fully understand all of it, but I understand enough. Trail ride Friday
morning. Sounds good enough for me and I respond affirmatively.
I haven't touched my mountain bike in many months. Better check it
first. I pump my tires (they're almost flat), lube my chain (it sticks
when pedaling backwards), check the shifting (not great, but does what
it needs to do without falling apart), suspension feels right. Good
enough to ride. I love the way my dual suspension works on the trail.
I tried a single-speed 29er once. I still like my rider better, with
its standard 26ers.
Turns out we're meeting the DTC (Day Time Crew, our MTB riding group
out east) at Rocky Point (exit 66 on the LIE + 10 minutes north), for
a double loop, about 30-35 miles in total, mostly flat. They're
planning a training ride for the "Triple Crown," a ride consisting of
liking together three of the usual trail parks in that area of
Suffolk: Glacier Ridge, East Setauket and Cathedral Pines. I would
consider joining it, but it's the same day as our planned Port Jeff
near century.
I had only been to RP once before, a few years ago, and really enjoyed
it. This park is relatively large and you don't sense any nearby
habitation whatsoever for the entire loop. You only cross the road
that cuts through it twice and that's it. The rest of the ride is
nothing but trail, vegetation and sky, even in those parts where you
can see quite far past the trees. And it's fast, with a number of
long, straight stretches, breaking up sections of twisty. Some of
those straights are so narrow between the tall vegetation that there's
barely enough space for my handlebar. Zipping through those sections
feels a lot like those chases scenes in the Ewok forest from "Return
of the Jedi," with a small gap just in front of me and nothing but a
green blur in my peripheral vision. I haven't been to RP more often
for a few reasons, not least of which being the distance and the fact
that for half the year it's closed to riding and open to hunting, with
a slight overlap in the calendar between the two activities — which is
quite insane, when you think about it — right around this time of the
year. My first time there I actually spotted a bow hunter walking
around during my ride. He was probably cursing us for making so much
darn noise and scaring off his quarry.
With the DTC, we typically break into fast and slow groups right off
the bat. I joined the fast group, got dropped within the first mile
and did the entire first loop by myself. There are a good number of
intermediate and advanced sections that break off from and rejoin the
main loop. I must have missed at least a couple of them because I
found myself getting passed by a couple of guys from the fast group
that had already dropped me, one of them twice. Either that or I was
getting lapped on an 18 mile circuit.
After regrouping and recovering in the parking lot we did the second
round short, sticking to the main loop. This time, for some reason, I
was able to stay with the leader for almost the entire loop. I got
dropped just one mile from the finish. He must have just been a little
tired from the first round and didn't ride quite as fast the second
time. I finished the ride in 32-1/4 miles at 11.1 average. I typically
ride a 9.5 mph or so pace on our usual hilly rides.
After the ride we enjoyed a nice lunch, beers and BS on the deck of
the nearby Millhouse Inn. Perfect ending.
Happy Birthday, Arthur.
_____________________
Later that afternoon I get a call from George. He needs to go to a
ball game with his kids in the morning, would like to start the ride
at 6:45 and finish by 10:00. Sorry, George, but I need the ride to be
epic to make me get up that early. Nothing personal. Hopefully you can
join us at a regular time next weekend.
_____________________
It's Saturday morning and there's no one else that joins me at 8:00. I
want to catch the T riders but I'm running a few minutes late. I make
my left at the LIE, look behind me and, sure enough, I get a glimpse
of a group approaching. I just sit up and let them catch me. Turns
out, they're a half-dozen latecomers to the T ride and they hammering
to reach the main group just a minute or to ahead of us. Hey, I love
to chase. I'm in.
We all work together fairly hard to make it. We keep spotting the main
group just ahead as they pull away from an intersections, but we keep
hitting red lights just as we reach the crossings, with traffic coming
across and holding us up. It must have gone on like this for about
10-12 lights. We finally make our catch around Hicksville by South
Oyster Bay Road, and barely slow down to rest.
After the left at the wall, I let the half-dozen fastest guys pull
away (I can tell I wasn't going to be able to hang with them) and stay
with the second fastest (no slouches here either). We go down
Woodbury, 108 (about 10° colder, I have to pull my arm warmers back
on), Cold Spring, Turkey and the typical way back. On Turkey is where
the "selection" starts. I have to give it everything I have to stay in
contact with the front. Eventually it's down to a dozen or so of us
riding together, including a couple of young women, one of them in a
"Army Triathlon" kit. There's also that guy on a Lightspeed with a
camelback and his jersey tucked inside his shorts. He's a very strong
rider; I just wish he didn't look quite so dorky. I hate to be dropped
by guys who can't dress properly.
At the sprint finish, as it turns out, it's only Army Tri, Tucked
Jersey and myself. No one else seemed interested in racing, even
though they're all strong enough to give it a go. I can't go any
harder at the climb that follows the Lakeville light and manage to
stay with the two of them past the crest. It's now Army, then Tuck,
with me on third wheel. I can tell Tuck wants to attack from behind
and I keep a close eye on him, planning to try and take him the same
way.
Sure enough, he attacks more or less when you'd expect him to. I jump
to stay on him. Tri has a lot more to give and I can't even get past
her. In the end she passes Tuck and wins the sprint. An impressive
performance. Not surprising, since she dropped me on the climbs a few
times. At least I'm faster on the downs, not even sure why. Perhaps
it's those 6-8 extra pounds that I find so hard to lose.
Nonetheless, I finish the ride at 47-1/3 miles. Pace (ready for
this?): 19.2! Even I'm shocked. Just goes to show you how much faster
one can go with the right group, even if you don't really know them
that well.
Beast
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