Flanders

I ended my Sunday morning ride to catch the tail end of the the Tour of Flanders. What a race! Too bad about Cancellara's broken collarbone. Eventual winner, Tom Boonen, is a beast, having won his 3rd title. Can't wait for next weekend's queen spring classic, Paris-Roubaix.

Rapha Cycle Club

When we were in San Francisco checking things out I took a long walk up and over a mountain to come across the Rapha Cycle Club. Situated in the Marina district on the north side of the city, the Rapha Cycle Club is a welcoming space for the road enthusiast. It features a cafe, a gallery, a library of cycling magazines, two big screen TVs for live race coverage, and of course, their entire line of Rapha goods.

The people there were super friendly. They have weekly rides that leave from the store. It's a place where I could sit back to enjoy some espresso in a full cycling kit. There's even bike parking inside.

This is just the tip of my iceberg of excitement. Gazing across the Golden Gate Bridge awaits all of the Marin Headlands for mountain biking, the coastal highway and Mt. Tam for epic road rides.

Spring Is Here

Great to see the trees and flowers blooming all over New York. It definitely changes my perspective of the city. Just a month ago I was riding in the snow and cold rain, and now we've got sunny skies and above average temperatures. I'm savoring every last bit before we turn to the humid summer heat. I should be indoors on my trainer doing steady-state intervals, but I think I deserve to stray away once in a while.

Chase You Down…

I'm a competitive person by nature. I can't help but challenge myself to do the best I can. Whenever I'm on the road and I see someone ahead of me I automatically kick up my cadence and see how long it'll take me to catch up to that rider. However, there a few things that'll flip my switch into hunt and destroy mode.

Fixed gear bikes Cut-off jean shorts Carbon wheels Pinarello Dogmas Kits plastered with logos Beards and mustaches Fixed gear bikes

Spring Riding

Man, I'm really enjoying this early spring weather we're having in New York. I feel bad for all my friends and family back home in the Pacific Northwest. I hear it's been snowing and raining there non-stop. Today it topped 72º with the sun shining and a light breeze. Perfect day for riding. I did laps around the park.

The picture above is actually from my ride over the weekend to the Palisades and back where I broke my record on the climb. 3rd place overall for that segment.

Our winter has been somewhat mild, yet I managed to complain, but only a little. Since taking up riding again I've been really tolerant of nasty weather. Never have I lived anywhere more windier than Brooklyn. Why is that? Can someone name a windier city? It's amazing how much I'm affected by the weather.

Spring Race Coverage

Had a great time watching live coverage of the early spring races, such as the Milan-San Remo classic as well as the opening World Cup cross-country and downhill races in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. Nino Schurter outpaced Burry Stander in the cross-country event, beating out Jaroslav Kulhavy, the reigning world champion. And Greg Minaar narrowly beat Aaron Gwin in the downhill. Simon Gerrans edged out my favorite, Fabian Cancellara in the Milan-San Remo.

Live coverage of the UCI mountain biking World Cup races were streamed via Red Bull Live TV and will continue streaming the entire season. Right on, Red Bull. It still won't make me drink that crap.

It's always fun to sit back and watch these phenomenal racers make it look easy.

Early Spring Ride

What a gorgeous day in Brooklyn today. It was sunny and close to 70º. I took advantage of the early spring weather and put in close to 50 miles around Rockaway Beach and back. I wanted to push myself harder, but needed to back off a bit to soak in the views of the ocean. There was a slight headwind on my way back, but not even that could dampen my spirits. It was also the first time I wasn't in my deep winter gear, riding only with shorts, a base layer and jersey.

The view of Jamaica Bay was stunning. This is what I ride around. Just on other side is the Rockaways. You can also see the wind making its mark onto the water's surface.

11th Overall

Today was another glorious early spring afternoon in New York. My legs were pretty sapped of power, but I couldn't help myself on a sunny day like today. I decided to take it somewhat easy out to the Palisades. The further I went the stronger I felt. On a particular section of Henry Hudson Drive I decided to give it 90% of what I had left in my legs. To my surprise upon uploading to Strava I'm climbed up to 11th overall on the leader-board. We'll see how long that lasts, but I felt really proud of myself to see that kind of progress.

The climb is pretty well-known in the New York area. It's the first real hill outside of the city. I remember the first time I rode it thinking how much it kicked my ass. It was also the first time I had to use my smaller front chainring to keep a steady spin.

At the end of the climb I was gasping for air, and my legs were full of lactic acid, but all that training was for something. I quickly shed the acid build up and regained my breath, hopped on the bike and bombed down the same hill I just conquered. It turned out to be my second fastest time on the ride.

Bananas, I Love You

I dedicate todays epic ride to the banana. Without them I would still be out on the road suffering like a dog. They're cheap, everywhere, biodegradable and pack a lot of easy to absorb calories. I started to bonk big time at mile 50 and regret not taking my go to snack of trail mix with me. I thought my delicious egg sandwich could hold me over for the entire 75 miles. It didn't. In addition to 3 bananas I had a Pay Day and some sweat tea. That's why I'll always carry at least one dollar. You can usually score two to three bananas, which, in my case, gets you another hour of solid effort. I may even consider getting one of these.

