Thoughts On The Importance Of A Good Team

[itsflantastic]

I've been noticing a huge shift in my relationship with cycling in general.

Last year, I was on a team. We rode together, drank together, karaoked, partied, and hit on women in tights together. Not to mention the races. . .

That was college.

Now I live in Brooklyn. I joined the Brooklyn Velo Force team upon arriving, and I'm sure that they have their own thing going on, but I haven't experienced it yet. I sent a greeting to their message board after I joined, but got no response. All of their training rides are impromptu it seems, and I work long hours so I don't get out for them. All this is a major bummer, because I'm not finding the friends or sense of belonging I had on the last team (and I spent 140 bucks on initiation fees and a kit which I haven't received yet).

Actually, the entire sport has be redefined by my new lifestyle. Now all of my rides are solo rides, and most of my time on a bike isn't on my CSI at all, but on my fixie riding too and from work. . . which isn't ideal, but it's not a bad thing.

The bright side of all of this is that this morning on my commute, a guy on a Merlin decked out in all the latest techy gear whizzed by me with a polite "on your left"
After about 15 blocks of intense spinning, I caught back up to him, matched pace, and passed him in my jeans, sneakers, and dress shirt. 1 gear is pretty sweet sometimes. I'm sure he could have kicked my butt if he wanted, but he clocked us going 21, and I was pretty psyched because, well, I must have been going about 24 to catch up.

I think in the end, solo fully loaded touring is going to define my future with cycling. My cross country trip last year was a blast, and I've got my eye on Patagonia (Argentina and Chile) for the next adventure. . .

Anyway, just some thoughts. If anyone lives in the Brooklyn area and wants to get out for some rides in the park or up to Nyack, shoot me a PM.

Cheers,
Dan

[zank]

Hi Dan,
My years at UMass racing for the club were THE most enjoyable years that I have ever raced a bike. Collegiate cycing is almost euphoric in the sense that you look around and say "damn, this is what bike racing should be all about". You'll never get that feeling outside of college because, as you said, you all basically lived together, had few outside distractions and could gel as friends and as a team.

My advice? Go back for a Ph.D. :beer:

[Spicoli]

Hey Dan,
I think it will come along for you. Have you been riding Prospect and Central Parks at all? You can go there almost anytime of day and pick up on any number of guy's on CRCA teams training, or on the weekend they head up for the ride up 9W to Bear mtn or Da Gimbels. I know alot of guy's hit the "Spring Series" which just ended pretty hard. So group riding while racing every week is a little tough since everyone recovers differently and the rides turn into hammerfests? Now I think most city folk shift towards the Floyd Bennet Field races on Tuesday nights to keep themselves occupied during the week and hit the bigger races on the weekend. Most of the riding from what I can tell revolves around racing, but I could not say for sure since thats not really the loop I travel in. Check out nyvelocity.com if you have not already? Great website with tons of race photos and info for all the city teams. Just be careful if you post anything since its not as user frreindly as here w/out a Serotta/someone to keep it in check. Not sure if I was any help but it was worth a shot?

Jeff

Brkln velo Force, yellow and grey kit.......right?

whoops, missed the Nyack and parks sentence :D