Saturday Ride up to Haverstraw

Yesterday, I took the biggest ride I've taken yet this year, around 80 miles, up to Haverstraw, NY. I thought that I would be doing 100+ mile rides by this time of the year, but I underestimate the amount of psychological and physiological fitness it requires to be in the saddle for even 80 miles. Yesterday was hard, I'll be real. I know that I'm physically capable of riding 80 miles, but I can't help but feel this lingering sense of doubt in the back of my mind that I just won't be able to make it. This sort of thought usually plagues the start of my ride, when I'm in the 2nd quarter of the journey. Luckily, I went out late in the day, so I was mostly alone on the highways, meaning that I could yell and swear and make a big fuss. The scenery absorbs all of my emotions, joy or frustration, and doesn't care. This grand indifference comforts me, and eventually lulls me into a state of flow. Sometimes I don't think about anything when I'm cycling. Waking up today, my legs are super sore, and the prospect of spending another 5 hours on the bike is not at all appealing. As a result, I'll only ride for about 3 hours today, just up to the edge of Palisades State Park.

The ride itself was pretty uneventful. I had a bit of a head wind on the way out, and a killer tail wind on the way in, such that between Piermont and the GW bridge I was kicking it pretty hard. I must have been averaging 22 mph! The coolest part of the ride was the discovery of a county bike trail in between Nyack and Piermont. It starts off as an unpaved (packed dirt/gravel) trail and turns into a nicely paved trail for the last 2 miles or so. The gravel was super fun! I was sliding all over the place, while making great time. My 40c tires just mush over everything on the road, so I was cruising along like it was tarmac.

Gravel trail in between Nyack and Piermont.

Sign in Haverstraw, NY indicating that the Hudson reaches its widest point there.

Tappan Zee bridge

Panorama of the Hudson valley just south of Haverstraw, NY.

 

Saturday ride up to Nyack

Yesterday I took a fat bike ride up to Nyack. My original plan was to ride up with a group of people training for the AIDS lifecycle ride in California (http://www.aidslifecycle.org/). I quickly realized that my hopes of making it back for a 12:15 lunch commitment weren't going to be realized if I didn't really start hauling (I still didn't make it back in time). Regardless, I resolved to stay with the group for as long as possible. After regrouping at the bike shop in Fort Lee, NJ we headed out and the group quickly broke up into several smaller groups working at different speeds. As a reasonably fit 21 year old with a love of going recklessly fast wearing only lycra, I was in one of the faster groups. I eventually glommed on with two people who were really kicking it. I introduced myself, and I ended up spending the rest of the ride with them! The woman was a bit older, and she was ornery and fast. The guy was a little more reserved, and also fast, despite only having been out one time this year. I got the woman's number, so hopefully we'll go riding again next weekend! They said that there are some good rides in New Jersey other than the GW bridge to Nyack route, which is definitely an exciting prospect for me.

We left Nyack after a brief coffee break, and quickly formed a pace line to beat the wind. Man, I miss riding in a group. There is something spectacular about averaging 23+ mph over about a 20 mile segment. I would never be able to do that on my own, but a group of three riders can really make tracks. This might have been the first ride this season where I really went out and laid done some power. Man, what a wonderful sensation.

I didn't grab any pictures on the ride, but I did get one that I think proves my humanity about as much as a belly button.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, proof that I sweat. That white stuff on the strap of my helmet is salt deposit from my sweat. Why was I sweating? It was going on 80 degrees when I rolled back to my dorm, and I had been exerting myself quite vigorously. Perhaps the more important question about this photo is why Diamondback decided to use white hoods on the shifters. Those black smudges on the top of the shifter? They'll never come out, even with soap, hot water, and plenty of elbow grease. I changed a flat on the first day I had the bike (yes, I flip the bike over to change a flat, contrary to rule #49) and those smudges have haunted me since. Maybe the white hoods serve as a reminder to wash my hands. For instance, when I got doored a couple weeks back, my hand was bleeding, and it got all over the right hood. It was immediately apparent that I should wash my hand and also that red doesn't really go well with the color scheme of my ride.