Bleakness

Another photograph from my ride yesterday. The concrete jungle never ends, that is until you cross over the Hudson. I'm approaching 5 solid years in New York City. I moved to New York on my birthday in 2007. My perception of the city has changed so much for a city that changes all the time.

50 Mile Snow Ride

Woke up at 7 am this morning with a mission to ride rain or shine, including snow. It wasn't as bad as the snow storm we had a few weeks ago, but I upped the ante by pushing 50 miles to the Palisades and back. I was the only one out on the road for quite some time, till I spotted a few brave souls, whom all opted to do 9W instead of the more rugged Henry Hudson Drive like I chose to do.

The gnarly climb up to the ranger station at the end of Henry Hudson Drive, aka. River Road.

It was a great ride up until about 5 miles from home when I hit the pavement a couple of times. First crash was due to my fiddling with jacket zippers. So stupid. The other one was on the Brooklyn Bridge. Note to self - don't ride the Brooklyn Bridge after it has snowed. The wet wooden planks are quite dangerous. I nearly took out a tourist in the wrong lane who caused me to crash.

The George Washington Bridge crossing over into Manhattan.

Superbowl Sunday Ride

I got up super early on Sunday morning to do some laps around the park. It was a chilly 33º at 7:30am, and my legs were still fatigued from my ride the day prior. I had to do a workout that focused on riding at a certain power/heart-rate level for a lengthy interval while spinning a lower than usual cadence. I found myself struggling focusing on the numbers, but with anything new there's definitely a learning curve. Maybe I overdressed, but I overheated quickly. I was feeling really weak, despite passing everyone I rode by. I guess my goal was to build up endurance rather than strength, and my workout achieved that. I finished my ride early in preparation for a brunch, followed by a small Superbowl party at our place. Nothing like nachos, fried chicken and beer to top off a solid weekend of riding and training.

Back to Nyack

I rode up to Nyack again yesterday after taking Friday off. I was really pushing hard all the way through the 75 miles. I even took the hard way back by opting to ride Henry Hudson Drive instead of 9W on my return, which adds quite a bit more climbing. Overall I felt really strong compared to my last ride to Nyack, which I had a bit of help from. This time it was a complete solo effort.I even and rode past some of the Rapha Continental guys, which was pretty cool. I recognized them of course by their Independent Fabrication bikes as well as that one dude with the totally wild beard. You know who I'm talking about. I wanted to stop and chat them up, but I was on a mission to smash my last time and effort.

Instead of the popular stop at the Runcible Spoon cafe in Nyack I stopped at a nearby park for my mid ride snack of trail mix, and soaked in the view of the Hudson River. Normally on my way back I'd get caught by a large group, but this time I bridged onto two groups along 9W. I think this is a good sign of things to come if I keep riding consistently and continue to push my limits.

Double Flat

"Andy!", I heard being yelled from behind me. It was my friend Fred, halfway up the hill, whom I went with for a ride around Prospect Park on Tuesday. He had flatted somewhere between 4th and 5th Ave. We got to the top of the hill and proceeded to do what was needed, fixing a flat. I remarked how he carried not one, but two spare tubes with him. The first one mysteriously went flat in seconds. Must have been a dud. Luckily I brought my pump with me. We inspected the tire and yanked out a huge piece of glass from the casing. The second tube did the trick. Made me think twice about carrying an extra tube with me at all times in addition to a patch kit.

Nyack and Back

Did quite a bit of riding this week, about 15 hours total. Four of which were spent on my ride to Nyack and back, 75 miles along the Hudson River. Early on I met up with guy named Sean along Riverside Drive, who was heading in the same direction, and asked if I wanted to trade pulls. Naturally, I couldn't refuse, being that I seldom get to ride with others. He proved to be quite strong and actually pulled me along more than half the way. It's been a while since I've ridden with someone well matched. It was a definite chain stretcher of a ride.

Fire In the Sky

Went for an afternoon 40 mile ride on Friday just after a storm past through. I prepared for the worst; rain jacket and shoe covers on. I did my normal intervals around Prospect Park for an hour then decided to finish off my ride down in Coney Island. The wind started to pick up, and I could make out another batch of storm clouds out in the distance. I encountered a 20 mph head on my way back and suffered through it. However, the sky did begin to clear up and I managed to get this beautiful snapshot before getting home.

Day Before the Storm

I was half expecting snow on Friday, but instead we got sun and the bitter cold. I rode 35 miles in the 35º weather. Above is a stunning view of the Verrazano bridge along one of my usual Brooklyn routes. Hopefully by the time you read this there will be 2-4" of snow on the ground. The weekend forecast says a winter storm is rolling through. I'll most likely be on my mountain bike.