Bear Mountain (again)

The Bear Mountain ride described in the post below was so satisfying that, three days later I turned around and did it again. The only tweak this time was that I made it a touch harder by including a loop around Lake Tiorati that I had missed the other day (and that added about 400 feet of climbing). The loop also had the benefit of taking me by the public beach at Lake Welch at around the 50 mile mark, which I thought would be about perfect timing for a dip on a hot day.

So I did:

Being a gorgeous Sunday, the beach was jammed -- although in this picture I've moved away from the roped swimming area, with lifeguards, where there was barely a free patch of sand. And, behind the beach, is a huge grassy area, where tons of families, mostly hispanic, have set up barbecues, soccer games, etc. and are just generally having what looks like a great time with their kids. All for an $8 parking fee ($0 if you're on a bike!). In all, a lovely oasis, in Harriman State Park (in Rockland and Orange counties), not that far from NYC (and definitely not to be confused with the distinctly less lovely, undeveloped and no longer maintained -- if it ever was -- Donald J. Trump State Park in Putnam Valley).

I've had people (OK, two of you) ask what do I carry on a ride like this, and how? If you look closely at the picture above, you might notice that I have a rather large seat bag under my saddle. It's a great device -- the Viscacha bag from Revelate Designs. It's light-weight, water-resistant, and has a roll-top closure like a dry bag has -- and it holds a ton (the entirety of my, er, necessities for my 5-day Cape Cod ride fit in it). As importantly, you can use it on a road bike, including carbon-fiber frames and seat posts, without having to deal with trying to install a much heavier, and most likely incompatible, rear rack and pannier set.

So for this particular ride it's carrying a pair of shorts, underwear and t-shirt, all to change into at the bathroom at the Peekskill Brewery -- so that the hour train ride back to NYC is not uncomfortably spent in sweaty, tight, bike clothes -- a can of suntan lotion and a tube of chamois creme -- a small lock -- some power bars -- and a bathing suit and a camping towel. My phone and wallet go in a small top tube frame pack (which exists, but is not so easy to see in the picture above). All for a total weight penalty of about 5 pounds (the bag itself, empty, is under 14 ounces).

The only wrinkle in the day was that the Lake Tiorati loop road, unlike three days ago, was closed to traffic. Of course, I thought "How hard could it be for a bike to get by?" Well, harder than I thought:

A bridge had been totally ripped out! But I managed to traverse it without incident, ducking under a few cable barriers and around some concrete ones -- even keeping my shoes dry -- and the positive benefit was that there were absolutely zero cars the entire way!

So, without further ado, the full day's route:

More Bear Mountain Training Rides

So having only recently discovered the pleasures of a Bear Mountain training ride, it's fast becoming one of my favorites. It combines scenic and low-traffic roads with distance (70 miles or so) and climbs (4,500+ cumulative feet) that are both pretty darn challenging. Significantly, the effort and accomplishment of the ride also leaves me feeling virtuous enough upon its completion that a craft beer at the Peekskill Brewery, before boarding a Metro North train back to 125th street, feels well-earned and guilt-free. And the thought of that cold beer waiting afterwards is also a very good carrot for getting through the final climb to the tower at Bear Mountain.

One of the views from the top of Bear Mountain

Thus, upon returning from my 5-day Cape Cod ride, I decided to revisit Bear Mountain on August 27th. But I learned (or, more accurately, was reminded) from the Cape Cod ride that I really enjoy covering new routes -- as opposed to repeating old territory. So I went to what I think is the best route planning site in the business -- www.ridewithgps.com -- and searched for Bear Mountain routes posted by others. And found a bunch.

Now, in case you're wondering, if you want a good ride experience this process is not quite as simple as selecting one of the search results and going with it. There's a fair amount of diligence involved -- you open the route and scan it a closer zoom level to check out the roads selected. You check to see how many are on what Google Maps consider bike friendly roads (you click a tab and bike paths and bike-friendly roads show up respectively as solid and dotted green lines -- not fool proof, but pretty darn good). You might switch to a Google Earth view to see if the road is narrow or wide, surrounded by trees, or has a decent shoulder. And, although Google Earth represents a particular snapshot in time, it can also give you a sense of whether it's a road with a lot of traffic. You might also check out who posted the route, and have they posted a lot of others (kind of like checking out the other reviews of an Amazon reviewer to see if they're a one-off shill or nut). And then you finally settle on one and adopt and, if necessary, tweak it as your own.

