Saturday, October 10, 2009

10/10/09, Patterson loop, 14.2 mi, 1LFC

Seemed longer while I was doing it. Guess the declining riding frequency that comes with end of summer is starting to slow me down. Tougher to get psyched for riding when temp goes below 60.



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Friday, September 25, 2009

9/25/09, Blackberry Rd. Loop, 16.3 mi, 1SFC, 2LFC

Blackberry Road is quite the SFC. And an LFC (about .7 mi) to boot, climbing up the side of West Mountain, at least 500 vertical feet and maybe more. A sign going back down said 17% grade. I made it up without stopping... barely. With a lot of switchbacking.

Beautiful early fall weather though I stopped noticing after I started climbing Blackberry Rd. It made Harmony Hill Rd. look like, not quite a breeze, but nothing much hill-wise (still a LFC).



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Sunday, September 20, 2009

9/20/09, Harlem Valley Rail Trail, 18 mi

Or maybe a bit less since we started from Amenia not Wassaic. As always, beautiful scenery, enhanced by late afternoon, late summer light. Have to check out the Irving Farm Coffeehouse in Millerton and some other places that we peeked into but did not go in.

No map this time; check out hvrt.org.

Monday, August 31, 2009

8/31/09, Pleasant Ridge-West Dover Rd., 21.8 mi, 3LFC-0SFC

Cool but perfect weather. Pleasant Ridge Road is, as Larry said, indeed not so bad except near the end (between Susan Drive and Wingdale Mountain Rd.) when it gets steep. Beautiful views near the top, especially from Pleasant Ridge Road Extension. One of those places (the top of Mt. Tom is another) where you'd almost think you were in below-tree-line Colorado or Switzerland.

Stopped at Mckinney & Doyle for one last cinnamon roll served by Maggie behind the counter.

I was contemplating two new terms while riding: "LFC" and "SFC", as ratings for rides. "L" = long, "S" = steep, "C" = climb. 55 up to Little Pond Road is an LFC, Pleasant Ridge Road is an LFC, 55 from Dutcher to Harmony Hill Road is another LFC. No real SFCs on this route, unlike yesterday's South Harmony Hill Rd. That is an SFC. So is Kirby Hill Rd. Harmony Hill Rd. from 55 to Mt. Tom Rd. is almost an SFC but a bit too short to qualify.

So, this was a 3LFC-0SFC ride.



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Sunday, August 30, 2009

8/30/09, Whaley Lake-Holmes-Patterson, 19.1 mi

Beautiful out, not too hot at sunset. Dry for the first time in several rides. Solo this time. Legs a bit tired for the hills but I was keeping a pretty fast pace (I think).



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Saturday, August 29, 2009

8/29/09, Tour of Holmes lakes, 17.8 miles

With Foster. Grey and cool but no rain. There are a lot of hills around here. Some of these mileages don't sound impressive, but when you take all the climbs into account...



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706 miles this year so far

Rough calculation.

Friday, August 28, 2009

8/28/09, Quaker Ridge, 21.5 mi

w/Foster. Cold and rainy but good anyway. Half a sauna afterward.


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Sunday, August 23, 2009

8/23/09, Quaker Hill, 17.8 mi

Drippy and humid, but a nice ride. Came back up South Harmony Hill Rd. -- it is steep (if you zoom in on that part of the map you can see it cross about 15 contour lines from Harmony Rd. to mid-Mt. Tom in a mile) -- but didn't have to weave.



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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Sunday, August 16, 2009

8/15/09, Sherman-Webatuck, 40.4 mi

With Foster. Great ride tho it got hot. Nice long break at Mckinney & Doyle, then the painful climb up S. Harmony Hill.




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Saturday, August 8, 2009

8/8/09, Poquott/Belle Terre/Misc, 24.1 mi

Got kind of lost in both Belle Terre and in some streets near Ward Melville HS, but found my way out both times by retracing my steps. While riding through its parking lots I disliked WMHS just as much as I did 32 years ago.

East Broadway in Port Jeff from the harbor up to Belle Terre is quite a climb.



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Sunday, August 2, 2009

8/2/09, Port Jeff loop, 12.9 mi

A quick ride to Port Jeff and back, concluding this visit to Stony Brook. Had to sprint the last 10.5 minutes back from Old Town Rd. & Sheep Pasture to avoid getting deluged, got away with a few drops.



