Central Park Century
 

My usual ride and brevet friend got together for a ride in Central Park. The goal? 16 laps to get to just under 100 miles (riding to/from more than making up the difference). We started with five (including BF occasional poster odemirmem) with two expecting to head home about half-way or a little later. That's how it worked out in the end, i.e. three finishers. We were joined for the last few laps by a nice fella who jumped on and chatted with us (president of www.cyclefixx.com, as it turns out). We hope to ride with him again sometime.

The temperature never got above 32F. At the start at 7:30 it was in the low 20s. Brr! It was interesting to see the different challenges to cycling in CP throughout the day. First, dodging free-roaming dogs and their idiot owners. Then came the clueless joggers who'd turn around mid-run to veer straight into our small pack of cyclist. I really don't get that. Finally, it was late and warm enough for the tourists who as usual were mostly unaware of their surroundings. Obviously not all dog owners, joggers and tourists are out to get us, but the transition from one group to the next was something I had noticed before, not having spent that much time in the park in one shot.

This was the first long ride on which I'd use the fancy Lake winter shoes that require no booties / shoe covers. They performed very well, though for good measure I tossed in a pair of chemical warmers halfway through (ended-up overheating a little). I also tried a pair of wind-proof briefs. They chafed a bit but prevented a less pleasant alternative. :D For odemirmen, it was his first century on the fixed gear bike (impressive on a rolling course like CP).

Consumables: two 24 oz bottles of Powerbar "Sun Tea" drink, one 20oz bottle of water, two bags of Clif Shot Blocks ("Pinya Colada") and a huge brownie from the Boathouse cafe. Oh and half a bagel with Nutella (provided by one of our companions who left early).

Time: about 7 hours from start to finish including a long break (over half hour for sure) at the Boathouse Cafe about halfway through and a few other "natural breaks".