Total for this ride: 29.5 miles
Total for this year: 242.1 miles
In what is turning out to be my worst riding year since since I started keeping a detailed record of every ride in 2008, I've had little reason to celebrate. Today I had a reason. Today I beat my personal best for a round trip commute from Bushnell's Basin to RIT and back. In only the 9th ride of this miserable year I set a new record of 1:57:27. This may not put me in the same league as Lance, but for an old guy it was pretty good. Helped out by perfect conditions, I truly felt like I was flying. Sweet.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Disaster Averted
Total for this ride: 18.9 miles
Total for this year: 212.6 miles
This was supposed to be an uneventful ride with a group of colleagues and students from work. It turned out to be anything but...
It was the first time in ages that I actually organized and led a ride for folks just from my department. Since I'd been leading the campus-wide rides for the past couple of years I stayed away from taking on an office group - two groups a week is just too much work. But since this year I managed to organize a group of five leaders for the campus rides I figured I'd be able to resurrect the smaller office outings. I sent out an e-mail last week to let everyone know that we'd ride the following Thursday.
The weather forecast called for periods of rain on and off all day. I started watching the radar about noon and it looked like it was going to be close. I sent out a broadcast message letting everyone know that I'd make the weather call at 3:30. When the time came, it looked like if we started right on time at 4, and kept a decent (but not overly aggressive) pace, we would get back about 5:30 just as a large area of rain was due to hit. I fired off another e-mail letting everyone know that it was a go. I got changed, filled up the water bottle, and rolled the bike down to the front door of the building to wait for any other riders.
I didn't know exactly how many to expect. I knew my my recruiter and one of my students would be riding. I quickly found out that one Russian post-doc and two PhD candidates planned to ride too. One of the grad students, a girl from (I think) India said she had bought her bike yesterday specifically so she could go on these rides. A group of six seemed reasonable for a first outing, and since this was a short, simple ride up to Mt. Hope Cemetery and back, I figured it would be a piece of cake. I could do this ride with my eyes closed.
We rolled away from the Carlson Building as the carillon rang 4:00. By the time we made the turn onto Perkins Road it was apparent that we had a bi-modal distribution of riding abilities on this ride. I was in the lead with my recruiter and student close behind. The post-doc and grad students were already trailing fairly far back - maybe 100 yards. And we hadn't even gone a half mile yet. Hmmm...
It was at that point that we got our first rain. We could see it coming - a brief cloudburst which passed over us quickly. By the time we reached the intersection of Jefferson and BH Town Line Rd it had already stopped and we were dry.
We crossed the road and made our way toward the Lehigh Trail. By this point it started to look like the post-doc and the male grad student were relatively capable riders. The Russian jumped ahead of the group at one point so he could get some pictures of us as we rode by. And the other guy, although he was sweating with long pants and a long sleeve shirt, didn't seem to be in any distress. It became more apparent as we rode along that the Indian girl was going to be bringing up the back of the pack for the entire ride.
I got a little perturbed with the group when we hit the UR campus. There's a short stretch there where we ride on the road (Intercampus Drive) between a couple of parking lots. There's not a lot of traffic there, but there is some - a fact of which some in my group seemed completely oblivious as they rode in the middle of the lane. I could see in my mirror that cars were starting to gather at the back end of the pack as my riders merrily rolled along without a care in the world. I yelled back a few times and motioned for everyone to move to the right and I guess they eventually figured it out since the cars started passing us.
The entrance I normally use to get into the cemetery had a plastic chain across it - this was little more than an annoyance, since it was no trouble to just lift it up and ride under. Once we got everybody through the gate I stopped to take stock of the group and see how they were doing. Everybody was in pretty good spirits but I noticed that the Indian grad student was wearing a thin sweater and long pants - and carrying a backpack. I started worrying about whether she'd be able to make it. She did take a drink during the break, but she was all smiles so we pressed on through the cemetery to Frederick Douglass' grave site. We stopped at the closest point on the road to the grave, and I pointed in the direction it was located if anyone wanted to go take a look, but nobody did. So with the weather starting to move in, I suggested we head back. They all agreed and we took off.
We had gone a few hundred yards from the turn around point when the guy grad student, who had fallen a little behind, yelled up to me that he needed to put some air in his tire, and that we should keep going. With the skies looking more and more threatening by the minute, and since he wasn't in any kind of physical distress, I decided to keep going and get back before the skies opened up.
Once again the group kind of divided in two as it did on the outbound leg. I rode through the parking lots at UR, down to the towpath, and then up the bridge over the canal at Kendrick Rd. At the top of the bridge I stopped my group to see how far back the rest of them were. The Russian and the Indian came into view about a minute after we got there. They waved, and we took off. That was the last time I stopped until we got back to the Carlson Building. And we got back not a second too soon - it started raining as we hit Andrews Drive and we started hearing thunder.
