I was just kidding about the fun singlespeed climb...I'd be on my geared bike for sure. One of the climbs is Iowa Hill which is about 4000 feet in 12 miles (the first 2000 feet is in the first 4 miles).

It's just interesting hearing about other places with the same name. I'd like to see some photos of the NY Nyack if you ever have the time.

i must have just missed you, neuron. i had to leave at 12:10 to meet up with akky, who was up at the gwb in the cold.

it really was a workout. i mapquested the trip in detail and figured out that the trip from my apartment was over 70 miles. that means that the next time, i'm going to add a little mileage before and after to try for a century.

so, i plan to hit it again either a week from sunday, or a week from saturday. anyone want to go?

Msngr, it was great meeting you too, and congrats on doing that whole ride brakeless!
Hope more people show up for the next one, we can have a nice fixie paceline passing all those 30 speed carbon everything bikes.

Neuron, I also made my mtn bike single speed, but have not had a chance to try it out yet, maybe we can put together a ss mtn ride soon.

BTW, what speed did you guys average? And how many miles was it from GWB to Nyack?

I'm really sorry I missed it.

70 miles, brakeless, up 9W to Nyack and back to SI, over some nasty hills, in the cold and wind, with gear on your back...well, that's shockingly impressive! And in a 48/17 no less. I've done 9W on my road bike using 53/19, but not from start to finish.

Would like to ride with you, akky and the others later in the spring when I get my fix...

i'm down for the next time. last time i did anything appreciable was the transalt century last year. did it on my roadie, b/c i was a heathen then. but i rode with my bud who was running fixed; think he was running the langster's default gearing (48/16?). we took it easy, and averaged around 15-16 mph for the trip.

i was the pack mule that time, what with all the power bars and water.

no worries on not meeting up at CP -- i took the city rather than the greenways, and i was late because i was tooling around on my new ride. rode a couple of laps dodging tourists, tried to find some half-links in the city, couldn't find any (!) and realized that my gearing was a bit high with the 26" wheels. the math seems to work out differently.

akky -- haven't really ridden any trails, primarily used my mtb as my all-weather commuter/only bike until it was taken in by the cops in august. it's kind of in pieces right now b/c i'm gonna give it the rattlecan treatment. i figure i'll make it my nasty weather singlespeed. a rack and/or fenders are mighty appealing to me, especially after tonight. if i can figure out how to go between 26" and 700c as painlessly as possible, i'd be one happy dude.

OK. so when is the next one? (And then after that we should try Bear Mountain! )

from the GWB, jersey side, the trip was 18 miles each way, 1 hour 10 minutes each way. that means we averaged under 18 mph. it sure didn't feel that slow. i've done that trip plenty on the road bike, plenty faster, and this was plenty tougher. i can still feel it in my legs.

i don't think the lack of a brake made too much of a diff. akky only used his brake once, and only two or three times did i get nervous. but if we do bear mountain in the future, my brake will be on!

so the next ride looks to be next weekend (the weekend after monster track), sat or sun, depending on the weather or what youse guys think. akky? bueller? anyone?

That weekend is bad for me -- I'm moving house. dammit!

I'm in for the weekend after next.
This coming weekend I might be up for a ride either Sun or Monday if the weather cooperates, but I won't know untill Sat.

so what's the route layout like? mostly flat, lots of climbs,....snakes?

Mostly rolling hills, I ran 48x17 and was ok for most of the ride.

i'm in. still thinking the granny gear might be a good idea (for me), but hopefully i'll have my ss mtb operational by that time.

I'm an idiot. I'm moving /next/ month. Of course I can go the end of this month.

i might be game for this. i've done that route many times - with some nice weather, it's a very, very pretty ride.

hey, i forgot about george and abe's b-day party on monday. right now, weather.com says 49 degrees with 40% chance of rain. to quote erik estrada, "those are odds i can live with!"

and neuron, don't granny too much. akky and i both rode 48X17 and did fine going up hills. we had more trouble spinning out going down.

So when is the next ride? I won't be able to make it Sundays now, I'm working, but if it's Saturday and the weather's nice I really want to join in.

let's plan on saturday, then. it'll be a little cold, but i got the gear (i just don't like wet, like today, yuk).

i saw akky at the swap meet for about 2 seconds. sorry akky, i was in the middle of trying to fix a huge problem (that took all day) and i didn't get a chance to get back to you.

after MT6, i realize that my conditioning is nowhere near where i'd like it to be. so i might be up for a ride each day of this weekend. i certainly would like to do this ride more often.

Msngr, don't worry about it, I was only around for a few more minutes after that, and left, It was too cold to be standing around.
Lets try for a Sat ride, I did it yesterday on my geared bike, but only made it out to Piermont, got bored, then in the way back got smoked, by guy in a fixie.

I'd like to meet up for a ride this weekend. You can count me in.

Am I missing something? If you got there in less than an hour you would average less than 18, no? 1 hour 10 minutes puts you at a reasonable speed (16?) for a February day.

no, akky and i got a great workout. it's just that i noticed that it's so much better of a workout with the fixie than with a geared bike. that's what i liked about the whole thing.

so, i think saturday is the day this weekend. post if you're in, and include where you'd like to meet (we can do a rolling meeting --PP, then CP, then the bridge). i like the midday meeting time since the wind tends to die a little after noon. let me know.

hey. i'm up for saturday if it's still on.

52/15 is pretty tall for me in the winter, i'm coming to realize. i take the manhattan into brooklyn at around 10 before the crest. my legs are a bit stiff lately -- used to be able to take it at 17 with the right music. anyway. i'll give 52/15 a shot, i have a 42 or smaller chainring i can drop to if too heavy.

msngr -- you guys ride with a bike computer?

where you coming to-from pp? otherwise i'd meet up at any of the other locs -- let me know.

grand army plaza at 11:30? depends on the folks doing the longer legs.

I'd be willing to do a ride like this. My only hesitation is not being able to keep up. I've never ridden more than 10 miles at a time (I know, that's nothing) and I'm too sure of my own pace in mph for longer rides but I'm a decent rider so there's no reason I can't push myself to an acceptable speed.

--
Will