Lots of people talk about wanting spring races to be in balmy climates. Nonsense. The best spring racing is in the cold. The best spring racing is in New York City.
There’s nothing quite like waking up before dawn to ride in the dark in subfreezing weather to race in Central and Prospect Parks. The city streets are empty. The cold keeps you focused on riding a pace just hard enough to stay warm—too easy and you’ll freeze, too hard and you’ll sweat through your clothes before getting to registration.
And registration! After miles of dimly lit streets, the bright lights at the registration table, the reflected glare on glossy bike components, the sea of blinky lights, and the bright clothing of the cyclists is an inviting oasis.
It better be, as unless you’ve brought extra clothing for standing around, a good idea, it quickly gets cold again. So pick up that number, pin it on, and figure out how to stay warmish ‘til the start. Maybe that’s waiting on line for the bathroom, or rolling around slowly, or hanging out with friends.
Misery shared is often misery minimized. Jawing with friends seems more important, when it’s both catching up and a distraction from the cold.
The cold is pretty quickly forgotten when the whistle blows and the race begins. Some like to warm up slowly, but others want to heat up fast, and that often makes for fast racing.
Well, sort of. Besides most-likely not being as fit in the late winter, along with looser, less aero clothes, air is more dense, and tire rolling resistance increases in cold weather. Riding in sub-freezing weather not only feels slow; it is slow. Lower speeds change racing dynamics, making aerodynamics a bit less important, and making breakaways a bit easier, but, of course, it’s never easy; going all-out is still hard no matter the temperature.
But since mass-start racing is a human endeavor, moods matter. Even with grumpy starters, people usually work their way into a racing rhythm that is as intense as any other time of year. Unless, they just give up, which is another reason to press on.
The cold is forgotten as the laps tick down; it’s racing, after all. But, once the finish line is crossed, the cold descends fast, faster, seemingly, because of clothes soaked through with sweat. The freeze-down back to the finish line is kept at a decent pace to get to that bag of dry clothes waiting.
Once re-dressed, the post race confab is as it always is, though the cold nipping through clothes makes the should-I-stay-or-should-I-go dance tricky. Sure, going to a coffee shop on the way home could solve the problem, but the break might ruin the vibe.
The early season races not only shake out the cobwebs and provide a workout that can’t be replicated–and one that I wouldn’t replicate during the week because I don’t have a hiding spot for a second set of clothes to ride home in—but are a kind of training, a ‘putting in the work’ so I feel that I’ve earned racing in warm weather. Blowing out the proverbial cobwebs, finding the feels of surging, pressing on, relaxing, and repeating in no particular order has value in itself. And the tough-it-out aspect that the weather brings a training benefit later in the year. Even riding home in the cold with dead legs is good training.
Everyone should do it.
Gallery: Riding to the start.
Gallery: Registration.
Gallery: Racing.
Gallery: Post-race.
Gallery: The ride home.