I waited a couple minutes in the front of the building to make sure the others got back OK. They didn't show up, so I took my bike up to my office and then came back down to wait. After about 10 minutes I started getting a little worried, and then I noticed that two of the bikes were back in the rack in front of the building. Apparently they got back while I was taking my bike up to the second floor. OK. That just left the one guy who stopped to pump up his tire. I asked the other two if they had seen him. Not since the cemetery. I went back out to wait.
By now the weather was bad. Hard rain, lightening and thunder. And after a half hour, still no sign of the straggler. I told the other two that I was going to take the truck and see if I could find him. I drove in the route that would have given me the greatest chance of seeing my guy if he was coming in. Nothing. I left campus and drove up to Crittenden thinking I'd drive to where it crossed the Lehigh trail and maybe I'd see him there. Again nothing. This was not good. I went back to campus to check in with the others.
They had heard nothing. We tracked down the guy's cell phone number and called but it went to voice mail. Now I was really getting worried. I told the group that I was going out again and to call me if they heard anything. I jumped into the truck and made another search - this time going all the way up to the cemetery. Still nothing, so again I returned to campus. By now it was 7:30 and although the sun was still up, we'd soon be losing daylight and I knew I didn't want to be searching in the dark. I decided that he must still be somewhere on the trail or in the cemetery, and the only way I'd find him would be to hop on the bike and retrace the entire route, which I did.
All the while I'm riding up there I'm thinking that he's had a heart attack and died (he is an older student...) and that I was going to be held accountable since I was the one who organized the ride. I made it back to the cemetery, crossed under the chain, and tried to remember which roads we had taken on the way out. Just then my phone rang. It was the Indian girl - the guy had called! He was alive and well, but he was lost. So told them to have him give me a call so I could figure out where he was and mount a rescue mission. Turns out when he stopped to pump up his tire, it was actually flat and he didn't have a patch kit. So he started walking. He made it as far as the canal but didn't know how to find the Lehigh trail from there, so he just walked east on the towpath. This took him all the way to Brighton, where he decided that he needed to ask directions. It was then that he somehow got in touch with his fellow student and they contacted me.
I finally made it back to the truck and drove out to retrieve the poor lost soul. He felt pretty bad about the situation, but I assured him that he was not the first person I'd rescued (remember Andrew with the flat tire in Bushnell's Basin last year??) and he wouldn't be the last. Still he was pretty glad that I came for him. I got him back to campus about 8:30 - three hours after I originally ended the ride.
Moral of the story - never leave ANYONE by themselves on any of these rides.
Total for this year: 212.6 miles
This was supposed to be an uneventful ride with a group of colleagues and students from work. It turned out to be anything but...
It was the first time in ages that I actually organized and led a ride for folks just from my department. Since I'd been leading the campus-wide rides for the past couple of years I stayed away from taking on an office group - two groups a week is just too much work. But since this year I managed to organize a group of five leaders for the campus rides I figured I'd be able to resurrect the smaller office outings. I sent out an e-mail last week to let everyone know that we'd ride the following Thursday.
The weather forecast called for periods of rain on and off all day. I started watching the radar about noon and it looked like it was going to be close. I sent out a broadcast message letting everyone know that I'd make the weather call at 3:30. When the time came, it looked like if we started right on time at 4, and kept a decent (but not overly aggressive) pace, we would get back about 5:30 just as a large area of rain was due to hit. I fired off another e-mail letting everyone know that it was a go. I got changed, filled up the water bottle, and rolled the bike down to the front door of the building to wait for any other riders.
I didn't know exactly how many to expect. I knew my my recruiter and one of my students would be riding. I quickly found out that one Russian post-doc and two PhD candidates planned to ride too. One of the grad students, a girl from (I think) India said she had bought her bike yesterday specifically so she could go on these rides. A group of six seemed reasonable for a first outing, and since this was a short, simple ride up to Mt. Hope Cemetery and back, I figured it would be a piece of cake. I could do this ride with my eyes closed.
We rolled away from the Carlson Building as the carillon rang 4:00. By the time we made the turn onto Perkins Road it was apparent that we had a bi-modal distribution of riding abilities on this ride. I was in the lead with my recruiter and student close behind. The post-doc and grad students were already trailing fairly far back - maybe 100 yards. And we hadn't even gone a half mile yet. Hmmm...
It was at that point that we got our first rain. We could see it coming - a brief cloudburst which passed over us quickly. By the time we reached the intersection of Jefferson and BH Town Line Rd it had already stopped and we were dry.
We crossed the road and made our way toward the Lehigh Trail. By this point it started to look like the post-doc and the male grad student were relatively capable riders. The Russian jumped ahead of the group at one point so he could get some pictures of us as we rode by. And the other guy, although he was sweating with long pants and a long sleeve shirt, didn't seem to be in any distress. It became more apparent as we rode along that the Indian girl was going to be bringing up the back of the pack for the entire ride.
