Northeast - Solo Long Island cycling adventure....help me plan it?

Coming in to this late ... just want to say that there is some very scenic cycling in the Hamptons, from Westhampton and especially Southampton on out.

Roads like Halsey Neck Lane, Meadow Lane, Gin Lane, Wickapogue Road, Mecox Road, Ocean Road, Bridge Lane, Sagg Main St, which are south of Montauk Highway, are some of the best cycling anywhere. And Montauk Highway isn't really so bad either -- one lane of cars in each direction, with a big fat shoulder to ride in.

>>>...Roads like Halsey Neck Lane, Meadow Lane, Gin Lane, Wickapogue Road, Mecox Road, Ocean Road, Bridge Lane, Sagg Main St, which are south of Montauk Highway....<<<<<<

Funny you said that, because I just bicycled many of those roads two weeks ago. They are definitely great roads to explore. I was also out at Flying Point Beach in Watermill, which was a cool ride and a great destination.

My point to people wanting to discover Long Island in a day or two is that all the beautiful photos you see on tourism sites of miles and miles of sandy beaches and farm stands do not paint a realistic picture of what they will see on Montauk Highway or 25A. To really "see" Long Island as an outsider, you need to find roads off the beaten path, like the ones you listed above. Typically, these do not fit into the itinerary of someone who has decided to take a once-in-a-lifetime ride to the tip of Long Island inside of 24-48 hours.

Stalker:

I look forward to hearing about your trip. The weather was unbelievable this weekend, so I can't imagine you had a bad ride no matter which coastline you chose!

Tom

Stalker:

I look forward to hearing about your trip. The weather was unbelievable this weekend, so I can't imagine you had a bad ride no matter which coastline you chose!

Tom

Excepting that the winds were SE, east and NE and occasionally blowing stiff on Sun and Mon !

SB

>>>Excepting that the winds were SE, east and NE and occasionally blowing stiff on Sun and Mon!<<<

A minor inconvenience when you're as charged up for a ride as Stalker was!

hey papa tom,

i was thinking of riding the lirr to montauk from nyc. can u suggest a scenery route from montauk to west hampton. i want to see all the nice mansion, shops restaurants, and beach on the east, south and west hampton. can put it on a bike map site like bikely.com and google map, or something similar to it. thx in advance.

>>>....can u suggest a scenery route from montauk to west hampton. i want to see all the nice mansion, shops restaurants, and beach on the east, south and west hampton....<<<<

As you can probably tell from my previous posts, I'm not really an authority on the south shore of Long Island. All the good roads I've found were by complete accident or by following people who knew the area. Perhaps Sportsman9 or LightingGuy can shed a little more light on this subject.

Okay, I rode out last summer from the city. My cue sheets from Babylon on out are posted at:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcWifma9vEqJZGRrNnBtN2dfNHRueG1jdmNu&hl=en

The sheet might print best if you first copy and paste into Word.

This sheet has 3 segments: Babylon to Westhampton; Westhampton to Bridgehampton; and Bridgehampton to Montauk. I don't recall how many of those streets were one-way; Montauk Highway is 2-way, and the side streets are mostly very low traffic.

The route passes near beaches in Southampton and East Hampton, but not Westhampton. The shops are mostly along the highway which becomes Main Street in each town. My route mostly detours around those town centers so you would have to adjust it a little. There are mansions, farmland, and a vineyard along this route.

hey papa tom,

i was thinking of riding the lirr to montauk from nyc. can u suggest a scenery route from montauk to west hampton. i want to see all the nice mansion, shops restaurants, and beach on the east, south and west hampton. can put it on a bike map site like bikely.com and google map, or something similar to it. thx in advance.

Here's a MapItPronto route. It follows portions of the Tour of the Hamptons, especially around the south end of the business district of Southampton, where you cannot ride a bike.

If needed I can add the Oakdale to Valley Stream portion of the Montauk Century. That'll get you to the Queens line. Can't help beyond that.

http://www.mapitpronto.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=routePlanner.viewDBRide&rideID=4977

SB

Here's a MapItPronto route. It follows portions of the Tour of the Hamptons, especially around the south end of the business district of Southampton, where you cannot ride a bike.

