New York March NYC Meet-Up

[Dan]

Jorde,

Best for strength are all out hill climbs like the one you burned out on. Recover by riding slow and then attack the climb again. Pretty much when you hit the summit you have crossed over into anerobic threshold that is not sustainable.

If you look into your eyes after an interval workout your eyes will be bloodshot as if someone choked you. On a corpse they look for bloodshot eyes as one of the indicators for strangulation as a cause of death.

On long climbs where you really push yourself you will taste metal as if you were sucking on a rusty nail. The next level after tasting metal is you start gagging and then throw up.

Pretty much you are choking yourself.

On my Elyptical workouts I'm relying on strength rather than cardio/vascular fitness to push a heavy burden/load in a sustainable manner.

Pretty much I'm trying to hang at anerobic threshold to develop strength. Last night I did my two mile mark at level 18 in 37 1/2 minutes. On a good day I did three miles in 55 minutes once. The last 1/10th I sprint to make time and to go anerobic.

This strength is useful for sprinting and climbing.

The cardio vascular is basically sustaining a long steady effort. This type of training requires lots of time in the saddle where you're training your heart to pump blood efficiently.

Both types of training are important.

One of my friends is Ralph who was my height and had a small build like me. On the road Ralph had a short torso so if you tried to draft off him pretty much the wind was in your face. Ralph was a very efficient road rider, but off road I crushed him.

I had better bike handling skills for off road, and physically I had more strength. Part of this strength is just having more muscle mass where Glycogen can be stored. I definitely was more muscular than Ralphie.

Pretty much I want to be able to do the Harlem Hills as my intervals and get to where I can do a set of ten. Not so easy on a single speed because the gearing is a bit tall for the last climb, and on the downhill I pretty much spin out the 63.59 inch gear.

My friend Eric says, "Pain is like pleasure: it's just a feeling."

Cal

Cal,

If you want to see an animal on a bike (who's also a pilot for KLM) check out this guy on YouTube: Jasper Verkuijl

 

[Calzone]

By the way Cal, you have a watch fob. A FOB is a Forward Operating Base. 😀
While your watch may be a Forward Operating Base for a few bacteria, they are probably not armed to the teeth.

Phil Forrest

Phil,

Happy Joe is also an old bike racer.

Anyone who has raced knows about discomfort and holding an edge/threshold.

At age 60 it was like being 18 again, a rebirth of sorts where I have to consider a direction, I have to recreate myself, and most of all outline a plan for the next 40 years.

"Maggie" a little more than 4 years ago decided to start a fashion blog... At 65 in a few months she will retire, but will continue to work except in a new career.

For me it was the right thing to get a day job and work towards financing a real retirement. They say if you don't plan for retirement you won't have one. Today only about 1/3rd of Americans are financially secure enough to retire.

Maggie's mom is in her 90's and my dad lived to 94 even though he was poor, illiterate, and had a brutally hard life.

All I can say is that I use to be a brute myself. Pretty likely I could live till 100, and quality of life if important to me.

Someone once said exercise is the best medicine, but I would take that one step further: I say, "Diet and exercise is the best medicine."

On that note a recipe for breakfast. Quaker 5 minute oatmeal, blend with a heaping tablespoon of Chia seeds; a heaping tablespoon of Flax seeds; and a heaping tablespoon of wheat germ. After cooking add frozen berries to sweeten.

The idea here is use a raw unprocessed grain and fortify it with various superfoods that have mucho antioxidents, Omega 3's, vitamin C, Vitamine E, trace minerals and B vitamins.

No vitamin required. Not costly either.

Carrying around a baby Linhof (about 7 pounds) is a different kind of workout. Also I learned from "Maggie" if you want to stand out, don't do what everyone else is doing.

I don't see anyone carrying around a Linhof "in the wild." Pretty certain I'm the only one in NYC except Christian. Kinda crazy, but "I love it."

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Cal,

If you want to see an animal on a bike (who's also a pilot for KLM) check out this guy on YouTube: Jasper Verkuijl

Saul,

It seems like I am blessed with good genes for longevity. I think part of being a man is being an "animal" in one way or another.

Sadly Luke Perry stroked out at 52. A humble guy...

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Saul,

I don't think many understand how tough it is to do those long steady climbs and how uncomfortable they can be. In just the one video they were both gradual and very steady long intervals. Not so different from choking myself on the eliptical and sprinting the last 1/10th of a mile on each mile.

Also I could tell by the narrow bars that Jasper is a skinny bitch like me, except perhaps taller by the shadows cast.

On the descents he is pretty much doing some crazy speed. "I love it."

One of the most painful climbs was in West Virginia. We parked my Jeep Scrambler at the end of the trail. Gil at the Pro Shop told us to climb on the road to the trailhead to "Tea Creek."

This was a steep endless climb on the road in "granny" gear (20 inch gear) that offered no rest. In sections it only got steeper. Iron Mike my riding partner was cursing and focusing his anger to keep spinning those pedals. We hung on and took on a big does of pain.

Offroad the trail was a long descent cut into a ridge that was kinda spectacular as well as deadly because if you went off the trial it was kinda like a cliff in that it was a long way down and unlikely you would climb back up. On one side there was a wall (the mountain) and the other side a drop-off. Kinda narrow and rocky also.

I rode with younger and faster riders. Pretty much I suffered and took my beating like a man. Pretty much developed a high threshold of pain.

Cal

 

[B-9]

My great grandmother is 104, still has her head about her, and up until a recent toe surgery is still walking around. She has a boyfriend and is enjoying life. It is really rather amazing.

On the other spectrum my grandfather passed very suddenly on the 22nd of Feb. at age 81. He was by far the greatest man I’ve ever met. A seriously talented carpenter, painter, tinkerer, and intellectual. The man was always working and building up his life. A true inspiration to me and I fear one of last of a generation of exceptional men.

I have hope for you Cal! 100 is the new 80!

Live Long and Prosper. \\//,

 

[Calzone]

Live Long and Prosper. \\//,

Devon,

Growing up as a kid one of my nicknames was "Spock."

In fact I kinda identified with the character from Star Trek with my white boy trapped in an Asian body identity. Like Spock I didn't fit in.

I also was an odd kid that had my own way of thinking.

At my High School Reunion a girl I don't remember from 40 years ago asked me if I was in the wrong reunion because I did not fit in, partially because I looked so young.

Many of my classmates didn't do so much with their lives. In fact they still live in neighboring towns out on Long Island. Kinda sad.

Now I have girls eyeing me and I'm old enough to be their grandfather. How weird is that.

Cal

 

[Prest_400]

I just learned from a friend about the passing of a professor we had, wow, already 5 years ago. He survived a metastasized cancer but I bet it came back. I think he was barely 50. Made quite an impact on us because of his "carpe diem, tempus fugit" emphasis. It's an insidious disease.


I'm noting the breakfast recipe. Haven't really found an adequate breakfast and it's very easy to have some sugared stuff taking protagonism.

I romantically miss the long climbs of my dad's hometown. Basically a valley surrounded by tall mountains... Anywhere you go meant climbing. I noticed that the part I grew in of Spain is very varied landscape wise, also very nice to photograph.
3mi radius from my home there are 4 very damned hills, with 20%+ parts. This talk is making me urge to climb 3 of those next week as I am visiting family. Then on the same radius got the coastline.

Swimming is also a really good sport, even though what I really do in the sea is tread the water. For some reason it is very relaxing. I've basically combined the three things once. Rode to a cove, swam a bit in the beach and took the camera into the Sea to take a shot from that perspective. 😀

 

[Calzone]

Jorde,

Mountain biking on Long Island's pine barrens is a lot of loose sand, deer trails, with some glacial rock outcroppings. Due to erosion roots and rocks get exposed.

The climbs are not long, but can be steep. In some sections like steep like a flight of stairs.

I was a big fan of long epic rides and doing "Centuries." In one season I think I did five of them.

One Century was called the Gold Coast where it was all these wealthy estates around upper Brookville. Then there was the Tour of the Hamptons out on the East End of Long Island.