I got a little perturbed with the group when we hit the UR campus. There's a short stretch there where we ride on the road (Intercampus Drive) between a couple of parking lots. There's not a lot of traffic there, but there is some - a fact of which some in my group seemed completely oblivious as they rode in the middle of the lane. I could see in my mirror that cars were starting to gather at the back end of the pack as my riders merrily rolled along without a care in the world. I yelled back a few times and motioned for everyone to move to the right and I guess they eventually figured it out since the cars started passing us.
The entrance I normally use to get into the cemetery had a plastic chain across it - this was little more than an annoyance, since it was no trouble to just lift it up and ride under. Once we got everybody through the gate I stopped to take stock of the group and see how they were doing. Everybody was in pretty good spirits but I noticed that the Indian grad student was wearing a thin sweater and long pants - and carrying a backpack. I started worrying about whether she'd be able to make it. She did take a drink during the break, but she was all smiles so we pressed on through the cemetery to Frederick Douglass' grave site. We stopped at the closest point on the road to the grave, and I pointed in the direction it was located if anyone wanted to go take a look, but nobody did. So with the weather starting to move in, I suggested we head back. They all agreed and we took off.
We had gone a few hundred yards from the turn around point when the guy grad student, who had fallen a little behind, yelled up to me that he needed to put some air in his tire, and that we should keep going. With the skies looking more and more threatening by the minute, and since he wasn't in any kind of physical distress, I decided to keep going and get back before the skies opened up.
Once again the group kind of divided in two as it did on the outbound leg. I rode through the parking lots at UR, down to the towpath, and then up the bridge over the canal at Kendrick Rd. At the top of the bridge I stopped my group to see how far back the rest of them were. The Russian and the Indian came into view about a minute after we got there. They waved, and we took off. That was the last time I stopped until we got back to the Carlson Building. And we got back not a second too soon - it started raining as we hit Andrews Drive and we started hearing thunder.
I waited a couple minutes in the front of the building to make sure the others got back OK. They didn't show up, so I took my bike up to my office and then came back down to wait. After about 10 minutes I started getting a little worried, and then I noticed that two of the bikes were back in the rack in front of the building. Apparently they got back while I was taking my bike up to the second floor. OK. That just left the one guy who stopped to pump up his tire. I asked the other two if they had seen him. Not since the cemetery. I went back out to wait.
By now the weather was bad. Hard rain, lightening and thunder. And after a half hour, still no sign of the straggler. I told the other two that I was going to take the truck and see if I could find him. I drove in the route that would have given me the greatest chance of seeing my guy if he was coming in. Nothing. I left campus and drove up to Crittenden thinking I'd drive to where it crossed the Lehigh trail and maybe I'd see him there. Again nothing. This was not good. I went back to campus to check in with the others.
They had heard nothing. We tracked down the guy's cell phone number and called but it went to voice mail. Now I was really getting worried. I told the group that I was going out again and to call me if they heard anything. I jumped into the truck and made another search - this time going all the way up to the cemetery. Still nothing, so again I returned to campus. By now it was 7:30 and although the sun was still up, we'd soon be losing daylight and I knew I didn't want to be searching in the dark. I decided that he must still be somewhere on the trail or in the cemetery, and the only way I'd find him would be to hop on the bike and retrace the entire route, which I did.
All the while I'm riding up there I'm thinking that he's had a heart attack and died (he is an older student...) and that I was going to be held accountable since I was the one who organized the ride. I made it back to the cemetery, crossed under the chain, and tried to remember which roads we had taken on the way out. Just then my phone rang. It was the Indian girl - the guy had called! He was alive and well, but he was lost. So told them to have him give me a call so I could figure out where he was and mount a rescue mission. Turns out when he stopped to pump up his tire, it was actually flat and he didn't have a patch kit. So he started walking. He made it as far as the canal but didn't know how to find the Lehigh trail from there, so he just walked east on the towpath. This took him all the way to Brighton, where he decided that he needed to ask directions. It was then that he somehow got in touch with his fellow student and they contacted me.
I finally made it back to the truck and drove out to retrieve the poor lost soul. He felt pretty bad about the situation, but I assured him that he was not the first person I'd rescued (remember Andrew with the flat tire in Bushnell's Basin last year??) and he wouldn't be the last. Still he was pretty glad that I came for him. I got him back to campus about 8:30 - three hours after I originally ended the ride.
Moral of the story - never leave ANYONE by themselves on any of these rides.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
A Little Errand
Total for this ride: 26.1 miles
Total for this year: 193.7 miles
According to the Federal Highway Administration: "For household-based travel, short trips account for the vast majority of trips" (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/pubs/pl08021/fig4_5.cfm). And consequently lots of environmentalists will tell you that if you're running errands around town, consider doing them by bike to reduce pollution. Today I did my bit for Mother Earth.
