kaos joe

Congratulations on the 10,000! I'm about a thousand behind you.

AA ride to Centre Island, 42 miles. Sweated buckets. There was dried salt all over the frame tubes. ICK. But I'm getting used to the twitchy tandem.

GlennR

I had to clean my bike also. Nothing like sweat stains on a black bike.

justtrying

Just a leisurely late morning ride from Cedar Creek Park to Jones Beach Boardwalk and back with my son. We even had a tailwind on the way back. I find that I have been riding these past few months that I pay more attention to the wind then the sailors in the Patrick O'Brian novels. On the way back I saw a nice sight, a father was with his young son(10-11 years old maybe) and both the father and son were riding their own road bikes. Dad was the ropes so to speak. I for one couldn't think of a better way for a parent to spend day.

justtrying

Sorry ,I meant showing him the ropes

GlennR

I took the Jones Beach path today after dropping my car off for service. It was around 9:00am.

Car was done quickly and I picked it up when the ride was done.

Steve B.

The JB rode is a place I ALWAYS pay attention to wind direction. I have made the left and headed to TOBAY, feeling GREAT and then turned to come back and Oh SH*T, the wind......

GlennR

N/S and E/W, you're gonna get the wind in at least one direction.

I've done 13mph one way and 24mph on the return.

My "fastest 40K" was 17.5mph on a morning that was dead calm. Normally I can do 16.5 so it was a fast day.

Papa Tom

The wind heading south in the late afternoon can be enough to make you want to turn around and go visit the ice cream truck at Cedar Creek Park instead. I'm pretty sure I have done in the negative mph's on the way down a few times. But as you all know, the hurricane that blows you back up north makes you forget that whole dreadful experience and gives you back the "Damn, I kick ass" feeling you had before you took the bike out of the car.

GlennR

20 miles with a 20mph wind. Coming down Roud Swamp Road, the crosswind almost knocked me off the bike. I had to slow down to be safe.

GlennR

I need to get my head examined... really hot ride this morning.

33 miles @ 15.6mph and 1200c.
https://www.strava.com/activities/650646798

kaos joe

For once we knuckleheads on the AA ride were sensible and, for the most part, moderated the pace in deference to the heat. 43 miles to Bayville/Centre Island, where it was maybe slightly cooler than elsewhere. We did get carried away and cranked it up a few times, but when just tooling along at 18-20 mph, I found the heat not too bad.

Our last "local local" ride for a while, we will be riding around the East End for a week. We will probably bring our older tandem, for the bigger tires in case we get off the beaten path.

Papa Tom

Sitting at the lobby computer of the Holiday Inn Express in Milford, CT after riding Syosset to Pt. Jefferson and Bridgeport to Milford this morning. I think it's about 30 miles to PJ from Syosset and maybe another ten to Milford, so this was about half as far as most of you seem to ride on a "bad" day.

The reason I'm posting, though, is that, after three straight weeks of excruciatingly hot and physical labor setting up outdoor concerts, I woke up completely spent, with legs of jelly this morning, and I was very close to aborting this ride. I had plans to meet an old musician buddy in Milford, so I gave myself a little kick in the butt and got out the door by 6:15am. I'm really glad I did, because about twenty minutes into the ride, I was energized and smiling cheek-to-cheek. My legs came back, my arthritic elbows loosened up, and I was happy to be alive. Best of all, there was a million dollar morning breeze blowing the whole way out and it never felt like the oppressive 90+ degree day News 12 was forecasting.

I basically take Woodbury Rd to Pulaski to 25A to North Country Rd, with a few cut-throughs here and there. Although I don't feel as young and strong as when I first started doing this annual ride in 1999, I had no problem at all with the hills out east, even with my 26" X 2.35" Schwalbe Big Apple balloon tires and my fully stuffed Topeak MTX panniers hanging off my rear rack. I think there's something to be said for knowing what's coming and being able to pace yourself for it.

Now, here's the biggest news. Some of you might remember my complaints about the Port Jeff Ferry company making me drag my whole bike up the steps last summer for what they insisted were "security concerns." I was so pissed I even wrote a letter to Newsday - and they published it. Well, I don't know if my letter and my constant hounding made any difference, but they let me remove my panniers and leave the bike on the car deck this year. You're welcome, ferry riders with bicycles.

OK, that's enough about this dopey little ride. But I hope this post inspires anyone who wakes up in the morning feeling totally beat to get on the saddle and push a little. It's amazing the power a bicycle has to turn your whole day around.

Steve B.

Glad to hear about how the ferry, it must be nice to know that possibly your time spent complaining (and justifiably) was time well spent.

Glad you got away, we all know how much you look forward to these trips.

Picked a heck of a week, temperature wise, maybe some rides to the beaches are in order.

csi56

Calling this a "Long Island" ride is a stretch, but here goes: yesterday I did about 20 miles in a loop around northeast Queens. I got out the door on my 8-year-old Trek before 7am, and was done at around 9 before the heat got serious. I'm not fast, I kind of noodle around, but it suits me.

I live in Fresh Meadows, so I was able to follow the Kissena Corridor to Flushing Meadow Park, which I exited near the Hall of Science. I noodled through Corona to the Worlds Fair Marina, then along Willets Point Blvd. to the Throg's Neck Bridge. The path along the bay next to Cross Island Parkway was pretty, but then in order to enjoy the long, quick ride down the Vanderbilt MUP I had to climb, climb, climb up the moraine. (Well, it was tough for me.)

