes and i led out the state line sprint; he dragged us over the flat and the downhill and i pulled until about halfway up when Avi came shooting by, with keith quickly closing. it was a very long sprint and in the end, they both faded just the tiniest bit, allowing norm, who started later, to cross first. Avi was very impressive.

at sparkill, many turned around, leaving just rich, keith, joe, stephane and i.

we went pretty hard up bradley and i was able to drop joe and rich on that long straight ramp near the end. they were arguing about whether Kirk was better than Picard or some such bullshit when they should have been saving their breath. the last thing i heard was rich saying something about the "raw sexual dynamism of shatner's screen presence" before i was out of earshot. whatev's.

keith got us to the foot of the watertower climb, at which point i offered coffee to anyone who could beat joe to the top. it started well: i was leading at a good clip (though i wasn't trying to bear joe - my offer was simply to encourage the rest of us to gang up on him), when i had a brief (1.5 second) complete loss of attention and rode diagonally into the curb. doy! had to unclip to save myself from some nasty bruising at once i got back in, joe was gone, with rich in hot pursuit. bridged up to rich, gave his ass a shove and he got within 15 feet of joe's wheel before he ALSO had a momentary zoneout and rode into the curb. at that point, joe was flying - we chased hard hard hard but after 20 seconds, we knew he was gone. he waited at the top and told he had considered finishing last so i would have to buy everyone coffee. that would have been a hoot!

the ride up to the orchards was mellow - no dicks were measured, but choco milk and muffins were enjoyed by all. there was a gorgeous blond lady cyclist that keith was trying to smoove. the rest of us had zero game and she rode off (to harriman, no less) without giving snyder even an area code. sorry dude - we could have defintiely been more helpful . . . maybe told her how you invented Gogurt or rode to bear mountain and back last winter without gloves and on a single banana.

even though we were already multiple hours in, we ad one last hill to climb - little tor, from north to south, which is on the same ridge that the orchards climb goes up. pretty mellow ascent but a great great curvy fast descent. it was one of those downhills on which a bike can travel faster than a car. i got stuck behind some weenie in an SUV and couldn't let her rip, but i'm definitely going back.

from there, we rode up to 9w and took the bike path along the cliff/river on the east side of the rockland lake state park. it was definitey more suited for a cross or mountain bike, but i (at least) had a blast rocketing through the wood and letting my fat 25mm pro races absorb the rock and gullies. it eventuall settled down and ran flat along the river front - totally beautiful - a big sky day.

the dick measuring was largely over at this point and we had a lovely time motoring down through nyack, piermont and 9w, where we formed a very funcitonal 5 man rotation.

one last sprint up the little rise before strictly - stephane led it out with such fury i though he was going to gap us all, but after some gear futsing, i got back in his draft and hammered past. keith made some noises about "woulda crunched me, but for the wrong gear". we totally frightened a herd of hybrid bike moms out for a saturday exercise as we thundered by in a howling creaking mass. rich apologized to them and gave each one a nickel to show that KCC boys are friendly and apologetic, at leas tonce the fever of battle passes.

really great ride today.

joe and i capped it off with a giant tub of pumpkin-flavored pinkberry.

dangerously relaxed now . . . having a trouble giving a shit about anything . . . sigh. i love riding with you guys!

We found Avi WALKING along 9W a mile or so north of Hudson Terrace. Sounds like he had tendonitis aggravated by nonsense on the early hills. Pushed him back to the bike store and told him to buy a bunch of drugs and take the subway home. We also found David Gardner in Piermont, drinking coffee like a civilized cyclist. We weren't able to influence him in any way. No nickels for the bike moms, either.

Ryan and MYSELF (is that right, Keith?) did an epic grind up the west side bike path, over the GWB, river road, all the way up alpine...and turned around and went back. Woot! He wouldve crushed you all.

AND we waited for a couple with their baby stroller crossing the bike path. Such goody goodies we are. I'm sure our one act of goodwill has undone the hundreds of times they've been buzzed by cyclists running lights. No nickels tho. I'm poor.

Thanks Pappy O'Doyle for leading the ride and for that splendid ride report! Although I split with the bakery wrecking crew, it sounds like you continued to balance your Guidesman and Hammer Master duties quite well.

Wonderful riding with you guys.

-Norm

All-Points Bulletin: Gardiner has been riding and he's rail-thin! Let him keep riding with them others... that dude would surely clean us out of varmint bones and sewing accoutrement.

Great ride yesterday. Met up w/ Whitey at the BK bridge and although things started off rather chilly, once the sun was up it turned out to be a beautiful day, with a total distance I haven't put in since early spring.

Joe, Norm and WDC really brought it up alpine, making for a real challenge and setting the tone for the rest of the day. Joe and WDC went away early as I feebly tried to spin smooth circles and concentrate on regular breathing. About half way up Norm came around and I tried to hold his wheel but then he stood up, danced on the pedals, and took off after the two leaders, leaving the rest of us far far behind.

Norm timed the first town line sprint just perfectly. A few guys went really early and popped, and from my perspective surfing the group it really looked like Keith was going to edge him out. I was in hot pursuit of those two but just ran out of road while coming 'round. Norm seemed surprised and was beaming.

Having been thoroughly defeated in both climbs and sprints, trading blows with WDC & Keith on the dirt and gravel sections around the lake had me grinning from ear to ear.

On the way back down 9W, Stephane still had the legs to repeatedly attack like a madman, blowing the group apart and spreading us all over the road. I was content to settle into that paceline, really feeling the effects of the day at that point.

William really showed that he's a great all-around rider yesterday. He made the climbs look easy, showed us a thing or two about gear selection in an uphill sprint, and rocked some serious off-road skills on a road bike. Chapeau, dude.