I don't know if a 26-mile round trip is considered "short" but the weather was nice (at least at the beginning of the ride) and I didn't have anything else to do, so I decided to take the Trek on my little errand to pick up international electrical outlet adapters at the AAA up in Penfield.
I made pretty good time on the outbound leg, averaging over 15 mph with a max speed of 35. But as shown by the GPS data (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88612060) my destination was at the lowest elevation of the ride, so I was generally climbing on the way home, although with a 250-ft difference between my lowest and highest elevations, I can't really complain. Still, the fact that I was climbing, coupled with a slight headwind, definitely slowed me down on the return leg.
A couple of items to note about this ride:
1. It had been 16 days since my previous ride. Way too long, but with crummy weather, graduation, and travel I just haven't been able to get out there.
2. I almost left my helmet at the AAA. You can see in the pic below that when I went in I set it on top of an electrical box. When I came out I unlocked the bike and rode off with it still sitting there. Fortunately I hadn't even left the parking lot when I realized what had happened.
3. It's still May and I'm already over 450 miles behind the pace I set last year. Definitely no mileage records in 2011...
Total for this year: 193.7 miles
According to the Federal Highway Administration: "For household-based travel, short trips account for the vast majority of trips" (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/pubs/pl08021/fig4_5.cfm). And consequently lots of environmentalists will tell you that if you're running errands around town, consider doing them by bike to reduce pollution. Today I did my bit for Mother Earth.
I don't know if a 26-mile round trip is considered "short" but the weather was nice (at least at the beginning of the ride) and I didn't have anything else to do, so I decided to take the Trek on my little errand to pick up international electrical outlet adapters at the AAA up in Penfield.
I made pretty good time on the outbound leg, averaging over 15 mph with a max speed of 35. But as shown by the GPS data (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88612060) my destination was at the lowest elevation of the ride, so I was generally climbing on the way home, although with a 250-ft difference between my lowest and highest elevations, I can't really complain. Still, the fact that I was climbing, coupled with a slight headwind, definitely slowed me down on the return leg.
A couple of items to note about this ride:
1. It had been 16 days since my previous ride. Way too long, but with crummy weather, graduation, and travel I just haven't been able to get out there.
2. I almost left my helmet at the AAA. You can see in the pic below that when I went in I set it on top of an electrical box. When I came out I unlocked the bike and rode off with it still sitting there. Fortunately I hadn't even left the parking lot when I realized what had happened.
3. It's still May and I'm already over 450 miles behind the pace I set last year. Definitely no mileage records in 2011...
Thursday, May 12, 2011
A Dream Come True!
Total for this ride: 29.2 miles
Total for this year: 167.6 miles
I planned to commute in again today but since a small portion of my normal route was so muddy a couple days ago I decided to use the road bike and stay on paved surfaces. It's really no big deal to do so - it's only a little longer than taking the off-road paths - but there's one stretch of East River Rd. between the UR's Laser Lab and the south end of the Genesee Valley Golf course that's in notoriously bad shape. This stretch of road is so cratered it's like riding on the face of the moon. And in order to avoid the frame busting, rim bending, teeth rattling potholes along what little shoulder there is, it's often necessary to swerve into the traffic lane - hopefully when no cars are coming up from behind. But, I was emotionally prepared to do so today in the interest of getting in some miles on the Trek. Imagine my surprise when I turned off Kendrick Rd. on to East River and saw the scene above -- a completely resurfaced stretch of road as far as the eye could see! I was so happy I almost cried! When the flagman finally let traffic in my direction go (only one lane was open for use) I triumphantly rode in the middle of the street just right of the cones, like I owned the entire road. Sheer bliss!
Total for this year: 167.6 miles
I planned to commute in again today but since a small portion of my normal route was so muddy a couple days ago I decided to use the road bike and stay on paved surfaces. It's really no big deal to do so - it's only a little longer than taking the off-road paths - but there's one stretch of East River Rd. between the UR's Laser Lab and the south end of the Genesee Valley Golf course that's in notoriously bad shape. This stretch of road is so cratered it's like riding on the face of the moon. And in order to avoid the frame busting, rim bending, teeth rattling potholes along what little shoulder there is, it's often necessary to swerve into the traffic lane - hopefully when no cars are coming up from behind. But, I was emotionally prepared to do so today in the interest of getting in some miles on the Trek. Imagine my surprise when I turned off Kendrick Rd. on to East River and saw the scene above -- a completely resurfaced stretch of road as far as the eye could see! I was so happy I almost cried! When the flagman finally let traffic in my direction go (only one lane was open for use) I triumphantly rode in the middle of the street just right of the cones, like I owned the entire road. Sheer bliss!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Commute...
Total for this ride: 28.4 miles
Total for this year: 138.4 miles
Nothing special... just another commute with the Univega (the off-road bike). Stretch between the canal and East River Rd. was extremely muddy...
Total for this year: 138.4 miles
Nothing special... just another commute with the Univega (the off-road bike). Stretch between the canal and East River Rd. was extremely muddy...
