Especially for new racers: If there is enough interest I'm happy to do a few park laps + cafe stop tomorrow (Saturday) morning to talk about The Verge series race #1 on March 24th (Sunday after next).

Probably can't make the ride tomorrow.  My wife is sick so I'll likely be the person taking my son to a doctor's appointment.  

I CAN make the ride tomorrow--Sunday March 17, 2024.

I'll be at the GWB at 9am

Sunday March 17 8 am BB / 9 am GWB — there’s a small chance I might not make it, so don’t wait long 

Mind the NYC Half Marathon tomorrow, shouldn’t affect our usual route 

baling out of the gwb today. heading to prospect park for a few loops in case anyone wants to join — GAP 9am 

actually the half goes thru the park — so bailing on that too haha 

Damn, I would have loved to join you in the park, but I gotta get better at monitoring the forum here! Too bad about the half though anyway. Hope to join you all soon!

Me plus one non-Kissena at the bridge (marc b).  No rain, despite threats of a early drizzle.  The sun came out, and naked knees enjoyed.  

Funny thing.  My legs were fine. But I couldn't get my heart rate up.  It's like I didn't heed the lessons of my Saturday ride, where I kept hitting steep hills after I saw my hr wasn't responding.  One of these days I might learn.  

Still managed a decent level of output and went to Rockland Lake and back, with the only stop being a flat on the way out in Englewood Cliffs.

https://www.strava.com/activities/10982728791

I’m not racing tomorrow, so I plan on starting from the GWB at 9am up to Nyack. I may start at BB at 8

Woke up with a migraine. Not going to be at GWB or BB

Hope you feel better, Patrick!

On Saturday I am going to ride indoors so that I can watch the tour Flanders on my bike. It looks like it’ll be sunny and 60° on Sunday so I’m gonna try to do a BB to GWB ride then up River Road for coffee and back on 9W. 

I'm sure the Gran Premio Miguel Indurain and the Bueng Si Fai International Road Race are going to be very exciting when you tune in on Saturday, but I recommend tuning in on Sunday if you want to watch Flanders. ;-) 

My plan is to do a long ride on Saturday, maybe Orchards. 

If you want to tune in on Saturday, the Ronde Wielertouristen might be interesting, but it's better in person.

https://werideflanders.com/nl/

Saturday: Any new members/racers want to have a simple route to Piermont to practice race basics? Would love to get people prepped and practiced to race in the L&C and Verge series.

@David Yang  I can't make it, but I think it's a great idea.

Have my niece's birthday party so can't make it but love the idea!

@David Yang I can be there. Would love to join! 

I have an FTP test to do Sat so I’ll be outdoor at PP. Sunday I have a 3hr progressive endurance so I’m thinking of doing GWP>Piermont and back, mostly keeping it easy. May 9W the whole way so I avoid trying to go for it too much on Alpine to test my CA gainz 😅

edit: progressive endurance (not insurance) haha

New Racers Training Ride: Basic B's

This Saturday 9a, GWB/NJ side

New and experienced racers welcome! We'll cover the fundamentals to get everyone on the same page. This helps set the stage for fun team tactics in the future. Some things we can only do with a larger group, but we'll talk through everything below conceptually.

- Pack riding comfort and safety: Keeping a steady pace, staying tight, braking/shifting, looking around and behind, following wheels, being observant

- Race basics: Attacking, bridging, drafting, blocking

LennartZandbergen said:

I'm sure the Gran Premio Miguel Indurain and the Bueng Si Fai International Road Race are going to be very exciting when you tune in on Saturday, but I recommend tuning in on Sunday if you want to watch Flanders. ;-) 

My plan is to do a long ride on Saturday, maybe Orchards. 

Lol. I just checked my calendar a couple days ago and I had everything wrong. The Saturday ride looks great but I’ll be cleaning out my parents house on Long Island. Sunday I’m gonna watch the ronde and if it’s nice out, do a ride up to CP or 9W after, as long as my partner doesn’t need me.

Newer riders: join Dave and co on Saturday! It’ll be fun!

I’ll be at BB at 8am

@PatrickGrehan I can be there. Where do you usually meet at the bridge?

We’re usually right after where there’s usually a nypd car parked, on the Brooklyn side of the bridge 

@LennartZandbergen perfect thanks! See you there!

Thanks @eloy !

Thanks @David Yang for putting that ride together today and for waiting for me when I kept bonking and towing me up to the group. Thanks to all of you on the ride that gave me great ride/race tips and waited for me after said bonks. I really appreciate it, I had a really great time. This is a really great community. 

Because I missed the race, I'll be at the GWB at 9am.  Looking to go at least as far as Rockland Lake.

Good times riding today. We had Lennart, Pat, Billy, Mark and myself with 2 guests from NYCC who's crew abandoned them so they asked if they could join us. Sure, the more the merrier! Adam Y and Bret S had their own ride agendas, but "popped in" to say hello before heading off on their respective adventures.

It was warm, but windy so made kit selection tricky. I ended up with like 20 layers including a wind vest under a winter jacket. My body was confused. We hit River Road to 9W to Piermont to Bradley/Tweed. Billy worked on getting comfortable riding in a tight group, shoulder to shoulder and wheel to wheel. He did great! One of the more disconcerting things for new racers is getting super close to the riders around them so this was a really important exercise to practice and try to master.

Lennart "Legs" Zandbergen (as I've decided to nickname him) flew up all the climbs and then turned right just before the bridge to get some more miles in. Some say he's still out there in Bergen County right now, climbing all the climbs with a ravenous maniacal look in his eyes.

On the way back to Brooklyn, Mark described the amazing burrito he had planned as a post ride treat. I hope it was excellent.

My form was poor as always, but the company made me feel wealthy. We'll see you out there next time?

Mark's best Billy Idol sneer:


Lennart "Legs" had ALL the calories:


Billy riding shoulder to shoulder with Pat like a pro: