Some insight into the New York cycling scene

[jabbathemutt007]

 

Hey folks.

 

 

One wouldn't think' date=' that NY is a good place for riding. At least I didn't. However, it turned out that Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn are ideal spots for early morning weekday rides. And that only 20km north of downtown Manhattan, you find quiet, winding, undulating roads through idyllic forest areas, along the Hudson river.

 

 

[/quote']

9W to Bear Mountain or on to West Point used to be my weekend long ride out there (fortunately I lived in Fort Lee so 9W was 5 minutes away). NY itself is flat, but the further north you go into NY state the hillier it gets.

 

 

As for racing' date=' it's interesting to see, that South Africa's amateur racing scene is much ahead of the US. South African riders should be grateful for the fact, that there's at least one race per week (usually with partial road closures) during the summer months. There are only occasional races in and around New York. Also, there's no national seeding system and no timing of the events. Races are timed by hand with video cameras on tripods. They have 5 categories of racers, with Cat.5 being the slowest guys. There's a staggered start. You have to do at least 10 races a year to progress into Cat.4. From there, results count. Only a certain percentage of the best Cat.4 riders make it into Cat.3 and so on and so forth...

 

 

[/quote']

CRCA hold a race every weekend in Central Park during the summer and another club does the same in Brooklyn. It does get a bit boring racing the same circuit every week though. To get into racing proper though you'll probably need a car to get to out of town races.

 

[Johan Bornman]

You haven't experienced New York cycling until you've participated in this race.

 

[traak]

if SA racing is so far ahead where does it go wrong?

 

?

 

Do you commute at all traak?

 

 

 

Hi Dirtbreath: I've seriously thought about commuting for a long time as a means of training. From my home in Brooklyn, it's only a couple of KMs to work in the West Village, but I could easily extent that ride with a lap or two through Central Park.

 

 

 

The one thing, which held me back all the time, was the matter of changing clothes, shower etc. I wear a suit to work and while we have a shower here, I'm put off by the logistical mess, with having clothes in the office, having them cleaned and all...

 

 

 

So, no - I don't commute. I go out to Prospect Park in Brooklyn from around 5.00 to 7.00, get home, shower and take the subway to Manhattan...

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Torsten

 

 

 

 

[traak]

Hey there traak' date=' if all goes the way I'd like I might be joining you next year in NY. I'm applying for a position at Metro Hotel in Manhatten.

 

So here's holding thumbs 'til then.

[/quote']

 

 

 

Good luck! I see us already riding alongside in the Hub Kit :-)

 

 

 

T.

 

 

 

 

[Dirtbreath]

if SA racing is so far ahead where does it go wrong?

 

Do you commute at all traak?

Hi Dirtbreath: I've seriously thought about commuting for a long time as a means of training. From my home in Brooklyn' date=' it's only a couple of KMs to work in the West Village, but I could easily extent that ride with a lap or two through Central Park.

The one thing, which held me back all the time, was the matter of changing clothes, shower etc. I wear a suit to work and while we have a shower here, I'm put off by the logistical mess, with having clothes in the office, having them cleaned and all...

So, no - I don't commute. I go out to Prospect Park in Brooklyn from around 5.00 to 7.00, get home, shower and take the subway to Manhattan...


Cheers
Torsten

[/quote']

 

Check Hog's post on commuting to work. Many helpful tips.

[traak]

 

[9W to Bear Mountain or on to West Point used to be my weekend long ride out there (fortunately I lived in Fort Lee so 9W was 5 minutes away). NY itself is flat' date=' but the further north you go into NY state the hillier it gets.

 

As for racing, it's interesting to see, that South Africa's amateur racing scene is much ahead of the US. South African riders should be grateful for the fact, that there's at least one race per week (usually with partial road closures) during the summer months. There are only occasional races in and around New York. Also, there's no national seeding system and no timing of the events. Races are timed by hand with video cameras on tripods. They have 5 categories of racers, with Cat.5 being the slowest guys. There's a staggered start. You have to do at least 10 races a year to progress into Cat.4. From there, results count. Only a certain percentage of the best Cat.4 riders make it into Cat.3 and so on and so forth...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely correct. 9W is exactly what I was talking about. The area up there between Piermont and Bear Mountain is fantastic and safe cycling land That's where the pictures were taken, you find via the link I posted in the original post...

 

 

 

I'm aware of the Prospect Park races. They call it the "Cadence Series". That's something, I'll consider next summer (cause our summer is rapidly nearing its end).

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Torsten

 

 

 

 

[Yang]

Send a PM to Johan Borman for a truly amazing write up on commuting to work, or search the Hub for the thread- I don't remember where it was.