Low fidelity Podcast #1: NPR!
September 22, 2017 § 67 Comments
Click the bar above and listen to the podcast.
You can click the link in this sentence and see video of the September 19, 2017 NPR crash.
Podcast recorded from the comfort of my bed, spoken into my iPhone.
END
Cycling in the South Bay 
If I remember correctly, back in the day before it was “New”, the Pier Ride went around MDR. Tuesdays were fast days and Thursdays were slower recovery days in preparation for racing the following Sat/Sun. Due to construction along the route the ride became “New” and starting going up and through the parkway. I noticed then that the attitude amongst some of the riders changed. No longer were there fast and slow days, it was now all gas all the time and it became more of a “my thing is bigger than yours” ride. Of course with that kind of challenge all sorts of riders showed up, all eager to show us how big their thing really was (or wasn’t). I stopped participating after realizing that accolades and praise from amateur bike racers wasn’t as big a deal as I thought. And also because I rediscovered that bike riding/racing could be fun and enjoyable and didn’t have to be a slugfest.
You’re partially right. However, the MDR loop was also a crashfest. I essentially gave up on that the day the UCLA rider took down 5-7 people on Admiralty, a street with even less buffer than the Parkway. I also don’t remember any easy days on Thursday, I just remember that the pace was slower because of all the traffic and lights in MDR, and the fake “neutral” zone on Pacific. I agree that the new configuration in October of 2012 decreased stops so by definition the ride was faster. However, as with the OPR, the NPR is still dictated by who shows up. There are many, many days when sitting at the back is zero workout, in fact if you’re fit, most days are like that. It sucks you along like the world’s biggest blowjob. The safest place, except for last Tuesday, has typically been at or towards the front. You can see the 3rd wheel try to avoid the stopped rider by going further right into the gutter like a total baby seal. Oopsie poopsie.
I’m not sure bike racing can ever be enjoyable, i.e. comfortable, but riding certainly can be. And the NPR seems to have the disadvantages of racing and none of the benefits of an organized group ride. Hmmmmm.
I knew what you looked like, and I knew what you wrote like, now I know what you sound like. Other sensory perceptions not necessary. “Introducing Seth Davidson’s scratch and sniff blog”.
Hahaha! Not going to smell pretty …
Nice format – I enjoyed listening to you.
Thanks!
Here are my videos from farther back.
Front view: https://vimeo.com/234542559/583fdf87c3
Rear view: https://vimeo.com/234553208/5aa33eaec6
My favorite part:
Seth (paraphrasing): “Out of the 60+ riders that show up for NPR, there are about 2, maybe 3, that actually know what they’re doing.”
Every single NPR rider: “Fuck yeah Seth, you tell ’em. I’m just glad I’m one of the 2-3.”
More, please.
Hahaha!
I’m done!!!!
So are a lot of folks …
At the risk (OK, certainty) of being accused of the backdoor brag, the London fellow with the loose skewer wasn’t quite at the front of the ride. Here was the view looking back from the front – I didn’t bother posting this because you really can’t see anything from our position (note that the video you linked to is looking back from the rider in the #2 lane with the blinking light, and you can see how far back he was from us):
I didn’t know there was a crash until the La Tijera turnaround.
The only way I will ever do this ride is on days when I am there to ride hard at or very near the front. There have been a handful of occasions where I have attempted to sit in on some sort of “recovery” day or whatnot, and sitting in the middle of that pack is genuinely terrifying. Moreso than any P12 crit. I’m not sure how the seals do it. I know why, just not how.
Because, SealMagic.
Thumbs up. Easier than finger plunking or about fitty-fitty?
Hmmm … hard to say.
You must provide a synopsis or an executive summary for those with not enough time to listen to the entire podcast while on the can.
(I keed, I keed…)
… And impressively complete unscripted sentences, Seth.
Thanks!
Not sure what happened to that rider’s bike who decided to stop close to the gutter. CHECK YOUR BIKE BEFORE YOU GET ON IT!
Especially after flying across the ocean.
Great podcast! I think NPR is actually safest on rainy days! LOL The people who come out when it’s wet are there for the training part of the ride and it’s a smaller peloton too.
True!!!
Wrong two guys crashe on Thursday and only 22 showed up 🙄G3 told me I was not there !
two things… or more. You have forever changed my drive time! I was promised no cursing I was mortified at the language! I could not even imagine YOU had that kind of vocabulary. I mean you have always “used your tongue prettier than a…” Who am I kidding? Where do I sign up for an additional $2.99 to keep that podcast on the regular?
Hahaha! NEXT TIME no naughty words like “blow job.”
Unmarshalled and undisciplined. Fuck that noise. After three years of club rides in Belgium I have little tolerance for that shit. Currently I am in Atlanta, and there are several rides like that. If I am desperate, I ride waaaaay the fuck off the back or make sure I am at the front. Nothing in the middle. Why don’t people understand 2×2 formation?? Fortunately there are plenty of rides here with a bit more sanity.
Lastly…great pod cast. Very cool.
Thanks, John! The trend is for older people with more brittle bones, like me, to ride elsewhere. Where there is chaos and adrenaline there will always be youth.
Raising an arm in front of a stem-chewing baby seal would have produced the same result. NPR needs a B ride and maybe a C ride also.
