Rides and Races - Boston rides

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who's down? the weather (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/ifps/MapClick.php?CityName=Boston&state=MA&site=BOX) should be clear, although a bit chilly and windy at times...

Don't think I'll be able to make it. Too much to do for too many things.

i'm going to the "velodrome" in londonderry tonight (http://www.leadcycling.com/) despite medical issues and not having a bike. they have loaners. i suck at life.

i may or may not come back with shaved legs and spandex.

*******! Is it open on weekends? How are you getting up there? I might want to go along sometime...

yeah im building up my gan well pro up right now and i wanna hit that **** up in nh any of you been there is it cool?i mean im sure its cool but whats the vibe like the web page dosent say much.If any one whos been there could give me the low down that would rock

yah i'd be interested to hit that up some weekend

i'd be down to ride this weekend regardless

*******! Is it open on weekends? How are you getting up there? I might want to go along sometime...

i'm actually catching a ride up there with this guy that works at seven. i think it's a once a week deal though because it's regularly a go-kart track or something stupid like that... but i'll let everyone know what the vibe is like. hopefully i'll get my new bike put together before the season is over and we can have some fun.

awww come on my parents just left town today and I have nothing to do tonight!!! somebody go on this ride with me.... or at least follow my out of shape ass to a bar.

or if anybody has an extra spot in their car going up to NH then gimmie a call.

"velodrome" report:

- very friendly vibe
- 14 degree banked corners, 320m length (or something close to that)
- crowd was mostly age 35+ roadies. i was one of the younger people there. there were probably 30 or so people there to race.
- three classes, A, B and C
- competition was good and competative even in the B and C classes. i'd never track raced before and placed rather poorly in a couple races because i didn't have a good strategy.
- not having my bike sucked the most really... they had loaners, which translates loosely to 'feels like pedaling through mud with the handling properties of an ox and cart.'
- so if you can go, do go. i had a great time.

thanks man thats sound rad i cant wait to go get my ass kicked

who are the dudes who were paintin' the bike onto the electrical box in union sq. somerville last night? way to go dudes!:) :beer:

who are the dudes who were paintin' the bike onto the electrical box in union sq. somerville last night? way to go dudes!:) :beer:

hmmm... I'll keep an eye out on my ride home tonight for it as I pass through. didn't notice it on my way into work, but I was busy dealing with the cars.

Hey. I'm back from Puerto Rico. Did anybody keep the Tuesday night spirit alive? When did it finally stop raining?

"velodrome" report:

- competition was good and competative even in the B and C classes. i'd never track raced before and placed rather poorly in a couple races because i didn't have a good strategy.


So, for those of us who know nothing- what constitutes good strategy?

any alley cats happening in Boston coming up or what?

Definitely wanting to go for some rides soon. Still Tuesdays at 7 or 8?

The Tuesday night rides I've been trying to keep going leave from the pit in Harvard Square at 10.

How about tomrrow night? (Thursday) leaving north station say 5ish hitting a few bars till we reach southie?

Anybody here interested in heading to New York for Rumble in the Bronx June 17? I would be willing to drive if there were others to split gas and tolls. Should be a fun race and there have not been any events here in quite some time. Anybody know how to get Google Earth working to scope out the Rumble course? Mine keeps saying that it cannot logon to the server after I downloaded the software.

Any Rushin Revolution races coming up? I keep checking their site. The Tuesday night rides are a bit late for me, but I will have to join some of you soon.

Anybody here interested in heading to New York for Rumble in the Bronx June 17? I would be willing to drive if there were others to split gas and tolls. Should be a fun race and there have not been any events here in quite some time. Anybody know how to get Google Earth working to scope out the Rumble course? Mine keeps saying that it cannot logon to the server after I downloaded the software.

Any Rushin Revolution races coming up? I keep checking their site. The Tuesday night rides are a bit late for me, but I will have to join some of you soon.

i may be down for the ruble in the bronx.. and there will be another RR race within a month.

does the IRO Mark V currently locked up on the Wentworth campus belong to anyone on here? It was a pleasant surprise while wandering to the mailbox this morning.

So, for those of us who know nothing- what constitutes good strategy?

depends on the type race. and after four races, i'm far from experienced, but here's what i took away:
-scratch race (X number of laps, first to cross the finish line on the last lap wins) - getting caught on the outside of the paceline sucks. you'll get dropped after two laps.
-miss & out (after three laps, on each lap the last perosn across the finish line is out of the race, until three riders are left. those three then take one "neutral" lap, followed by the bell lap. first to cross the finish wins) - being at the rear of the paceline means you'll likely be boxed in on the inside and give you no room to sprint or maneuver around slower riders. this is how i got fux0red after the fifth lap. i was in the paceline, but had nowhere to go.

