Monday Open Thread

Section head text.

Cross Champs, Museeuw, discuss.

122 Comments

Chris M

Andy’s dog ain’t so hot, but it makes up for lack of looks by having a very open mind to "trying out new things", kinda like my prom date back in the day! 🙂

ARX

So bike lanes are proliferating in the streets around my downtown neighborhood. Is this good? Do they work? My favorite has always been riding up 6th Avenue to the Park, where the bike lane appears and disappears at random intervals. My personal take: one thing that has always attracted me to bike racing has been its vague social marginalization, and when there are bike lanes everywhere we, with our superior bike-handling skillz, get lumped in with the vast unwashed unshaven public, many of whom are wearing their helmets backwards, if at all, and I just want to back away in horror. Not as far as a triathlon, though.

Anonymous

Can’t be too awful to have more bike lanes – it likely indicates that the city recognizes we exist, and we are here to stay and need to be dealt with appropriately. The question is – are they adding the lanes for our safety or just to corral us so they can give us tickets when we ignore them? Obviously the cars and trucks too often ignore them – it would be a true sign of bike power in NYC I think only when I see lots of tickets written to motorists for impeding and blocking the lanes – not just cyclists for not using them…

Andy

I got pulled over on my bike on 6th ave once. Can’t remember what for, but I convinced the cop I was in the right. So he thought for a moment and said. ‘ok, I’ll ticket you for not riding in the bike lane’. The bike lane was on the left side of the street, and ended one block up.

Frank Mauro

What happened to John Page in the photos at the bottom on the other page? Did he start the race and drop out. Looks like a broken collerbone?

Frank Mauro

2nd? The results on cyclingnews have Mark Mccormack 2nd and Page as not listed. They might be wrong or I am looking in the wrong spot, but I also don’t see him in the photos. Page has had bad luck.

The Ric

Sasso just told me that he last saw it running across the Westin lobby.

I’ll track ‘er down. It might have headed to the burger truck.

Tri-Guy OG

Did some swim laps at Asphalt Green or Equinox or some other absurdly priced gym, then hit the computrainer for 25min with IMLP loaded, and a new copy of Spinnervals. Boy that coach Troy is hard!!!! After that I picked up some Lava rocks for the grill…and just to remind me of Kona.
What’s cyclo-cross? Is it as intense as coach Troy?
-TGOG

DSJ

Just wondering if anyone (JT, Ray?) remembers Erol Torran’s River Road Time Trial and the time for the winner? IIRC, the start was under the GWB on RR, and finished at the first driveway of the Ranger Station parking lot???
Who wants to do an informal "training ride" of sorts to see the fastest time each month? Also, throw in the Marina Hill Climb for good measure as a prologue of sorts…(drum roll please).
I’m guessing J-Lo or K-Mo would place very highly…

OK, back to wrapping gift cards…;))

Jealous

while you were sleeping
those chumpion system manikins
bencivengo, bunde & sommerville
just got on a plane for a month of racing
in south china, malaysia & siam
btw, thanx alan

River Road TT

I know Erroll Toran ran one, but I wasn’t there and don’t remember details.

Columbia U also ran a collegiate TT on River Road at least once — no TT bars allowed. My friend Luke Rice (who you may have met DJ in masters racing) won it in the 1990s. I don’t know the course.

The fasted I ever saw first hand up the hill was J-Lo the day the CRCA club championships was cancelled due to pavement problmes in the park and the whole A field (practically) rocketed upstate.

But I’ve heard of super fast times from some of the Mengoni riders and also Todd Herriott.

Anonymous

So how long is the river road hill? It seems that everyone has a different finish line- the entrance to the ranger station, or some random sign either just before or after the station. So, for the sake of record keeping, how about a distance?
This guy suggests 1.1 miles from the bottom and a benchmark of 4:32…

Anonymous

I thought the turn into the Sherrif’s station was the universal finish. The start isn’t quite as clear cut but I start the time just before the pavement changes at the base of the hill as the road tilts up.

Dr saddle sore

if the sores are bad but not terrible (infected that is) you need to have a doctor get you a prescription for some benzoil peroxide cream. It comes in a little tub and needs to be refrigerated (i forgot the brand name – but it is available in a generic also) its the same stuff they give adults for pimples actually – Anyway, you apply the stuff 2 or 3 times a day and they go away. When I had then a few years back I did extensive research and many authorities thought that position – not short cleanliness was the determining factor in why you get them. Blood flow gets cut off to the area, blah blah – its probably a good idea to only use superclean, shorts and get out of them soon after riding. Dave Z says: shave down there, Use a blowdryer , and lots of chamoix cream…

Dr. Taintmeister

Good advise, but swap out the baby powder for gold bond powder when "antiquing" – you won’t regret it.