If needed I can add the Oakdale to Valley Stream portion of the Montauk Century. That'll get you to the Queens line. Can't help beyond that.

http://www.mapitpronto.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=routePlanner.viewDBRide&rideID=4977

SB

thx....looks good to me. are the street one way only or both way? the route u have is the opposite of what i want to do. also what do u mean the south end of the business district of southhampton, where u can't ride a bike? u can't ride a bike cuz it is the law? or it is not physically possible? please elaborate. thx.

Well, I don't recall which streets were one-way. Sometimes you can tell by looking on google maps.

And some of the towns out in the Hamptons have signs discouraging you from riding in the town centers (some of the towns are only 5 or 6 blocks long). I tried to find out before my trip whether these are really the law or just encouragement, and couldn't really find out. One thing for sure, the towns get pretty congested with traffic, so sometimes you're better off just getting off and walking.

>>>> I tried to find out before my trip whether these are really the law or just encouragement, and couldn't really find out.<<<<

In many - if not all - of the Hamptons downtown areas, angry little rent-a-cops will ticket you for riding where restricted. I know Sag Harbor (not really a Hamptons town, but close enough) is very tough on all kinds of violations, whether auto, bike, or pedestrian.

Play it safe and walk your bike through the towns.

thx....looks good to me. are the street one way only or both way? the route u have is the opposite of what i want to do. .

As you posted: "i was thinking of riding the lirr to montauk from nyc. can u suggest a scenery route from montauk to west hampton"

Thus I ran the MapItPronto route as you stated, from Montauk west to Westhampton Beach (which is I assume the "Westhampton" you are talking about). Thus if you click the button "Turn Distance Markers ON" you will note the mileage east to west. I did this map from memory having ridden the ToH 4 times, and If there's an error or 2 I apologize as I don't have a recent ToH cue sheet handy. In any event, it's simple enough to deteour and there's always Rt 27 to get you where you need to go.

Southampton has signs posted in the downtown shopping district stating it is illegal to ride a bike on that block (among others). I assume that a ticket written would stand up in court and in truth, why bother finding out. Thus the ToH route skips riding thru town and detours towards the beach, which has all the huge mansions. Likewise, the ToH was re-routed many years back to skip downtown Sag Harbor, as the summer locals (who don't own businesses) hated the "hoards" of cyclists on a Sunday in August. The businesses - especially the deli's, liked the hoards of cyclists as SH was between rest stops. So be it.

SB

lightingguy: what do u think of this route? it is a bit different from u where my westhampton ride is mostly on the beach.

http://www.bikely.com/blogthismap/routeid/347766

also any recommendation of restaurants i should try out on east hampton, south or west hampton?

Stalker:

I look forward to hearing about your trip. The weather was unbelievable this weekend, so I can't imagine you had a bad ride no matter which coastline you chose!

Tom

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive lol!

I did the trip Sunday from port jefferson to orient point, did an overnight at a motel, and then went south through shelter island to the south fork and then west as far as sayville.

Despite a few hiccups along the way it still turned out great. I'm kinda tired still so I will flesh out the details of the trip as much as I can tomorrow during my goof off time at work. Peace. :D

>>>> I tried to find out before my trip whether these are really the law or just encouragement, and couldn't really find out.<<<<

In many - if not all - of the Hamptons downtown areas, angry little rent-a-cops will ticket you for riding where restricted. I know Sag Harbor (not really a Hamptons town, but close enough) is very tough on all kinds of violations, whether auto, bike, or pedestrian.

Play it safe and walk your bike through the towns.

They woulda had to catch me first! I had no trouble in Sag Harbor. More details on my ride to come...

Glad you had a good time, Stalker. And I'm EXTRA glad you were able to find a room out east. What's your trick? If you could find accommodations on Labor Day weekend, the economy must be REALLY bad on the east end. Perhaps I, too, will head out there in the weeks to come!

Please let us know all the details.

TM

Glad you made the trip heading west on Sunday or Monday must of been nice given the tail wind.

lightingguy: what do u think of this route? it is a bit different from u where my westhampton ride is mostly on the beach.

http://www.bikely.com/blogthismap/routeid/347766

also any recommendation of restaurants i should try out on east hampton, south or west hampton?

