Northern California - Nite Ride FRISCO!

Tuesday/Thursday's in the park have become as regular as the San Mateo Nite rides. I jumped in tonight, there was a large group led by Chris (pizzaMan) Tim (BottleRocket) with "Roaring Mouse" contingent. The night was disorienting in a way that it was too much like a Summer Night...very odd feeling. Half moon with a star at the point and very warm.
Since I had worked out this morning I decided to just play photographer. I tried laying in the middle of the track while everyone rode around me...:eek: very scary...I missed the first shot cause it freaked me out I missed the shutter. It was a fun night though.

Henry what happened btw...you didn't show?
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Polo1.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Polo4.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Polo3.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/polo2.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Niteride.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/Chris-9.jpg

The bright star to the upper left of the moon is actually a planet: Venus.

I got a call from work and ended up on the phone standing on the curb near 3rd and 16th for half an hour. Sorry I should have called you to let you know I bailed. Next time for sure.

I'm going to have to come out there one of these nights and see just what is going on. I only live a few minutes from the Polo Fields. I have to get a good light tho.

Henry sorry to hear you got blocked from coming out...Work sucks!

Carl, come out next week!

Freakin' barbarians! Don't call it F*****! It's San Francisco. There's a Frisco in Texas, one in Colorado, none in California. While you're at it, take those geeky kits off!

"May I boil in oil
And fry in Crisco
"If I ever call
"San Francisco 'Frisco'"

-- Ogden Nash

Freakin' barbarians! Don't call it F*****! It's San Francisco. There's a Frisco in Texas, one in Colorado, none in California. While you're at it, take those geeky kits off!

cool yer jets cowboy...it's a joke..get it? Kits are comfy and they make you look like you're going faster!

frisco frisco frisco frisco!!!!

frisco frisco bo-bisco, banana-fana-fo-fisco!!!!Fisced.

Freakin' barbarians! Don't call it F*****! It's San Francisco. There's a Frisco in Texas, one in Colorado, none in California. While you're at it, take those geeky kits off!

I'm a 4th generation San Franciscan and "frisco" doesn't bother me.

Riding without kits? I don't even want to think about how cold that would be.:eek:

X, it'd be "frisco frisco bo-bisco, fee fi mo-misco, frisco".

So would anyone be interested in wearing a helmet cam and a small camel back backpack? Not too sure how it would turn out, but in the pack pictures would be better than from the autobus or my location at the bus stop...lol

Are there opportunities for slower riders who can't roar like mice? Would you be able to pass me or would I just get in the way?!?!

Are there opportunities for slower riders who can't roar like mice? Would you be able to pass me or would I just get in the way?!?!

There's plenty or room for everyone out there for anyone who wants to come out, just be fure you have a front light and rear light/blinkie. On most nights there is a guy on a mtn bike who goes slow on the far outside of the track. We probably pass him every 2-3 laps or so and never have any problems.


I have been doing somewhat structured workouts there on Tuesday/Thursday nights for a while. The workouts are geared toward training for road racing/criteriums, but anyone is free to join us, experienced racer or newbie. The general plan is as follows:

Tuesday - Endurance - We show up around 6PM and wamup easy as a group until around 6:15, then we do 4 x 6 miles (9 laps) at a fast tempo (23-25 mph) with 2 lap easy recovery between. In order to make these more like a race simulation, I have been adding 1/2 lap surges on the last half lap of laps 3, 6, and 9 of each interval. Another option is to just ride a fast paceline for around an hour like we did this Tuesday. If you've never ridden in a paceline, 25 mph in a paceline is about the same effort as 20 mph on your own, and if you just want to sit in back and draft, that is fine too.

Thursday - Sprints - We show up around 6PM and wamup easy as a group until around 6:15, then we do 10 x 1/2 lap sprint with 2 lap recovery easy. We build up speed around the turn, then go full throttle down the straightaway. According to Bottle Rocket's computer we reached a top speed of 35mph last night!

Looks fun! What time and for how long do these rides happen?

edit:

And PizzaMan has my answer, posted at the same time I did...

cool yer jets cowboy...it's a joke..get it? Kits are comfy and they make you look like you're going faster!