Sunday, May 1, 2011
New York City, Revisited
Total for this ride: 43.4 miles
Total for this year: 110.0 miles
After riding in the Five Boro Ride last year I really didn't have a desire to do it again any time soon. I mean it's a fun ride and all, but it's kind of expensive, and it's a hassle getting down to the city, and it's a hassle getting to the starting point, and you wait around for hours to actually start riding, and you have to walk through Central Park... so it's sort of cool to do every few years, but no more often than that.
Well, when he saw all the pics I posted after last year's ride my buddy Bob decided he wanted to do it, and he convinced me to go with him. Since I was his inspiration, I couldn't say no, could I? So a few months ago when the registration opened up I was right there online to pay my $60 to reserve my spot among the 32,000 riders that would be permitted to participate.
Bob also signed up on the opening day of registrations, and since this would be his first time doing the Five Boro, he let me take care of all of the logistics. Although last year's ride included the added adventure of the 30-mile round trip from our hotel in NJ to the starting point and back, I decided to minimize the commute this year. Ultimately I made reservations at a Comfort Inn in Staten Island, about eight miles from the Staten Island Ferry. I figured we could either ride or drive from the hotel to the ferry station and take the boat to Manhattan for the short ride to the starting line. When the Five Boro was over, it would be a quick and easy trip back to the truck for the drive home. If we drove down on Saturday, we could do the ride and get back to Roch by Sunday evening.
The trip down to Staten Island was uneventful. Bob was a great navigator, and we didn't really hit any traffic until after we crossed the Goethals Bridge from New Jersey into New York. Just past the tolls in Staten Island traffic slowed to a crawl. Fortunately we were just a few exits from our hotel, so it wasn't a big deal. We ran into a little trouble because the directions on the hotel's web site called for us to take Exit 7 for Victory Blvd, which would be cool except for the fact that Exit 7 doesn't take you to Victory Blvd. Exit 8 does. But we didn't know that until we had already committed to get off the Staten Island Expressway. No problem. We knew we were close, and with 20 minutes or so we arrived at the Comfort Inn.
We stayed at the hotel only long enough to check in and offload the bikes and gear. Since it was only about 3:30, we decided to scout out the route to the ferry, and take the boat over to Manhattan. It was a good thing we did. Although my research made it seem feasible to ride from the hotel to the docks, in reality, it would have been a difficult ride. Victory Blvd is not in the greatest condition, and sections of it don't offer much in the way of a shoulder. It might not have been a problem early on a Sunday morning, but riding back to the hotel after the Five Boro would have been tough. We decided to check out early in the morning, drive to the ferry station, and hope to get parking.
With time to kill, we took the boat over to Manhattan to walk around and look for a place to have some dinner. After docking we joined about 100 other people watching a group of six break dancers performing just outside the terminal. They were pretty good, but both Bob and I decided the two girls in the group were junkies. They were incredibly skinny and had that gaunt look in their face. And they were both wearing long sleeves.
We walked over to Battery Park where I took some pics of "The Sphere" - a sculpture which stood for thirty years on the plaza at the World Trade Center, until it was damaged during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was moved to Battery Park and an eternal flame was added as a memorial to those killed on that day.
From there we wandered over to Ground Zero. I was amazed at the progress on the site in the past year. When I did the Five Boro in 2010 there was nothing visible above the fence that surrounds the area - at least I don't remember seeing anything, and I spent two hours waiting right next to the site waiting for the ride to start. Since then a couple of new buildings have popped up, including the new Freedom Tower which is already over 60 stories tall. Incredible the amount of work that's been done in a year. As we walked around the site we passed FDNY 10 House, home of both Engine Company 10 and Ladder Company 10 - the closest fire units to Ground Zero. There were a few dozen people there looking at the monument to fallen firefighters and looking up at the new World Trade Center buildings. As I backed into the street to get a picture of the 10 House, a female security guard at the WTC site yelled at me to get away from the gate which led into the construction area. Of course I complied, but it's not like there were any vehicles trying to get in there. And I'm sure with my little Canon camera I looked like a credible threat... oh well...
By then it was time for dinner so we stopped at a Panini & Co. Breads on Broadway and Cedar, about a block north of Trinity Church and the American Stock Exchange. Nice place, good food, reasonable prices. From there it was back down to the ferry terminal for the ride back to Staten Island. After getting off the boat we walked past the baseball stadium where the Staten Island Yankees play, and wouldn't you know I found a ball just outside the left center fence, apparently a home run that nobody bothered to pick up. AJ would be jealous.
