It's blowing sideways out there! I'll prob stick to the trainer. Enjoy the ride!

@Mark (and all) - the wind has settled down tremendously since what it was when you went to bed.
The weather report is for clear skies and wind around 13 mph (very manageable) .

Come on out for the ride!

I caved into my alarm clock. Anyone want to ride in the park? Or join me indoors? I've got an extra trainer. I'm a mile south of the park.

I missed the ride: arrived at 9:15am. Totally underestimated how long to get from 33rd to GWB in today's conditions. Apparently an hour, not 45 minutes.

My ride consisted of 1:51 minutes of freezing, cycling to the bridge and back. Fun times.

Sad

I have bronchitis and it really sucks, talk about sad:(

Nice big group ride today. Some brand new faces too. Welcome to all! Glad to have you aboard!

Easy pace to the Rockleigh Crit where JP, Eric and myself (after kissing and making up after our online bickering...mostly due to my confirmed status as an ultra-sensitive child) talked a bit about cornering and crit racing after which we did some follow-the-leader action practicing taking "the racing line." After a few laps of gradually increasing pace where things kind of became "race lite" action, we regrouped, divided into three squads and practiced leading our sprinters out.

It got messy and all didn't go as planned, but I hope that everyone sort of experienced what I wanted them too. Namely, individual squads started with a plan, the gun goes off, the plan gets shot to hell, but you quickly regroup, find your teammates wheels (official pre-race leadout order be damned), and still get that experience of going for it, going hard, leading your man out. Because most of the times, come the end of a race, that's how it's going to be. You have to be flexible and ready to change plans on the fly.

As the weather warms and Memorial Day weekend draws closer, I'll be leading a full-on crit workshop, where we'll spend a bit more time talking, doing drills and practice racing. Stay tuned for day and time details.

In Sparkill most of the crew went right back up to 9W, a few of us turned left to Rockland Lake. How was the rest of your ride, you Brooklyn guys?

Felt great to get some race simulation in today at the crit course. Highlighted exactly how out of shape I am but also reminded me how much fun it is to mix it up out on the road.

Ride back to Brooklyn was pleasant with a nice tailwind. The usual sprint points (which I elected out of due to breaking a spoke in my front wheel right after the state line) were contested and we stopped and had a little chat and practice leadout at the Grants Tomb course.

Close to a 70 mile day, biggest for me since last fall.

Really nice ride today.

Big group.

The crit work was good, looking forward to another one. We did a lap of Grant's Tomb on the way home, pretty cool.

I gave Joe the team socks as a prize even though I'm pretty sure I beat him in the Fort Lee Kissena big group ride uphill spring world championships (FLKBGRUSWC). Rumor has it Mengoni heard about his Alpine time and are recruiting him, so we need to keep him feeling special over here.

Just chowed down on some sandwiches from Zito's in Park Slope, thanks for that recommendation Stearns. Solid.

Mike

fun!;>

@Perlberg - Stearns? He just echoed me...
Needing some positive love,
Eric

Yeah, thanks JP, Marc, Ragot, always good info.

Chill ride back. Besides Jim's spoke breakage ("Everyone doesn't have to stop if one guy has a mechanical!!!!" - inside joke from last week's Tri-Life guy meltdown to us), the only other excitement was me making friends with an angry, self-righteous dog walker on riverside drive. It was sunny. It was fun. See you guys soon.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Posted By: eragot
Easy pace to the Rockleigh Crit where JP, Eric and myself (after kissing and making up after our online bickering...mostly due to my confirmed status as an ultra-sensitive child) talked a bit about cornering and crit racing after which we did some follow-the-leader action practicing taking "the racing line." After a few laps of gradually increasing pace where things kind of became "race lite" action, we regrouped, divided into three squads and practiced leading our sprinters out.

Maybe you are the ultra-sensitive child!

It was good. Got the chicken parm, fried raviolis, and a slow cooked pork sandwich. Oh yeah, and a growler fill. This is why I'm not losing weight!