No worries, just poking fun. Moved out a few months ago so can't say much anyways. Kits with sponsor logos are just geeky unless you're sponsored, though; I've got nothing against good materials, just those that pay to wear clothing advertising products they probably don't even use (but if you get the clothing for free, that could be a mitigating factor, but then there's the horrible color combos).

No worries, just poking fun. Moved out a few months ago so can't say much anyways. Kits with sponsor logos are just geeky unless you're sponsored, though; I've got nothing against good materials, just those that pay to wear clothing advertising products they probably don't even use (but if you get the clothing for free, that could be a mitigating factor, but then there's the horrible color combos).

I got my kit for free from a company that received about $10 Billion in the bailout, so I guess we're all paying for my kit. :lol:

No worries, just poking fun. Moved out a few months ago so can't say much anyways. Kits with sponsor logos are just geeky unless you're sponsored, though; I've got nothing against good materials, just those that pay to wear clothing advertising products they probably don't even use (but if you get the clothing for free, that could be a mitigating factor, but then there's the horrible color combos).

I personally don't wear a kit, cuz I'm not on a team or part of a club. However, I've got absolutely no problem with them. I'm guessing many of these guys get free kits, and others are part of a club where they get good discounts, and wearing the kits is part of the deal. They get high-quality kits at extremely good prices.

You seem like a grumpy old man.

OT: In this radio show they interview a Morgan Stanley guy about how the financial crisis started.
"This American Life" show from NPR. "The Global Pool of Money" episode.
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1242

No worries, just poking fun. Moved out a few months ago so can't say much anyways. Kits with sponsor logos are just geeky unless you're sponsored, though; I've got nothing against good materials, just those that pay to wear clothing advertising products they probably don't even use (but if you get the clothing for free, that could be a mitigating factor, but then there's the horrible color combos).

Most of those guys there are on teams and wear their team kits.

Sounds fun. Would it be okay to show up to watch? If I joined, I'd be one of the people you'd be lapping. :)

I've done laps there before, and it's fun. Good workout.

No worries, just poking fun.

Hey, You should come on down and ride with us on Tues/thurs...It's a lot of fun and everyone just puts up with me;) I'm like that annoying fruit fly, but with a camera!

Hey, You should come on down and ride with us on Tues/thurs...It's a lot of fun and everyone just puts up with me;) I'm like that annoying fruit fly, but with a camera!sooooo...uhhhh....more like a firefly...:thumb: maybe Pete, you would use the helmet cam for me. I would do it, but I don't want to edit a video of a freight train of blinky lights going by me, with the audio track of me wheezing the entire time...lol

sooooo...uhhhh....more like a firefly...:thumb: maybe Pete, you would use the helmet cam for me. I would do it, but I don't want to edit a video of a freight train of blinky lights going by me, with the audio track of me wheezing the entire time...lol

I could wear the helmet cam if you like.
Would it be mounted facing forward or backward?

ps Henry, thanks for the link, interesting show that really quite simply explained how we got into this mess.
Funny to think that if I had actually know at the time how easy it was to get a $500,00 loan I probably would have bought something asuming that it would only go up in value and been screwed. Instead I'm happily still living in a cheap rent controlled apartment.

Most of those guys there are on teams and wear their team kits.

Cool, good for them. Just not true of most guys I see on the road wearing them is all...can't make out too much in this set of photos.



You seem like a grumpy old man.

Guilty.


Hey, You should come on down and ride with us on Tues/thurs...It's a lot of fun and everyone just puts up with me;) I'm like that annoying fruit fly, but with a camera!

Used to do the polo field rides at night once in a while many years ago, but riding in ovals is about as interesting as Nascar IMHO. I prefer mountain biking if I'm going to go out at night. But thanks for the invite!

I could wear the helmet cam if you like.
Would it be mounted facing forward or backward?

ps Henry, thanks for the link, interesting show that really quite simply explained how we got into this mess.
Funny to think that if I had actually know at the time how easy it was to get a $500,00 loan I probably would have bought something asuming that it would only go up in value and been screwed. Instead I'm happily still living in a cheap rent controlled apartment.

