Barry,
Ori
On Oct 4, 2010, at 11:14 PM, B Feir wrote:
The map....
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/51762137?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4caa95e9c547a89b,0
Regards,
Barry
--- On Mon, 10/4/10, Oriel Mor <oriel61@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Oriel Mor <oriel61@gmail.com>
Subject: MS Ride
To: "Isaac Seinuk" <isaacsei@optonline.net>, "Arthur Finkel" <quasiguru@gmail.com>, northshorerenegades.chainring@blogger.com, "Jae Cho" <jaekool@hotmail.com>, "David J. Shereck" <david@shereckvideo.com>, "David Wargin" <david_wargin@standardandpoors.com>, "Anita Christofferson" <mschristofferson@aol.com>, "Barry Feirstein" <bfeir@yahoo.com>, "Greg Keller" <GKeller@chitwoodlaw.com>, "Gus Condiles" <condiles@verizon.net>, "George Uribe" <george@visionimportgroup.com>, "Bill Eisenberg" <wjeis@aol.com>, "Robert Leighton" <rleighton@leightonassociates.com>, "Mitchel Lang" <mitchel@klearview.com>, "Larry Nipon" <larrynipon@gmail.com>, "Todd Manas" <Todd.Manas@towerswatson.com>, "Jan Lemerman" <krabice.sirek@seznam.cz>, "Yihao Ou" <yihaoou@yahoo.com>
Date: Monday, October 4, 2010, 9:41 PMIt's 6:10 AM. I'm pumping my tires, intending to be at Base Camp by 6:15. As I pump, my front tire suddenly springs a leak. Now I have to swap it. There's a tear where the stem meets the tube. Fortunately I'm able to reach Locomotive on his cell. No sweat. He'll drive over to pick me up while I take care of my mechanical at mile 0.0. I'm done in about 10 minutes, still have two spares in my seat pack, and actually have to wait several minutes until Loco and Greg pull up.
The drive into the city is uneventful, except when I suddenly spot Afterburner in a minivan passing us on our left, giving us the finger. I guess it's a guy thing. Phantom is invisible as always, though I keep hearing ghostly voices coming through during my many phone conversations with AB on that day.
Somehow, even though we keep close during the rest of the drive along the LIE, we get separated at the toll plaza. AB and Phantom decide to park on the east side and ride across town to avoid parking hassles. We, in turn, have no problem finding a spot on the streets near the start.
As soon as the 3 of us reach the starting corral for the 100 milers — whaddya know? — they let us loose. No wait to speak of. There's no 30 mile loop around Manhattan this year. We head straight for the Lincoln Tunnel, a few blocks away. We're only allowed through in waves of 50-100 or so, from what I can tell. As we wait to enter the tunnel I manage to get in touch with AB. He's not too far behind and we agree to meet on the NJ side of the tunnel. It's pretty crowded inside, with everyone riding at different speeds on the down. Someone has recently crashed in the downhill of the tunnel and the right lane is blocked off. After we emerge we wait, and wait, and wait some more. Riders simply stop coming trough and we figure that the tunnel has been closed for whatever reason. Probably the crash. The sudden bottleneck on the down was actually dangerous. I can't reach AB on his phone and we decide to just ride on.
Truly wicked headwind fight us relentlessly as we crank due north along the NJ side of the Hudson. The route takes us onto rolling River Road, where we get some needed cover. On one of the climbs we pass Jon huffin'-n'-puffin' Dobbs and Paul Hammerschmidt, of the Wheelmen. We blow past them so fast on the climb that we almost miss the sighting, never mind saying "hi." Jon hates us anyway.
Onto 9W and down through Piermont and Nyack. While riding through Piermont I finally get a call from AB. He and Phantom were indeed delayed by a temporary tunnel closing. They're about a whole hour behind us. We all agree there's no point in waiting for them for that long.
After riding through many areas I'm quite familiar with from my years with the NYCC, we get into a new part of the ride that has been mapped just for the MS centurians, roads I've never ridden before. Some beautiful stuff, with many long and steep climbs. One particularly long and steep climb breaks me and I have to stop a few minutes to recover. I can't see the summit and don't know how far it is. My Schwinn is not geared for climbs. After my break I catch up to Greg and Loco at the summit. It's only another 100 yards or so. I probably could have made it, had I known how close I was. Next comes the much deserved downhill reward.
It has only been about 45 miles, so far. I'm anticipating the pain that usually comes between 50 and 80, but it doesn't materialize. I'm doing better than I expected. We're looking for a deli for a short break because Greg (yes, Greg) needs one. So I finally found his weakness: endurance. I was lucky to have softened his legs the day before with our Triangle jaunt.
We just can't find any open deli. It's only beautiful country roads, for the most part. No commercial strips. What were the organizers thinking? We reach the last food+rest stop at mile 80. This is our longest break, about 20 minutes. We had only stopped once before at mile 40, at the farmers market store at the top of the climb near Little Tor.
Greg wants a head start because he's cramping and wants to ride "easy." Loco needs to spend some time on his phone with a new client who called him during the ride. Business is business. Eventually the two of us resume. Most of the southbound leg is extremely pleasant, with a strong tailwind and few very manageable climbs. We have to stop for a couple of minutes at a police-manned intersection while a convoy of about 100 Harleys with police escort thunder by. Loco is feeling like a second class citizen by comparison. Yes, vehicular discrimination stings.
We're crossing the GWB back into Manhattan and Loco unclips one foot at every chicane around the towers. As we approach the hairpin, I'm perhaps a little too assertive in demanding to see him pulling the turn without unclipping. He dutifully obliges and ends up plowing into another rider on the other side. AKWARD!
Riding down Riverside Drive we blow past cars waiting at red lights, Renegades style. At one particular red light, I spot a police car waiting on the side street. An incoming taxi from the same side street has the green, but seeing me approaching, hesitates (sometimes I forget I can look quite intimidating in my skin-tight spandex). Normally I would have just ridden right through, but the police presence compels me to slow down significantly. Actually, I slow down a bit too much, wobble, end up into the side view mirror of a parked car and almost fall to my left. So Loco and I are now even.
We both reach the finish line in one piece and make a beeline to the car, just a few blocks away. My computer reads just over 100 miles. My average is a poky 15.8. Blame it on the climbs. My rear tire is worn through and there are patches of tread missing, with the underlying reinforcement completely exposed.
Greg has only been waiting a few minutes. He was able to catch a ride for a while with a good group. Good for him. We thought we might still catch him on the last leg, but he still beat us. We have barely opened the doors to the truck when a passing motorist is already asking for the parking space. We tell her it'll take us about 10-15 minutes. She doesn't mind and waits patiently. That's parking in Manhattan.
After loading the bikes and buying something to drink for the drive back (hot tea for the gals... I mean... guys, cold ale for me) we run into major traffic as soon as we leave. Turns out there's some Polish parade marching on 5th Avenue and the west side is total gridlock. We decide to drive back west and north to the Triboro. Eventually we hear back from AB. He and Phantom had quite a challenge of their own riding their bikes back across town through that mess.
Congrats to Dubya on his fabulous time in the Twin City Marathon. Congrats to Thor Hushovd for winning the World Championship road race in Melbourne, Australia.
Looking forward to Dubya's Port Jefferson century in two weeks. Hope a good bunch of you can join.
Beast
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