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**Apologies in advance for instagram and an image heavy post.
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Went out yesterday with the folks from Rapha New York. I have moved here for 3 months of work and thought I'd see how I got on despite not being as fit as some of the guys I know who go on Rapha rides in London. First impressions were that the people and store were way less pretentious than in London which was a good start. The premise of the ride was to try and get in some climbing to promote Rapha Rising - they are doing one ride a day for each of the days to drag people up to the mark. This was the first ride and was meant to include 3 repeats of a climb called Bear Mountain (pretty scary right)?I rode to the shop in the west village from my apartment in Brooklyn which took longer than expected due to heading south rather than north after I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge - Ill know better next time. We rolled out of the shop at about 9am after some nice coffee and pastry during which time I met a guy with a Dulwich Paragon jersey who was visiting (small world). 15 of us set out from the shop.
From the shop we rode north along a nice segregated bike path which ran along the hudson river and featured lots of cyclist dodging, near misses with large signs and one dude on a cannondale with crabons and tri bars, yet riding in trainers. We rode until reaching the George Washington Bridge which we promptly crossed. The views looking south were insane: beautiful city, river and landscape all in one but I didn't have the chance to snap. Here is one from the regroup on the other side. Lots of nice bikes including a hedge fund owner on a C50 with the new Dura Ace mechanical.
We took some fairly main roads but got a good pace line going and zipped towards the true countryside which included me hitting my highest ever top speed (41mph). We continued riding along the hudson river (but now on the other side) for a few miles before reaching a track path at a place called Tallman Mountain State Park. I didn't notice any mountains but got so distracted taking photos and riding that I nearly wiped out after getting my wheels stuck in a groove while freewheeling at 20mph. I also hit a large rock which I later discovered bent one of my rear spokes. Someone flatted and we regrouped at the next town.
We carried on a little further until we reached a great coffee and home made doughnut shop in a place called Nyack. There were other riders there and the Rapha guys said on a normal saturday they just ride there and back. The doughnut and coffee were equally awesome - better than anything you get in the UK and not too pricy.
We continued north along the coast after that, passing through some really beautiful towns which were just on the waterfront. After a few sharp climbs my comparative lack of fitness was showing and I began dropping back through the group and eventually a few lengths out the back. I got caught by a red light and lost sight of the group. At the time we were only about 10/15 miles from Bear Mountain so I used the route I had earlier put on my garmin to try and navigate the rest of the way and expected to run into them on one of the laps of the mountain. As luck would have it they took a different way and we connected back up again at some lights further down the road. We then headed straight for the mountain and about a mile from the entrance to the national park I started dropping through the group again. I felt ok, but my bike felt sluggish but assumed the issue was with me. As the climb began I was totally alone but knew I would run into them all again on one of the 3 ascents/descents. The gradient was supposedly an average of 5% but it was more like 8% for the first mile after leaving the main road.
After another mile or so I discovered I had actually flatted my rear. I stopped to change to my spare but saw lots of gross bugs etc by the side of the road and didn't want to be bitten by a venomous species so just pumped the tube and hoped it would hold until the top. It didn't and about half a mile later stopped off to change the tube. A few guys from the group were descending now and spotted me - so at least I wasn't going to get lost entirely. New tube installed and I got to the top, climbing over 1000ft in less than 5 miles - my biggest single climb by a long way. I actually felt ok and could have gone up again but decided I would try it another day. Most people did 3 reps which impressed me almost as much as the view from the top.
The descent was great fun and pretty soon I had recovered and was back in the group smashing out the next 10 miles or so to the train/pub in Peekskill. The pub was right next to the station, but alas there had been a rock slide and no trains were running so we filled up on beers and burgers knowing we had another 8 miles to ride on full bellies to the next station down the road in Croton-on-Hudson. The food and beer (made in the in-house brewery) were just the remedy I needed and aside from the stag-do city boys doing coke in the bathroom it was a good lunch.
This is from the Bear Mountain Bridge between Bear Mountain and Peekskill. Photo of the day.
The train conductor at C-o-H was a right douche and kept asking us to move to different carriages as the train passed through different stations on the way to Grand Central. The views along the Hudson were extraordinary - I would not mind this as a commute at all. From Grand Central about 5 of us who lived in Brooklyn made our way downtown and across the Manhattan Bridge. I had 85 miles on the Garmin so decided to go to the park and try to rack up a century. I was accompanied by two others who had 98 (after doing 3 laps of Bear Mountain), and after they left I ground out the 100 miles myself.
First century, biggest climb ever, most total climbing ever for me. As an addendum, there was one guy who rode the whole thing brakeless on a 48x17 ratio - nutter!
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Managed a pootle to cambridge today to help get a friend to 100km for strava.
We rode slowly but it was fun despite being joined by a random who was rather eager to shoot off the front and then wait for us to catch up and ask when we were going to get there; this got pretty annoying.
One puncture and no falls, pretty uneventful, didn't take enough pictures.
Edit: Did catch a mosquito biting me in the arm around epping, this sucked.
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At the ripe of age of 36, I can honestly say there's been very few times when I've actually feared for my life.
I'd been away on a Father/Daughter camping weekend at this amazing campsite in Sussex called 'The Secret Campsite'. It's one of the best campsites I've been to in the country with a cool eco-vibe without over doing the
hippy aspect but don't tell anyone because it's a secret (it even has glowworms). The weather was in the high 20's and a great time was had.
http://www.thesecretcampsite.co.uk/
I'd been planning to do a London - South End - London when I got home on the Sunday and the girlfriend was planning on doing a solo Hever Castle loop for the Womens 100.
I got a call early Sunday morning from the girlfriend to say that the crank had detached itself from her bike and that she was going to have to walk home and she was bummed as she couldn't do the ride. Lucky she was less than a mile from home and it didn't happen out round the back of Hever.
The well maintained bike (a Defy with 5600 105) had been serviced the week before by a well respected Cytech 3 mechanic so not sure if the bolt wasn't done back up tight enough. It stripped the splines now so time for a new
crankset I guess. Bike shops fault or do these things just happen?
Anyway, I got home and managed to convince her to get her Rapha back on, get on the commuting bike and come to South-End with me. It's amazing what the promise of a free woven roundel will do!
We checked the BBC forecast and it said 0.6mm of rain. Great a nice sunny ride to the coast.
We set off and about 55 km's in, the big dark, black clouds appeared. I optimistically thought we may be able to avoid them and didn't put my rain jacket on when it started to rain after all, it was only supposed to rain 0.6mm.
Anyway, it turns out we were heading into a proper storm and instead of 0.6mm of rain, it ended up being 60mm all of which fell in the space of half and hour. This resulted in some true Rapha style suffering with some spectacular flooding.
The lightning was coming down round us and everytime we went under some trees or passed a power pole, I actually feared for my life. We were shit scared.
We stopped in Stock which is featured in the below article for it's flooding and stopped with another cyclist to shelter from the lighting and rain for 20 mins. Once the lightning has become less frequent, we continued on our way.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28394863
Looks like some sewage had made it into the stormwater in parts of rural Essex as there was plenty of stinky grey water on the road. Didn't drink from my water bottle after riding through that. It was the first ride with our new Carradice Camper Longflap with Bagman 2 support (purchased for LEJOG in August) and I was pretty sceptical that it would be dry inside after the rain of biblical proportions. When I checked inside at the end, it was dry as a bone. Whatever they coat the cotton with is magical stuff.
The wall below with my girlfriend in it appears in the second picture in the BBC article.
Anyway, made it to South End and got the train back as I wasn't too keen to ride back through the flooding again.
10/10 for suffering. Ate 5 creme eggs when I got home then ordered some of London's best Vietnamese from La Gia in Deptford to be delivered.
EPIC.http://connect.garmin.com/activity/545851967
http://www.strava.com/activities/168529445 -
I got a call early Sunday morning from the girlfriend to say that the crank
had detached itself from her bike and that she was going to have to walk
home and she was bummed as she couldn't do the ride.* Lucky she was less
than a mile from home and it didn't happen out round the back of Hever.
The well maintained bike (a Defy with5600 105) had been serviced the week
before by a well respected Cytech 3 mechanic so not sure if the bolt wasn't
done back up tight enough. It stripped the splines now so time for a new
crankset I guess.* Bike shops fault or do these things just happen?What service have it been in for? unless the cranks have not been touched, I'd talk to the bike shop.
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Headed up to Cumbria for the Etape Pennines on Sunday with Joeboat, praying that the weather would pick up. Luckily it did, perfect sunshine! Didn't take that many photos because I was too busy ruining myself climbing what seemed like every hill in sight. I haven't been on the bike for about 5 weeks so felt like shit at the beginning, this is the most climbing I've ever done in a day. Fuck me, Cumbria hills just keep going and going and going. Saw a few nasty crashes, particularly one guy ahead of me that overcooked a corner and smashed into a tree/hay bail combo but said he was ok. One of the steepest hills also had loads of diesel on it, lots of people wheelspinning and not able to unclip in time. All in all pretty good fun! Somehow got 78th of 380 in the sprint section too, despite it being uphill and about 1km long, good idea whoever decided that...
72miles and 7500ft of climbing, finished in 5hrs. Ate the biggest Sunday roast ever at a pub afterwards too.
http://www.strava.com/activities/168657169
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Took my first ride up Box Hill this weekend, courtesy of this route. A helpful tip - just before climbing Box Hill, it's best not to take a detour (or rather, believe you know better than your GPS) which involves going fast down a hill only to have to climb back up it.
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Woke up at 5am yesterday and couldn't get back to sleep, so time for an extended commute
http://www.strava.com/activities/168800633
Some lovely paths and a weird bit in Epping Forest called Lodge Drive.
Battery ran out, but ended up going through Leyton and the olympic park before heading via the hipster highway to soho. Nice morning for it
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Nope. I was too busy clinging to the drops for dear life and trying to see further than 50m through the cloud to the next bend! The weather was BRUTAL. A lot of people DNF as they got mild hypothermia on the descent.
http://www.strava.com/activities/168636368Strong work. Did you see the big purple sperms painted on the road whilst descending the Tourmalet?
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Was also at the etape. Have never been as cold as when descending the Tourmalet. Oh, until the descent of the Hautacam. When I get round to looking at my bike again suspect that it will need new brake blocks. One of the guys I traveled with got bundled into an ambulance with hypothermia. Brutal conditions.
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Tell us about your weekend ride
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^ looks like some nice variety.
40 mile loop today, under tree the canopy it was so humid felt tropical, you felt the moisture on your skin as you entered.
So beautiful, sorry I don't really take pics on the ride I enjoy being in the moment too much and forget, I must do better. I just checked street view and its taken in winter so all the rolling country side is grimm and dead nothing like today at all