It is the story of how and why I have been spending most of my free time for the last few months.
So the story begins... Andrew got into road cycling pretty seriously since he has been in NY.
Traditionally we were always more mountain bikers and made fun of those dorks in tight lycra.
Well there isn't much good mountain biking around the city so I guess he decided to adapt at some point. Road cycling is all there is here really.
I remember last summer his Saturday mornings being monopolized by riding in some club rides. He raved about being able to get out of the city and see some great scenery, doing over 100 miles on some ride. He was becoming a pretty serious about road cycling, and constantly telling me to buy a bike and get out with him. I was hesitant to a) drop the money on a bike not knowing how long I would be here, b) not knowing how much I would enjoy it and c) not knowing how my then still healing knee would stand up to the punishment.
Before I busted my knee he dragged me out on a few short rides, but I was limited due to my fitness and riding a heave steel mountain bike while he was on a road bike. I struggled and he poked fun.
A few months ago he spent a considerable sum and bought a new second-hand bike of ebay. This freed up his old bike. But it was really still to cold to ride.
So one day he shoves his laptop in front of me and says "here, finishing filling this out, you can use my old bike -- no excuses now". He had started to sign me up for the New York Cycling Club Special Interest Group (SIG) - this was what he had done last year.
I didn't really have much of an idea about what it was at that point just signed up.
Reading a bit more about it, it was a series of organised rides in early spring to get people fit for the summer and to teach skills and routes.
There are three grades: A, B and C. He started the signup for B for me. The first part of the B-SIG is a test ride around Central Park - 4 laps 24 miles - they get an idea of what class of rider your are based on your time.
They tell you to not push hard on the classification ride. You don't want to be spent at mile 24... we will be doing 100 mile rides by the end of the SIG. They take into account that we are all in "winter shape" and will improve as we get some exercise. So I went and did my laps and took it pretty easy, especially on the last lap.
My time put me on the cusp of A and B. Not having been on a serious ride and not knowing how my knee would stand up I was happy to stay in B -- the fastest B category B-18. The 18 means we are meant to average 18 mph on the flats.
Andrew lent me pretty much everything I needed except shoes. So the day before the first ride out in the real world, I bought some cycling shoes so that I could clip into the pedals.
Sure enough clip in pedals are the sort of thing you need a little time to get used to. On the first ride of the SIG I fell over twice at traffic lights because I forgot about them or didn't clip out quickly enough. How ebarrassing. I was thinking I was definitely a B rider after that.
On that ride was also a pretty decent hill. I think they sneakily include a tough hill on the first ride so that they can really work out who is too strong or too weak for the group and shuffle them into the appropriate group. On the hill the group leaders say "go at your own pace". So 3 of us attacked the hill and beat the strongest leader to the top. Of the three of us, the other 2 guys were bumped up to A-SIG and I never saw them again after that ride. For some reason they didn't bump me -- I'm guessing the falls didn't help.
After my knee surgery my left quad and leg in general had atrophied quite a bit. And during winter it was hard to get much exercise. So once the riding program begun my fitness and strength really progressed quite rapidly. I quickely became easily the strongest rider in my group and I think they regretted not bumping me to the A group. I also discovered that being light but strong makes one especially suited to climbing hills. Which tends to attract the ire of those who are not and are forced to try to keep up all day. The down side is also that I can't go as fast as the big guys downhill and that a strong head wind really affects me. But it was good to ride knowing that no one in the group could beat me or push me hard enough to blow up.
Pretty soon the leaders worked this out and would often get me to "pull" at the front of the group. Saves them energy.
Early in March the weather is still pretty cold in NY. So working out what to wear was a challenge. Trying not to freeze hands and toes when stopped, and not cook when at 100% going up a hill.
Getting out to see NJ and NY during spring was great. Lots of green grass, greening trees, old houses, mansions... Andrew was right, great scenery.
On one particular weekend the ride was moved to Sunday due to bad weather. None of our group leaders could make it that day, so they said we would have to join other groups. When I told Andrew about this over a couple of beers on Saturday night, he suggested that I join his A group instead. I was apprehensive and said that I thought they may drop me off the back, since I know they sustain quite a high pace. He assured me that if I did he would put me on a train home or ride home with me and that I should try and see.
So we meet at 7am the next morning, 2 hours earlier than I'm used to. It's freezing cold. There is a strong breeze from the NW -- the direction we were heading. Only one other rider shows up - the ride leader. And he wanted to be home by midday. This is bad. Less people means less stops, a faster pace. The leader is in a hurry. So we take off and these guys are fast. But that is not bad. The strong head wind had me pushing hard just to stay with them. Being a serious A ride, they take no stops until brunch more than 2 hours and 40 miles later. That is real problem for me. I'm used to the recovery time at stops and more importantly eating and drinking then. I need to eat a lot on a ride to stop my blood sugar crashing.
By brunch time with nothing to eat... I found out what it was like to be blown up... or bonking as they say. My quads were full of lactic acid. I had nothing left.
Andrew stuck with me as we let the other guy go, while we limped home at my broken pace.
It was a humbling experience to say the least, and I learned a lot about my body chemistry. I needed to learn to eat and drink on the bike to keep up with these guys.
Since then the organised Special Interest Group has finished, including a graduation celebration. It was pub dinner and we get presented with a certificate if we were notable a little blurb from our group leaders in front of the all the B riders in the club (~60 people). Our leaders were great and present us all with little presents, mostly aiming on the funny side. I got awarded a house brick as was told that I was only allowed back on rides if I brought it with me.
After the SIG has been rides pretty much every weekend out of the city, mainly with the same group, including some century rides.
The most recent was the North Fork Century
At some point it became apparent that Andrew & Robyn would be heading back to Australia. So I would need my own bike if I was to stay on and keep riding. The other consideration was to buy a good bike here, probably cheaper than for what I could get one in Aus and take it home with me if I wanted to keep riding.
So with Andrew as my bike guru I shopped ebay for a few weeks and picked up a near new all carbon-fiber framed road/race bike.
This weekend will be my first long ride on it, hopefully a century weather permitting, Long Island Harbours Ride