K King

Hey Dave I did that River Road TT in 1990.

2 Polish guys finished 1,2 and crushed everyone else.

If I remember correctly it started right at the entrance and ended at the sign before the police station. Not many guys started and everyone had road bikes.

re: Ranger Station climb

this has been gone over many times, but the usually accepted "test" begins at the pavement change leaving boat basin (a clear line at entrance) and ends at the turn-in to ranger station. the distance is exactly 1.25 miles if you hit your interval buttons at precisely the right moment. hint: you can improve your time and average power by quickly up-shifting one or two gears and accelerating just before the turn at the traffic circle, then downshifting to your usual gear about 50 yards later, as it flattens out here. this is usually good for another 10 watts.

another (better IMO) test is to keep on going at your threshold all the way to State Line with a hill sprint at the top. That’s pretty hard, esp. the extra focus at the stoplight at 9W. I’m susre everyone’s already doing this already. . .

g.g.

speaking of climbs,

I’m surprised that there’s not more discussion/bragging etc. about Little Tor road. . . on a hot summer day that one can be real pukadellic. . . nice fast descent over the top too. A good detour on the way up to Harriman on a Spring day.

well,

there you have it. I did 17 Little Tor reps yesterday, got bored, and continued up to Perkins Drive and did a dozen or so of them in the big chain ring. . . came home and wrapped Xmas gifts and drank egg-nog. Think I’ll head up there agin today.

TH

clinton ave is a nice climb for the area. i stumbled upon it by accident when i was riding around searching for hills one day. the day i did it had a lot of traffic, so i was sucking down fumes, but the shoulder is wide enough that you can ride off to the side.

TRI GUY

I don’t know why you are all talking about these OBSCURE climbs when there is a SICK climb at the top of central park. It takes about 8 minutes to climb and is really STEEP. I programed it into my COMPUTRAINER. I heard SOMEONE call it Harlem Hill, but it should be called Mt. Harlem. Let’s see you WUSSY roadies climb that one!!!

See you in KONA!!!!

Chris M

So where is Little Tor and Clinton exactly? Are they the ones heading up that finish at the college in Nyack – ie the back way to Nyack – or something else? Always interested in new climbs to play on…not that I get to ride anymore in winter though with the new desk job and all…

climbs

I think Little Tor is more north and west of Nyack — in New City or Haverstraw. If you left Nyack on 9W for awhile, made a left onto Scratchup Road through a quarry, to South Mountain Road you’d eventally come to a 4-way intersection, with Little Tor a climb to the right and the climb to the Conklinville Orchards straight ahead.

Anonymous

Another really good climb is Clausland Mountain rd to North Tweed rd in Western Nyack (in lieu of Bradley Hill rd which is a bit gentler). Not sure the exact durations and elevation gains but the first 40 meters or so of Clausland is about 20% and there are many other sections in the 10-15% range.

Anonymous

Another really good climb is Clausland Mountain rd to North Tweed rd in Western Nyack (in lieu of Bradley Hill rd which is a bit gentler). Not sure the exact durations and elevation gains but the first 40 meters or so of Clausland is about 20% and there are many other sections in the 10-15% range.

K King

Chris just take Rt 501 when heading back to the city from Nyack. After a few miles on 501 any of the roads heading back up to 9w offer a decent climb. They all have a bit of traffic and are tight on the shoulder.

Little Tor is right before the Orchards of South Mountain Rd.

Matt S

Bradley/Tweed is my fav. I think it is superior to RR and Little Tor (which are really the only viable climbs around here minus Bear Mountain) because it is both longer AND more scenic, with deer and these big turkey-like things running around. I think it has the most "mountain" feel to it too, as there are multiple different sections of it that keep it interesting as opposed to the hellish grind up RR/Tor. I like those as well but Blauvelt St. Park holds a special place in my heart.

Clauseland is good but it seems to get a little flat after that first steep section which is why I like the other side better.

the laws of physics

"Escher, NY. There’s a 4-mile loop that’s all uphill"

it’s physically impossible to have a loop thats all uphill.

Alan Atwood

Battenkill-Roubaix is 2/3 full already for the 4’s. Get to BikeReg fast and sign up.

BTW….who’s the new "Avenue A Razorfish" sub-team?

