Cycling has been pure bliss for me lately. My bike fit and fitness are as good as ever. Last weekend we completed our training group (aka, the SIG or Special Interest Group) with a graduation ride to Bear Mountain and it was like being in cycling heaven – 70 degrees, big puffy white clouds, bright blue skies and a gentle breeze to keep you cool. The route was challenging but fair (80 miles with 5k feet of climbing) and the scenery was beautiful. Now that the SIG is done I have more flexibility in my ride schedule – this is a blessing and a curse as I need serious self discipline/regimen to maintain my fitness. More on that in a bit.
As most of you know, I am a member (and Treasurer/Board Member) of the New York Cycle Club (NYCC). The NYCC has a rich history and like most clubs a hierarchy of venerable members. Arguably one of the most revered members is Christy Guzzetta who served as President for many years in the 1980s and generated huge momentum for the club through his creation of the SIGs in 1986. In summary, Christy started a progressive ride group as a way to court his wife and named it a Special Interest Group (or SIG). His special interest was trying to get in good with a woman (you can read the full story here: http://www.nycc.org/rides_sig_a3.shtml). Today, there are SIGs for 4 different ride levels that hundreds of participants do over a 12 week period starting in the beginning of March.
I’ve met Christy a few times briefly but got to know him pretty well on Saturday sitting next to him at an outdoor patio bar in Cold Spring after our graduation ride (he has a summer house up there so he stopped by with his wife to meet some of the elder statesmen in our group for a drink). Christy has a real natural charm to him -- it’s easy to see how he generates momentum for cycling. There’s a big club sponsored ride weekend up in the Berkshires this weekend and we’re both headed up a day early so we agreed to meet up and ride on Friday with my friend Dr. Ed (another venerable member of the club and good friend of Christy). Christy and I exchanged e-mails on Monday to firm up plans for Friday and exchanged cell phone numbers, etc…
I’m leaving for the Berkshires on Thursday night to ride Friday through Monday and was thinking about my ride schedule for the week as I was surfing the NYCC message board. I came across this post:
Author: Christy Guzzetta
Subject: Training Rides, Central Park
6:00 AM
Tues and Thurs
Meet at Tavern on the Green
A paced laps around the park.
All are welcome.
Leave 6:00 AM sharp.
Perfect, I thought to myself. I love riding in the morning but just need motivation. I e-mailed Christy that I planned to meet him for laps this morning. Waking up at 5:30am was a bit of a chore (as it usually is) but I made it there in time. 6AM sharp, Christy rolled up on a bad-ass custom Richard Sachs frame and was all business. He barely acknowledged me and I wasn’t even sure if he remembered who I was. There were about five other riders there and I was trying to size them up. After about 2 minutes of blasé chit-chat, Christy gave a “ready?” and started to pedal away. I rode next to him for a bit and he asked me a few questions: Where do you live, Jeff?”, etc… I glanced around and noticed everyone in a tight paceline behind him and told him I was going to drop back in line – he nodded in approval. The paceline started to accelerate and weave through the park like a slithering snake picking up steam. We were ripping the flats in the low 20s and steamrolling up hills in the high-teens – the paceline was supersmooth and everyone had a quiet confidence. There was almost no chatter or signaling of obstacles. There was a clearly implied “keep up or be dropped” riding policy. I kept up for ¾ of a lap but was dropped at the top of Harlem Hill after ascending at 16mph (I can only usually accomplish this after a few warmup laps on my best days). I didn’t feel defeated or deterred – I loved the “take no prisoners attitude” of the ride group and was thinking I’d like to join it again and try to keep up. I finished a total of 3 laps on my own and cruised home with some roasted legs but a pretty good spirit nonetheless.
At around 10am I received an unsolicited e-mail from Christy:
The ride got off to a rocket start this morning.
Here’s the deal, you come out 4 or 5 times, try like a
sonofagun to keep up, by the 5 th or so time, you’re in the
middle of the group.
Honest. That’s how it happens. Always.
It takes a bunch of times to get the flow of it.
Right now it probably seems impossible to ever be able to
keep up.
I swear, 4 or 5 or 6 times, you are right in the middle of
it.
Swear.
This guy has me totally motivated – I can’t wait for Thursday morning to get here...
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