NYC Century: A Series of Unfortunate Events
09-07-08, 06:53 PM
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NYC Century: A Series of Unfortunate Events
I did the NYC Century today and had a great time! As pcad predicted, there were indeed 10,000+ Freds (ranging from T-Shirt and slippers guy to full pro team kit [minus bike] "poseur"). I did run into a few exceptions, as listed below.
THE BAD
THE GOOD
* Though this ride was a fun ride, last year's goal was to finish 100 miles and this year's goal was to finish it in six hours. I wanted to not use any rest stops, but the stupid mechanicals made them a moot point after a while. I did, however, limit my time in them by A LOT. I know now, without a doubt, that I'm a better cyclist now.
THE BAD
- I knew things were going to be rough when I spent an hour trying to transfer my SPD cleats to my new Sidis. Turned out to be worth the wait, but I only got four hours of sleep in the process.
At least it's better than the ONE hour I got last year! 
- The downfall continued when my right contact literally ripped as I tried to adjust it in my eye. Thus, I couldn't use my new Ryder shades I bought (to replace my lost Oakleys ) and had to stick to my only pair of designer glasses (since my riding glasses finally threw in the towel).
- Had to change tubes THREE times in the first hour of riding because of slow leaks. I actually took the ten minutes to investigate what was causing the slow leak, missed it and a mechanic at a bike shop I don't particularly like found it.
- While riding in Queens somewhere, my right cleat FALLS OFF, losing the two screws in the process (though I found my cleat and shim, which was GREAT). The mechanic at the rest stop (which took a WHILE to get to) didn't have the bolts, so he referred me to this HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE bike shop that (amongst everything else it lacked) didn't have them either. Ended up having to ride four miles out of route to another shop, which had them and charged me for them...
THE GOOD
- Even though I didn't finish the ride in the six hours I planned to do it in, I did finish in about eight hours. I think I could have gotten a better time had I not had so many mechanical issues in the beginning, though I don't think I would have hit the six hour mark either.*
- I was SMOOTH SAILING COMFORTABLE for the whole ride! I bought a pair of shop-printed (Team Ridgewood Cycle) Giordana shorts, Sidi Zeta/Bullet II MTB shoes, Pearl Izumi Attack socks and gloves. I had VERY VERY few issues with comfort thorughout the entire ride; in fact, I could have done more after the 100 miles and still felt great!
- I went a LOT faster than I did the first year, but my legs don't feel anywhere nearly as toasted as last year, and I didn't sweat that much, though my fluid intake was VERY high. I noticed that (a) Sugary stuff (i.e. Gatorade) is addicting, but doesn't do much in terms of performance and recovery, (b)water does NOTHING for me and (c)Hammer HEED might taste like sh*t, but it works!
- There was this one dude from Drexel Cycling that had a pretty crazy acceleration, and you would never see it coming either. It was tough keeping up with him, but I did somehow. Though he would destroy me on the climbs if they were longer.
- Flushing is 90% CHINESE people (the other 10% are Asian minorities). This is by no means a bad thing, but it was just an interesting observation.
- There were three dudes on unicycles, two of which did 100 miles. Rock on.
* Though this ride was a fun ride, last year's goal was to finish 100 miles and this year's goal was to finish it in six hours. I wanted to not use any rest stops, but the stupid mechanicals made them a moot point after a while. I did, however, limit my time in them by A LOT. I know now, without a doubt, that I'm a better cyclist now.
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09-07-08, 06:59 PM
#2
Peloton Shelter Dog
Until you can ride 100 miles at a Fred pace through the five boroughs, I suggest you put off your Prospect Park Racing debut Crassic. But it does sound like a pretty convoluted adventure.
09-07-08, 07:06 PM
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Regardless, I'm working on my debut. It's going to be epic. You might even take a rest day to watch!
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09-07-08, 07:16 PM
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To add to the variety, there were two people (that I saw) on 'bents and at least one guy on a trike. I was waiting for the dude in the penny-farther, but that never came
For the record, I was the guy with the yellow Trek 1000 and the Ridgewood Cycle shorts.
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09-07-08, 07:19 PM
#6
Spin Meister
I wanted to participate but ended up riding the mountains northeast of Los Angeles yesterday. I thought I'd made the right choice until I read your post. Did you get any rain from Hannah?
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This post is a natural product. Slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and are in no way to be considered flaws or defects.
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09-07-08, 07:20 PM
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Peloton Shelter Dog
I don't know what kind of whacko rides 100 miles on a Unicycle, but I wish he'd post here with pics.
