Twin Lights Ride
 

The Twin Lights Ride is Sept. 28.

Looks similar to the Harlem Valley but less climbing.
For instance the 75 mile ride has half the climbing than the HV.
They have a great comaprison chart so you can compare their rides:
http://www.bikenewyork.org/rides/index.html#chart

Located in south Jersey, it's about a 1 hr drive from where i am in brooklyn
or a 45 minute ferry ride from lower manhattan.
If you enjoyed the Harlem Valley (minus the rain) I'm guessing you'll like this one.

I'm there .. might do 75 miles this year.

We just registered for the 50. Trying to decide whether to drive the bikes down form the city or spring for the ferry ride.

I'll probably drive.
Might be a little cool for an early morning ferry ride at the end of September.

We'll be doing the 50 of the ENY the week before as well.

Registered for the 75 mile ...

I'm doing the Century, of course this is home turf.

Oh, BTW, it's not even close to being south Jersey. If it doesn't cross to the south of Rt 195 (an E-W road, middle of the state) it doesn't go into south Jersey. You want south Jersey, come down to my Saturday rides (70 - 110 miles, out of Cranbury NJ) and I'll show you the Pine Barrens. ;)

Thinking about the 100. I guess I'll have to decide soon...

I am thinking about the 30 mile ride. Do you think they will let me pull my daughter in her trailer? It says on the website that the 30 mile ride is for families..... Anyone know if this is okay?

Damn. Looks cool, but it's the same day as the MS City to Shore tour.

Then boy are you in for a surprise if you ever really ride the roads of South Jersey. There are a lot less, well, everything! :D

The good news is that the area I expect the Twin Lights century to take place in is a lot less congested than the I95 are you are referencing.

I'm looking forward to see what the Twin Lights ride include (scenery wise). I can be very critical of a route, even more so when I know the area. That doesn't mean I haven't come up with a few stinkers. It's just that we don't ride them much. :rolleyes:

I'm in for the 100. I'm taking the ferry over from Manhattan. See you there.

Doing this one with 3 friends.
Most likely the 75.
All we need is some good weather and we're set.

I got an email from bike ny that said it would be okay to bring my daughter in the trailer. So, now all I have to do is talk my wife into it and we are all set.

I'm in, but I don't know whether I have a partner or not yet.

I'm seriously thinking about it. I might have an obligation that weekend, though.

Anyone want to paceline on the 100 mile route? 17-18mph to start and then go from there? Let me know...

I think I'll stick with the folks I'm used to riding with. We'll do some pace lines. I'll probably be slowing down one rider in our group on his randonier (sp?) bike. I've been dragging a bit. I only did last week's PPP century at 17.3 mph.

Right now the Sunday forecast is for more rain from Kyle. I'm already paid so I may just show up at 7:30 and do the 30 mile route early. The current forecast is for heavier rain after 11am.

Gah. I'm in it for the Ferry ride at this point. Might as well do it. I'll probably opt for a shorter route as well if the predicted rain shows up.

Looks like a ton of rain... I'm still gonna try for 75, does anyone know if they're gonna have a bag check like they did at Harlem Valley?

I don't know.
Accuweather for Highlands, NJ calls for mostly cloudy with a passing shower.
Doesn't sound too bad to me.
This is the forecast as of 5pm today
http://www.accuweather.com/us/nj/hig...our=7&hbhday=2

looked at accuweather as of 8:30pm doesnt look that bad. would like to get a 75 in their.

The forecast now is for an OK day, but I already made other plans based on the earlier forecast of on and off rain. Just as I was thinking that I'd go out today for a quick ride in the park it started to mist, and I figured that was what was in store for the ride tomorrow. It didn't seem like it was worth it. I'm definitely a fair weather cyclist. Oh well.

Good thing I didn't go. It rained in Brooklyn almost all morning.

It rained from the get-go in Jersey but it wasn't so bad.
Once you're wet, you're wet.
We had set out to do the 75 then my riding buddy was having a rough day and we just did the 30. :notamused:
Of course, by the time we were in our cars the sun started breaking through.

If it's nice tomorrow, I may do a trip to Nyack or Piermont just to get rid of this excess energy.

We got there around 8:30 after driving through a downpour, We set out in a light rain a little after 9, and by the time we hit the first rest stop the rain had stopped. At the second rest stop, where the rides split, the sky looked threatening so we opted for the 30. We were back at the start around 12:30. The band in the park was good, as was the lobster roll and seafood chili I got at one of the food stands. Overall a great day despite the weather.

Did the ride, got the shirt!

Pros: :thumb:

Stops were well run
Road markings were nicely done, not over or under done.
lots of friendly people
lots of police involve (nice)
lots of helpful cyclist

The road marking were easy to read, I didn't use the route sheet and I didn't get lost. I managed to hit a hole and flat (in the rain ick!). Many people who passed asked if we needed help (thanks folks). I couldn't believe the number of local police departments that were involved.

Cons: :mad:

No warning on the Oceanic Bridge, a steel grated bridge
bad weather, it was oddly warm and humid/fog/rainy
Route/road choices
The cyclists, a small number of poorly behaved cyclist

While I think it should be common sense that if it's wet you don't ride across a steel grate bridge. One poor guy broke his hand. There were more accidents than I'd like to have seen (there were at least 4 ambulances involved).

What surprised me was the number of cyclist who passed too close and no notice. One guy almost went across my front wheel (how nice). While I wasn't riding fast (my legs felt weird) I wasn't riding slower than 16 avg there was also no cars back.

I would recommend this to others, yes I said it's a good ride. My bias on route choice and living in the area make it a ride I won't do again as I ride these routes a lot. Now when it comes to the roads I'm picky and to make things worse I know the area really well hence I'm biased on what's the best routes. I already work on the routes for another club and I have my hands full so I can't attempt to 'fix' this one too.

I had a decent ride. The rain didn't last long & I found some people to ride with on the 100 route. The route and organization by BikeNewYork was very good. I'd do the ride again.