Anybody here interested in heading to New York for Rumble in the Bronx June 17? I would be willing to drive if there were others to split gas and tolls. Should be a fun race and there have not been any events here in quite some time. Anybody know how to get Google Earth working to scope out the Rumble course? Mine keeps saying that it cannot logon to the server after I downloaded the software.

Any Rushin Revolution races coming up? I keep checking their site. The Tuesday night rides are a bit late for me, but I will have to join some of you soon.

Aw craaaaaapppp!!! I just realized I'm out of town for a job that weekend. I'll be in Florida instead of New York. Oh well, my track bike is a piece of crap lately anyway. Anybody want to sell me some cranks? Oh, and a rear tire. Mine blew out last night somewhere along Huntington. So I had to ride from Mass Art to JP to make it to a work meeting, then from JP back to Central Square. All on a flat tire. Good thing my rear wheel was already trashed.

Critcical Mass tonight.

5:30pm

meet at Copley Square near the Boston Public Library on Boylston Street.

hopefully i can make CM. probably will only be able to hook up with it later, work will probably run late

anyone planning on going?

if anyone's down for doing a ride this lovely 3 day weekend, speak up.

on a completely unrelated note:

one of my roommates just bought a condo so i'll have a room for rent in my apt starting august 1st. 3br in brighton right off of comm ave, nice hood (people leave bikes out unlocked for long times and they don't get nabbed), big kitchen, dining room and living room. $550/mo + utilities. pm me for details. i like it because it's a pretty quick ride to allston, cambridge, longwood/mission hill and downtown. 3 minutes by foot to the sutherland rd stop on the B line.

i apologize in advance if i polluted this thread, but i figured i'd toss this out to the in-crowd (and their friends) before i hit up craigslist.

If there's a ride on Sunday I may be interested. It's very lonely out here in Marlboro ;) I haven't seen any other fixed gear people out here yet. Be interesting to see what it's like to ride with other fixed gear folks.. If this sounds like a cry for help.. IT IS.

due to lack of anything better to do I was thinking of taking the bike path out to Lexington on Monday. if anyone is game or if you can think of anything better, speak up. Its supposed to be a stupid nice day out.

okay peeps... it's summer, and:

1) we need to do something for 6/6/6. seriously. we can't let boston be the lamest city in the country for fixie riders by not having an impromtu alleycat, ghettodrome, or something.

2) i'm thinking of organizing the thursday night races and getting them going again.

my personal priority is #2, and i don't think it would be hard to get off the ground again, just get the word out.

due to lack of anything better to do I was thinking of taking the bike path out to Lexington on Monday. if anyone is game or if you can think of anything better, speak up. Its supposed to be a stupid nice day out.

Sounds interesting- i was thinking about doing a longer slower paced ride & heading out of the city myself.

The Monday ride to Lexington sounds fun. I have family plans that day so I can't make it. Heh, I want to ride in the city and you are all heading out :)

I really have to check out one of these ghettodromes this summer..

Sounds interesting- i was thinking about doing a longer slower paced ride & heading out of the city myself.

It would be slower paced, as I'm sure that the path will have plenty of people on it that day with the weather and holiday. I'm making a huge assumption that there aren't any hills to be worried about since I've never tried the path - anyone done this fixed?


Somerville Community Path (http://www.pathfriends.org/) - goes from a bit outside Davis Sq. to the Minuteman Bikeway
Minute Man Bikeway (http://www.minutemanbikeway.org/) - goes from Alewife out past Lexington

I'm just throwing ideas out here, but interested parties could meet for breakfast at the Blue Shirt Cafe in Davis, pick up the path from there and head out? Or not. I just have the day off from work and would like to ride.

and if anyone did want to do something on Sunday, I'm game from about 7pm onwards.

I've been up that path from Alewife back when I worked in Cambridge. Unfortunately I didn't ride fixed or anything really for that matter. I do remember it being pretty flat tho.

pixel, if you do ride from 7, I'd like to take a ride too. Let me know where you're starting out from and a time as I don't know the usual place or time people do this stuff.

Ah crap forget it, I can't make it after all. Sorry for the false alarm.

okay peeps... it's summer, and:

1) we need to do something for 6/6/6. seriously. we can't let boston be the lamest city in the country for fixie riders by not having an impromtu alleycat, ghettodrome, or something.