When we finally got back to the hotel we loaded up the bikes with the stuff we intended to carry during the ride. I managed to get all my stuff (a Gatorade, a few granola and power bars, a hat, etc.) into the rack trunk, with room to spare. I wanted to make sure I had room to store my layers if I needed to peel some off during the ride. Knowing that we were going to get up very early the next morning, we turned in about 10. Unfortunately Bob wanted to sleep with the window open, which meant that I'd have to listen to all of the street noise all night long. It was horrible. I might have managed maybe 1-2 hours of sleep, but I kept waking up because of the noise, and eventually at 4:00 I just got up for good. I was wiped out. While Bob was sleeping I loaded up the truck with my gear and my bike. It was freezing cold, definitely in the low 30's, so I went with three layers on the top and two on the bottom. I was glad I did. Bob got up at 4:30, got himself together, and we checked out of the hotel at 5.
I was afraid that even at that early hour we might not get a parking space at the ferry terminal. As it turned out, even though cars were streaming into the lot when we got there, we still had no trouble finding a space. We offloaded the bikes, and followed the crowd to the line for the charter ferry to Manhattan. We waited only about 10 minutes or so before we were able to board. We ended up in the bowels of the boat where cars are normally stored, along with maybe 300-400 other people. The ride was cold but very smooth, and up ahead of us I could see out the open exit ramp the skyline of Manhattan as it grew closer and closer.
We rolled the bikes off the ferry and exited the terminal. As soon as we were out the door we hopped on our rides and followed the crowd toward Battery Park. There were plenty of marshalls there to get us headed north on Church St. toward the starting line. It was just after 6:00 when we hit the back of the pack at the intersection of Church and Thomas - about an hour earlier than I arrived last year. But even though there were thousands of people ahead of us, we were 10-11 blocks further north than I was in 2010 - that put us about 1/2 mile closer to the starting line. I hoped that the difference in distance would equate to a significant reduction in the amount of time we would have to wait before crossing the starting line.
We spent the two hours before the beginning of the ride snacking, taking a few pics, and people watching. Somebody had the good sense to bring a few beach balls, which provided a few minutes of entertainment each time one was inflated. Although standing in the street for almost two hours may seem like a long time, it really did pass pretty quickly. Fortunately the skies were clear. It would have been miserable if it had been raining.
About 15 minutes before H-Hour the master of ceremonies up at the starting platform began to welcome the crowd and introduce the dignitaries in attendance. I never heard of any of them. Somebody sang "God Bless America" and then the countdown to the start began. This year the organizers added another attraction - at the starting gate they had installed a set of massive propane burners which would periodically send flames shooting maybe 20 feet into the air. It was kind of cool, I guess. Although I expected to wait a significant amount of time before we would cross the line, it actually turned out to be only 11 minutes. Definitely better than last year's 1-hour wait after the event actually started.
It seemed like the ride followed the same route as last year, although I would have to check the GPS data to be sure. Last year it seemed like we rode past more skyscrapers as we worked our way north toward Central Park. And I don't remember riding by Radio City Music Hall, which we did this year. They must have done something different in Central Park this year too. Last year the "ride" through the park was horrible - we were packed so tightly we pretty much had to walk through the entire park. This year they may have split the peloton before it actually entered the park. It seemed like we were divided into two streams which diluted the crowd enough to allow us to actually ride (albeit at a reduced speed) through most of the park.
Upon leaving the park I'm sure we followed exactly the same route as both of my previous rides through the city. By the time we hit Harlem it was starting to warm enough to think about taking off a layer. Before we hit the Bronx I had removed one of the uppers. From that point on I continued to remove garments every few miles until I was down to a jersey and shorts. I noticed on a time/temp sign in Queens that it was 66 degrees - perfect for riding.
As expected we saw our fair share of crashes. The worst was probably in Central Park where a woman had gone down and was still face first on the asphalt when we passed by (help had already arrived). There were several others - including one which happened right in front of me at about the 30 mile point. We had a few near-misses, but nothing serious. Just oblivious people drifting over or turning without checking or signaling. Idiots.
By the time we hit the Verrizano Bridge it had cooled down again, and passing over the water the wind had picked up. Since we ride out of the sun on the lower deck of the bridge, it was actually cold up there, and I was wishing I had kept at least the shell on.
We rolled off the bridge and into the end of ride festival at Fort Wadsworth about 12:30 - much earlier than I thought. We decided to skip the food tents and head back to the ferry terminal to retrieve the truck and head home. We hit the road at just about 1:00, and with just one stop for gas on the way back, managed to get home in time for dinner.
All in all, a good time.
Total for this year: 110.0 miles
After riding in the Five Boro Ride last year I really didn't have a desire to do it again any time soon. I mean it's a fun ride and all, but it's kind of expensive, and it's a hassle getting down to the city, and it's a hassle getting to the starting point, and you wait around for hours to actually start riding, and you have to walk through Central Park... so it's sort of cool to do every few years, but no more often than that.
Well, when he saw all the pics I posted after last year's ride my buddy Bob decided he wanted to do it, and he convinced me to go with him. Since I was his inspiration, I couldn't say no, could I? So a few months ago when the registration opened up I was right there online to pay my $60 to reserve my spot among the 32,000 riders that would be permitted to participate.