The one hundred mile ride that is known for hills is called the "Highpoint." Motor Parkway formally was the driveway to the Vanderbuilt Estate. It is a long constant grade going uphill south to north. What makes this ride rather mean and cruel is that the tallest and steepest hills are concentrated into the last 30 miles of the century.

I remember Ralphie getting dropped. Next was me not so long after. The group of riders that dropped me and Ralphie were Cat 2 racers so there is little shame in getting killed by these guys.

So in Huntington there is "Snake Hill Road" which is so steep that it basically is a series of switchbacks. At this point I'm riding by myself, I'm tired, and pretty much slugging along, but I pass this rider in distress who is "bonking" at the very beginning of Snake Hill Road.

As I pass him I hear him scream out in pain. Forensics denote that he likely cramped up, lost momentum, and crashed because he could not release or get out of his clipless pedals.

I know it was mucho mean, but I laughed. How cruel was that? LOL. "No mercy," I say.

Out towards the end of the Long Island Expressway, Exit 70 I believe is this Hot Dog stand called "Gracies." Pretty much this is the only place around to get food on the way to the Hamptons on the South Fork and it is in the middle of nowhere.

One day I drive to Gracies, park, and jump on my road bike. The North Fork of Long Island use to be just potatoe farms, but now they have been made into wineries. The glacial past is evident in rolling hills on Sound Avenue going through village after village. The vibe is of New England and not Long Island at all.

For intervals this rolling terrain is wonderful. Charge every hill and rest on the downhills. The average speed goes up and it is somewhat easy to exceed a 20 MPH average riding by yourself in a sustained manner if you have the conditioning.

So eventually I run out of road and "How did I get to Orient Point?" I grab a large milk shake to refuel me, and I check my bike computer and see I covered exactly 50 miles, and now I have to ride another 50 miles back to get to my Jeep parked at Gracie's.

The first 50 were easier. Towards the end I was pretty much close to "bonking." Also know that I rode to far west on Sound Avenue and had to backtrack east.

Because I became lost the overall ride was about 112 miles or so and time in the saddle approached close to 7 hours.

What I love about riding: not a lot to think about, and this I find peaceful. Another thing I love, and it is about "being a man" and feeling connected to my body. I know my strengths; I know my weaknesses; I know my limits; and I know what I'm capable of. This connection to my body for me is part of being a man. Proud of it.

Cal

 

[jszokoli]

So in Huntington there is "Snake Hill Road" which is so steep that it basically is a series of switchbacks.

Cal

Snake Hill Road is a beast, short but steep it's the only road I know of on Long Island that has switchbacks...

Joe

 

[Calzone]

Snake Hill Road is a beast, short but steep it's the only road I know of on Long Island that it has switchbacks...

Joe

Joe,

Would you have laughed like I did at the poor beast that cramped up and couldn't get out of his clipless pedals?

Call me mean, but it is still funny. A lot like Rowan and Martens "Laugh-In."

Cal

 

[Calzone]

This just in from Ignacio:

https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=RAb85TukSuc

About ISO in camera verses adding ISO in post.

Cameras are so great today.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

It is an amazing and complete workout to go out into the surf zone on a 3ft+ day and just continue to work to stand up. BUD/S candidates do this out on Coronado and the rollers beat the crap out of them until they learn to not fight the relentless ocean. The amount of energy in a small ocean wave is astounding. It only takes a 4ft wave to noticeably move a 100,000 ton aircraft carrier. Each cubic meter of seawater is just under a metric ton and the energy it hits you with does not all refract around your body. I miss the Pacific.
Phil Forrest

 

[jszokoli]

Joe,

Would you have laughed like I did at the poor beast that cramped up and couldn't get out of his clipless pedals?

Call me mean, but it is still funny. A lot like Rowan and Martens "Laugh-In."

Cal

Cal,

Years ago I raced with Century Road Club in central park so I know those three rollers on the west side. I did B and C races with CRCA and, in one of the last club races I did I knew I was going to get dropped as I came to the bottom of the first climb, and in true racing style what do you do when you know your dead? You attack. I get over the first climb, but at the top of the second climb I'm totally toast. Now the pack is all geared up and really flying. I sit up and grind to the top of the third climb, and just over the crest is this young kid dropped, and at the side of the road, puking violently.