2) i'm thinking of organizing the thursday night races and getting them going again.

my personal priority is #2, and i don't think it would be hard to get off the ground again, just get the word out.

re: 1

i think the following alleycat would be perfectly viable on the night of comm ave:

3 checkpoints - 666 commonwealth, 666 mass ave, 666 huntington. it's a ~6.66 mile circuit (no lie)

the race would start at 7:06pm

now what we would need is a flyer, maybe some place for am afterparty, and maybe some sponsors/prizes
think a week is enough time to get the word out on this?

666 boylston is the public library... library of satan?

Damn. I just checked my calendar and on 6.6.06 I have class till 9, but I think thats the day it might have been canceled. Fingers are crossed.

I know a guy who can cancel that class for you...permanently. PM me for locked box where you can leave him a message and some money.

I have never had a chance to do one of these alley cat dealys. I will be up for the 666!

okay, since i think it'd be awesome to throw an alleycat with just barely over a week to plan, no sponsors, no spokecards, let's do it!!

here's what i need:
- suggestions for checkpoints.. easy. 666 <major street name>
- people to man checkpoints. this is the biggie. i'm thinking less checkpoints over a longer distance would be best to make it more of a race than a sprint.
- people to talk this up so we get more than 10 people
- spokecards
- flyers
- suggested start time? 10pm so pixel can make it and there's not toooo much traffic but just enough to make it fun?

ok how about this gmapped route (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=205491.)

race starts at the BPL - 666 Boylston

checkpoints are as follows:

666 Commonwealth Ave
666 Cambridge Street
666 Chestnut Hill Road
666 Huntington Ave


when done in a circuit - it's about 10 miles. however there's a lot of interconnecting major roads, so an any order checkpoint system might make things interesting.

if you can make the finish line something like 3666 washington st in JP, my place will be pretty much empty at that point, but my lease isn't up until the end of june, so there's a 1500 sqft loft with a private gated 25 car parking lot (did someone say bbq?) and roof deck that's just begging for kegs and drunkards on a tuesday night.

i'll get flyers around the messenger community if you want to do this, and i might also be able to help out on the spokecards/prize situation if you're up for really doing this.

okay peeps... it's summer, and:

1) we need to do something for 6/6/6. seriously. we can't let boston be the lamest city in the country for fixie riders by not having an impromtu alleycat, ghettodrome, or something.

2) i'm thinking of organizing the thursday night races and getting them going again.

my personal priority is #2, and i don't think it would be hard to get off the ground again, just get the word out.



let's hold sprints, I've had a few idea's for sprint races around town that would be rad.


I've also had a few ideas for courses.


get at me, pm me, IM me, something, I'd be down to help.

just did this mock up of a flyer

http://cs-people.bu.edu/bass/images/bike/666flyer.jpg

okay, this thing has some legs... i like it!

thanks for the offer jacob! we'll be in touch and i'll likely take you up on it. guerillaidiom: i think we'll hold off on the spints this time, just because it's a 666 theme which is better for checkpoint style in my opinion. i'll put something together later in the summer though for sprints...

i'm going to give this it's own thread, now that it looks like we're going to do it. excitement...

anyone lurking, and jacob or guerillaidiom (don't know your real name dude!), can contact me at: thisisforever at gmail.com

Did the path out to Bedford - not a problem at all on a fixed. Difficult to get a good sprint in at times because of conjestion, so staying away during late morning/mid-day on Sunday if thats what you're looking for. Could be a lot of fun to go earlier before everyone is out there.

Hey hey, ride tonight. 10pm at the pit in Harvard Square.

Did the path out to Bedford - not a problem at all on a fixed. Difficult to get a good sprint in at times because of conjestion, so staying away during late morning/mid-day on Sunday if thats what you're looking for. Could be a lot of fun to go earlier before everyone is out there.

i did that path fixed on sunday. its nice for a good relatively flat 30 or so miles roundtrip. i've was on there a bunch this weekend just because i couldn't think of anywhere better to go for 30-40ish mile rides.

i did that path fixed on sunday. its nice for a good relatively flat 30 or so miles roundtrip. i've was on there a bunch this weekend just because i couldn't think of anywhere better to go for 30-40ish mile rides.

orange frame with track drops? I only saw one other fixed while I was out there and gave my customary wave.

ha! I'm a ******, I did it on Monday. once again a long weekend gets the better of me.