Central Park Rides
 

A couple of us discussed trying to organize a weekly evening ride in Central Park. I know that mrred, visitordesign and me hit the park pretty often and bike gangs are just plain fun. So I am putting this out there for discussion.

I am heading out now and will be in the park riding after 7:30 pm.

Just pick a weekday and time. Thursdays are out according to red.

See if you can stick with visitor.

How about trying to do a weekly Tuesday night ride? Leaves wednesday open for Kissena racing, thursday for prospect park and mondays and friday for whatever.

And there's no way I can stick with visitor in the park, its his sadistic training ground where he eats roadies and bludgeons the Tri-guys and their carbon-ti superlights. Its scary.

i'll try and do one lap in the time he does two, that seems about right.

i have to get what seems to be about 40 illustrations done this week for a client, so i won't be hitting the park til close to midnight most nights. i'll try to make it out earlier tomorrow though--but i gotta say, it's way more fun and you can go way faster without all of the overly-cautious folks or aimless wanderers lost in their ipods after 9 or 10.

edit: i think all three of you can do it a lot faster than you give yourselves credit for. the monotony of familiarity with any ride helps a lot in building speed. i got my ass very well kicked at the track...

True enough. I usually do a eVil -> wb bridge -> manhattan bridge -> up to cp loop on Tuesday nights late, and it's nice to have the empty streets...

I'm down for tuesdays. Matter of fact, I just got back from a few laps. Was one of you helmetless on a red track bike with a krypto belt? My average speed when I am not racing myself is 20mins a lap. I've done 16 when really pushing. Starting from the back.

just got back from a few laps. didn't see to many track bikes.

id be down for tuesdays maybe we can meet at 8pm would be better for me.

boo, tuesdays and thursdays I have to fix people's bikes at Xup. No chance for a mon/wed ride?

are any of you the tall dude wearing a sleaveless jersey on a white conversion?

yeah, with blue rims? Anyway, sorry about that yesterday I ran into my girl at the top of that hill, how convenient. ;)

Tuesday looks like a good day, around 8pm. Not too late, not too early. How about a meeting spot?

Quiet night last night... saw one kid on a bmx, 2 raccoons, and a homeless guy combing his hair in a bush. Quite peaceful.

oddly, at 12:30 am, there were still at least a dozen joggers. what happened to the days when people feared the park after dusk?

took a few laps just now. VERY CROWDED.
A guy with a carbon C40 and I paced each other for a while, but after the top of the 110th street hill it was dodgy trying to keep speed with so many other riders and runners on the road. When does it usually thin out? Dinner time?

yeah, it was a bit crowded tonight as well as last night too. I got in the park at about 6:40 tonight and dealt with some traffic (!!!) in the park until the first turnoff, it was ridiculous.

And visitor design, you must be in some type of shape man, my best lap tonight was 16 minutes, and I thought I was release today's food afterwards.

I wasn't combing my hair, I was scratching my head.
Anyway, I'll join if no one minds a 35 lb beater that constantly creaks and groans when I stand on the pedals.

Sounds like awesome to me.

thin after 10. don't go before then. it's no fun.

red, if i can hit it again, i'll get excited. until then, i'm satisfied with chalking laps up to "fast." if you can hit 16, i guarantee you can hit 14. there are tricks. i'll show you the next time we're there together. basically, you have to get yr mind to ignore the rolling hills and long grade changes on the west side and the lower-loop. i think people tire on those mre out of habit than actual fatigue. you'll shave off at least a minute the first time you get beyond that. that part is totally mental. don't be overly cautious taking the hill down to the meer either, you need all of that momentum and as much cadence as you can sustain to carry you thru the flat to the great hill.

I was out tonight from 8:30, and it was pretty mellow. enough people to make dodging interesting occasionally, but not so many that I had to slow down. I rode my 14 cog tonight (as opposed to my 17) on my 47t ring. It was, as the kids used to say, word. I passed all of the roadies, and I was up the hills before I had a chance to get tired. I think I like this steep gear thing.

VD, cool. At this point you have about 100 more laps than I do this month, and I think I just lose the mental edge somewhere along the way. I need to get my mind right on these laps. I find that the lag from a days work really drains on me, and I while I want to sprint more or less out of the gate, I need to give myself a lap or two to warm up before putting on the burners. The laps with my dad have been good as he's a strong rider and will give me little mini-goals to hit when doing laps. Catch up to that person, push push push, etc ...

Tonight? What time and where?

a little riding before heading DT to wish Brean our best?

tonight, anybody...duskish?