Yes, I laugh at things like that.

Joe

 

[Calzone]

Cal,

Years ago I raced with Century Road Club in central park so I know those three rollers on the west side. I did B and C races with CRCA and, in one of the last club races I did I knew I was going to get dropped as I came to the bottom of the first climb, and in true racing style what do you do when you know your dead? You attack. I get over the first climb, but at the top of the second climb I'm totally toast. Now the pack is all geared up and really flying. I sit up and grind to the top of the third climb, and just over the crest is this young kid dropped, and at the side of the road, puking violently.

Yes, I laugh at things like that.

Joe

Joe,

Taste metal, gag violently and throw up.

Pretty much an eating disorder. LOL.

BTW happened to me. Flew back to New Mexico, rented a bike, and puked on a long steady climb that had natural stair steps. I was at 6K feet of altitude. pretty dumb. LOL.

Chris was a local and was also about a decade or more younger than me. No shame...

Cal

 

[Calzone]

It is an amazing and complete workout to go out into the surf zone on a 3ft+ day and just continue to work to stand up. BUD/S candidates do this out on Coronado and the rollers beat the crap out of them until they learn to not fight the relentless ocean. The amount of energy in a small ocean wave is astounding. It only takes a 4ft wave to noticeably move a 100,000 ton aircraft carrier. Each cubic meter of seawater is just under a metric ton and the energy it hits you with does not all refract around your body. I miss the Pacific.
Phil Forrest

Phil,

Thanks for this post. This sounds like just what I need. Sounds tough.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I forgot to mention that I take advantage of the Government milk subsidy and use "Skim Plus" that costs about $5.50 for a half gallon to make my breakfast of superfoods.

It has no fat, no antibiotics, and no hormones. Pretty much is like condensed milk so it has a certain sweetness to the taste, but the big benefit is 34% more protein than whole milk.

One cup is 110 calories and 11 grams of protein. I use about two cups and get 22 grams of protein just from the milk. Pretty much like eggs: a cheap form of protein and a very high quality one at that.

Also Calcium uptake is important after the age of 40. Somehow I hav managed via diet and exercise the shrinkage associated with aging. A nurse told me that basically till age 40 you are still growing, and after age 40 shrinkage begins.

Strength training can forestall this shrinkage, but I learned at my 40th High School Reunion that heavy alcohol consumption and binge drinking can advance this age related shrinkage. Guys of Irish and Italian descent that were 2,3 and 4 inches taller than me became my height or are now shorter.

My weight varies a lot depending on salt intake, hydration, and eating. Nearly plus or minus two ponds on a daily basis. Average weight seems to be 156 pounds, but I dip to 154 and go as high as 158.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

"Time is the best weapon," is a Chinese expression, and this is from a culture where we are famous for both cruelty and torture.

It might be innate or perhaps genetic, but I think I have the "mean-gene."

At Grumman one summer the son of our boss was a summer student. Boy was he cocky. Understand the middle class suburbs of Long Island is a mighty privilaged and has a generous level of entitlement.

One researcher actually recorded that Long Islanders "whine" 5 times more than the national average. You can't make this stuff up.

So every Monday Mike, the son of my boss, would ask me what I did over the weekend, and I would tell him of my soreness and tiredness from hammering away on my mountain bike.

Realize at this time I was new to cycling and only had the steel IBIS and no road bike.

Mike would annoy me and brag about how he would outride me and was overly confident in his abilities. Pretty much he came across as indestructible.

So I waited, ("Time is the best weapon") and decided to invite little Mike to go riding with Iron Mike and me on a Friday after work towards the end of the summer.

Seeing Mike and I riding together is a bit like the cartoon Mutt and Jeff because Iron Mike is built like "Arnold" except in a short version, but with these quads (thighs) of a speed skater. Pretty much thighs like telephone poles, and me this lanky guy.

I borrowed my friend Steve's Canondale who is a "Clydesdale" (big guy over 250 pounds). I don't like the 43 inch wheelbase (understand the steel IBIS has a wheelbase of only 39 inches) and the aluminum frame seems to amplify every trail irregularity.