The most important and sensational part of yesterday's ride was the discovery that I don't have to ride the Hudson Greenway trail above 70th st. Riverside drive is the welcome alternative. While this route has its fair share of lights it doesn't have kids weaving all over the place, people standing and chatting in the narrowest section of the road, that nasty bumpy section between ~90th and 125th, joggers in the bike lane, and cyclists using arrow bars riding at 25 mph. I also don't have to do anymore of that looping around to get to the GW bridge! What a cool discovery! 

Biking in the Palisades

Yesterday I took a bike ride into Palisades State Park in New Jersey. It was a glorious day, in the upper teens (Celsius) or the upper 50s (Fahrenheit). The sky was streaked with clouds to the west (which originally made me worry about rain) and fairly clear to the east and south, save a few puffy white clouds. I biked up the Hudson Greenway, casually breezing through the bumpy parts in between around 90th street and 125th street. I really dislike that part of the trail. It's quite narrow, and the surface of the road undulates, making it hard to stay comfortable. When coming back from a 50+ mile ride, it can be a little obnoxious. I headed over the GW bridge (on the north side!) and descended into the Palisades. On the way back I was tired, so I just took highway 9 back.

Entering the Palisades, the first thing I noticed was how quiet it was. The Hudson Greenway is no Times Square, but it does have its fair share of city noises. The Palisades is silent in comparison. My only companion is my breathing and the sound of me slicing through still air. My intentions yesterday were not to go out and enjoy the scenic ride through the park, however. The workout was hill reps, and Alpine Rd, at the north end of the park, is about a 7 minute (for me) climb. I did it 5 times. It was awesome. By the fourth rep, I was soaked with sweat, and my legs were crying out. The pain of exertion oscillated between the front and back of my legs as I switched between emphasizing pressing down and pulling up hard. I know that one is supposed to make circles with one's feet, but that fell to the wayside midway through the 2nd rep. As the sun began to set, the bottom of the hill got dark and cold, while the area near the top was illuminated by the sun's waning rays. Kind of a cool effect, on the whole.

I'm a bit of a bad photographer, so I didn't manage to snap any pictures worthy of the park. I've never really understood how to properly photograph a landscape, especially vertically oriented ones like on the Palisades route.

Biking along the Hudson

This weekend Kamal and Dipika were kind enough to host me for the weekend so I could take a bike ride a little farther up the Hudson river valley than I would normally be able to reach from the west village. I ended up taking my aluminum steed up to Bear Mountain State Park, and rode to the top of the mountain. While the entire ride was gorgeous, skirting the Hudson the entire way, the mountain was by far the best part. The view from the top is spectacular! Getting up the top was pretty hard though. It's been a long time since I've ridden up a hill that takes longer than about 2 or 3 minutes to get up. Getting to the top of Bear Mountain took me about 20 minutes. It was brutal. I might have to get a new cassette/small chainring before I embark on my adventure this summer; I was consistently near the low limit of my gearing. Either that or I'll just have to go harder. Huffing, puffing, dripping with sweat (the first time this season that the weather has been warm enough to really get my sweat on!), I contemplated turning back and heading home a couple of times. I guess I'll have to wreck some hills this week to get in better hill climbing shape.

Pano of the view a little way down from the top of Bear Mountain

That's Manhattan in the distance! It must be about 50 miles away!

 Another shot from the top of Bear Mountain

Riding through some of the villages along highway 9 gave me a sense of deja vù. It felt like I was riding along the St. Croix river valley, passing through towns like Stillwater. Each town had cute little shops and expensive brunch restaurants. I occasionally deviated from highway 9 to go check out the view on the river, but this entailed going up and down some steep hills. On my way back I was a little less willing to do this, as I had more than 50 miles under my belt... The Hudson is wide, but not lazy like Huck Finn's Mississippi. The western banks of the river have some very steep looking wooded hills. At more than a few points these hills turn into sheer cliffs. I can't wait for leaves to start coming out so I can see these scenes in their full glory.

A shot of the western shore of the Hudson

Biking back today I discovered a cool dirt trail through Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. I've been looking for some fun gravel/dirt trails in the area, but I've yet to find anything that's not either a little too technical for me (Blue Mountain Reservation) or too far away/too annoying to get to (Cunningham in Queens). After a little research online, I discovered that all the trails in Van Cortland Park are also bike paths! I'll have to hit that up again later this week.