On pace and riding style

My rides are usually listed with the NYCC.
Anyone reading these posts who does not know how the NYCC rates it's rides there are two components: difficulty and pace. The difficulty gets a bit tricky as it also implies a certain riding style. NYCC doesn't have B+ indicating a more challenging ride with 'B' riding style. In NYCC, 'A' rides use a fast rotating paceline and riders are expected to take their turn at the front pulling at the listed pace -- not miles and miles but a couple of minutes.  B rides might use a paceline and we teach that in our SIG program but it's not a requirement. B pacelines rotate too but slower and spaced out a little further.

As a leader, when I get a rider on the front pulling who actually reads the cue sheet and makes the turns it makes me very happy. Conversely, when I get someone on the front who doesn't look at the cue sheet and decided to have their iPhone plot a route to some street of similar name (e.g Peconic Bay Ave vs. Peconic Ave) and then goes off the front taking half the group along -- that makes me less than pleased though I do try not to get hopping mad about it.

Pace is much more straightforward and is explained in the NYCC self-test chart

July 3rd ride plan

I decided to plot the Long Meadow loop as an add-on to the main plan for this Sunday's ride and I tweaked the route. From my prior experience with trying to use the Google maps cuesheet track I decided to plot a Garmin route more-or-less following the track -- which showed me a few turns to eliminate.


The final route is in 3 pieces:
Before lunch which will include an optional stop at 7-11 after we climb Little Tor
After lunch 40.5 miles, 1888 feet of climbing

On the 'After Lunch' route, at Haverstraw and Mayer Drive we have the option to either continue homewards on Mayer Drive or detour through Harriman and/or Tuxedo. A loop down to Sloatsburg and up 7 Lakes then out Gate Hill is 25.5 miles and 1888 feet of climbing.  A loop around Tuxdeo Lake and back out through Sloatsburg 24.9 miles and 1492 feet of climbing. The Long Meadow - Tuxedo Park - Sloatsburg  , with the climb up the highest point in Tuxedo Park, 955 feet, loop is 30.6 miles and 1830 feet of climbing. The idea of Long Meadow across and out through 7 Lakes at Sloatsburg is exceedingly long and challenging, even without the High Mountain climb, at 33.9  miles and 2296 feet of climbing (Google maps thinks we could do it in 3 hrs 40 minutes as if we could keep a 10 mph average with all that climbing).

The Tuxedo Lake loop seems potentially feasible if we are at the Sloatsburg entrance by 2PM and accept coming home to NYC by 8 PM. The advantage of Gate Hill is that there's a good long fast downhill out and down.