Today’s ride: 8/21/11

Post-rainstorm photo. Can you see the US Military Academy at West Point across the water?

55 miles later…and boy am I exhausted.  Despite a long hike on Saturday and my, therefore, tired legs, I had a 15 mph average from NYC to Garrison, New York. The ride included a few New York cycling firsts like taking 9W past Nyack and crossing Bear Mountain Bridge.

I’m happy, tan, and tired…It must be Sunday! Next Sunday will be the last training ride we put on before the Hazon New York Ride. Can’t wait to support the cyclists the Sunday after that (and join them myself Monday)! Of course, training doesn’t stop then, as the great century attempt of 2011 will likely happen in October. Plenty more weekends to get miles under my feet…

On fresh legs…

So, it’s been a while…

It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks, mostly off my bike. The Thursday following the 50 mile ride from Cortlandt (which was followed by a Jewish fast day + a couple of days in the bike shop), I was ready to bike commute to work, fully dressed in spandex and other cycling gear from head to toe. Minutes before I was going to walk out the door, I noticed something odd on my back tire, the tire I had gotten a flat on a few days earlier. A small black bubble was sticking out of it. It suddenly hit me–my tube was sticking out of a 1 cm hole in my tire! And then the tube popped. Definitely not rideable.

I didn’t have time to deal with it on Thursday, but on Friday I left work and ran to the bike shop to buy a fancy tire, one that I hope will fare better in the city than my last. It’s an easy concept, but I learned that your front tire should always be the better one, so now my back tire is actually the artist formerly known as the front tire. I was glad to get this done before Sunday’s scheduled training ride to Cold Spring.

Bikes make life better

For a dreary day in NYC…

These folks need helmets and lights, and they shouldn’t be riding on the sidewalk…but I agree with the sentiment: bikes do make life better. Watch this video and check out the work of peopleforbikes.org.

50 miles later…

This morning I woke up at 6:30 to help judge whether or not we should go ahead with our scheduled training ride. The roads were soaked from last night’s storm, and the forecast called for more rain throughout the day. So, the ride I mentioned earlier this week was canceled.

I appreciated the opportunity to go back to bed until 9:30 and woke up to a much sunnier city. Unexpectedly, the storm had packed up and left town. So, my co-worker and I decided to test the route for cyclists joining the New York Ride for one day only. We took MetroNorth up to Cortland, a 40 minute train ride, and biked the 50 miles back to our Manhattan neighborhood. The beginning of the ride was tough with two 16% climbs in a row (and about an 8% climb between the two), but we eventually got to the rail trails in Westchester, where we were able to fly at 17 mph. Even though this route wasn’t the one we were originally meant to be on this Sunday, we did get to bike over the Croton Reservoir.

Can you believe this is within biking distance of New York City?

Before/during the ride I made the mistake of not following my favorite cycling motto: eat early and eat often. By mile 40 I had very little energy and just felt crummy. A quick stop to a bike shop for a Clif bar helped, but hitting that point isn’t fun. I hope I’ve learned my lesson…again (I bonked once in my first few weeks of riding).

50 miles after our journey began, we got home safe and sound (and a little muddy too–but I won’t recall our tale of biking on an unpaved path, I’d like to think it never happened). I’ve got tan lines and sore muscles, a flat tire too (gravel!), but I’m glad I pushed myself on this hot summer day. There’s really nothing like a few hours on a bike to start a week off well!

My favorite photo from the 2010 Israel Ride

Look carefully, you almost don’t see the bikes…
I’d like to get this printed and framed.

Photo credit: Arava Institute & Hazon Israel Ride

Busy

Changing my cleats and cleaning my bike…

Looking forward to Sunday’s training ride up in Westchester–a 50 mile loop that includes the Croton Aqueduct system and parts of the North County Trailway system. The history nerd inside me is so excited to see the impressive engineering that brought water to New York City in the 19th century, allowing the city to grow and flourish like it did.

Keep your fingers crossed that the cool temperatures and clear skies stick around.

What happens when you park in the bike lane…

I’m speechless. (Okay, and maybe I’m laughing a bit too.)

Apparently this is what happens to you when you park in the bike lane in Lithuania. That’s right, the mayor crushes your car with a military tank.

I find it frustrating when cars are in bike lanes, for sure, but perhaps this is taking it a bit too far?

Thoughts on Shorto’s “The Dutch Way”

When I was a senior in college, I took a class on the history of the city of New York (taught by Professor Kenneth Jackson, himself a Southerner with an accent that made me feel right at home). During the first week of the course, I was required to read Russell Shorto’s The Island at the Center of the World. Shorto tells the story of the 17^th century Dutch settlement of Manhattan, and simply put, the writing is magical. I remember I couldn’t put it down—something I can’t say about the majority of my undergrad assignments.  So of course, when I saw that Shorto had written an op-ed on bicycles in The New York Times this past Sunday, I had to read it immediately.

Shorto seems to have something for the Dutch—both of yore and in the modern era—and has lived in Amsterdam since 2007. In his Times piece he describes how bicycles are part of Dutch culture (I’d argue, a well-known fact), and the many aspects of life in the Netherlands that reinforce this cultural norm (less well-known).

Read the op-ed yourself. Or don’t, and I’ll tell you what I do and do not like about it.

An endorsement from an amazing woman

[Quick plug for the organization I work for.]

Did you know Ruth Messinger, former New York City politician and CEO of American Jewish World Service, is a cyclist? Ride with her this Labor Day Weekend at Hazon’s New York Ride!

A peek into my commute

When people learn that I bike to and from work in NYC, I get questions about what it’s like. Mainly, I hear, “Is it safe?”

I recently came across this slideshow on the New York Times website, composed of images from the more than 28 miles of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. My commute is only 7.5 miles in each direction, some of which isn’t on the Greenway, but I have traveled much of the Greenway at some point or another. As you’ll see from the photos, there’s no need to fear, and it’s actually quite lovely!