Free mountain bike race series at Highbridge Park

Highbridge park is an Urban park in New York City with a nice technical mountain bike course. I recently learned of this free race series. It runs on alternate Thursdays at Highbridge and sponsored by NYC Velo. More information available at the website nycmtb.com.

On a different note... Up until just a few days ago we've been having rain non stop in New York City. The sun is finally starting to peek out. For a laugh, play the video below. We rode out to Rockleigh, NJ and this is post race, repairing flat #5 in a downpour. The race organizers were kind enough to stop and let us borrow their floor pump.

Sprinting

Poor positioning. I was in the wind for most of the 340 meter long(!) sprint to the line at Floyd Bennett Field last night.

It may have been wiser be more patient. When a sprint containing the leaders erupted on the left I knew I had to go with it, even though I was on the far right. Unfortunately I sprinted in a straight line instead of attempting to bridge over to the left. Probably safer this way.

It's a little hazy now but I paused 10 seconds into my sprint.... long enough to get gassed by a couple of guys who finished 5th and 6th.


Good power numbers, shitty finish.

Maybe the smart thing to do would have been to jump first - but not too hard. Just hard enough to get the right position and then duke it out with whoever wanted to stay at the front.

7th place / 95 starters

Sports drinks and oral health

In 2008/2009 I had to spend more time than I would have liked visiting my dentist. One reason being that I had two cavities on my front teeth, specifically on my canines.

How is this related to cycling? Well, the dentist was surprised by the fact that someone my age had cavities there. We talked about possible etiology and after ruling out methamphetamine use, I'm mildly certain this condition has some causality in drinking sweetened sports drinks during long rides.

So I switched sports drinks. Part of my reason for choosing Hammer Nutrition product is that they're not sweetened with sugar (sucrose or glucose or syrups). In fact, their short endurance product (heed) is lightly sweetened with Stevia and Xylitol.

Xylitol is supposed to actually be good for your teeth.

In addition to switching endurance drinks I'm making an effort to keep fuel and hydration separate, especially for rides over two hours. The rational being that I can consume a bit of nutrition/energy, then wash/rinse it down with plain water. It's not as good as brushing one's teeth but the water ought to be healthier for teeth and gums than consuming a sugary drink for hours at a time.

As an added benefit, click the link to get 15% off the first order from Hammer Nutrition.