Bob also signed up on the opening day of registrations, and since this would be his first time doing the Five Boro, he let me take care of all of the logistics. Although last year's ride included the added adventure of the 30-mile round trip from our hotel in NJ to the starting point and back, I decided to minimize the commute this year. Ultimately I made reservations at a Comfort Inn in Staten Island, about eight miles from the Staten Island Ferry. I figured we could either ride or drive from the hotel to the ferry station and take the boat to Manhattan for the short ride to the starting line. When the Five Boro was over, it would be a quick and easy trip back to the truck for the drive home. If we drove down on Saturday, we could do the ride and get back to Roch by Sunday evening.
The trip down to Staten Island was uneventful. Bob was a great navigator, and we didn't really hit any traffic until after we crossed the Goethals Bridge from New Jersey into New York. Just past the tolls in Staten Island traffic slowed to a crawl. Fortunately we were just a few exits from our hotel, so it wasn't a big deal. We ran into a little trouble because the directions on the hotel's web site called for us to take Exit 7 for Victory Blvd, which would be cool except for the fact that Exit 7 doesn't take you to Victory Blvd. Exit 8 does. But we didn't know that until we had already committed to get off the Staten Island Expressway. No problem. We knew we were close, and with 20 minutes or so we arrived at the Comfort Inn.
We stayed at the hotel only long enough to check in and offload the bikes and gear. Since it was only about 3:30, we decided to scout out the route to the ferry, and take the boat over to Manhattan. It was a good thing we did. Although my research made it seem feasible to ride from the hotel to the docks, in reality, it would have been a difficult ride. Victory Blvd is not in the greatest condition, and sections of it don't offer much in the way of a shoulder. It might not have been a problem early on a Sunday morning, but riding back to the hotel after the Five Boro would have been tough. We decided to check out early in the morning, drive to the ferry station, and hope to get parking.
With time to kill, we took the boat over to Manhattan to walk around and look for a place to have some dinner. After docking we joined about 100 other people watching a group of six break dancers performing just outside the terminal. They were pretty good, but both Bob and I decided the two girls in the group were junkies. They were incredibly skinny and had that gaunt look in their face. And they were both wearing long sleeves.We walked over to Battery Park where I took some pics of "The Sphere" - a sculpture which stood for thirty years on the plaza at the World Trade Center, until it was damaged during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was moved to Battery Park and an eternal flame was added as a memorial to those killed on that day.
By then it was time for dinner so we stopped at a Panini & Co. Breads on Broadway and Cedar, about a block north of Trinity Church and the American Stock Exchange. Nice place, good food, reasonable prices. From there it was back down to the ferry terminal for the ride back to Staten Island. After getting off the boat we walked past the baseball stadium where the Staten Island Yankees play, and wouldn't you know I found a ball just outside the left center fence, apparently a home run that nobody bothered to pick up. AJ would be jealous.
When we finally got back to the hotel we loaded up the bikes with the stuff we intended to carry during the ride. I managed to get all my stuff (a Gatorade, a few granola and power bars, a hat, etc.) into the rack trunk, with room to spare. I wanted to make sure I had room to store my layers if I needed to peel some off during the ride. Knowing that we were going to get up very early the next morning, we turned in about 10. Unfortunately Bob wanted to sleep with the window open, which meant that I'd have to listen to all of the street noise all night long. It was horrible. I might have managed maybe 1-2 hours of sleep, but I kept waking up because of the noise, and eventually at 4:00 I just got up for good. I was wiped out. While Bob was sleeping I loaded up the truck with my gear and my bike. It was freezing cold, definitely in the low 30's, so I went with three layers on the top and two on the bottom. I was glad I did. Bob got up at 4:30, got himself together, and we checked out of the hotel at 5.
I was afraid that even at that early hour we might not get a parking space at the ferry terminal. As it turned out, even though cars were streaming into the lot when we got there, we still had no trouble finding a space. We offloaded the bikes, and followed the crowd to the line for the charter ferry to Manhattan. We waited only about 10 minutes or so before we were able to board. We ended up in the bowels of the boat where cars are normally stored, along with maybe 300-400 other people. The ride was cold but very smooth, and up ahead of us I could see out the open exit ramp the skyline of Manhattan as it grew closer and closer.
We rolled the bikes off the ferry and exited the terminal. As soon as we were out the door we hopped on our rides and followed the crowd toward Battery Park. There were plenty of marshalls there to get us headed north on Church St. toward the starting line. It was just after 6:00 when we hit the back of the pack at the intersection of Church and Thomas - about an hour earlier than I arrived last year. But even though there were thousands of people ahead of us, we were 10-11 blocks further north than I was in 2010 - that put us about 1/2 mile closer to the starting line. I hoped that the difference in distance would equate to a significant reduction in the amount of time we would have to wait before crossing the starting line.