Alan:

There are about 3 or 4 new sub teams this year. The members seem to be made of of varrying numbers of riders from these teams: Metro, Merril and NYVelocity – with the latter being a development team so nearly everyone went to others teams… "Affinity" and "Empire" are two others in additon to Ave A….

if Razorfish=pack fodder then

if Razorfish=pack fodder then
NYvelocity=pack fill and
Affinity=peleton roughage and
Merril= soy based extender and
Foundation= Monosodium Glutamate
Organic= all-natural pack fill

9w - Seven lakes dr - to the top of Perkins Memorial dr.

For the record is 4.5 miles of climbing, Perkins Memorial being the more aggressive of the route. I tracked it so….

Anonymous

The starting point being the entrance to Bear Mtn. @ 9W and the finish being the highest point @ the light tower.

Also

If you include the 9w climb with the rightside guardrail just before the entrance, tack on another mile or so. (didnt track this climb)

Aaron

The entrance "South Entrance Road" and 9w is the low point. 4.5 to the top, but not very steep. There is no climb up to the entrance. You might be going in somewhere else.

Aaron

That’s the best way up, if by best you mean most challenging. It’s also the longest climb for some distance. There are plenty of shorter, steeper, harder climbs, but 4.5 miles of steady climbing is pretty good unless you’re going up to the Catskills, or so I’ve heard.

Also..

The climb just before the entrance off of 9W to Seven lakes Dr. is followed by a descent which will take you to the park entrance. There is a road guardrail along the entire length of this climb on the right. If one rides this climb hard, the descent to the park entrance leaves little time for recovery. I believe the climb is atleast a mile.

Anonymous

not going 40 miles outta the way for a mile climb when i can just go to river road for that. Any other good climbs, maybe 10-15 minutes or so, besides Tiorati?

40 miles...

for a 4.5 mile steady climb and on your way to that climb you’ll contend with a mile long (and change) ascent for the warm-up. @ the end of the day you’re lookin @ 100 miles in the saddle and a noticeable difference with your form.

Chris Rocks

Don’t listen to the haters C-dog, you have a lot of support in this community, as a gentleman, thoughtful poster and a strong rider!

Chris M, the new Lee3

Wow, Mecray, you really are the new sniveling, grovelling sycophant on this website aren’t you? Calm down dude, its getting a little embarrasing/creepy.

DHR

If you really want the site to get better, click on the ads for Schmalz and company, so the fine people who pay for those ads know they are effective (even if you don’t buy their overpriced carbon detachable bits).

KidPantyhose

i liked it better when y’all wuz outta shizness, er, bizness. naw–actually i liked it better when this shit didnt fritz in my fach and when you wuz under the radar, coming in low and fast — h’yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Chris M

Hey Coolio – you mean before they got the big Intel ad contract and started rolling up to the clubs in the white stretch Hummer, strippers in tow? Yeah right. Last time I checked, NYVC wasnt being shouted from the rooftops…dont like the ads? – go start your own site and see how long it lasts without any income… oh, the INGRATES!

Works for me

I can stay on the rollers for a full 7 hours. The same time
it would take me to ride to Bear mtn. I just un-hook my penis and set it on the table next to me so as to not suffer from numbness.

Totally agree

Hey Andy, Alex, Schmalz.
Give us a break and ditch the flashing, blinking banner adds. They suck and make the site harder to read.

schmalz

Sorry guys,
Blinking ads are here to stay. Spaces are just too small for advertisers to get their messages across in one frame. Or we could just not get any ad revenue and go out of business…

I LUV NYVELOCITY

But it’s way too graphically intense for me and my computer. Sometimes I turn off image downloading in my browswer so it doesn’t overwhelm me and my computer. And the race photos are great, but the "thumbnails" are really the full-size images – brutal to even look at the thumbnail page. And I have DSL! I can’t imagine what it’s like on dial-up.

KidPantyhose

Yo! what is up with all these animated gif/blinking ads? You gobshites, followed by Pez, then cyclingnews are the prize commercial sellouts but then fixed gear fever, daily peloton have them, too, but not as bad. What? I got no attention span I need this freakin blitz fritzin in my face? This shit causes seizures!!!

TS

I really like training on the trainer as the intensity of effort is so easy to monitor (with an SRM or other). You can nail a range and do high quality work. There is the brain and numbness issue. Tour tapes and standing for 30 secs every ten min after the 1st 30 min always works. I can only do a lot of the trainer through April 1st though and then I am burnt. I usually match road time to trainer time, but never go above 3 hours. Of course, you do more work on the trainer due to no resting.

ct mafia

schmalz…. 10-20% of zero power when you download? you ARE a wheel sucker… mine are usually 7 or 8%. time to get to the front. tempo is king.

cjammet

good job the the americans this year- those belgians are going to have to watch their backs next year.

as for nats in providence, maybe a super fast cross race will be a nice change from the crapmudfests they normally are (not that that’s great, but a little variety is nice). the providence course at nats this year was pretty excellent

Chris M

Herb, you sound creepy.