I like the detour down to the beach, and will remember that one

As to restaurants ?, no clue. The restaurants in Southampton, E Hampton are generally expensive and I prefer the diners myself. Ditto the old Lunch shack just west of Hither Hills - ripoff for tourists.

I believe there's a place on the beach near Shinnecock Inlet at the marina, that services the commercial fisherman. Never been though.

SB

I like the detour down to the beach, and will remember that one

As to restaurants ?, no clue. The restaurants in Southampton, E Hampton are generally expensive and I prefer the diners myself. Ditto the old Lunch shack just west of Hither Hills - ripoff for tourists.

I believe there's a place on the beach near Shinnecock Inlet at the marina, that services the commercial fisherman. Never been though.

SB

I want to give you guys the details of my trip but today I've been all over the tech blogs commenting on today's Apple ipod announcements. I'm actually a bit annoyed by it and have been having heated exchanges online with other tech nerds. LOL I need a life! :D

Anyways, tomorrow I should be calmed down and I will post my ride report then.

I'm sure you're right. I've done a bit of riding on the back roads of the Hamptons and found some really awesome roads and ocean views. But these are not along the main roads that most bicycle tourists would use to get to Montauk or other destinations on the south shore. That's why I always try to steer touring cyclists away from this fork. There's just a much better chance of seeing a deer or catching a priceless view of the water on the north shore, in my opinion.

In addition, as you - or someone else - pointed out, I guess I'm just not a fan of the Hamptons crowd. My interactions with north shore folks, on the other hand, have always been a pleasure.

If you are going to stick with montauk highway, I would agree, there isn't much to see on the south fork. If you really want some great routes though off the beaten path, the southfork has so much more to offer than the north fork. The roads in east Hampton and montauk alone are far superior to any riding you would get on the north fork. Add in Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, Southampton and there isn't really any comparison.

I must admit, I am a bit biased........

>>>>The roads in east Hampton and montauk alone are far superior to any riding you would get on the north fork. Add in Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, Southampton and there isn't really any comparison.

I must admit, I am a bit biased........<<<

CLaw: Please share some of your south fork routes with us. I've found some great roads out there by accident over the years, but I've never been able to incorporate them into a useful route for out-of-town cyclists who just want to get to Montauk or see the Hamptons.

Uhhhh, and why are you biased? :)

>>>>The roads in east Hampton and montauk alone are far superior to any riding you would get on the north fork. Add in Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, Southampton and there isn't really any comparison.

I must admit, I am a bit biased........<<<

CLaw: Please share some of your south fork routes with us. I've found some great roads out there by accident over the years, but I've never been able to incorporate them into a useful route for out-of-town cyclists who just want to get to Montauk or see the Hamptons.

Uhhhh, and why are you biased? :)

Now I'm busy with work and I can't sit down and collect my thoughts to tell you all what happened on the trip....at least not yet.
But I can say one thing, I agree with the above poster that said that the south fork is superior.....it is.

>>>>The roads in east Hampton and montauk alone are far superior to any riding you would get on the north fork. Add in Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, Southampton and there isn't really any comparison.

I must admit, I am a bit biased........<<<

CLaw: Please share some of your south fork routes with us. I've found some great roads out there by accident over the years, but I've never been able to incorporate them into a useful route for out-of-town cyclists who just want to get to Montauk or see the Hamptons.

Uhhhh, and why are you biased? :)

because I live smack dab in the middle of it

As far as route sharing goes, I would need specifics. there are so many possible routes. mileage?, time?, camping?, hotels?, budget? where do you want to start from?

>>>>As far as route sharing goes, I would need specifics. there are so many possible routes. mileage?, time?, camping?, hotels?, budget? where do you want to start from?<<<<<

My comments all along about riding the south shore have been geared toward cyclists who are doing a one or two-day trip across the island and don't necessarily have time to dip into the many side roads mentioned above. Not to belabor the subject, but in my opinion, if you're only going to ride the roads that get you to Montauk or the Hamptons downtowns fast, you'll be hard-pressed to find much of the beauty for which Long Island is known. To me, mile-for-mile, the north shore is a better investment of time and sweat; however, I am wide open to other opinions, as I'm always looking for new places to ride and new angles from which to see the island.