09-07-08, 07:21 PM
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We got tons the day before. Today was really nice.
I do wish I could ride California's mountains, though. Maybe I could become a better climber in five years instead of ten that way
I do wish I could ride California's mountains, though. Maybe I could become a better climber in five years instead of ten that way
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09-07-08, 07:22 PM
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I know that at least one guy did 75+, unless he walked some of it.
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09-07-08, 07:45 PM
#10
Uber Goober
I've heard of unicycle riders starting earlier due to slower average speeds, don't know how common that is.
They recently had a multi-day "Ride the Lobster" race up in Nova Scotia, google it for more information. One of the newer developments in long-distance unicycling is geared unicycles, and I think the teams winning the RTL were using geared 36" unicycles.
Check out https://www.unicycling.org/- very handy site if you're interested in unicycling.
They recently had a multi-day "Ride the Lobster" race up in Nova Scotia, google it for more information. One of the newer developments in long-distance unicycling is geared unicycles, and I think the teams winning the RTL were using geared 36" unicycles.
Check out https://www.unicycling.org/- very handy site if you're interested in unicycling.
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09-07-08, 07:48 PM
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Are you serious?? I really wanted to see at least one of them finish; 100 miles on a unicycle is NO joke.
To add to the variety, there were two people (that I saw) on 'bents and at least one guy on a trike. I was waiting for the dude in the penny-farther, but that never came
For the record, I was the guy with the yellow Trek 1000 and the Ridgewood Cycle shorts.
To add to the variety, there were two people (that I saw) on 'bents and at least one guy on a trike. I was waiting for the dude in the penny-farther, but that never came
For the record, I was the guy with the yellow Trek 1000 and the Ridgewood Cycle shorts.
09-07-08, 07:54 PM
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Great job finishing the century...
Interesting about Flushing. That is were my grandmother lived when I was growing up. One hundred ninety something street. I have a lot of memories of pizzas and bagels in that neighborhood...
Interesting about Flushing. That is were my grandmother lived when I was growing up. One hundred ninety something street. I have a lot of memories of pizzas and bagels in that neighborhood...
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09-07-08, 08:17 PM
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MrCrassic, well done on completing the ride. Sorry you didn't make your time limit but great to see the improvement over the previous year.
Judging by your mechanical issues you should seriously consider getting a team car to follow you next year!
I find that changing anything the night before a long ride is asking for trouble. "Shakedown" earlier. Coulda, shoulda, woulda is easy with 20-20 hindsight.
If flushing really that full of Asians or is that what you tend to notice given yout cited interests?
· Interests
Road bike racing, road cycling, Asian culture, women and food etc.
Judging by your mechanical issues you should seriously consider getting a team car to follow you next year!
I find that changing anything the night before a long ride is asking for trouble. "Shakedown" earlier. Coulda, shoulda, woulda is easy with 20-20 hindsight.
If flushing really that full of Asians or is that what you tend to notice given yout cited interests?
· Interests
Road bike racing, road cycling, Asian culture, women and food etc.
09-07-08, 08:24 PM
#14
Senior Member
Yeah, always check your stuff before the ride. Don't change anything that you can't test before you commit yourself to do 100 miles.
I learned that lesson the easy way this year, changing cleats as well. I bought a pair from the guys that do the computrainer in Brooklyn. I put them on about a half hour before going to my class there. I couldn't clip in at all once in the class. It turns out they were older style Look cleats and I ride on Keo. We quickly swapped them and I got to ride anyway.
I learned that lesson the easy way this year, changing cleats as well. I bought a pair from the guys that do the computrainer in Brooklyn. I put them on about a half hour before going to my class there. I couldn't clip in at all once in the class. It turns out they were older style Look cleats and I ride on Keo. We quickly swapped them and I got to ride anyway.
09-07-08, 08:57 PM
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My specialty is unicycle time trials. I've got a very areo unicycle with a carbon wing post and a solid wheel. I wear a speedsuit and a TT helmet. I've spent weeks in the wind tunnel perfecting my position.
You've never suffered until you've gotten into the whole unicycle TT scene.
You've never suffered until you've gotten into the whole unicycle TT scene.
09-08-08, 04:06 AM
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MrCrassic, well done on completing the ride. Sorry you didn't make your time limit but great to see the improvement over the previous year.
Judging by your mechanical issues you should seriously consider getting a team car to follow you next year!
I find that changing anything the night before a long ride is asking for trouble. "Shakedown" earlier. Coulda, shoulda, woulda is easy with 20-20 hindsight.