My only complaints were that in the neighborhoods I had the ripe smell of trash rotting in the heat, and at Flushing Bay I had the ripe smell of low tide. Getting out early didn't help. I guess it would be a more pleasant ride in the spring or fall. So it's supposed to cool down a little by next weekend, right?

Papa Tom

I used to do a very similar Queens ride on a regular basis, and yeah, I know exactly what you mean about the smells during the hot summer months. It's a great ride, though, and as you said, even better in the Fall or Spring.

What's the "climb" you're talking about? Do you mean the Vanderbilt MUP itself?

kaos joe

A cool but staggeringly humid ride out of Montauk this morning. There's some nice venues out here, if any of you find yourselves on vacation and get tired of the beach.
We elected to go west out of town and follow the routes used by the Tour of the Hamptons, the Soldier Ride, BBB, and others. Left turn onto Old Montauk Hwy, a unique roller coaster of a road. THAT will get the blood flowing forthwith. After a short stretch of the main Montauk Hwy, a busy road but with excellent bike-lane marked shoulders, a right turn on Napeague Meadow/Cranberry Hole where one is unlikely to see ANY cars for miles. Right at Bendigo, right on Cross Hwy, left on Fresh Pond (bathrooms at the beach here), right on Cross Hwy to Devon, left on Alberts Landing, right on Old Stone Hwy. The Springs General Store on right is a charming but expensive place to refuel. Old Stone is pretty low traffic and the others are extremely low. Now a right on Springs-Fireplace, left on Hog Creek Lane (theres a Hog Creek Rd too), left on Waterhole, left on Norfolk, back to Springs-Fireplace and we retraced our route. If you are a Jackson Pollack fan his old studio is on Springs-Fireplace and is now a museum. You also pass the site where he was killed somewhere on Old Stone IIRC.
We ended up with 38 miles upon arrival in Montauk, and I was utterly drenched in sweat even though we were taking it relatively easy. But She Who Must Be Obeyed in the back seat said "Oh no, I WANT 40!". So we meandered around a bit and looped up around north of Montauk Downs ending up with 42.

GlennR

That's for giving me a reason to never get a tandem.

kaos joe

Well, she does't really HAVE to be obeyed....

It's a lot of fun if you are compatible. If not..........

We've clocked 30-something thousand miles on ours so must be doing it right.

GlennR

I've been married for 33 years, I fully understand what you're saying.

csi56

You have to go from sea level to the top of the moraine in Alley Pond Park, mostly through the local streets and over a distance of a couple of miles. I find it kinda tough, in my out-of-shape condition.

When I go east from near the Clearview, that's a pretty tough climb for me, too. Worth the effort, though.

kaos joe

Ah, slept late and dawdled, so a short ride today.

Here is another nice route for any prospective East End riders. Not quite as low-traffic as what we did and I posted yesterday, but still very nice.
Start on 27 (Montauk Hwy) at Amagansett Farmers Market. Cross 27A, go south on Hands L. Right at the end on Bluff Rd. Right at the T on Indian Wells, left on Further Lane. Further become Dunemere and brings you into East Hampton village. Left on James Lane where there are many beautiful historic structures for about a really gorgeous half mile. James runs into Ocean, then right on Lily Pond. A decidedly upscale area here. Lily Pond loops around said pond and past beautiful Georgica Beach, becoming Apaquogue. We once ran into (not literally) Steven Spielberg walking with his kid here. Left on LaForest, left on Georgica Rd. Georgica takes you back to busy RT 27. It can be a bit of an issue crossing to the north side of 27 to go west, so be careful. About a mile down turn left (actually the first left possible) on Wainscott Stone Rd. This runs into Sayre's Path for 50 yards, and then a right on Wainscott Main St. Right at the end on Town Line, immediate left on Hedges. Left on Sagg Main, right on Bridge Ln. Left on Ocean, immediate right on Pauls Ln. Right on Halsey which brings one into Bridgehampton. We usually go left on Hildreth Ln and then immediately right into the parking lot of Citarella Market, for food or drinks.

Return the same way for 33 total miles, back in time for brunch.

Steve B.

Joe, 'ya need a GPS tracker of some kind.

Maps are everything and how do you keep track of your rides ?.

I'm currently in love with my Garmin 810, possibly one of the few out there that isn't a headache for folks. Dumps the ride via BlueTooth to the phone which dumps it to Garmin Connect. But I'm a gadget junkie.

kaos joe

Maps for these particular rides are in my head, I've been doing them long enough. I do love maps, but one of these days my Luddite resolve will crumble and I'll take the electronic plunge. Driving, I use GPS all the time. Maybe tonight when the ladies are all playing yahtzee or something I'll look into the 810.

4 of us are headed to the Wyoming/Montana border country again in 3 weeks, for a week of mostly off trail backpacking. We have the USGS maps and compass skills, but we do bring a GPS in case we mess up. In a cumulative month+ of backcountry navigating in this area on previous trips, we've never really needed it, but have turned it on a few times and confirmed we were OK. Of course things are simplified when you can see the terrain around for miles.

August before last we ran into a VERY confused troop of boy scouts way above tree line in Custer Nat. Forest. We showed them where we were and it turned out we were aiming to make camp at the same lake. They wanted to go around an intervening ice field & we went up & over, & we never saw them again. We joke that they're still out there.......

Papa Tom

This sounds very similar to a ride my neighbor dragged me on a few years back. If it's the same, then I can vouch that it's a really cool route.

Steve B.

Sounds like a fun trip and not at all related to cycling, but I assume you will be in and out of the woods, or are you packing 3 weeks of supplies ?

As well its bear country this warning may come in handy.

The difference between Black Bears and Grizzly Bears. Read carefully. - Imgur