That said, I still think Stalker (and others) might enjoy a ride along the Connecticut/Rhode Island shore, perhaps even more than either fork of Long Island. But if nobody wants to trust me on that, I'll just keep the whole route my little secret! :)

>>>>As far as route sharing goes, I would need specifics. there are so many possible routes. mileage?, time?, camping?, hotels?, budget? where do you want to start from?<<<<<

My comments all along about riding the south shore have been geared toward cyclists who are doing a one or two-day trip across the island and don't necessarily have time to dip into the many side roads mentioned above. Not to belabor the subject, but in my opinion, if you're only going to ride the roads that get you to Montauk or the Hamptons downtowns fast, you'll be hard-pressed to find much of the beauty for which Long Island is known. To me, mile-for-mile, the north shore is a better investment of time and sweat; however, I am wide open to other opinions, as I'm always looking for new places to ride and new angles from which to see the island.

That said, I still think Stalker (and others) might enjoy a ride along the Connecticut/Rhode Island shore, perhaps even more than either fork of Long Island. But if nobody wants to trust me on that, I'll just keep the whole route my little secret! :)

No no please do share it. Because I want to do another multi day ride soon. Perhaps this time I will take an amtrak train somewhere with my bike and some scenic route somewhere.......perferably no where near crackhouses! :D

>>>>>....perferably no where near crackhouses!<<<<<

What you got against crack houses? C'mon, man...it's just a few blocks, and those guys don't even wake up until four in the afternoon. Just look like you're on a mission and make sure you're not wearing a white helmet and you'll be fine.

Another rider had a really good idea about taking Metro North to New Haven and heading east from there. There are some very nice towns between there and Mystic, CT or Narragansett, RI. On the way home, you can get off the train in Bridgeport and ride through some beautiful areas to Greenwich and on to NYC.

Anyway, I'd still like to hear about your Long Island adventure when you have a few minutes. Sorry I was sketchy in some of my details and, perhaps, crabby when it began to approach my bedtime and you still hadn't decided which state you were going to ride! I envy that you were able to put it together and go on such short notice. I usually take a week to plan a route.

>>>>>....perferably no where near crackhouses!<<<<<

What you got against crack houses? C'mon, man...it's just a few blocks, and those guys don't even wake up until four in the afternoon. Just look like you're on a mission and make sure you're not wearing a white helmet and you'll be fine.

Another rider had a really good idea about taking Metro North to New Haven and heading east from there. There are some very nice towns between there and Mystic, CT or Narragansett, RI. On the way home, you can get off the train in Bridgeport and ride through some beautiful areas to Greenwich and on to NYC.

Anyway, I'd still like to hear about your Long Island adventure when you have a few minutes. Sorry I was sketchy in some of my details and, perhaps, crabby when it began to approach my bedtime and you still hadn't decided which state you were going to ride! I envy that you were able to put it together and go on such short notice. I usually take a week to plan a route.

Crabby? Yeah maybe a little. But it's okay because you and the others were trying to help me. But I was screaming "NOOOOO" when I read in your last post that you were signing off for the night. I think I missed your last post that night by what....less than 5 minutes? As you know by now the reason I missed your posts that night was because I was desperately trying to trace out those routes you suggested into mapitpronto. I stayed up till 2 o'clock in the morning that very saturday night before the ride trying to trace those routes so I could import them into my garmin edge 705.
Frankly, even with the few hiccups, I'm surprised I was able to pull it all off in time for the ride.

Now that I FINALLY have a few minutes to myself I'll describe a little bit of my solo ride adventure...........


That Saturday night I was really scrambling to prepare for my ride. Since noon that day I stripped down my 2005 Roubaix with campy drivetrain and Rolf Prima Vigor wheelset so I could thoroughly wash the drivetrain and the polish the frame with some bike wax.
I wanted my bike spic and span for when I rode off on my trip the next day. OMG! I didn't have a chain cleaner so off I went with the car racing to the local bike shop to buy one.

