Yom Kippur Ride

No one ever accused me of being a nice Jewish boy... and got away with
it.

I rode with the 8:00 Triangle group today and loved it. It was just
the right speed and intensity for my taste. Ended up at 49 miles with
an average of 18.6. I even took my turn at the front a number of times.

Once again, at the finish sprint I went way too early and got passed by a half-dozen fast guys. I'm still new at this sprint finish thing.

I started the ride by hopping onto the peloton on the LIE. Eventually I was spotted by Jae, who recognized me from the last SIG (it helps to have your name on your bike). Jae is a strong rider and a recent SIG graduate, so he knows a thing or two about riding in groups. He lives in Bayside, so hopefully he can join our club rides some time in the future. Welcome to the Renegades, Jae.

As is usual, after reaching "the wall," the group of 40-50 riders split up into two or more smaller groups. Jae and I joined the lead sub-group (about 15 or so) and we proceeded down Woodbury Road, 108, Cold Spring, Turkey Hill and then some other local roads I hadn't ridden before. Very pretty. I'll try to duplicate that part some time in the future with this group. These guys (no gals today) like to ride fast, but stays clear of the steep stuff.

Eventually we found ourselves back onto 108, turned onto Stillwell, then turned toward Oyster Bay, where we took a short snack break at a local deli. My mileage at that point was about 30.

From there we took some other roads I don't usually cover, until we came to a point I finally recognized, and we headed back toward the LIE, through Old Brookville and Wheatley.

Back on the LIE I tried not to spend too much time out in the wind because I wanted to have something in the tank for the sprint finish, but the guys in front set a strong pace and it was all I could do just to stay on their wheels and still, hopefully have a chance at the end. It was to no avail. Experience matters.

After Jae and I parted ways back in Little Neck, I rode back to my neighborhood, through Middle Neck Road. It was almost a ghost town. Blame it on the Day Of Atonement. Then I decided to cover another dozen miles or so, and I did a backwards Kings Point loop. Ended up at home with 62 miles under my saddle for the day. By the time I reached home, my average had dropped all the way down to 17.3. Obviously that part was just a cool-down ride. Riding in a fast group makes a huge difference. When you're out there on your own the wind has a way of mellowing you out.

Right now I'm watching the UCI Pro Tour in Quebec (Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec) on Versus. Right after that, is the critical and brutal mountain stage of the penultimate day of the Vuelta on Universal Sports.

So who is riding tomorrow?