ITS ALMOST SATURDAY. I wont be with you this Saturday or next, but wanted to share with you some concepts that will help make our experience more positive and pleasant.This post is specifically directed at the 20+ crew (and those that are thinking about trying 20+), but a lot of these concepts will help all pacelines, no matter the speed. If youre a picture person, just skip these words and click below. If you do read it, theres some attempts at humor with minimal insults. I dont talk about anyones Momma. Theres even an offer of a sponsored breakfast. 1. The rotating paceline at 20+ DOES NOT require more physical effort than the static paceline at 18-20. If Ruben Fuentes, The Worlds Oldest Cyclist (TM), can hang at 20+, chances are that you can too. Seriously (Im capable of seriousness), lots of us report feeling fresher after a 20+ ride with a rotating paceline than we felt at 18-20 with the less dynamic paceline. 2. What does the rotating paceline require, you ask? This marvel of cycling DOES require concentration, constant communication, engagement, respect for the laws of physics, willingness to listen to suggestions for improvement and a limit on crabbiness. 3. On concentration, a lapse in your attention coming off the back means that youve created a gap, which you must now close at 23-24 mph, instead of 18 mph. If you consistently do this to yourself, you may be fried halfway back from Blackpoint. Gaps are ugly like Lamonts Aunt Esther or Ernest Borgnine. 4. On constant communication, the rider at the front of the decelerating line must audibly call CLEAR when the incoming replacements rear wheel is half-clear of the lead riders front wheel. The rider coming off the back onto the accelerating line must call last or come on or vamos caramba que esto está muy sabroso por el amor de Dios to the rider in front of him. This lets that rider know that hes next and should begin accelerating. The first rider to correctly and timely tell me vamos caramba que esto está muy sabroso por el amor de Dios as shes coming off the back gets breakfast on me (a normal breakfast at Lulus (keep the tab sub-$15, not the stratospheric tabs run up by Carmen Rosabal Hiers, The Queen of Granada and The Worlds Most Ravenous Cyclist.). Carmen is like a termite in that she consumes half of her body weight in food every day, yet somehow manages to maintain an enviable physique, as evidenced by her triumph in the Hottest Bod contest at her family reunion this past summer in Punta Cana. But, I digress. 5. On engagement, the rotating paceline will not be successful UNLESS every participating rider takes responsibility for its success. This means that the ride leaders shouldnt be the only ones saying close that gap, clear, bring it back (when the rider coming off the front of the fast line goes too far), hold the rotation through the turn/traffic circle. Weve been getting better at this with every successive week, so lets continue the trend. At every speed, but especially 20+, the attitude should be that everyone is responsible for the success of the ride. 6. On respecting the laws of physics, people that mess with them are highly trained and get paid enormous sums of money to do so. This eliminates all of us who ride from City Hall on Saturday morning. Unless youve got massive watts like Jan Ulrich, Alex Figueiredo or Arpad Hevizi, get out of that 53x12 and get into a gear combination you can spin with relative ease. Now, dont go to the other extreme and gear too light, or youll be spinning like a madwoman and not getting anywhere. Finding the easiest gear for the speed of the group will allow you to accelerate faster coming off the back while saving your legs and avoiding the creation of ugly gaps. Gaps in a paceline are like ugly grafitti. Utter vandalism. YUCK!! 7. On willingness to listen to suggestions for improvement, If Arpad Hevizi, Osvaldo Carriazo, Art Lieberman of a few others speak to you with nuggets of wisdom, honor that old Merryl Lynch commercial, close your mouth and LISTEN. Youll become a better cyclist. 8. On any ride, my crabbiness level must not be exceeded. If your level of crabbiness exceeds mine, youll surely breach the UCL (Universal Crabbiness Limit) and the ride will SUCK! Im referring to one particular rider last week who must have mixed fiberglass with his oatmeal, or maybe stepped in his kitty litter on the way to the bathroom. He was crabby from the get and then stepped with his crabbiness to the PPOLM (Prototypical Proud Older Latin Man). Those of us familiar with the psychology of this species (PPOLM) became afeard that a cross-cultural change of the unwanted kind would ensue. Luckily, this PPOLM must be Budhist and must have gotten some Xanax mixed with his oatmeal, so peace prevailed at 82nd Avenue & 168th Street. And now, if youve made it this far, enjoy the video. I can see it all day.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 22:39:10 +0000
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