I figured that since there were other threads with people looking for team members, I thought I should jump on the opportunity as well!
I am from the DC area and I am looking for team mates for Ride the Lobster. I am guessing that there are going to be a few U.S. teams competing, and that those of you on the west coast have already thought about it some. It seems that most of the long distance riders live out there anyway. I am actually planning on moving out to that coast (maybe Seattle) sometime in the near future…but I am not sure when.
Either way…I am here in DC now, and it would be kind of cool to get a team together with riders who have distance under their belt and are decently fast/well paced. RTL sounds way too fun to miss out on, and I am 100% into going as long as I have a team.
Post a reply if you are from the US and are seriously considering competing and are looking for some team members. I guess it would be ideal to have my team mates close to me, but even if you are from the west coast or middle America and want team mates post a reply!
Also, if you already have a team together for the most part…post a reply, so I can see how many US teams are considering the event.
I am definitely considering, and don’t yet have any team plans or alignment.
The distance isn’t an issue for me, but the speed might be. I’m not the fastest rider among the people I ride with, although I’ve been lucky enough to ride with a pretty elite crowd where I’m not too embarassed to be at the back of the pack.
The good news is I’m getting faster by the day with training, and I’m not specifically training for speed. I’m training for distance and climbing, in prep for the MS Bike Tour. If I commit to RTL, I’d switch focus to more speed, shorter stops, eating on the fly.
On a side note, if you decide to move to Seattle, post up on that one. We have a pretty active riding community out here, and mix it up between cokering, muni, and the occassional trials.
Rolandisimo and I (both from Albany NY) intend to compete together. We may be teaming with unipsychler (Greg), or JustOneWheel (Adam), or one of the Stone brothers, or Vince from Montreal, or Eric from Rhode Island, or Mark from Vermont, or maybe you, siafirede!
I’m sure things will become clear once we start this thing, but the way I imagine it eating while riding shouldn’t be very necessary. As you can swap between team members as much as you like it would be unlikely that a rider would need to go for more than an hour at a time - so you’ll be able to do any eating and re-fettling you need to back in the support vehicle.
Of course eating in the saddle would be a handy skill to be confident at for general riding
Do you know if RTL is going to be an annual thing??
I know this is really far in advanced but if it is I’d be up for it in '09.
I think I want to do something a little more casual and maybe a little longer next summer. But in two years I could do it. I live like ?2 1/2 hours? from DC. Up by Baltimore.
Will there be space available for all interested parties? What will be the weed out factor if there are too many willing bodies?
I’m absolutely interested but as I’m from Minnesota, and am aware of at least 4 people from my state likely to participate, I wonder if there will be space in Nova for another (lone:o ) Minnesotan.
I ride excessively and use both Coker, road bike and commuter for training purposes. I won’t have any problem with the qualifying ride(s) - but still, will there be room on the race list? If I’m in/can find a group, I’ll be there with plenty of resources and fit as a f**kin’ fiddle!
Anyway - consider ME!
Sounds like a lot of "or"s haha. I guess it is still far away though. I wouldn’t mind being on a team with some NYers. Are the Stone brothers going to be competing? I know that someone has a Schlumpf…which it seems every team should have at least one of, so that would be a major plus.
My brother, John, told me that he’s not planning to ride the Lobster; or to put it differently, he’s planning not to ride the Lobster.
I’m planning to go and have talked with Foss about teaming up with him and Dave White for an all-geezer team, tho it’s not definite. Jacquie will be Foss’s support vehicle driver, tho, no matter what.
Due to terrain issues, I have a feeling I’ll be using my deluxe Coker rather than my Schlumpf. It seems that Cokers are better for up- and down-hills than gunis. It’s worth noting that the recent 10k went to a young man on a Coker, and second place did, too. Gunis are great on flats and downhills, but Cokers seem better suited for rolling terrain.
I agree about Cokers being better for rolling hills, but I think that there will be some sections that are long and relatively flat on the tour…at least some sections, and that is where the Schlumpf will shine.
I am interested and looking at buying a N36 soon so I can start training. I haven’t done a lot of long distance but think I can do pretty good at it if I start training now. So if anyone is out on the west coast, hit me up. Two of my roomates said they’d do it, but I’m really doubt how serious they are.
I agree, but mainly because the 29" Schlumpf should be seen more as a 43.5" gear than a 29". I think unless you have very steep hillclimbs, or else a very short set of cranks, the 29" Schlumpf in 1:1 mode is not a very useful gear.
So it’s really a case of a 43.5" gear (29 Schlumpf in high gear) vs a 36" gear. So if it the course was flat’ish, then the 29" Schlumpf would be more useful, but if it was rolling, then the 36" Coker would be better.
If I were your team I’d want to bring both along .
Rolandisimo and I, fresh off the Mt. Equinox hillclimb, are rarin’ to go lobsterin’.
We both have Radials and he’s considering a Guni purchase. It’s time to start pushing out a few longer rides to get the qualifying back-to-back 70km days under our belt. As I said, we’re homeboys and so we’re definitely teaming up, but we haven’t secured a definite third teammate, though a few have shown interest. We’re not dead set on winning, but we’re both in decent shape and with a couple more seasons of training, we could be competitive.
I could see this thread becoming a bit of a personals page…
SWM - enjoys muni, hillclimbs, and long rides in the sunset - seeks same for relationship and possible RTL.
If it weren’t such a trip I would consider it. It’s pretty far away distance wise and will definitely mean I’ll have less of a chance to ride in RAGBRAI as well as the Indiana tour I’m trying to plan. also, I like the competitive aspect a bit, but when it comes to long distance uni I’m lucky to complete the tour in general
Yeah, I shoulda been clearer, Ken. The only reason for me to bring a Schlumpf 29" guni would be to ride it in 43.5" mode (some have said that the tire is actually taller than 29", making the 1.51:1 mode closer to 45", but you get the point). When I found out that I can def’ly bring TWO unis, the choice became clearer still: geared-up guni for flats and mild up/down-hills, Coker for everything else. I can’t imagine too many situations where I’d want to ride the guni in 29" mode.
Steve, It’s my plan to be there, but then again, it was my plan to be at the 24-hour race in Toronto. You’re fortunate to have a “homeboy” to train with. It must be nice!
I am just bumping this thread since it has been over a month. I am still looking for some team mates, and curious as to if there have been any updates on anyone elses U.S. team (who might need a member).
If it doesn’t already exist, a system for individual riders to match themselves up with other individual riders of similar geographic location and competition goals should be developed.
That’d probably be extremely helpful to a wide range of people.
And if it exist anyone willing to point me in the right direction?
I’m in Philadelphia and I’m planning on Riding the Lobster. I already have a team, but I would definitely be up for some training rides or to do a group qualifying ride. DC’s not too far from Philly.
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