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Saturday, August 1, 2009

8/1/09, Head of the Harbor and Nissequogue, 25 mi

Included a loop to Lubber Street to visit Pete and June. Google Maps has a lot of trouble with Stony Brook. Note the weird curlicue from Lubber back to Woodbine... could not get GM to draw it right. As Zvi said "it's only software."

A lot of good climbs, especially Cordwood Path and River Road. Head of the Harbor and Nissequogue are mostly beautiful, with water, woods, and wetlands everywhere. Marred by a lot of McMansions and other overly ostentatious wealth, especially Nissequogue, but hey... it's Long Island.


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Friday, July 31, 2009

7/31/09, another Three Villages ride, 19.5 mi (approx)

Rounding out an active July of biking with a bizarre route that is not accurate on the map, because I followed a new bike path off of Gnarled Hollow Road that Google Maps doesn't show (I approximated below). It led me in circles and dumped me off near Pt. Jeff Station somewhere (near the infamous "bump" on Sheep Pasture Road). I found my way to Old Post Road then somehow was back on Gnarled Hollow again, which took me way past where I thought it went and came out on Lower Sheep Pasture Road, where I finally knew where I was again.

I went on roads on the northwest side of Strong's Neck that I'd never been on before (despite having lived 11 years of my life here, 1967-1978), seeing water views I'd never seen. I always thought it was Poquott you could see from Pt. Jeff Harbor, it's actually part of Strong's Neck. The Strongs still live in the "manor house" according to the sign at the end of Dyke Road, I wonder if it's any of the "kids" I knew.

So many places in the Three Villages are saturated with memories for me as I ride around. Some good, some not so good. Some of the roads I remember something happening on practically every foot; others are empty from that point of view. Some places (like the "Irving Hart" district near the Setauket Mill Pond) have barely changed. Others are full of new streets and McMansions. Many beautiful views and wetlands. I passed places I had walked, swam, skated, snuck, biked, parked, fell, fought, broke down, drank, etc. There were some interesting times.



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Thursday, July 30, 2009

7/30/09, Three Villages+1, 17 mi

The map is not quite accurate. Google Maps insisted on putting a strange round trip down to Conscience Bow from the 'corner' of Mt. Grey and Old Field Road. Couldn't convince it not to do that.

Very warm and humid (typical Stony Brook summer day).

The distances are all much shorter, and the hills lower, than I remember from my childhood. I guess it's what you're used to.



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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

7/27/09, South Quaker Hill loop (17.7 mi)

A shorter ride than the last couple of days, legs were complaining and it was the end of the day. Beautiful out with mist and sunset up in the hills, though I did get rained on again, this time mostly in the last half mile or so of climbing.


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Sunday, July 26, 2009

7/26/09, Towners-Sherman-Wingdale, 39.1 mi

Not as spectacular as yesterday's ride but still good. Got drenched coming back from Wingdale, 2nd time in a week. You know that sound you hear when you are just about to get hit by a huge wave of rain -- the sound of a million raindrops hitting the tree leaves? Heard it on West Dover Road 30 sec before getting doused. I could see the wall of rain as I was laboring up the hill towards it. Took a good break at the Star 22 diner, toasted bran muffin and coffee, conversation with a customer sitting there and one of the waitresses restored some faith in humanity. He asked whether I was going to go up the Wingdale Mountain Road, I said not today. He said he used to run up and down it, all the way to the circle in Unionvale (that I crossed yesterday). "That's back when I was doin' martial arts," he growled. Big middle-aged black man in a dark blue suit. Got up after a while and said "Now that my spiritual belly is full, I can go home and sleep." She asked whether it got lonely riding alone, and said she was going to Spain, Paris, and Italy next week with her boyfriend. "You'll be breakin' all our hearts when you leave, Kath," he said. I like that place, the farthest thing from fancy but the food is good and it feels like a real diner, not one of the modern imitations.



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Saturday, July 25, 2009

7/25/09, Clove Valley-Chestnut Ridge-Lime Kiln (41.9 mi)

One of the "this is why I bike" rides. Perfect weather, gorgeous scenery (hills, valleys, farms, streams), little to no traffic, felt good. No breaks except for a couple of 60 second stands. Down 3.5 lbs from waking weight after the ride (I'm sure it's back up close to it now).



