Sunday Road Ride

March 9, 2009  |  General  |  No Comments

Having ridden a bike all of 3 times this year, I thought it best to not travel to Bethel and instead lead a group ride out of Albany Sunday.  A great mix of riders arrived, including new CBRC racers Andrew Franciosa and Gavin Klami, plus team member Michal Jacyna.  Meridith Ehn from NAV and former CBRC, now Spooky Team members Matt Purdy and Than Ward rolled with us as well.

First on the agenda was actually riding out to Grant Hill and over to the Guilderland YMCA to meet NYS Expert Mountain Bike Champion John Houghson.  John rode to the rally point from his house in Schenectady, so he was plenty warmed up when he arrived.  John rides for the High Adventure Ski and Bike Shop, and doesn’t ride the road bike all that often  – but when he does, he goes quickly.

We headed out for a solid 3 hour ride, keeping gentlemen’s pace for the majority of the time.   It was a great day on the bike – warm and sunny, and also not causing me to droowl uncontrollably.  Its nice to ride a bike once in a while without going anywhere near the pain bucket.

Thanks to everyone for coming out to ride, and thanks to Purdy for helping navigate an excellent route on some roads I hadn’t been on in quite  a while.   Hopefully the weather will cooperate again soon, and we’ll get out for another good solid ride.  In the mean time, lets hope for another powder day…

Q's Frozen Fritter '09

February 24, 2009  |  News, Training  |  No Comments
img_1611-11Mr. Quackenbush (Q) led another edition of the Frozen Fritter this pastSunday. Q does this crazy ride every Spring, leading folks up the Helderberg Escarpment in order to meander about in the woods of Thatcher Park and other wilderness areas before heading back to Chez Q for MSG laden, animal fat injected, micro waved fritters that are the tastiest things you’ve ever eaten. I’ve done the ride several times. i missed last years epic (thank god) that trekked about in the freezing rain for several hours.
 
This year’s journey was no less epic. Perhaps a bit more measured. Chuck took stock of the fools the … er … folks that showed up and scanned the heavens for the latest weather measurements, and then offered some options for the trip. We all opted for plan B because it sounded reasonable and included the trails up in the woods which makes the Frozen Fritter the Frozen Fritter. Four of us left Chez Q under overcast skies, a threat of snow, and headed up the road. The first warm-up was Old New Salem Rd … the one that short cuts the climb up Rte 85, and hence it is a bit shorter and a wee bit steeper, but its well suited for this group as we all have cyclocross bikes. The muddy surface offered great traction and there was no ice at all. Half way up i’ve already fallen off the back a bit, Q notices, and ever so subtly backs off the pace so that we come together at the top. We continued up the Escarpment, and up Beaver Dam Road.
 
Now its snowing pretty good but the uphill effort kept me nice and warm. Pedaling up Beaver Dam in the Summer is hard enough, but i am pedaling up in February with a lot less miles than most. The snow is falling around me and moving up the hill at exactly the same pace as me. It was like i was floating in a snow storm. It was cool. Perhaps i was hallucinating.
 
Soon we got to the to the reason why we came out that morning… the trails into the woods. We turned north into the snow covered trail which was well packed down by hikers, skiers, and snowmobilers. This was a blast. The trail starts out relatively flat and then descends down into the Park. We passed a couple of friendly XC skiers who didn’t seem to mind that we were carving some tire ruts into the trail. On the descents, it was best to lean back and let the front wheel find its own way. It wasn’t necessary to try to pick a perfect line. Simply pedal and hold on tight. We dumped out of the woods into one of the parking lots in the Park. We then descended down Rte 157. The descent brought a mixture of snow and rain and the roads were a mess, but we all felt good so we took some detours to add some interest and mileage to the ride. It was one of those days where you look forward to the up hills so that you can maintain some warmth, and dread the down hills because it sucks all the BTUs out of your shorts. So we added a hill or two. We made it back to chez Q before dark, before any frostbite had a chance to take hold, and we devoured the fritters Mrs. Q had waiting. Oh, and the Mrs. had a blazing fire in the fireplace. Nice.
-Dave Beals
Here’s the route according to DG’s Garmin.

Johnny Cake Lane 2009 Series

February 4, 2009  |  News  |  No Comments

For your convenience you can grab the PDF Event Flyer
Johnny Cake Lane 2009 Series is on BikeReg
Learn more about Trooper David Brinkerhoff

jcx5

Winter Training

February 1, 2009  |  Training  |  No Comments

Spinning classes have begun!
Every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:00 pm. Location is at Johnstone Supply on Railroad Ave in Colonie.
All attending should bring a towel/mat to place under their bikes. Changing areas are available as well as water and restrooms.

The last week for spinning is the last week in Feburary!

Welcome to the new CBRC website!

January 27, 2009  |  General  |  No Comments

Things will be changing a lot around here in the upcoming weeks, and if you have suggestions please feel free to make yourself heard.

Also, on the right hand you’ll see a register option. You can register for the site, and from there we can change your type of account so you can submit articles and such. If you know you’re one of the people who will be writing for this site, go register!

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