It was frustrating dealing with the mosquitos as I washed the bike outside (for FOUR HOURS) to get everything just right.....but ultimately it was fun. It was almost therapeutic in a way...the degreasing and cleaning of every gear, every tooth and spring.
I didn't settle myself down to finish consulting with you all through this thread and work on my route plotting till way after 6pm. And after contemplating where I wanted to go for hours I finally started plotting routes at around 9pm. My decision at that point was to go to Port Jefferson then North with a ferry ride to Bridgeport, CT then east to New london. The 2nd day of riding would of had me ferry to Orient Point then travel west back to Port Jefferson. So for the next two to three hours I was plotting away on mapitpronto.

It wasn't till after MIDNIGHT after reading about crackhouses that I realized that going to CT might not be such a hot idea. So after wasting several hours I started from scratch and re-plotted my course as a long island trip from Port Jefferson to Orient Point on mapitpronto. I also plotted a route south through shelter Island then Sag Harbor then to swing back west as a 2nd day continuation of the trip in the event I was able to find a motel to stay that Sunday night.
So at bloody 2:30 am in the morning Sunday I finally went to sleep with the plan to wake up only 3 to 4 hours later so I can start off early.

Unfortunately, that did not work out.

I didn't wake up till after 8 to almost 9am. :(
Before I got myself ready to go I had to deal with a problem with the freaking GPS! I could NOT LOAD any of the routes I saved after I created them!
I FREAKED! If I couldn't get the routes loaded into the GPS device then there would be no trip.....period! It had something to do with mapitpronto.com. It created hundreds of map "points" in the route files and the garmin edge 705 could only deal with 100 at a time. "WHAT THE HELL?" I said to myself. 9 freaking am with daylight wasting and a train I was going to miss and I didn't know what to do!!! Luckily at the last second I figured out that if I imported the .gpx files into mapmyride.com and re-saved it from there back to my garmin it somehow fixed the route files. So now all the routes worked on my garmin edge.
Great! I'm a genius! So I patted myself on the back then launched myself.......ready....set.....goooooooooooo!

After quickly inhaling a bowl of kashi Go Lean Crunch and going through my checklist and grabbing all of my gear....I rode out the door at 10am. Yup, 10am. After flying down to the local subway (screaming at traffic to get out of the way) I boarded a number "2" train and rode it for a few stops till I got to the LIRR station at Atlantic/Flatbush avenue station in Brooklyn.
Get this.....I was told I had to ride three trains till I was able to reach Port Jefferson. And the first train didn't leave Atlantic till 11:12am.
After making my connecting trains at various stops I did not reach port Jefferson until 2PM in the afternoon. =/

If only I had planned on doing long island from the start OR if only I had washed my bike earlier I would have gotten to sleep earlier. Then I would have woken up earlier and thus gotten to port Jefferson earlier.

But whatever! At least I made it.
And so, I rode off from the Port Jefferson station to begin my journey.

This was chapter 1. I'll write some more posts about my ride later today.

These trips never seem to get off to a good start. I hope the rest was better.

Anyway, just to avoid giving Connecticut a bad name, I want to reiterate that the only problematic areas I've experienced were Bridgeport, New London, and West Haven/New Haven. These were mostly a problem because nobody forewarned me that they were not good areas to pedal through casually. You had the benefit of my experience and you would have been fine.

Regarding the rest of Connecticut, it is absolutely beautiful and I hope you choose to ride it some day.

These trips never seem to get off to a good start. I hope the rest was better.

Anyway, just to avoid giving Connecticut a bad name, I want to reiterate that the only problematic areas I've experienced were Bridgeport, New London, and West Haven/New Haven. These were mostly a problem because nobody forewarned me that they were not good areas to pedal through casually. You had the benefit of my experience and you would have been fine.

Regarding the rest of Connecticut, it is absolutely beautiful and I hope you choose to ride it some day.

I probably will some time. I'll post more about my ride when I can.

>>>>I'll post more about my ride when I can.<<<<<

Stalker:

Not to hound you, but my advice is to get this stuff down on paper before it goes right out of your head, which can happen very quickly. That's how I ended up losing pieces of my Connecticut trip and screwing you up as I tried to help!

I've often forgotten to record a change in my original itinerary after a trip is over. Then, when I try to share the route, I might go back to the original and deprive someone else of a cool alternative I discovered while on the road.

Also, I've found that I really enjoy looking back on my own detailed trip logs years later. It's kind of like doing the rides all over again. Don't miss that opportunity!

