Brands Team Photo Shoot

Check out some of the photos from yesterday's Brands Team photo shoot! It was a lot of fun. Thanks to Todd N. for setting the whole thing up.


Copyright © Cecilia Grace Mizin Photography http://cgmizin.zenfolio.com

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Short but Sweet

Busy day on tap but I arranged to meet up with Mike W. for an early morning ride. Had two hours available so we agreed on a 35 mile out-and-back route, up Round Swamp Rd., through West Hills, up to Rt. 25, then back. Click here to view Mike's GPS track.

Weather was PERFECT! Temperature 65F, sunny, light wind. Nice and flat to start and get warmed up, some easy climbs, then a nice quick spin home. A short ride, but sometimes quality is more important than quantity.

No mechanical issues, which is a good thing after all the maintenance work I did yesterday. Thinking about switching to a 12-23 cassette for these local rides for more gear choices when cruising these mostly-flat roads.

Renewal

Excellent ride this morning with the Brands group, then some much needed bike maintenance.

I planned all week to make the Brands ride on Saturday morning. The forecast predicted great weather and I was looking forward to a good ride with the group. The usual Brands ride is about 38 miles, and I wanted at least 50. So I headed out at 6:00 AM to do a couple of laps on the Jones Beach bike path, then stopped over at Brands a little before 7:00 AM. I was great to see everyone again, Jamie, Mike, Bob, Ed, Harvey, Todd, and a couple of other guys whose faces were familiar but not sure of the names.

A big group of about 20 or so, we started off at an easy pace to everyone could get warmed up. Ed attacked on Central Ave. and so the pace picked up on Round Swamp Rd. A few other guys taking off the front. I bridged then led up to the LIE service road. I turned around and it was just me and two other guys. We took a quick straw poll and we decided to keep going on our own. We kept a strong pace out on the LIE srevice road. One rider dropped off and headed for home, leaving just Dan and myself to finish up back at Round Swamp.

Met a group of 5 riders from our original peloton and we did one more repeat of the first hill on the LIE. Pick up some more remnants of the original group, then we all headed back to Brands. Nice, steady pace!

After our post-ride chat at Brands, I took a spin over to Seaman's Neck Park to catch the first half of my daughter's soccer game (they won, 6-0!!!). A total of 61 miles on the day.

Back home, I had some lunch and had a long session of bike maintenance:
- full bike wash
- new chain
- new cassette
- new brake pads
- mount tire on my new Easton Circuit rear wheel (replacing the one I broke on the Triangle ride)
- mount the trainer tire back on the spare wheel I had been using while waiting for my new wheel

A few photos:

My dented rim, tire bead folded in and braking surface deformed.


New brake pads


New chain and cassette


New Easton Circuit rear wheel

Busy tomorrow, so just a short ride planned.

EZ Century Ride with SBRA

Met up with 7 SBRA riders for a flat century on the South Fork, out to Water Mill and back, 105 miles, just under 6 hours riding time. One rider doing her first century, so we had a few more waitups than usual. Fast ride East on Dune Rd., lunch at Water Mill, then back on a more inland route. A few familiar faces and met a few new riders. Good to spend a day on the bike in this nice weather.

Long Weekend Rides

Friday, day off from work for traveling but had time in the morning to do 50 miles on the Brands route and West Hills. Weather was good, not too cold or windy. I've been riding on my spare rear wheel while waiting for a replacement Easton EA70 for the Circuit I wrecked last weekend on the Triangle ride. It was a really good ride, despite the workday traffic.

Saturday, up in Corning for the Easter Holiday. Its quite a bit colder and windier here. Managed to get in 65 miles from Corning to Savona, up to the Hills in Tyrone and Weston, back down to Keuka Lake and Hammondsport. Across to Bath, then a straight line back to Corning. A really strong headwind from the Northwest that I fought against for the first 30 miles. Took a lot out of me by the time I got to the hills but at least I got the tailwind for the 20 miles home.

This morning, only time for a short ride before Easter brunch, but I got in 25 miles on a FREEZING cold (25F) morning here. Did the big climb up Harris Hill, so I would not exactly call it a recovery ride. Good to do some rides in a change of scenery, but wish it was warmer and less windy.


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Triangle Ride, Cut Short by Pothole

Decided to do the Triangle ride today, hoping to meet up with Ed, from Brands, and Mike W. Sunny skies, a little chilly, but quite windy. Left home at 8:20 AM and rode 9 miles straight into a headwind up north to Steele Hill Rd., just off the LIE to meet up with the Triangle Ride peleton (ride start is in Little Neck).

Met Craig G. there from Sanchez-Metro team. We didn't have long to wait for the peleton as they would be having a slight tailwind for the first part of their ride. As they passed, I jumped onto the end and it was a pretty civilized pace at the beginning of the ride. Met Ed in the group but did not see Mike W.

Things heated up on Fish Hatchery Rd., group split up and I ended up in no-man's land between the front group and the chase group. I was hammering trying to get back to the front group. Made a high-speed right turn, into a shady section. Before my eyes could adjust to the reduced light level, BAM!, rode straight into a pothole at 25 MPH. I coasted for a few seconds, waiting to hear the clink and rattle of a broken spoke. It didn't come, front rim looked okay, bike was stable, so I jumped back on the pedals and kept going.

A couple of miles outside of Oyster Bay, a chase group of 5 picked me up and we rode into the town of Oyster Bay, just about 30 seconds behind the front group, 30 miles into the ride. As I squeezed the brakes I felt a strong pulsing in the back brake lever. At this point, I realized it was the back wheel, so I dropped out of the group and got off the bike to evaluate the situation. Rear wheel bent! Crap!

Bike was rideable, no noticable cracks in the rim, so I turned back around and headed home solo. Twenty miles later, back home. Got my 50 miles, and a good workout, but at a price.

Really disappointed I wrecked my rim. Its been trouble-free since I got it 17,000 miles ago. Never even been trued! I guess I'll try to get it to Brands today to see if they can fix it. First I'll swap my tire to my backup wheel, that has a trainer tire on it now. Fingers crossed they can fix it.

Finally Back On The Road

Did not get to do a road ride since last Saturday's rain ride on the Trek. Last Sunday was more rain so I skipped my ride, and, I came down with a really bad cold. No rides at all on Monday and Tuesday. Two short trainer sessions on Wednesday and Thursday as I was still recovering from my cold. Relegated to the trainer again on Friday morning because of rain.

Despite a late night at work on Friday, I was glad to see the Weather forecast for today, with rain not predicted until after noon. Decent temperatures in the mid 40's. The only problem would be the wind, steady 20 MPH out of the West, gusts to 33 MPH.

Not sure how deep my energy reserves would be after being sick earlier in the week, I opted to try a primarily North-South route to avoid riding directly into the wind. On the Specialized, solo, up Round Swamp Rd. to the LIE, did the first big hill on the service road, then back to Round Swamp Rd. and through West Hills.

Felt pretty good but after a small taste of that howling wind, I was glad I didn't head East on the service road! Heading back south, I met up with Ed from Brands who was out riding solo. We rode the 12 miles back to Wantagh together, and passed Mike W. who was heading north, on his own. Ed mentioned that this morning was supposed to kick off the regular Saturday A.M. Brands group ride for the season, but he was the only one that showed. Good to know this ride is starting up again, another ride option for Saturday morning! Ed is planning on doing the Triangle ride tomorrow morning. I think I will try to do it, as well, if the family schedule allows. Its a ride as challenging as EB but doesn't involve the long car ride out and back.

On the racing front, the Tour de Parc is on for May 17th, can't wait!