We spent the two hours before the beginning of the ride snacking, taking a few pics, and people watching. Somebody had the good sense to bring a few beach balls, which provided a few minutes of entertainment each time one was inflated. Although standing in the street for almost two hours may seem like a long time, it really did pass pretty quickly. Fortunately the skies were clear. It would have been miserable if it had been raining.About 15 minutes before H-Hour the master of ceremonies up at the starting platform began to welcome the crowd and introduce the dignitaries in attendance. I never heard of any of them. Somebody sang "God Bless America" and then the countdown to the start began. This year the organizers added another attraction - at the starting gate they had installed a set of massive propane burners which would periodically send flames shooting maybe 20 feet into the air. It was kind of cool, I guess. Although I expected to wait a significant amount of time before we would cross the line, it actually turned out to be only 11 minutes. Definitely better than last year's 1-hour wait after the event actually started.
It seemed like the ride followed the same route as last year, although I would have to check the GPS data to be sure. Last year it seemed like we rode past more skyscrapers as we worked our way north toward Central Park. And I don't remember riding by Radio City Music Hall, which we did this year. They must have done something different in Central Park this year too. Last year the "ride" through the park was horrible - we were packed so tightly we pretty much had to walk through the entire park. This year they may have split the peloton before it actually entered the park. It seemed like we were divided into two streams which diluted the crowd enough to allow us to actually ride (albeit at a reduced speed) through most of the park.
Upon leaving the park I'm sure we followed exactly the same route as both of my previous rides through the city. By the time we hit Harlem it was starting to warm enough to think about taking off a layer. Before we hit the Bronx I had removed one of the uppers. From that point on I continued to remove garments every few miles until I was down to a jersey and shorts. I noticed on a time/temp sign in Queens that it was 66 degrees - perfect for riding.
As expected we saw our fair share of crashes. The worst was probably in Central Park where a woman had gone down and was still face first on the asphalt when we passed by (help had already arrived). There were several others - including one which happened right in front of me at about the 30 mile point. We had a few near-misses, but nothing serious. Just oblivious people drifting over or turning without checking or signaling. Idiots.
By the time we hit the Verrizano Bridge it had cooled down again, and passing over the water the wind had picked up. Since we ride out of the sun on the lower deck of the bridge, it was actually cold up there, and I was wishing I had kept at least the shell on.
We rolled off the bridge and into the end of ride festival at Fort Wadsworth about 12:30 - much earlier than I thought. We decided to skip the food tents and head back to the ferry terminal to retrieve the truck and head home. We hit the road at just about 1:00, and with just one stop for gas on the way back, managed to get home in time for dinner.
All in all, a good time.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
"Traditional" First Ride
Total for this ride: 32.6 miles
Total for this year: 66.6 miles
The riding season never officially starts until I've climbed Boughton Hill. Today was the day. Did a fairly typical early season ride from home straight down to Bloomfield, then over to Canandaigua and home again. It was fairly cool when I left the house about 10 - temps were still in the mid-40's - so I had on three layers. I dropped the shell after climbing Boughton Hill, but it was much cooler down by the lake so I put it back on half way through the ride and kept it on until I got home.
Not much on this ride worth noting. I saw a young girl with a lamb sitting in the driveway of a farm on Cooley Rd. I should have stopped to take a pic, but I was climbing a hill and didn't feel like stopping. I did take a few shots of the paddle wheeler Canandaigua Lady sitting on an enormous trailer in the parking lot of the municipal marina. But other than that it was just an uneventful conditioning ride.
Didn't make great time, but I actually felt OK. I even managed to climb up Lynaugh at the end of the ride. I figure I need to start doing more rides of this length, since Bob and I are scheduled for a 58-mile ride down in NYC in about three weeks. If all goes well I'll be able to commute in a couple of times this week. That will help.
Total for this year: 66.6 miles
The riding season never officially starts until I've climbed Boughton Hill. Today was the day. Did a fairly typical early season ride from home straight down to Bloomfield, then over to Canandaigua and home again. It was fairly cool when I left the house about 10 - temps were still in the mid-40's - so I had on three layers. I dropped the shell after climbing Boughton Hill, but it was much cooler down by the lake so I put it back on half way through the ride and kept it on until I got home.
Not much on this ride worth noting. I saw a young girl with a lamb sitting in the driveway of a farm on Cooley Rd. I should have stopped to take a pic, but I was climbing a hill and didn't feel like stopping. I did take a few shots of the paddle wheeler Canandaigua Lady sitting on an enormous trailer in the parking lot of the municipal marina. But other than that it was just an uneventful conditioning ride.Didn't make great time, but I actually felt OK. I even managed to climb up Lynaugh at the end of the ride. I figure I need to start doing more rides of this length, since Bob and I are scheduled for a 58-mile ride down in NYC in about three weeks. If all goes well I'll be able to commute in a couple of times this week. That will help.
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