The poll on the right is showing the roadies are winning this race in votes.

Keep voting.

Looks like a good weekend ahead. The ride that catches my eye is Beer Run #2 on the Westchester Cycling Club site. It’s Saturday morning, wonder how an EPA from the good Captain would mix with some Gaterade?

This is 70 mile B level ride discribtion from leader John Milano. Pour me another, once again, bring about 10 bucks for the eats after with the brew. I’m thinking pastrami and corned beef sandwiches this time. We will gladly accept the invitation for the free beer tasting at the brewery. Next time out it will be the “Captain Lawrence Century.”

Just hope I can have the time to ride 70 miles.

There’s a number of great rides coming up. I’m looking forward to riding and blogging along the way on all of these rides.

The Tour de Putnam is on  August 24. Click here for info. Sign up now for $25.

The Golden Apple is Sunday September 14th. Click here for info. Sign up before August 14th for $25.

The MS Tappan Zee ride September  28th. Click here for info.  Sign up before August 24th for $20.

The Tour de Foliage is October 12th. Click here for info.  Sign up before September 24th for $25.

Thanks to Ellen Jaffe for bring this to our attention, glad to add it to the list.

I’d like to throw into the mix New York Cycle Club’s annual classic fall ride:
Escape New York, this year on September 20.
Starting and ending in upper Manhattan, riders head over the George Washington Bridge and cycle through the historic and scenic West Hudson Highlands.
This year’s ENY includes an amazing raffle featuring a Trek Madone 5.2, great giveaways, well-stocked refueling stops, Manganaros heros and a wild flat-fixing contest back at the finish not to mention the bonhomie supplied by our club’s enthusiastic volunteers.
Details at: http://www.nycc.org/eny/

With great sadness, I’d like to pass along the tragic news about the daughter of WCC member Mary Cortesi. Kelly Cortesi, 16, died this morning after falling 29 feet from a cliff in the Popolopen Gorge at Bear Mountain State Park on Sunday. You can read about the accident at LoHud.com and there will a story about Kelly and her all-too-short life in Thursday’s Journal News.
A wake will be held Friday, from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Home, 35 Morrissey Drive, in Putnam Valley.

Dave Wilson, President of Westchester Cycling Club

That’s our new poll question on the right side of the page.

I’m writing now instead of getting ready for my Mid-Week Maintenance 24 mile WCC ride. The thunderstorms in the area make it too risky.
I’m a roady who owns a mountain bike and city bike. 95 percent of my riding is on hand-built Peter Dressen Chrome-Moly road frame vintage 1995. Peter built about 25 frames a year near Trexlertown, PA where he was a terrific track racer in the eighties. My friend John Eustace a former pro and good friend speced out the measurements. So it fits me perfectly which is the single most important element of buying a bike. It’s beat at this point with about 15,000 miles. It still has eight speeds with down-tube shifters. I prefer them to brake lever shifters. I changed out the cranks this year to Campy Centaur compacts, which I love for this terrain.

Why a road bike? Road riding just gives me a greater sense of freedom and sense of speed which started at age 13. Getting on my bike with a friend and exploring the countryside North of Philadelphia was a wonderful experience that has never left me. Racing on the road was also very satisfying, the competitiveness and strategy involved was addicting. In road racing you’re more or less with the leaders or out of the race. Now it’s more about being out there and riding with others. Sharing the road and conversation with people who have a common understanding. If I can pass on some advice and help someone new to the sport enjoy their experience – all the better.

My Ibis mountain bike is beautiful and every-time I ride it I feel bad that the bike is much better then my single-track riding skills. Never feel like I see much along the trail either. Then there’s the fear of breaking bones and not being able to ride my road bike when Spring comes.

I also have an old 1989 Schwinn mountain bike built up as a city commuter bike. That was perfect on the streets of Toronto.

Tell us about what you ride and why. Send us a photo to www.LoHud.com/snap and use the Cycling Central gallery. We’re ready to build a cycling only photo gallery for the site but need your photos.
Thanks for reading.

From the comments below from an earlier post showers are a key issue for bike commuters. Many companies have a “Go Green” innovative including The Journal News, but I wonder how many provide showers, a changing room and lockers to make it practical?

I am fortunate that my employer provides showers, lockers, and a fully equipped gym. I know some bike commuters without showers use wet wipes, but I think I would give up the bike commute without a shower. I also claimed a corner where I can store supplies; Once a week I do a clothes exchange so I can travel lighter on the bike. I also store a few grocery items, like bottled drinks. From Jim

Where I work they offer a gym facility with showers which makes it easy in the morning. From Gus

As far as making it more practical: workplace shower facilities would be a big one. The hills mean that you are going to sweat on your ride no matter what, and the ability to take a shower would make things so much nicer. From James

Imagine cycling 70 to 100 miles a day, day after day, and still having the energy each evening to blog and post photos and captions. That’s what this fellow is doing over the summer.

As I follow his journey, I find myself both envious and inspired. The entries from Glacier National Park are my favorites.

Check out his blog.

I have a friend who runs a bike shop and wrenches for a small pro team in the states. Dennis gave me a heads up that tire prices will be going up 20 to 25 percent very soon due to the increase of the cost of oil. ( Like everything else. )

Stage 16 holds two out of category climbs and will be very difficult. Today’s stage will go to a great climber who can also descend. But it will be the riders who recover best from today’s effort who will win the Tour.  Tomorrow’s epic stage to L’ Alpe d’ Huez will show the best climbers and set up Saturday’s time trial. Today’s poll on the right is who will win L’Alpe d’ Huez.

Without even knowing exactly what he’s in for—70 miles of mostly singletrack off-road riding with at least 12,000 feet of climbing is as close as it gets—Hastings-on-Hudson resident Aaron Bean can’t wait for Hellride 5 on Aug. 1. “It just sounded like a great challenge; something that if I did it, people would say “That’s pretty neat.”

Click here for the story.

The 5th annual Hellride will be in Downieville California August 1st through 3rd. It started as an online contest to be voted in the race. Here’s a website with more info. http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/hellridefive/

Check out Aaron’s video that helped him get selected. http://youtube.com/watch?v=PfJ5AZxWVN4&feature=related