Still looking forward to reading about your "solo adventure."

>>>>I'll post more about my ride when I can.<<<<<

Stalker:

Not to hound you, but my advice is to get this stuff down on paper before it goes right out of your head, which can happen very quickly. That's how I ended up losing pieces of my Connecticut trip and screwing you up as I tried to help!

I've often forgotten to record a change in my original itinerary after a trip is over. Then, when I try to share the route, I might go back to the original and deprive someone else of a cool alternative I discovered while on the road.

Also, I've found that I really enjoy looking back on my own detailed trip logs years later. It's kind of like doing the rides all over again. Don't miss that opportunity!

Still looking forward to reading about your "solo adventure."

Your right.

I've been meaning to finish my posts about my trip but the minute I got back work took over and has ever since. I promise to finish my trip report soon before I do indeed forget everything. Thing is, I'm writing most of these posts now from work and I have to steal time just to make this post.

per request of Papatom, i confirm that going from NY to NH wasn't bad at all. the only sketchy portion of the ride was the section around bridgeport, but it was fine other than that.

per request of Papatom, i confirm that going from NY to NH wasn't bad at all. the only sketchy portion of the ride was the section around bridgeport, but it was fine other than that.

Well, perhaps it's best to avoid bridgeport altogether then.

Argh!

I'll attempt yet again to steal some time from work and finish my post about my ride. (lol)

>>>>Well, perhaps it's best to avoid bridgeport altogether then.<<<<<

Nah, because just a couple of blocks outside of Bridgeport - either east or west - it gets really nice. I think I may have painted too "rough" a picture of this city. When Jai Alai and dog racing were here, it was pretty bad. Now they've got a minor league baseball team in town and the place has gotten more respectable. The "crack houses" I described are real, but they only last for about a block and a half of the ride from the ferry terminal to a much nicer area. Don't avoid it. Just ride smart here, as you would in any of New York City's tougher neighborhoods.

>>>>I'll post more about my ride when I can.<<<<<

Stalker:

Not to hound you, but my advice is to get this stuff down on paper before it goes right out of your head, which can happen very quickly. That's how I ended up losing pieces of my Connecticut trip and screwing you up as I tried to help!

I've often forgotten to record a change in my original itinerary after a trip is over. Then, when I try to share the route, I might go back to the original and deprive someone else of a cool alternative I discovered while on the road.

Also, I've found that I really enjoy looking back on my own detailed trip logs years later. It's kind of like doing the rides all over again. Don't miss that opportunity!

Still looking forward to reading about your "solo adventure."

Ok, so here is Chapter 2, my solo Long Island adventure ride begins......

Sunday, September 6th 2pm (Port Jefferson LIRR station)

So when we last left our hero.....(mighty hero?)....nah scratch that. Lemme start over.

Great, so I finally made it to Port Jefferson. It was around 2pm that Sunday and the weather as I remember it was.....perfect. It wasn't too hot or too cold in my opinion and I was dressed properly. In fact, let me go into as much detail as possible. Because this post is as much for me as it is for the reader.
My gear included a camelbak water backpack with storage space for a shorts and t-shirt, several nutrition bars, digital camera, cables to recharge my ipod, and gps device........oh yeah and water. On the bike itself: More water in two water bottles in the cages, small seatpost bag which had my tire changing gear.

From the train I immediately went down the ramp. Three feet from the ramp was to be my launching point. The station itself, after the train left, immediately went quiet and showed off that it was really a tiny station in the middle of nowhere in a nice suburban setting. This was EXACTLY what I was looking for! I didn't ride off right then because I wanted to take a few moments to calm myself and appreciate the new environment I was in.
After taking several breathes of fresh air I activated my garmin 705 cycling gps.

My priority at that moment was loading my .gpx file which had my first leg of my trip....Port Jefferson to Orient Point. I was so concerned in fact with making sure the device had the route layed out in front of me......that.....*sigh*.....I forgot to press START on the timer!

*sigh* :( More on that silly memory lapse later.

To get your imaginations going here is the link again to the path that I layed out for the first route:
http://www.mapitpronto.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=routePlanner.viewDBRide&rideID=4966
At 2:07 pm I started off.

