patentcad

So I make it up over the dreaded Scratchup Road combo to Rt. 9W on the Nyack Ride. I'm near the back but I'm on, we go over the last rise on 9W. It's all downhill from here to the base of the Hook Mtn. finishing climb. I figure I'm golden, I'll recover on the descent.

Incorrect.

Somebody up front was dropping the hammer, hard. We go over the top of the crest, the paceline is starting to gap me. ****. I dig down deeper, my shovel hits an anaerobic rock. There's not much left there. As we passed the Harley Davidson dealer, when I looked down at my speedo I was going 39.7 mph, I was just about spun out in a 53 x 11, I was getting friggin gapped (at almost 40mph) and.. I....had...NOTHIN'!!! Shelled @ mile 48 on a 50 miler.

Oh well. It was only 2 miles from the end. No great loss. I did climb the Mighty Hook solo, the other dropees were behind me, out of cellphone range. Good grief that stupid ride was ballistic today. Even Pcad gets shelled sometimes. Thankfully it doesn't happen too often anymore.

But it happened today. Oh yes indeed. God, I do suck at this. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go question my own self-worth and involvement in competitive cycling on any level.

pidda

39.7 mph in 53x11 = 105 rpm. Just saying

scottmorrison99

Wow. That is fast.

Pablo.

I was not dropped. Gimbels was fast today. We averaged 25.4 MPH.

That's fast.

patentcad

Yep. That was about right. If I had managed 130rpm @ mile 48, I might have gotten back on. Stupid riding on my part. Could have picked up 3-4 spots on that little rise before the descent. Didn't expect that acceleration there. F me.

patentcad

Yep. That's fast. Faster than Nyack was today. And Nyack was ballistic. Hard to compare, I'd have to see the terrain @ Gimbels. Average speed before we started going uphill was about 25mph, probably about 23.5 mph overall at the end. That does include a bunch of red light stops.

Pablo.

There is no such thing as a red light on Gimbels.

Pablo.

What's the terrain @ Nyack like? Gimbels has one big hill, followed by many little hills. We have something called the "double whammy" which are two hills on Purchase St. They aren't steep, but people attack like crazy there. The long ride is another story, lots of hills and prob the same speed as the regular ride or faster.

EDIT: Does Nyack have a relaxed rollout? Gimbels does and thats great, because you get an hour to see how your legs are.

brians647

No, I think you need to ante up once more with some worthy shwag, my friend. Money = speed!

patentcad

Pablo: Nyack does have a relaxed rollout for 20-30 mins, then the hammer drops. Don't worry about the terrain, if you can handle Gimbels you'll be OK on Nyack.

Brians: The Stages of Self Loathing are:

• Detonation

• Getting Shelled Like a Cheap Oyster

• Humiliation

• Disgust

• Self Hatred

• Depression

• Blogging on BF

• On line shopping

• Schwag Procurement

• Self Delusion

• More Competitive Riding

And then of course the cycle repeats itself. The path to Pcad Cycling Zen is circular, and expensive.

Of course when you don't get shelled it's always Big Fun.

torps

Depends who's out front, but yeah... think we ran 3 reds on saturday. The one at the bronx river pkwy was nuts.

Stallionforce

This is why I ride by myself, and supply my own imaginary competitors, commentators, and even podium girls. I attack myself like silly, yet I never get dropped, and no matter how much red zone I run through, I always top the podium. It's awesome, try it. *Flexes Bicep*

waterrockets 

Ouch. The times I've been dropped out of the lead break on the Tuesday Nighter were usually immediately following the biggest climb. You get all worked over, resign yourself to some recovery, and someone drills it. The gaps are huge, it's harder to keep up with the gear, you're already blown, and it just gets worse.

These days, I don't consider that hill to be over until about 500m after the crest. Lately I've been trying to attack over the top and lead the madness. Hurts like hell, but it's kept me from getting dropped. After that, there is some recovery once the rhythm settles in.

Congrats on hitting the wall though. It's a good feeling.

yonderboy

There's nothing quite like feeling completely spun out and watching the field slip away.

Post-shelling analysis for me has always proven that I chose too high of a gear to react to the acceleration in that situation. YMMV.

Enthalpic

"I attack when I am in pain. If I am in pain, the others must be dying" Wim Van Est

Someday I will be strong enough to convince myself of this.

patentcad

We only stop for red lights on Nyack if there's no choice. We probably hit 3 ourselves on Sunday. We probably poached twice as many. It's always that way. Half the ride is from NY City. There is a certain Bike Messenger/Latino culture on our ride. They don't need no stinkin' red lights.



In all honesty the red light poaching was just as bad before the Speedy Gonzalez contingent became regulars on the ride.

patentcad

That was quite strange. I can't remember getting shelled on a descent before. Somebody had to be on the front pounding a 53 x 11 or 53 x 12 @ 130rpm+ to get them going that hard. If I had concentrated harder I never would have allowed any gap to open up, and I would have held the wheel. The gap was the problem yesterday. Wasn't expecting it, didn't think that would be a problem on a descent, couldn't close the gap once it opened and they dropped me. Live and learn.

One thing is for sure, the lower gear wouldn't have helped me in that situation. Not @ 39.5+ mph. Actually I find it's the reverse, when I'm on the rivet it's often the higher gear that will help me hang on. I have lots of experience in getting dropped, and in almost getting dropped but managing to hang on. That latter skill is how I make it to the end of these rides with guys like Dr. W. at the front driving the train.

I don't even know what the F I'm doing on the same Bike Forum, nation or planet with guys as fast as Dr. W. I should be riding a motorcycle in front of them with a guy on the back holding a chalkboard. But chasing them around on my bicycle is more fun (even if they do eject me out the rear now and again).

SushiJoe

I think this means I win the slow guy pi$$ing contest.
It hasn't not happened to me this year [dropped on 100% of my group rides; at least I'm consistent] and it's always much earlier than the 96% complete mark.

patentcad

Sushi Joe, I would be feeling your pain, but I took three Advil earlier.