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7/24/09, Short village loop (8.2 mi)

But still that climb back up Mt. Tom...

Wheel fixed and new kevlar back tire, we'll see how long til next broken spoke. Two so far this season.




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Sunday, July 19, 2009

7/19/09, Around the village and back (13.1 mi)

On J's mountain bike. More of a thigh workout than the road bike but otherwise fine. Gorgeous weather. Some rumor that 2 or 3 of us might do the Amenia bike trail later.


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Friday, July 17, 2009

7/17/09, Wingdale and back in the rain (19.7 mi)

Had to wait out a thunderstorm under an awning in Wingdale, broke a spoke, got completely drenched on the way back. Remembered again that once you're wet, it doesn't matter that much if you keep getting rained on... but not the most enjoyable.


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Thursday, July 16, 2009

7/16/09, Village and back, then Pleasant Ridge / West Dover (27.9 mi)

Warm and humid. Long climb up Pleasant Ridge. Working off the curried noodles.



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Monday, July 13, 2009

7/13/09 Workday loop (12.0 mi, ~45 min) *

With a couple of stops in the village, treated to a Mckinney & Doyle cookie by a staffer. Never thought before to ride through Trinity Pawling and down Westmont to avoid that stretch of 22.


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Sunday, July 12, 2009

7/12/09, Towners-Sherman-Webatuck loop (37.1 mi, approx 3 hours)

The biggest salvo yet in the 2009 anti-belly campaign. Perfect weather, some headwind when heading west.




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Saturday, July 11, 2009

7/11/09 - Sands Point/Plandome/Roslyn/Pt. Washington, 23.4 mi, 1h50m

Some of these streets are guesses, took some little roads in the Sands Point / Manorhaven area.


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Sunday, July 5, 2009

7/5/09, Tom Tom Loop (26 mi)

With J, longest ride he's done yet. He did great. Kind of hot in the sun but gorgeous out. Long break for excellent bagels and cool drinks at Tom Tom Bagel Club in Brewster, then stopping for a gear adjustment at Pawling Cycle & Sport. The big long climb home didn't faze the "zombie".


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Saturday, July 4, 2009

6/19/09 -- Wolverton-Open Univ (UK), ~14 mi r/t, 2 30 min rides

Forgot about this one, biked to and from the Open U, Milton Keynes, GB w/Simon. Milton Keynes has a huge bike path network, this map is just an approximation.


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7/4/09, Denton Lake Loop (doubling back through village 2x), 21.5 mi, about 1hr45min

Good ride with Pak, remained fat but not old/slow. Now that all the parties and celebrations are over maybe I can stop pigging out. Lost 3 lbs (temporarily) on the ride. Took coffee/english muffin break at Mckinney & Doyle.


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7/3/09, S. Quaker Hill Loop (17.6 mi, 1h20m) *

Got rained on a bit, but no matter, it was a beautiful ride. Felt neither old nor slow, but still fat. Gotta ride more, I will get out today also.



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Monday, June 15, 2009

Quaker Hill loop (17.7 mi, about 1 hr 40 min) *

I felt heavy, fat, and slow, but got up all the hills. Got to get out more.


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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Wingdale diner loop (23.2 mi, w/Pak)

Been a while since my last ride, but got out with Pak yesterday for 2.5 hours (including coffee break at Rte. 22 Diner in Wingdale). Perfect, gorgeous spring weather.



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Sunday, May 3, 2009

Denton Lake / Mooney Hill Rd. Loop (14.8 mi) *

Gorgeous spring weather, on the cool side so perfect for biking. Took Larry's recommendation to follow Denton Lake Rd., which sutured together something I'd wondered about for 17 years (where that other fork from Mooney Hill Rd. goes).


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Sunday, March 29, 2009

Wingdale diner loop (20.1 mi, w/J)

Headwind all the way back. Good corn muffin at the Route 22 Diner.



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Sunday, March 22, 2009

Sunday, March 15, 2009

First 5 rides of the season

Last Sunday, close-in loop 6.4 mi (w/J)

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Today, Wingdale loop.

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In Holland 2 weeks back:

Delft-den Haag, 18.8km

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Delft-Rotterdam, 28.2km

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Around Amsterdam (map is only approximate!), maybe 15km in all

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