Sunday 11/28: 8:30 at the PO

I am riding tomorrow!!!...Mark's words throughly inspired me...I would love some gentlemanly company. Leaning toward 8:30...but am flexible.

The 11050's are not Bears!!! We are Warriors and Warrior Princesses!!!

xo,

L

Why Refrain from Riding in the Cold?

When I think of all of the reasons why not to ride in the colder months, it's a miracle we make it out at all.

But here's the number one:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58096779

Salient point? 15.7 mph average. Simply embarrassing. Not to mention the distance.

Two of my Brooklyn crew joined me for this torture, Jon "Colnago" and Todd The Sprinter, both veteran riders if not racers, as is the case with Todd.

42 degrees at the start with a windchill of 33. 21 mile per hour winds gusting up to 30. You might think on a loop it would mean the wind was at your back at least half the time. Nope. When it wasn't blowing directly in our faces, it was nearly blowing us over.

I had joked to the boys about taking it easy - that we really didn't want to exceed a 16 mph pace - but I didn't really expect this to be the truth.

But enough complaining - here's the good stuff: I saw two great friends and we chatted for an hour and a half. About bikes. About restaurants and food. About our Thanksgiving indulgences. Our shared misery made the ride all the more palatable. We got out on a day that might have otherwise been lost to a couch and a remote control, or worse yet, holiday shopping.

So Jeff - there is no hibernation. Just a change of pace. The pleasure remains, and in fact the comradery is an even more essential ingredient.

And for those of you who haven't yet enjoyed a "Steve Class" at Power 10 with Linda and company, I highly recommend it.

Public service announcement

All 11050 riders have gone into hibernation. Don't rouse these slumbering beasts, or challenge their slothful and indolent ways, as riled and formerly active 11050ers have been known to be dangerous.

Ride recap - Turkey Day 100k

100 kilometers, 4000 calories burned (as overstated by Garmin, but it makes you feel better), and all to be replaced about 4p today. Happy Thanksgiving.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57884933

Food For Thought: Thursday Turkey Ride

I know we have many runners amongst us...but running is for the turkeys escaping slaughter!!! How does a Turkey Ride sound? I think we should meet at the PO by 8:00 to avoid any issues with the traffic associated with the PW Turkey Trot.
Who's In??? Anybody on the fence...Here's some food for thought. The average American consumes over 5,000 calories on Thanksgiving Day!!! I'm in!!!
xo,
L

Sunday route recap

Small'ish group, which split shortly after I showed. (Think I should take that personally?) Not many of the older crew out for the ride, only Steve.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57453173

Sunday ride 8:30am @ PO

Who's in?

Saturday ride 2pm @ PO

It will be a bit warmer.

Saturday Ride 7:30 @ PO

Who's in?

More insanity from Danny MacAskill

It's Movember!

You may have noticed that I'm looking a little more luxurious these days. That's because I've donated my face to raise awareness about cancers that affect men. Me and my teams commitment is to grow a moustache for the entire month of Movember.

We're doing this because:

· 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in his lifetime

· 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime

You can support me and my team's efforts by making a donation to the great work of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG. To help, you can either:

- Click this link http://us.movember.com/mospace/680202/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account
- Write a check payable to Movember, referencing Registration Number 680202 and mailing it to: Movember, PO Box 2726, Venice, CA 90294-2726

The money raised will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others, through the world’s most promising prostate cancer research and LIVESTRONG’s programs that support young adults and their families battling and surviving cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit
http://us.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs/.

And here's a link to my team.

https://www.movember.com/us/donate/your-details/team_id/112416

Thank You!

Hudson Gang

While I'm sharing pictures this was from the August Hudson Ride (before the pain set in).

Today's Ride (Andy, Richard & Brian)

Who needs coffee when you have the Little Neck gang to wake you up. Truthfully my post marathon quads were not happy when Brian suggested that we find the Triangle ride on the service road. Nevertheless we did and it was fun. I would say it was between 50 - 60 riders. Nice ride today I think it was 36-38 miles in a little over 2 hrs.

Sunday November 14th

8:30 start

Looks like we should have great weather. Who's in?

Saturday Novemeber 13th

It's going to be beautiful tomorrow...Shall we say 7:30 at the Post Office?

Sat 11/6 route

Route recap. COLD, and a small group. Apparently we are inundated with fair weather riders. Finished solo after Dom split us.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/55665993

11/6 route option

Early one for me. Back by 9:30.

Option 1: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36478632

Option 2 (and much more fun and messy): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/19930934

Ride: Sunday 11/7 8:30am "I like to drink wine Saturday night ride"

Who's in?

Suggested Route: Hook up with Little Neck Crew on the service road.

