acathi_cyclist

I am wondering if there was a group ride or maybe a race last night (Wednesday) at the park. There was like 50 guys moving at a pretty fast clip. Was anybody there? That was a pretty large group considering that there was a lot of traffic. I was riding alone and almost got into a head on with a couple of teenagers riding clockwise.

gfrance

Wasn't there, but I used to ride regularly in PP. Sometimes, it's just random. Big packs form, but in my experience, don't stay that well together for too long. Probably not a race on a Wed night.

botto 

considering the ungodly hours that you have to race there on a saturday morning, that's a wise call.

acathi_cyclist

I really didn't think it was a race, but maybe a competitive group ride. Although it is possible, I doubt it was completely random, there was really a lot of them.

Yoshi

I know some of my friends met up at the park at night (maybe around 9) and were riding competitively. They were all on track bikes though, and I doubt there were 50 of them.

acathi_cyclist

They showed up a little after the cars left @ around seven.

Bob Ross

Doesn't the Major Taylor Ironman team lead a weekly hammerfest in Prospect Park? I thought I'd heard it was Tuesday nights, but I could be mistaken.

timmhaan

ah, the summer. big groups will form all the time. the morning group was pretty big today too.

dan.lavelle

how is that race there on saturday mornings? i'm going to visit a friend in NYC this weekend and i'm thinking about hopping in to race....competitive/easy/unsafe?

timmhaan

they're pretty easy races. well, not easy to win of course, but easy in that few people get dropped.

superslomo

I've seen a pack of Brooklyn Velo Force people going through at a pretty vicious tempo. If the guys in question were wearing some matching stuff, in yellow, black and white it could have been them.

gfrance

not as many as 50 though.

I got humbled one day by them on River Road. I was riding alone, even before the big climb, and they came past so fast they broke my spirit completely.

gfrance

I simply cannot race, nor do much, at 6:00 a.m.

dem219

I think thats what it probably was. I was leaving just as they were getting started. Probably 30-40 riders, most wearing Major Taylor jerseys.

timmhaan

welcome to my world. my spirit is broken almost every day. i think a lot of people are starting to peak around this time, so guys are at their strongest.

mixtery

yeah I was there last night close to 11pm.... riding counter-clockwise ( ) with the gf. Usually there's really no one there that late so it's not really an issue. But last night close to the big downhill a large group of 5 Velo's came hammering down and we moved over for them. I guess maybe I won't ride that way late at night again, we had bright lights and helmets whereas they had hipster hairdo's.

acathi_cyclist

Yeah, it could've been bad. There was a large group of fast riders right behind me and two seemingly inexperience kids coming right at me not looking at the road, not to mention the horses.

zacster

I was in there last night around 7 and I had the sense that a group was forming. I was with 4 guys for a short time before I left, but they weren't going that fast, maybe 20/21 on the flat part by the lake. On any given day a pack like you saw can form as each person being passed jumps on.

timmhaan

riding counter clockwise = accident waiting to happen.

Yoshi

Don't you guys mean clockwise? Traffic flows counter clockwise in Prospect Park (and Central Park).

timmhaan

yeah, the opposite way of traffic..

dan.lavelle

yeah i'm definately gonna be there this weekend, someone else want to hop into the Cat 4 race with me? lets meet up...i only need a few more points to finish my upgrade, so i'll buy you lunch for a good leadout haha.

serpico7

I was in that peloton. The Major Taylor Iron Riders Club has a training ride in Prospect Park on Wednesday nights. The majority of the guys there seem to be members of the club (I'm not), but you don't need to be to join the ride. Some of the riders in last night's group are very good group cyclists, others are not, so there is definitely some risk involved (but at least the odds of getting hit by a car are very low!).