So that's what I did (with a tip of the hat to a route posted by Busschops), and came up with a route that, like my first foray to Bear Mountain, avoided 9W (the most typical and direct way to go, but not so interesting scenically, and, although it has an excellent shoulder most of the way, is a fast road with a lot of traffic) and headed inland into New Jersey, away from the Hudson.

And it was great! Empty, well-paved roads. Vistas ranging from farmlands to amazing mega-mansions on Saddle River Road. And a well-placed deli (Elmer's!) at the 30 mile mark for replenishing fluids and chowing down some more carbs.

The only hairy part of the route is after crossing the Bear Mountain bridge, at the end of the ride, and heading South on Route 202 to Peekskill. There's no way around taking this road, and it's two way, heavily-trafficked and, for the first-mile ascends at about a 6% grade, non-stop, and has no shoulder. Not for the inexperienced or traffic-averse rider. But it didn't stop me from taking these photos:

A freight training passing on the tracks on the Palisades side of the Hudson.

A barge carrying a beam down the Hudson for the new Tappan Zee Bridge.

And, of course, the day's route:

Cape Cod Day 5 - made it!

Well, I'm pleased to report that I made it as scheduled today. The ride was just a touch over 60 miles (the shortest of the 5 days) and, aided by a slight tailwind (at last!), I actually managed to beat Laura and Stephen, who were driving here and left New York this morning at 7:30 a.m., by a grand total of about 3 minutes. A small (and basically meaningless) victory, but I'll take it.

I immediately headed off with them for a swim in the Bay. Very excellent - the water was cool, crystal clear and clean, and a welcome contrast to - and a needed relief from - the heat and humidity of the past 5 days.

It all felt so good (aided by an ice cold beer) that I really was not motivated to write a final blog post, so with apologies, this is being written the morning after, from the deck of Laura's family's house in Truro (which, I might add, in addition to a great view, has ample coffee).

The ride itself was a familiar one and basically uneventful. The first 20 miles or so were primarily on Route 6A, which is pretty scenic in its own right, but had more traffic than I would have liked (not surprising for a Friday morning on the Cape in the summer), occasionally mitigated by taking detours on parallel roads that would swoop out towards the Bay and add a few miles that were a worthwhile trade-off for the enhanced views and lighter traffic. And then the final 30+ miles were mostly on the Cape Cod bike path, to which I often have mixed reactions. This time it was all good - it was relaxing, good bicycling, nice people watching of families out with their kids, and simply a pleasure to be on.

Also, in the continuing annals of Roger bike mechanical issues stories, on the path I was able to troubleshoot and actually solve one little noise that was driving me a bit crazy (OCD, me?). It was a continuing, very minor tick, that only occurred when I was pedaling, and changed in frequency when I sped up or slowed down, so it clearly had to come from either the wheels or the drive mechanism (front and rear gears and chain). Initially, I thought it was the disc brakes rubbing and needing adjustment, but I tweaked those and made sure the wheels were spinning freely - so that wasn't it. I also made sure it wasn't my wheel reflectors or cadence/ speedometer magnet being misaligned and hitting something with each revolution. And then the lightbulb went off. This is a new bike this year, but I've already put 1500 miles on it. With new bikes, the cables stretch with usage. Typically, people think of the brake cables stretching and you bring the bike back in to the shop after a month or two to have your brakes tightened. In my case, my bike has hydraulic disc brakes, so this was not an issue and was off my radar screen. But there are also another set of cables that go to the derailleurs on the bike, and those stretch as well. The ticking noise I was hearing was a tiny misalignment of the rear derailleur mechanism resulting from its associated cable stretching with use. This meant that the rear derailleur wheels, instead of being a 100% aligned with the rear cassette cogs, were only, maybe, 98% aligned. A definite potential noise generator! But there's a tiny barrel adjuster at the back that lets you pick up the cable slack with a small counterclockwise rotation (I admit, it took me more than a few moments to remember which way to turn it to tighten the cable as opposed to loosening it). Et voila! Problem solved. It's a ridiculous corollary, but with the new, completely noise-free pedaling, I felt reinvigorated and much stronger on the bike for the remaining portion of my ride.

