Century #1
Somehow I bullocks'ed up my Croton Aqueduct ride again. My 3rd try. This time, I missed the turn on to Yonkers Ave .. well I didn't really miss it .. I knew it was there, but decided to continue on the dirt thinking it would connect to the aqueduct trail, but no such luck. It actually continued on to the South and North Trailway in Westchester. Instead of backtracking, I just decided to take that up to Croton. Croton is a beautiful place.
I took a little break taking some photos near the dam, then continued on to Peekskill. I was running out of water and really had to take a piss, so stopped by the bathroom at Blue Mountain. As I as coming out, a guy who was driving out of the lot told me I brought the wrong bike. Out of Peekskill and now climbing up toward the Bear Mountain bridge .. a scenic outlook with a view of Bear Mountain on the other side of Hudson:
After crossing the bridge, the mileage read 76 miles. Felt like I had something left in the tank, so I decided to take a detour through Harriman. By the 2nd climb, I was really struggling. Harriman is no joke even when you're not doing a century. Took a little break at the picnic area and chugged on. Reward is coming out of Harriman .. elevation drop from 1200ft to sea level. Hit my world max speed record of 44.2 mph.
Then I decided to take the Nyack Beach path, which turned out to be not the greatest idea on the road bike, esp after 100 miles. All in all, 113 miles on the day, mostly road, bunch of dirt.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85604900
Century #2
The next Saturday, with the trails being all swampy, I decided to head out for a long road ride. It was a very foggy morning, made me wonder about the impending rapture.
Made my way up 9W, but instead of continuing up to Bear Mountain, I hooked a left on to South Mountain Road, which turned out to be a nice little climb. From there, I headed to Harriman via Gate Hill Road, which turned out to be I would say the toughest at Harriman/Bear Mountain in terms of grade.
Once I got out of Harriman, I looked at my mileage which read around 50 miles. I hadn't intended this ride to be a century, but I could easily make it one if I headed toward Ringwood. I decided to go for it, partially because I wanted to climb Skyline Drive. By the time I got to the climb, I was totally out of gas. It was one of the most painful things ever, but I finally made it to the top. Went screaming down toward Oakland and took a little break at the hotdog place. And back home via Saddle River Path. 103.5 miles on the day.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/87077420
Super Six Pack
The next day was Six Pack. For one reason or another, I only got 2 hrs of sleep before I had to get up to Stewart to set up the sound system. I had a lot of fun blasting music. I don't get to do it too much these days. I mean not to the level of really driving the speakers with music I actually like. It was nice meeting a few new faces. Things seemed to be going smoothly for the most part with all happy faces.
Was able to do a lap of the race course. I took a bunch of food and water with thoughts of helping anyone who might need help, but after a while I was feeling like I need help more than anyone else. Absolutely no energy left after the previous day's ride. Ran into a bunch of guys while riding the course, which was fun. Even though it was just my first lap, I couldn't keep up with anyone. Decided to call it a day after I came back from the ride.
Facebook Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.656204184398.2167464.711381
All hi-res originals are uploading to Photobucket. Will post link on the main 6 Pack photo thread when they finish uploading.
