GlennR

15 windy miles on the CX. I only have 90 minutes and didn't want to be late getting home to the wife.

kaos joe

Weather and work have been conspiring against me this week. I had to miss out this morning on a Croton Aqueduct ride a bunch of us do every fall, dammit. All was not lost, as Mrs. & myself had time for a short 24 miler up to Woodbury & back. Gorgeous afternoon but windy.

We noticed a heavy police presence on the B'page path south of the park. Last week a 57 year old upstanding citizen was arrested after making a couple of appearances on the path sans pants(wasn't me, I'm only 56). Anyone hear of another problem?

GlennR

I was in the Massapequa Preserve yesterday and didn't see any police there.

I'm 60 and have nothing to brag about.

kaos joe

Local news is reporting that a second nudist was seen on Sunday afternoon, just when we were passing through. Apparently, this is now a fad. Additional patrols are being routed through the area.

Great, just great.

Steve B.

So a bad place to do a pee stop ?

kaos joe

I'll be making sure I take care of that elsewhere.

BTW, I have full confidence that no MPBC members are among the members in question.........

Steve B.

Yah, I immediately thought someone from the running clubs....

kaos joe

Am I superstitious?

I'm a little more mindful of potential hazards this time of year, with fewer of us on the roads and the low sun in everyones eyes. So I make sure I've got my mirror on my glasses, and my blinkie charged and turned on.

Aaaaand, I'm 5 miles down the road and realize I've somehow shipped out without my helmet on. 100 yards further, a bit of a scare from a left turning SUV (the driver actually stopped and apologized). And a minute after that, a big gash in rear tire, requiring a Tyvek boot.

I went home.

GlennR

I once got about a block away and felt my head was cool... no helmet. I went back and then continued my ride.

GlennR

Another nice day. Only had time for 21 miles, but it was great to be out in the fresh air.

BTW, there was horse poop in the Massapequa Preserve, so the cops are patrolling.

kaos joe

What a difference a day makes. Went out yesterday morning right after getting home from work. 'Twas chilly, there were only 3 of us, & it never really did warm up although the sun came out after we got home.

Today might be the last "summer ride" of the year. About 6 of us split off the regular AA group that was going "hill hunting".....a very good decision as I was suddenly afflicted with a hell of a pain in my hip, out of nowhere. We actually stopped in Oyster Bay to buy Advil. I soldiered on to Centre Island/Bayville as we had a new rider with us who had never been up that way. Felt better coming home but was glad to finish. Once again my super spouse pushed my sorry a$$ home. We still averaged almost 17mph over 46 miles.

Gorgeous day to be out, hip be damned.

GlennR

Just got home from a 24 mile ride. Seems that's about all the time I have lately. Hopefully Saturday i'll get some more miles in.

kaos joe

Decided to test out the hip after a few days rest. I forbade myself from using the big ring, spun easy gears, and headed north. Hit a couple of miles worth of rain in West Hills but no biggie... feeling fine, I turned around in Oyster Bay at the 20 mile mark. "Getting there" is, of course, only half the equation. But it feels back to normal.

What a great day to be out. Warm temps, fall colors, swirling leaves, and that moody, washed out November light. Beautiful in its own way.

TimothyH

Hey you LI guys. It has been a while since I was up there...

I used to commute on 347/Nesconset Highway from Miller Place to Hauppauge. It had a very wide shoulder the whole length with the exception of the area directly in front of Smith Haven Mall and the downhill where the highway becomes three lanes in front of King O'Rourke car dealership, IIRC in the vicinity of Terry Rd.

Is the wide shoulder still in place along this stretch of highway?


-Tim-

GlennR

There's a rather large root running under the pavement in the Massapequa Preserve and it was marked at one time, but the paint wore away. So on today's ride I stopped at the hardware store and bought a can of spray paint and refreshed the markings.


Nice day for a lazy ride to enjoy the Fall colors.

Steve B.

No clue to be honest. I'm in western Nassau, Kaos and Oldnslw in eastern Nassau, Papa in OBY, others are city saw maybe nobody here will be able to answer your question. I never road ride out that way and rarely even drive there. Maybe Google Earth will show you current. I'd bet that they haven't changed it much.

GlennR

Wow... another awesome day.

kaos joe

OldnSlow,

Thanks for painting "The Root". I've spaced out & smacked it unexpectedly a few times.

After a week of feeling fine, my damned hip started aching "bigly" yesterday afternoon, and was not good just walking around the house this morning. So we waved the AA group on ahead and just 3 of us started out. I pretty much expected to have to turn around after 3 miles or something....but got on the bike and felt great. Very strange, I had more discomfort walking from bedroom to kitchen than riding 33 miles. We hated to cut it that short on such a beautiful day but it seemed the sensible thing.

So, you never know, until you get on the bike.

GlennR

Today my son (26) and I rode the entire length of the OCA Old Croton Aqueduct, from Riverdale to the Croton Reservoir.

34 miles @ 11mph, 1700' and 1800c

I did it on my CX and the trail is mostly a narrow dirt strip with lots of rocks, roots and other obstructions. Some sections required us to use public streets and the trail is not very well marked. Anyway, i'm exhausted and it was a great experience.

https://www.strava.com/activities/768046120

kaos joe

OldnSlow,

I'm envious!! I missed a group ride up there recently. Hats off for doing it on the 'cross bike.....I've used my tourer with 26x1.5 tires once, and a rigid Bridgestone MB-2 with 26x2.0 all the other times. I prefer the MTB so I can pay more attention to the scenery and less to the roots etc. We usually ride part of the way back from the dam, to Ossining, and pick up MetroNorth there.

GlennR

Joe,

I couldn't imagine doing it with a group. The terrain requires your attention all the time. The leaves hide the true surface so you constantly have to pay attention. Things got better when I lowered the tire pressure but a few times I bottomed out the rim (no flats luckily).

I did take a break while my son was looking for the next segment.

kaos joe

We don't go running any kind of a pace line through there, but we don't crawl either.....the fellow who organizes the ride calls the pace "social". Big tires are more forgiving of the surprises under the leaves. Damn I'm still sore about missing it this year.

One year a guy we didn't know who somehow got wind of the ride showed up. Great, welcome aboard! He had a high-zoot dual suspension MTB....which he had never ridden off pavement, and apparently never very fast either. It quickly became clear that he was waaay over his head. When he announced loudly and irately "I ALMOST SLIPPED!", we steered him to the nearest MetroNorth station.

Did you see the Scarecrow Army?

GlennR

My son did it on his Gary Fisher CX which has Rival 2x10 with a standard (53/39) and 11-26 with 25mm tires.

but he's way more experienced and used to race Cyclocross.

kaos joe

Our annual Croton ride is kind of slanted toward using classic stuff.....no hard rules but lots of lugged steel, toe clips, wool, bags of canvas and leather, you get the picture. I've gotten teased for making it easy on myself riding my MB-2, even though it is lugged steel.

We used to start in Van Cortlandt Park but lately been meeting in Yonkers just north of where you started.

Steve B.

Some OCA stretch's are convoluted. The section from VCP to about Ashburton Ave. in Yonkers comes to mind, also the section where the trail crosses back east of Rt 9 north of Ossining is another.

It helps to have a riding buddy that lives just east of Ossining and knows this trail backwards.

I typically am on my tourer with 32mm cross tires, best compromise but you don't really need knobbies.