Posted By: AdamI missed the ride: arrived at 9:15am. Totally underestimated how long to get from 33rd to GWB in today's conditions. Apparently an hour, not 45 minutes.

My ride consisted of 1:51 minutes of freezing, cycling to the bridge and back. Fun times.

BOO! Sorry for your missed connection. We didn't depart GWB until at close to 9:10 - next time sprint up the road ! If you follow the "Kissena route" you can probably catch the gang - especially if we are stopping at Rockleigh.

I'll play with google maps and see if I can mark it out.

So, as captain of the Muffin-Top-Club (No girls allowed/Keep Out) my new favorite game is to ride side by side with the svelter members of our clubs and look at their power meters and compare their numbers to mine.

Today, I did myself one better and JP and I hit interval markers on key climbs. And for you Alpine PR watchers, JP and I weren't going all-out, the point was to keep going at the same speed. The results are not surprising, but they are a painful reminder that the extra weight really hurts.

Check out the numbers:

JP weighing in at 149lbs
Marc weighing in at 169lbs

Stateline 9W southbound:
JP did 2:49 at 292 watts
Marc did 2:41 at 322 watts

The rise after the stop light at the bottom of the descent after the Stateline club:

JP did 1:17 at 249 watts
Marc did 1:17 at 278 watts

That's 30 watts, I need an extra 30 watts to just keep up. And while I can compensate on the easier efforts, what about when he's cranking out 400+ watts on a climb, can I really afford to crank out 430 watts just to keep up? No, of course not.

Now excuse me while I drown my extra fat and sorrows in brownies and caramel gelato.

ah ah ah

there's your problem right there

last line of your post . . . the bit about gelato

your welcome,

-scientist

@Marc: Word.

Chasing Rocket Ryan and Alyosha all week was a (humbling) lesson in physics. I'm about 157 these days and despite churning my nifty dentist-crank with furious vengeance and great belly-anger I watched those skinny bastards drift off into the distance day after day...

(pass the chips)

@ Jules & Marc.

Word word.

I'm about 164 right now ( 2 pounds below being considered overweight) and chasing Ryan, Jules, Aly, Ros, Nosson, David, etc (anyone who ever rode a bike really) up the climbs here in Cali was torture I tell you.

I want to join the muffin club btw.

to join the muffin club, you need to acquire the tops...
ask Owens how to do that!

French version of the muffin club:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/gallery-through-the-lens-at-het-nieuwsblad-with-jered-gruber/209241

Posted By: mperlbergFrench version of the muffin club:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/gallery-through-the-lens-at-het-nieuwsblad-with-jered-gruber/209241

Picture credited to GruberImages. Perhaps the Gruber Assist is they key to muffin top glory?

Oh....as for the ride. A great 70-ish miles.

Thanks to all - especially Bertucco, JP, Ragot, etc. for dispensing wisdom at the crit course. I"ll second Jim's comment about appreciating the race-like conditions and the opportunity to get in the mix for the final sprint lead-out. Definitely interested in that warmer-weather full crit workshop, Marc.

Ride back was fun, topped by Jeff "Here's an idea - why don't you go fuck yourself" Owens' retort to random angry dog walker dude.

Who's racing spring series this weekend?

This is why I'm not allowed at Prospect task force meetings... I love Stearns.

But I will say he initiated the contact with pejoratives, so I thought that's how he wanted to communicate!

Had a great time on the ride last week. Was my first ride with the club and I'm really happy I joined. Great to meet everyone. Is anyone riding this Sunday?

Yes!!!!Sunday!

Is thee an all category meetup at BB tomorrow?

I've got to be home in time for brunch, so I may miss the over-the-bridge trip.
If there is a race in CP and the bug my whole family has doesn't get worse I'm going to try and pin a number on.

There's a race.

I meant who wants to meet up to ride to Central Park? I just didn't want to post it on the 3 or the 4 thread cuz then some of yalls might not see it.

yeah, let's meet BB. 5:20 roll out.

what about a 8:00 AM crew at BB tomorrow?