So that's it. Thanks again for reading and your support. Writing these entries (and receiving your acknowledgments and comments back) always help me to feel a bit more connected during what are, in essence, solitary ventures.

Finally, if you've been intending to donate in support of my upcoming Climate Ride, but just haven't gotten around to it, please feel free still to do so by clicking on this link or the "Support Me" tab above. Definitely no obligation though!

And of course, the last day's route:

Cape Cod 2015 - Day 4

Today was a pretty lovely day of riding. I think I always feel that way when I’m riding in Rhode Island. It has some of the best biking roads, in terms of emptiness and beautiful countryside, that I’ve ridden on. Particularly in the Little Compton area.

However, because I started my day’s ride in Bristol, RI (as an aside, that’s not the Bristol of Bristol Stomp fame, that’s Bristol, PA - I had to look it up), the initial few miles presented a road that was much more challenging. I’m talking about the Mt. Hope bridge which heads down towards Newport, and technically allows bikes to ride on it, but at the same time advises extreme caution in doing so, as it is a steep suspension bridge, subject to heavy cross winds. Oh, and it’s a two lane, extremely narrow road. With wide suspension joints that can eat narrow bicycle tires…I could go on, but I'll let the picture below make the point.

Now the RIPTA (Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority, if you must know) No. 60 bus goes across the bridge, runs every 30 minutes, and can carry your bike on a rack in front, but “where's the challenge in that?” I thought. So I rode and, the truth is, it wasn't as sketchy as I feared. My theory is the motorists think you're so nuts that they actually pay some extra attention in passing you.

After Mt. Hope, came the next Rhode Island Bridge, the newly rebuilt Sakonnet Bridge, which opened with a designated and separated bike path a little over a year ago. It was a welcome change. When I first rode this route in 2009 (coming north from Newport), I had to illegally ride over the old Sakonnet Bridge, as there wasn't even a bus option.  That approximately 1 mile traversing still stands out in my mind as probably the hairiest bike bridge crossing I ever did. And it’s nice, because Rhode Island didn’t tear down the old bridge entirely. Instead they left a large segment of its roadway intact, practically abutting the new bridge. I presume it was a cost-saving move, but I think it also actually works pretty well as a piece of urban art. And, of course, as a reminder of one of my more foolhardy moments.

The old horror

The new pleasure

And, once over that bridge, I proceeded to spend the next approximately 25 miles on gorgeous Rhode Island roads. It probably would have been about 20 miles, but I got lost a few times.

“Now wait a second,” you’re saying, “Roger, you’re Mr. Google Maps, how the heck did you get lost in Rhode Island?”

Well, have you ever been on a supported bike tour where they mark the road with spray painted initials or symbols to indicate the route? So, there were a ton of these markings on these roads. Clearly, a lot of ride organizers and I were in agreement that these were lovely roads for riding. The problem arose when my already-plotted Google maps route and the road-marked route diverged, especially after they had paralleled each other through some gorgeous areas. The quintessential fork in the road, so to speak. Should I follow the marked route and maybe discover a better, prettier route that someone probably spent a lot more time planning out than I did with my Google route? Or might the marked route ultimately veer off completely in the wrong direction and never make its way back to my route? I batted about .500. Amazing in the major leagues, less so on a bicycle journey. Half the time I followed the road markings and they improved my route; the other half the time, though, they eventually headed away from where I had to go and I had to either retrace my steps (ok, my wheels) or find another way to reconnect with my original route (Google maps back to the rescue). But the exploring and associated mild sense of adventure (I'm in Rhode Island. I have no idea where I'm going!) was a lot of fun.

The final tally on the day was 70 miles and, in addition to the nice riding, the weather cooperated by being about 10 degrees cooler with a nice breeze (even if it was in my face a large part of the time).

Oh yeah, Massachusetts. Well, that part of the ride was good by any standard other than Rhode Island, especially as I routed north and around most of New Bedford, even daring to take a road labeled Fearing Hill (which turned out, remarkably, to be pretty flat).

I'm staying the night in a decent motel in Sandwich (but they all seem decent after America's Best Value Inn), and looking forward to finishing off this ride tomorrow with a "shorter" 55 miles and meeting my family in Truro!