The first few feet of riding from the station was in itself wonderful because there were just no cars...at least when compared to a busy Monday morning in Manhattan. I remember stopping at an ATM near the corner of Oakland Ave and N. Country road to get some cash....in case I needed it. Hey, you never know.
So I continued on.

The path changes into Belle Terre Rd. and as it does it turns into a slight incline. It's a straight line for about 4 thousand feet before a right corner turn. All my trying to get the bike ready and cleaned, my gear selected and packed, and the hours and hours of bike route planning.....and I forget to prepare the most important thing.....the rider.

That slight incline forced me to work a little and well, none of my muscles were warmed up. So I started to breathe a little hard and my leg muscles got the signal it was time to wake up. Hey, I'm not an athlete. I'm no crit rider and I'm certainly not Contador or Armstrong. Hell, I would kill to be the worst rider in the tour de france peloton......whoever that is. So even that initial incline was work for me.

I made it past the first corner and the path turns into Myrtle avenue. From here on (for a good bit before I reached Mt. Sinai harbor) it's quiet, tree lined, winding roads. Ah, the incline is turning into a decline. That feels better.........oops now its an incline again. Crap, my aching lazy leg muscles.......ah a decline again. Oops, another incline! Maybe I'll stand and pedal for a bit....nope that hurts I'll sit down.
Gawd, when will my legs wake up?!

On Shore Rd., just as it touches the Mt. Sinai Harbor and I have full view of it, I realized that I made the right decision to go out on this ride. The view was very very nice. I just had to stop to take a couple pictures of it. I put the camera in my seat post bag for easy retrieval.

Note: You won't see any pictures from the trip posted here. More on that later. :(

As I continued on, I initially worried that I wouldn't have time to get to Orient Point before it went dark because there probably wouldn't be any place to stay that night being the Labor Day weekend.
But I didn't care.

A sense of freedom crept up on me and finally at that point any lingering crap from my former life as a 9to5 city drone was gone. I decided from then on that I would spend the rest of my life cycling around Long Island like a nomad. :D

My legs started to warm up and the inclines didn't hurt or slow me down that much and my enjoyment started to increase. As I approached Willow Pond Ln. my garmin 705 screamed at me:
"For da luv of gawd make a left here.....NOW!"
What?! Oh crap I better slow down and turn here then. So, I obediently made a left turn and proceeded down the road to a......dead end?? :eek:
What could I do but immediately consult my all knowing garmin 705 cycling gps device.

All knowing Garmin 705 cycling GPS device: "Umm.....calculating bsst path to get you back on course...make a right turn on Seacliff lane...now!"

.........OOOO K. That Seacliff lane it turns out is really a very private road that has a giant incline. Reaching the top I realized that my love/hate relationship with my garmin 705 was leaning toward hate again.
All knowing Garmin 705 cycling GPS device:"Make a turn at Miller Woods Dr"

Me: "But garmin, Miller Woods Dr isn't even a 'drive' but in reality it's a narrow path strewn with rocks. It doesn't have any business being on a map."

All knowing Garmin 705 cycling GPS device: "Just do it!"

Wisely, I decided not to obey and went the way I came. I figured if could get back on that N. Country Rd I'll try to figure out what went wrong. Riding back the way I came on Willow Pond Ln and headed south. As I was doing that my Garmin said "Make a left on N. Country Rd and continue on path". You mean the original path I was on all along?
Wow, that's great! Thanks garmin. :rolleyes:

I've owned my little garmin 705 for a couple months now and I must say while it's great to have a little gps device especially in the middle of nowhere, the software could stand some improvements. Perhaps a great deal of improvements. :mad:

I'm taking a break from my recollecting of my labor day trip. I'll post the rest of what happened on day 1 when I can.

I didn't realize you weren't going to ride through downtown Port Jefferson. The train station is about a mile or two from this neat harborfront village. If you spent any time noodling around the bodegas and other stores near the PT Jeff train station, you've got a fairly good idea of what Bridgeport is like on a good day. I guess you'll get to see downtown Pt. Jeff when you take your Connecticut trip next year! :)

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that the first part of the ride gave you that awesome feeling that drives us all to ride. Don't make us wait too long for the rest!!!!