Yep and repossesed by the banks!....They've lost 60 buildings now!:roflmao2: How to run it all into the ground

My coworker told me that he heard a story from WaMu (during the "boom") that goes as follows:

There was a loan officer doing a loan for a guy who was a mariachi singer. As "proof of employment" he provided a picture of him singing mariachi. Then they listed him as having some kind of six-figure income. Haha!! when he asked the supervisor if they should approve this, the sup. said "yes, yes, just approve it."

That's how they got into this mess. Thankfully, for me, the wave they were riding didn't continue on. Now I might actually be able to afford a decent house without over extending myself.

I can tell you that they will certainly put you through the wringer nowadays to get a loan, even with 25% down and super credit ratings.

Yeah, but that's better than approving what is basically a guaranteed default ;)

Yeah, but that's better than approving what is basically a guaranteed default ;)

Oh I totally agree. Just a heads up.

We are looking into an FHA loan.

PS- we went way OT!

It's not like there's an OT thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=503748) or anything. :rolleyes:

:P

Funny to think that if I had actually know at the time how easy it was to get a $500,00 loan I probably would have bought something asuming that it would only go up in value and been screwed. Instead I'm happily still living in a cheap rent controlled apartment.

Schadenfreude: Malicious Joy..............All those boom years I felt I was missing the boat as a renter too.
Not looking forward to next year when all these big corporations stop funding the arts though. All my employers depend on that money. Scary. :(

Anyway back on topic:


Sounds fun. Would it be okay to show up to watch? If I joined, I'd be one of the people you'd be lapping.

Just watching wouldn’t be a very good workout and would be pretty boring in the dark.

These polo fields workouts are best when done in groups, otherwise you’re just going around in circles (in which case I would just buy some rollers and workout in front of the TV like people are forced to do elsewhere). I have occasionally gone down there for an easy spin by myself. Those times I’d load up the ipod with some music I need to familiarize myself with and just go down and zone out for a while. But I’d still rather do it with company.

I’d say over 50% of my riding time since the Fall has been spent down there. It’s been a great place for a newb’ racer like me to figure out a lot of stuff such as riding in a paceline for a long time without interruptions such as cars or stop signs. It’s a great place to push your limits a few times a week. There will always be some one there stronger than you (well, as long as pizzaman is there) and I’ve seen my performance level creep up over the last few months as a result of trying to keep up with the big dogs.

If you get dropped on this group ride you’re not going to end up in BFE without a map. You’ll just get lapped, in which case you can just jump back on.

It's a really long ways for me to make it up there from the south bay after work by 6pm but these rides sound like a lot of fun. If they're still going once it starts staying light later then I'd love to leave work early and head up with my bike and helmet cam to try to get some good action footage. My cam is useless at night though.

If I do it sometime, I would be more likely to start at 7 or 7:30, so we could probably put together a later group as well. Not sure I like pacelines, though.

Sounds tempting...

I could wear the helmet cam if you like.
Would it be mounted facing forward or backward?Perhaps I will try and schedule a night with you in the near future. My son just got his baseball schedule and many of the games are Tues, Thurs. afternoons so it may not work for me to get back into the City.

Forward or backward would be up to you. What every direction would give the best action, although looking backwards probably wouldn't work because of the front lights.

Perhaps I will try and schedule a night with you in the near future. My son just got his baseball schedule and many of the games are Tues, Thurs. afternoons so it may not work for me to get back into the City.

Forward or backward would be up to you. What every direction would give the best action, although looking backwards probably wouldn't work because of the front lights.

The only problem with Chris is he's alway's in the front, so you're not gonna get a lot of people action...It might be kind of cool if he goes from front to back or in and out of the pack.

The only problem with Chris is he's alway's in the front, so you're not gonna get a lot of people action...It might be kind of cool if he goes from front to back or in and out of the pack.
Well maybe we will have to ask him for artistic sake to sandbag and work his way front back and in between...lol. Just more stuff I can edit from...if I get a picture... :D