Ride: Saturday 11/6 7:30am @ PO

36 degrees! Who's in?

Suggested Route: Jeff? Dom?

Ride: Sunday 11/7 The Daylight Savings Dom Ride 7:30am @ PO

How can we get an extra hour of riding in? Dom just reminded me about DST.

37 degrees. Suggest a route, who's in?

You and Your Johnson

Being in the advertising world I thought I would share this commercial gem from the '70's.

Sun Protection: A Must!!!

I didn't want anybody to forget about this posting from October...so I am re-posting it for November. It really needs to be taken very seriously!!!

Not sure who was listening this morning...but I was at the dermatologist this week. She shared with me that she had just recently seen two male cyclists, each with malignant skin cancer. One was on an ear, and the other was on the back of the neck. She really read me the riot act, even though I am a diligent sun-protection wearer. She said that even in the winter we should all be wearing it on whatever areas are exposed. The nose is a very prominent place to get skin cancer as well as the edges around the ears. She also said, that the choice of sun-protection is equally as important...finding one with zinc oxide as a main ingredient is paramount for blockage of the suns harmful rays. I use a product called "Blue Lizard" which I think is a great product and easily order-able on Amazon.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...Great ride today!!!

xo,

Linda

Gran Fondo in NYC May 8, 2011!

Ciao Ragazzi (Italian for "get your cycling gear on"):

On May 8th, 2011, NYC will host the first ever "Gran Fondo" ... Legendary in Italy, the Gran Fondo is a huge organized ride, more structured than events like the North Fork Century because it includes timed sections, but it's still not a pro-am race...

In any case, I am considering participation, as should you!

For more info on what a Gran Fondo is:

http://granfondousa.com/what-is-gran-fondo/

And

http://granfondony.eventbrite.com/?ref=ebtn

The link to the NYC Gran Fondo site:

http://www.granfondony.com/index.php

More details...
Cost: $195 + $9.75
Gran Fondo New York starts with a bang by crossing the iconic George W. Bridge towards the Jersey side of Hudson River. Enjoy magnificent views of Manhattan during this once in a lifetime car free stint. Following Hudson upstream on rural roads and through scenic towns, riders will compete against each other and themselves on two timed climbs which will count towards the King and Queen of Mountain competition. The feature climb of the event and Cima Coppi (highest point of the ride) is the nearly four mile climb up to Bear Mountain in Harriman State Park. After descending, the course will wind its way back to where it started, hitting another short but steep timed climb.

An Italian friend of mine (who owns a winery in Montalcino) mentioned to me he will be sponsoring this... I will look deeper into the situation and post more info as I have it.... ENJOY!

A Jeff Rowe recap

Since so few (of the older group) use the blog -- here is the recap. Will post to the blog (when I figure out how).

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54991427

(btw, here was yesterday, some pretty riding, great roads http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54885673)

Recap: Big group to start, then split on Woodbury. Steve, Avery, Jeff, Linda, Shaun, Anthony, me. Dom'y had been telling me how Shaun and Steve had been ripping off legs of late. Yesterday, every time I tried to pick up the pace, the group would let me go, and Steve would dutifully and quite easily close the gap (i.e., Steve was riding faster than me). Today, when Shaun went by to take a pull on Woodbury, he set such a frantic pace I was hard pressed just to stay on his wheel. Ouch. I decided to try to avoid having Shaun inflict any more pain by keeping him off the front..., until we got to the climbs. Shaun took all the climbs -- and we did a few -- Snake, Lawrence, Beacon, 25A from the fish hatchery, back of Moore's, Chicken Valley, and I'm sure several others I have forgotten. Or he would calmly sit on my wheel, and try not to embarrass me. I think he even called it the ride of the start/stops today. Linda's bathroom break, Linda's telephone call, my chat with a friend, gaps to regroup... Best moment of the day was Avery. I'm pulling down Chicken Valley, and motion for Shaun to come through on the rt. Avery blows by on the left with a tremendous turn of speed. It looked like the sprint was in the bag. But Avery, after flashing his manly prowess, didn't have the balls to finish the job, and let Shaun, Steve and Anthony back in. I watched it all from the back, feebly pedaling after completely blowing. Second best move was Steve -- he of the, oh, I lost my chain excuse, or the famed Andy Schleck move, whichever you prefer. I don't think Steve realizes chains and tires do indeed wear out, and need to be replaced. Or, you can keep using old, worn, stretched equipment, and trash your rear cassette, and possibly derailleurs, chain rings, etc. $50 or into the thousands. Seems a simple choice, but to each his own. Linda was glad to be along, and hit 6000 miles for the season today -- impressive. Surprised those legs can still turn. And Jeff kindly waited and helped push Linda over the finish to the mileage award of the year. Congrats. Chow.