If flushing really that full of Asians or is that what you tend to notice given yout cited interests?
· Interests
Road bike racing, road cycling, Asian culture, women and food etc.
Judging by your mechanical issues you should seriously consider getting a team car to follow you next year!
I find that changing anything the night before a long ride is asking for trouble. "Shakedown" earlier. Coulda, shoulda, woulda is easy with 20-20 hindsight.
If flushing really that full of Asians or is that what you tend to notice given yout cited interests?
· Interests
Road bike racing, road cycling, Asian culture, women and food etc.
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09-08-08, 04:07 AM
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I've only been to Flushing once before, and I never really noticed it back then (too young).
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09-08-08, 07:44 AM
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I missed the unicycles, but I passed a roller blader on the approach to Prospect Park. Saw her again at the Kissena rest stop, so I guess she was doing either the 75 or 100 mile.
09-08-08, 07:57 AM
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I marshaled the ride and saw lots and lots of mechanical issues.
I saw and changed lots of standard flats. I think the ride was routed to specifically hit every broken piece of glass in NYC.
I saw a ProRace3 torn wide open. The poor guy used gel packets as a boot, then flatted and assumed the boot failed, but it was a actually a new flat!!! We patched the new flat, rebooted the cut part, and got him going. Not 100 yards down the road, his front tire flats.
I saw a guy snap his chain 12 miles in, and was such a prick about it, that he didn't give me a chance to explain we can reconnect the chain minus a link or two and probably lose only one gear, but easily finish the ride. I hope his walk home is socks was comfortable.
Add in a handful of standard mechanical issues, as well as your typical crashes when you put 6,000+ cyclists in one ride, and it was an interesting day.
The weather was freaking perfect and this ride could be both better routed, and much better marked but for the size of it, it was a good job.
I saw and changed lots of standard flats. I think the ride was routed to specifically hit every broken piece of glass in NYC.
I saw a ProRace3 torn wide open. The poor guy used gel packets as a boot, then flatted and assumed the boot failed, but it was a actually a new flat!!! We patched the new flat, rebooted the cut part, and got him going. Not 100 yards down the road, his front tire flats.
I saw a guy snap his chain 12 miles in, and was such a prick about it, that he didn't give me a chance to explain we can reconnect the chain minus a link or two and probably lose only one gear, but easily finish the ride. I hope his walk home is socks was comfortable.
Add in a handful of standard mechanical issues, as well as your typical crashes when you put 6,000+ cyclists in one ride, and it was an interesting day.
The weather was freaking perfect and this ride could be both better routed, and much better marked but for the size of it, it was a good job.
09-08-08, 08:14 AM
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^^^^^
SO freaking true; I was surprised I didn't get any crazy flats or blowouts. I did drop my chain though, but that may have been a derailleur issue.
BTW, who got the mechanic at the Kissena rest stop? He was pretty bad; one lady came to him to ask about why she couldn't shift to the third chainring. Said mechanic found that she needed to shift it twice and then TOLD her that the bike was supposed to work like that! He also referred me to the absolute worst bike shop I've been in in a LONG time.
SO freaking true; I was surprised I didn't get any crazy flats or blowouts. I did drop my chain though, but that may have been a derailleur issue.
BTW, who got the mechanic at the Kissena rest stop? He was pretty bad; one lady came to him to ask about why she couldn't shift to the third chainring. Said mechanic found that she needed to shift it twice and then TOLD her that the bike was supposed to work like that! He also referred me to the absolute worst bike shop I've been in in a LONG time.
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09-08-08, 08:16 AM
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BTW, I was supposed to marshal, but I've only heard back from TA once. I didn't stress it too much because I ultimately just wanted to ride. Oh well.
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09-08-08, 08:55 AM
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Flushing has been an enclave for Koreans and Chinese for at least 20 years, where have you been?
09-08-08, 09:04 AM
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My specialty is unicycle time trials. I've got a very areo unicycle with a carbon wing post and a solid wheel. I wear a speedsuit and a TT helmet. I've spent weeks in the wind tunnel perfecting my position.
You've never suffered until you've gotten into the whole unicycle TT scene.
You've never suffered until you've gotten into the whole unicycle TT scene.
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You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
09-08-08, 09:05 AM
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MrCrassic,
Way to persevere.
+1, on no mechanical changes the night before. However, life does sometimes get in the way ,and you got to do what you got to do.
Way to persevere.
+1, on no mechanical changes the night before. However, life does sometimes get in the way ,and you got to do what you got to do.
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You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