Favorite quote of the video: “You’re gonna pay for my shit, man!” repeatedly, before riding off. I mean screw the people with broken bones and shit, pay for my shit!
And he was the seal with his head down third wheel … I love cycling!
Congrats on the Podcast #1… I really see this becoming popular with thousands of listeners and I’m glad to be a part of making history by listening to this very first podcast…
On the other hand, sad crash… Riders have to be responsible and always check you bike before you go out!! bad baby seal!!
Especially if they’ve just gotten off the iceberg.
Yikes! As a baby seal of the finest vintage (2015), I remember the first time or two I did the Montrose 8:00 “B” ride. I thought “hmmm…. I can’t believe all of the other 100 people out here have the skill for this.”
Somewhat sad to learn that someone like Seth, who is as non-baby-seal as one could be, looks at these large group rides the exact same way.
That will be about it for me, then. I barely have time to ride, let alone time to do enough group riding to discover how to crash and how not to crash.
If it looks like a seal fest, rides like a seal fest, and smells like mackerel, run fast, er, ride.
Especially when you look around and see a mackerel in your jersey pocket! That’s really the time to call it a day at the next stop light.
I mean, at one point were these rides smaller and did they contain more people with skill?
They were never smaller and they were always chock full of idiots.
And if the mackerel’s in your back pocket, might as well pull over and eat it. But raise your hand first!
So much safer to subscribe to Cycling in the South Bay! That’s my motto!
And cheaper than the ambulance!
I’m imagining that you recorded this at 4am whilst Yasuko was trying to sleep?
2:45.
Excellent. So this was a one off podcast?
Yes. I’m never doing another one ever again until tomorrow.
My favorite part:
Seth: “Out of the 60+ riders who show up, only 2 or 3 really know what they’re doing”
Every seal who has every done the ride: “F&%k yeah, you tell ’em Seth! I’m just glad I happen to be one of the 2 or 3.”
Hahaha!
Who’s gonna pay fer my sheet. You’s gonna pay fer yer sheet. Sheet, what a reaction, even in a wank fest like that.
And what’s with all the portly fellows? I try not to judge a book by the cover, but for a fake race/training ride there seems to be a lot of optimism showing for a ride not broken into groups. Maybe the camera adds ten pounds, but some of those guys need to loose four cameras….
So the funny thing about that seal bark was that the seal in question was one of the head-down pinnipeds who smashed and crashed. The person who most owes him money is him. I think he was also the guy sitting third wheel who tried to “exit” by going to the right … when there was no right. Kind of sad that he couldn’t focus on the people who were hurt, but I’ve been in plenty of collisions and different people react to the trauma differently.
With regard to the, er, portly nature of the SoCal Wankfest Profamateurs Fake Race Scene, well, the camera lies, but not much.
Also, forgot to mention. The NPR topic was fitting as your voice is very NPR (the tote bag NPR). Audio is a good venue for you.
October will be dedicated to fundraising.
Kudos!
Thanks!
Ok. Sharing with my new cyclist wife–she noticed the car/truck and the cyclists not wanting to miss the “break” and how very bad that could have been. (I hope the bikes are still in the garage in the morning.)The good-old-days-that-never-were, with the OPR were the best days.
The past is always better except when it was the present.
Thank you for the audio. Always enjoy another voice!
Thanks!
Tommorow I’ll listen and comment. But I miss having to read.
There will be blogging … in a day or so.
My Dog thats’s creepy- it sounds just like one of the voices in my head.
Maybe it is!
Hmm. I’m a statistical anomaly, it seems. I much prefer text. I tend to read your blog when i first get to work in the morning, and “listening” just doesn’t work as well. But it seems the masses quite like it, so there’s that!
I will do both!
Hey great Podcast Seth! Maybe you should start referring to the NPR ride as CPR. Because you got a better chance of receiving CPR then you do of winning the sprint. Ha!
True that.
Hi Seth,
So I guess it was a good day to pull out early from the ride as I did… in the first lap! I was still jet-lagged from a visit to your old homeland across the ocean, so although the legs actually felt good, the lungs didn’t…
In an interesting coincidence, I narrowly avoided a Tuesday NPR crash in mid-July of 2016, also my first day back on the bike after several days in Europe. I guess my instincts of self-preservation served me well, in the form of jet-lag keeping me from pushing too hard and hanging long enough to crash!
And now you can preserve yourself some more by not going back, ever!
Good times with friends throwing themselves on the pavement. Probably not a good title. Seems like every NPR this happens. Why? I have an idea besides just seals just being dumb. Stay out of the gutter. Don’t pass on the right side. Just to name a few.
Only problem with saying there was no call out is… I am the guy with the camera shooting this video. I WAS calling out “RIGHT SIDE, RIDER’S RIGHT”!!! I was the lead rider. I was nowhere near the gutter. I was also pointing out the right side as well. Ask anyone else that was there. Damn seal was passing on the right side.
“Secret to life” Pay Attention. Life sucks the second you stop. It’s only a secret, because nobody does.
Otherwise, yes. Sweet podcast.
I would be happy to have a sit down with you & the video to take a closer look. Maybe you can come up with some better ways to raise awareness? I ride in the lane because, I have seen how bad the group can be on the parkway. Passing on the right side almost always is the problem. #stayoutofthegutter
Common sense has no place on NPR because, seals.
I know. Riding your bike is hard.
Falling off is hard, too.