Great day out on the bike with nearly 106 miles clocked door-to-door... and still feelin' it.

thanks rich - pleasure riding with you yesterday!

club: if you want to improve your bike handling skills about 50% in half an hour, follow rich on the trails at cunningham park and watch. a month ago, he taught me about pedaling through corners (i know . . . duh!) which has proven to be a paradigm shift for me on the cross bike and when riding shitty terrain on the road bike.

also . . . he smells like cinnamon and fresh basil

http://www.hulu.com/watch/69477/saturday-night-live-bill-brasky-airport-bar

@WDC -- my Alpine climb time was 5:18. That was rolling at about 2mph across the pavement color change at the bottom and ending exactly at the green "You're an idiot" sign at the crest (probably about 200ft before the propane tank).

If you and Joe had not been peppering each other with little accelerations along the way, I'm sure you'd have covered the ground faster.

Rather fast Triangle ride for me yesterday, about 75 miles from my house, so I thought I had a good weekend in spite of my non perfect breathing, when one of the riders said he needed 100 miles yesterday to reach 1000 miles for his week... I may have to reconsider what I mean by long mileage for a week... or maybe not.

@ John: The best team won.

BTW, I'm pretty sure the new guy in the Mariella's bibs on Saturday's ride is named Alyosha, which I think is already short for something so I'm not sure if it can go all the way down to Avi. In any case, I hope his leg's OK!

IMHO, Alyosha is a great addition to the team, because he speaks French: finally, I'll be able to understand what a team mate tells me while riding, and maybe he will understand what I tell him.

@ Jeff:

he told me i could call him Avi

YOU still have to call him Mr. Smolarski

Any one trying to ride in jerz tmrw?

Anyone navigating through the marathrong heading for Jersey tomorrow? I need to be back in brooklyn by Noon... -Norm

Nevermind --I just took my 4th run in two weeks and managed to tear/pull my calf muscle... I thought I was ready to run moderately fast up the hill since the 2-mile runs I've been doing have been feeling good (just some shin soreness afterwards), but something started hurting about 3/4 of the way up. I slowed, then I quickly realized the leg was gone to hell, so I walked on home to ice it and dose-up on some Advil. A little interruption to my off-season training, but --thankfully-- it's off-season.

Ah, that sucks Norm. I'm phasing in my running too. It's a fragile process. Heal up.

Jules' Law: all running ends in injury & tears.
Jules' Maxim: the tears of an injured runner bring no satisfaction - the tears of men cracking on their bikes make for a fine, refreshing drink... ride more, run never.

Norm,
That sucks. Now that you've messed up, RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Work all recovery modalities.

I will now write my all-purpose running advice for everyone who ever deigns to run. Build slowly. So slowly you think you're not even exercising. I start with two five-minute runs a week (bracketed by 5 minutes of warm-up walking and 10 minutes of cool-down walking). And then I add five minutes to my run every week, keep the warm-up walk, but lose the cool-down walk if it's cold and I'm outside my front door. I'm up to 30 minutes now. Spend money on good shoes and insoles. And don't think that running on treadmills is even the same sport as running outside.

For all those wondering about the NY Marathon--I think the biggest issue is crossing fourth avenue in Brooklyn. Once you do that, it should be pretty easy. Go up the west side of Manhattan, skip the park and the east side.

You can also ride across the Williamsburg Bridge. The runners will be on Bedford Ave which runs under the ramp leading up to the bridge, so access to Manhattan should be unimpeded by the race.

@mugwump -- thanks for the advice... I picked-up a compression bandage this morning and after wrapping it --it felt much better. I will keep the treatment going this week... I have to work crazy hours monday though friday anyhow, so won't even have a chance to think about exercising.

thanks for the commiserations you guys. And --for the runners-- I think JP's advice sounds very wise.

I will be in PP today from 11 - 2. Riding at a Fun/Easy pace. Come along!

I will join you for a bit joe.

Delayed announcement but...

From the Port Authority:
The GWB South Sidewalk closed for Girl Scouts 100th year celebration
Sunday 9am to 1pm. GWB North Sidewalk open for pedistrians and
cyclists.

One of the surgeons who repaired me after bike crashes, James Gladstone, put a CBS producer he knows on my trail. She's "doing a story on ways individuals between the ages of 46-65 can continue to stay active."

They would interview me and film me while training this week-end if possible.

a) Do you think there will be a Kissena ride this week-end? (It would be fun to see a whole group of Kissenas on CBS. If not, I may do the Triangle ride and ask the CBS team to start earlier)

b) Is there anyone in the club between 46 and 65 who would like to be interviewed (I wouldn't mind skipping that part) and filmed while training?

Stephane,
I love it. If people aren't doing a group ride, we ought to put one together.

Maybe we can get some of our grey-er members to join you. Stokes, Nolan, Feehan come to mind though Stokes and Feehan are probably racing cx this weekend.

We can ride on Saturday or Sunday, it's up to us. They would show the interviewed rider (me if nobody else is willing to replace me) riding with his team mates, who don't have to be old farts (Wojciech would look too young, but I think most other members would be OK). But if possible they would like to know tomorrow when the ride takes place. I mentioned west of the Hudson, she said it sounded great.

I'm racing (and assisting) this weekend otherwise I'd the totally down with this.
Love it though!

I've tried to get rid of the CBS thing by informing them I would be at the Super Cross Cup MAC Series on Long Island. When they learned I would be riding there, they told me they would film me riding there and they would like to film the masters racing at 10 am. Is anyone planning on riding to the race? I could meet you and ride (while being filmed) with you.

Ive got too much work to supercup tomorrow but I'm sneaking out in the morning for a few hours.

Nj side of the gwb at 9