Steve would brag about the stiffness as being an advantage, and then I took Steve on a ride on a trail I named after him "Steve's Canondale Trail" that I found that was continuous roots and rocks that was so bumpy that it was like getting beaten with a rubber hose all over your body.

I laughed at all the grunts, moans and awful sounds including cursing that came from Steve's mouth. Meanwhile the flex in my titanium smoothed out the shock, and the bumps did not kill my momentum so much. Brutal I say. BTW Steve did not think it funny at all.

So on Long Island is this Nassau Green Belt that pretty much was just a hiking trail discovered by and recently now open to mountain bikers. The glacial past makes the north shore hilly, rocky, and in some locations a cliff where a gigantic glacier cut away part of Conn. and created the Long Island Sound.

So my plan was to lend little Mike my IBIS to be mean. I kinda knew it would be too much bike for him; the short wheelbase is unforgiving; the tall bottom bracket height meant more unstable; and the aggressive geometry too fast and twitchy for a beginner.

I knew and predicted that little Mike would go OTB (over the bars) a few times, and to be cruel I decided to start at Woodbury on the Nassau Greenbelt and head to Oysterbay and back for our ride. This is the most hilly and steep section, full of rocks, lots of erosion and with parts that required dismounting because even walking up would be hard due to steepness.

At the trailhead little Mike remarks on the handling of the IBIS, and in fact the ease of doing wheelies is not so different than on a Schwinn Stingray. We head in to the woods, but Mike and I frequently wait resting for Mike to catch up, and when he does Iron Mike and I take off again.

Basically Iron Mike and I rested and little Mike got "little" rest in this game of slinky. Along the way I start to see the wear and tear on little Mike. He is bleeding on his legs and arms.

Evidently he tumbled over the bars a few times when the trail got a bit more technical. I can see that little Mike is suffering, and I tell him Oyster Bay is not that far away, but I don't tell him how much steeper the climbs get and that the worse is yet to come.

At the next stop Iron Mike and I talk a bit and Iron Mike says, "This is really mean." I laugh and say, "I know," and Iron Mike laughs also.

The last section lay ahead and when little Mike showed up he looked kinda beaten. "Not much further," I said without laughing.

At Oyster Bay little Mike seemed relieved. I asked for the time and it was 7:15; I mentioned that it took us about 2 hours to get from Woodbury to Oyster Bay, but now we had only about an hour to get back before it got dark.

"No resting," I said.

In my mind I'm laughing and thinking "let the beating begin." Somehow I made this mountain bike ride suddenly into a very rude time trial for little Mike.

We were in the woods for only about 40 minutes and had to divert to the road because of dusk and loss of light.

Pretty much little Mike got a savage beating that he asked for, but on Monday morning my phone rang and it was my boss. He wanted to see me in his office.

So I got the smut that little Mike came home all beat up and bleeding. He took a shower and went to right to bed.

Then Joe my boss said with a smile, "He was too tired to even eat dinner," but then his smile vanished, "Don't do that again." LOL.

I'm so mean. LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Leica Store SoHo will have a ring light portrait session with John Kreidler using the new Leica Q2 this Saturday March 9th 1-4 PM.

47 MP.

Cal

 

[NY_Dan]

Snake Hill Road is a beast, short but steep it's the only road I know of on Long Island that has switchbacks...

Joe

Please bikers, stay away from Snake Hill Road - it's a narrow two-lane-r and when bikers go there it backs up traffic, some people get frustrated and try to pass, and it's very selfish for bikers to use this road - plenty of other places to bike. Just saying. Now I'll go make popcorn and come back in 5 🙂

 

[Calzone]

Please bikers, stay away from Snake Hill Road - it's a narrow two-lane-r and when bikers go there it backs up traffic, some people get frustrated and try to pass, and it's very selfish for bikers to use this road - plenty of other places to bike. Just saying. Now I'll go make popcorn and come back in 5 🙂

Dan,

I can imagine. Pretty much getting stuck behind a bike crawl.

Another event that pisses off drivers is the 5 Borough Bike Tour where the BQE is closed in one direction and one level of the Verrizano Bridge is closed off to cars.

Cal