AA, you are a nutcase and need help. And apparently dont have have a normal male anatomy…

Dan – sorry to be so lame! I didnt get out of bed till 9am – was just tired from an eve trainer session on Sat (oh, and the sat night booze I suppose…). Ran into Ben though and did half the ride with him going south. I see you had a Remax rider for comany though….

AA

Ok, So i’m the idiot that does 4 hours on the rollers. I do get off about every hour to fill up on water again and change the movie. What is this numbness that everyone speaks of? I dont think i could do it on a trainer but the rollers make this possible for me. Hell, i even kinda like it.

mikem

i’ve done some long indoor workouts (i prefer rollers to the trainer), but i also have no qualms about getting off the bike a number times throughout the ride. why wouldn’t you allow yourself time to get up, let the blood flow back to where it should, use the bathroom, eat, fill your bottles, put in a dvd, change into a dry bib, whatever? i’m sure that riding an hour and a half and being on the verge of suicide by the end is less beneficial than riding twice as long and stopping for a few minutes now and then.

Chris M

I loved Coach MNOP’s post. First, for the name, which is still funny two months later… Second, because Im picturing this dude wiling away the hours by standing, stretching, maybe painting a water-color or two – all while staying on the rollers. Im pretty much toast if I even look up at the damn TV for more than 10 secs at a time! My roller max time is 45 min right now to reach culmination of brain fry and ass hamburger status, since I can neither stand nor reach a water bottle on an adjacent table. Spin bike max is around 2 hrs, though I managed 2.5 on Sat (for a new record) with 3 min break half way to change shirts & water. I havent had a hard-on since though and feel numb down there – should I be worried? Hmmm.

how much willpower do you have?

I get major ass pain and numbness after 1hr on the trainer. I’ve ridden for longer — 1:30 or 1:45 a few times but it seemed to be a waste of willpower. I’ve only got so much, and would prefer to ration it. So 1hr is now my max.

I sometimes do double workouts on days when I can’t ride outdoors but want or plan to do a ride. Going skiing, or skating or running or using the stairclimber at a gym, then hitting the trainer.

MH

Cross champs: the Jonathan Page story is pretty sweet. He podiumed at the first few races of the season, then screwed up his shoulder in a crash, had surgery, missed two months of racing, no team support, comes back to finish 2nd at nationals, then 2nd at worlds, just 3 seconds behind the defending world champ, best American finish ever. Page is a tough guy.

Some bad luck for these two riders, who got knocked down when the camera moto hit a barrier. Ouch.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6eyLjv7zTis

Mike Green

"US champion Ryan Trebon (Kona) was delighted to hear the news but warned the organizers. "The course in Providence is way too fast, it would end up in a bunch sprint," Trebon said."

Plus UCI would really rather the race be in NYC. Remember Chris Henry’s post on crcanet a few months ago? What happened with that?

Justin

– oh here we go again – as someone on CRCANEt said last year, the weather must be turning , the swallows returning and the bulbs getting ready to poke their heads above the soil – the AVD / Spring Series debate has begun.

Seems alittle earl

Chris M

How long can people typically stand indoor trainers for a single session to replace a weekend style 4 hour outside ride? Do you get off due to 1) brain fry 2) ass pain, 3) dehydration, 4) legs cramp, or 5) name another?

Oh dude,

totally ass pain.
Good post Chris
I try to get up off the saddle and it still bugs the hell out me. Why?
Hour and an half tops.
Andy (or someone) once wrote that he thought 45min on a trainer = an hour on the road because you don’t coast and generally ride a little higher intensity, right?

schmalz

I would think it has a lot to do with no coasting on the rollers, but doing a little math tells me from my roller rides I average 12.98 Kj per minute as opposed to 11.08 Kj outside.

So on a schmalz-ian scale a roller ride is 117% of a normal outside ride. 60 minutes would be equal to 70.2 minutes outside. Science!

Coach MNOP

My longest ride on the rollers has been 3 hours, no stops. Just getting out of the saddle on a regular basis, sometimes riding no hands to stretch out my back. Also I keep a few bottles on the table next to me and a good supply of food. It’s physically pretty hard as there is no free wheeling, but it can be done. It helps to have someone to swap out the DVD’s as well.
Based on power data of not pedalling anywhere between 10-20% of the time when you are on the road you could probably equate roller time to 48-54 min = an hour on the road.

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