Today's route, of course:

Crossing the Bourne Bridge into Cape Cod

Cape Cod 2015 - the first three days

What was I thinking? Monday and Tuesday were two of the hottest, sweatiest, most-energy sapping bike riding days I have experienced in a long time. Temperatures were consistently in the high eighties and low nineties, with high humidity to boot. The result was that I was way too exhausted on both days to even contemplate writing and posting a blog entry. So this Day 3 entry will have to suffice to cover Days 1 and 2 as well. Some might say that is a good thing - under the less is more theory (especially with my writing).

Days 1 and 2 were primarily spent getting through Long Island, which, as usual, was sort of a mixed bag. Day 1 was 73 miles, and got me to Port Jefferson, NY. Day 2 was 81 miles, the first 60 of which got me to the Orient Point ferry terminal at the very end of the North Fork, for a 17 mile ferry ride (don't worry, I didn't count it in my mileage totals) to New London, CT, from where I then continued 21 miles on to Stonington, CT.

I call it a mixed bag because, on the positive side, Long Island is pretty flat. But on the negative side, Long Island is pretty flat - and flat tends to be a bit dull. Plus riding through Nassau County just can't be redeemed. Too many malls and 4-lane roads with no shoulders. As I've mentioned in prior blogs, riding through Queens, however, is quite lovely, with lots of decent bike paths, both on roads and through parks. Suffolk County, once you get into the farmland, is also nicely scenic, with large sod farms, farm stands burgeoning with fresh vegetables and cut flowers, wineries with folks milling (and limos waiting) and glimpses of the bay and surrounding marshes.

Once in Connecticut, I enjoyed the cycling a bit more. I always get a thrill crossing the huge bridge out of New London into Groton over the Thames, but afterwards turning south and going by the General Dynamics submarine storage and repair area is also fascinating (if only for all the "photographing forbidden" signs) and pretty nice cycling on empty roads. And, after the New York Times story on Amazon as a work crucible the other day, I couldn't help but notice that at 4:00 p.m. sharp (actually, I had it as 3:58!), literally dozens of employees were streaming out of the General Dynamics buildings to go home (I noticed because I had to stop and let them all cross in the crosswalk ahead of me!).

What Connecticut giveth, it also taketh, though. I had to stay at an Americas Best Value Inn, which, quite frankly, is anything but (as compared to my Port Jefferson Airbnb, which was excellent). To boot, it advertised a free continental breakfast and not only did it not have that, but it did not even have coffee anywhere on the premises. And any reader of my prior blogs knows what that does to me. Fortunately, at dinner that night in Stonington (which was 2 miles away but I was able to get an Uber both ways - who knew? - apparently none of the locals, who told me it was at least a 30 to 45 minute wait for any cab, but my Ubers both arrived in less than 10 minutes - end of digression) they were able to give me coffee in a to go cup, which I was then able to microwave the next morning. Phew, crisis solved (or, more accurately, avoided).

Where was I? Right, I think I was up to Day 3, which I was looking forward to because it was a completely new route taking me north up to Providence and then down to Bristol, as opposed to south through Newport as I did in my prior Cape Cod routes. Plus (at least according to Google Maps, and we know that I've been hoisted on that particular petard before), it had not one, but two, amazingly long bike paths, one leading northeast into East Providence and then the other heading south along Providence Bay. About 25 to 30 miles worth in all.

Route-wise, it turned out to be a pretty good day. Both bike paths existed and were excellent, the East Bay bike path particularly so, with routes on causeways through the edges of Providence Bay and beautiful marshes and scenery all around. Roger-wise, the day was a little bit more mixed. It was still hot and humid, and I began sagging (energy-wise, not in a van, sheesh) after 50 miles. The full day was 68 miles, but the final leg of 15 miles, heading south, was into a pretty stiff headwind. So I arrived at my B&B pretty beat, but feeling good about the accomplishment and delighted to immediately spot a coffee maker in my room.

The routes, of course:

Bear Mountain

Amazingly, in all my riding history I've never gone to the top of Bear Mountain -- I've ridden past, around and near it -- but never to the top where the tower is located.

Fortified by my Sierra Nevada climbing experience (see earlier posts from June), and wanting to get in some good training for September's Climate Ride, I decided to tackle it -- as a one way experience -- ending up in Peekskill afterwards (including, of course, at the Peekskill Brewery) and taking MetroNorth back to 125th street.

An excellent ride -- and very good for building up the old riding confidence (72 miles and 5,000 feet of climbing).