Went out wormholing on my own to Franklin Lakes today.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3616244070

Apparently group rides are starting to become a thing.

This route is kinda dumb because the ratio of road to trail is silly. But i got to queens pretty quickly and I got to take a rip through the seldom used Forest Park trails in both directions. I'm sure you could tag on Shirley Chisolm park on the way back to make a super weird urban cross route. 

https://strava.app.link/6HWgv9j7j7

RobertMullen said:

This route is kinda dumb because the ratio of road to trail is silly. But i got to queens pretty quickly and I got to take a rip through the seldom used Forest Park trails in both directions. I'm sure you could tag on Shirley Chisolm park on the way back to make a super weird urban cross route. 

https://strava.app.link/6HWgv9j7j7

You can extend it a bit East and hit Alley Pond park which has some dirt trails. Then ride the Vanderbilt parkway on the way back. It's paved but a nice secluded road in between trees. Both get super busy though mid-morning on.

i just end up heading straight out myrtle/cooper/jewel 45 min from bk, then rip 90+ min of cunningham til my legs are near death. i haven't tried the forest park or alley pond trails... what do you do for air pressure road vs trail? jewel/73rd is rough. i did try woodward to the shoreline path to SC park (paved?! gah) a couple weeks back but that whole route was a soul crusher.

i did the super bowl century route today. it was a grand day out. on the way down from perkins there were families picnicking with blankets spread on the shoulder of the road, which was closed to cars. so many view the pandemic as over! 

I rode up the OCA and then over the new bike bridge (it was p crowded, an employee was handing out face covering and let folks through without one which was pretty nice). The bridge let out right onto the Esposito rail trail so I took that down through Peirmont and mostly took 9w home. I feel like I took a kinda wonky way through the Bronx but I really enjoyed this route! The OCA trail spit me out right near the entry ramp and it was nice to get right on some dirt immediately after the bridge. 

https://strava.app.link/jjHP05Wau7

Pretty quiet day in the wormhole.  Took 9W back in the afternoon.  Even that was pretty quiet.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3650988589/segments/2709878332169621797

Jesus, everyone seems to be doing these big awesome rides. Very inspiring stuff. I drove out to LI and rode a bunch of the single track trails on the cross bike. I linked Overton, Glacier Ridge and Cathedral Pines. The route connecting the trails were totally fine and actually pretty short. I definitely didn't 100% any of the parks, but it was a real long, fun day of what felt like ~90% dirt miles. Suffolk trails are sooo smooth. 
https://www.strava.com/activities/3713628039/overview

Speaking of mental rides, check out ex KCC William Doyle-Capitman's monstrous 325km effort: https://www.strava.com/activities/3710066917

Need advice on best route to or from Tappan Zee on the east side of river (from UWS).

What a day 

@mugwump  said:

Up to Westchester today.  Saw no group larger than two.  And most of those seemed like couples.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3580165101

i connected Bradley Tweed to this route today. really liked it - nice roads and fun climbs. found a cemetery spigot to fill up my bottles.

@JohnMalcolmson this east side of river route goes right by the Tappan Zee. i did the to TZ part last weekend.

by the way, free masks are available at the Tarrytown side of the cuomo bridge bike path.

JohnMalcolmson said:

Need advice on best route to or from Tappan Zee on the east side of river (from UWS).

Did you do it?  What James said above.

It's actually rather easy if you want simple.  From NYC, you just ride up Broadway.  Or when you get to Tarrytown, you just make a right turn at the first road.  That's Broadway.

otherwise, the route James linked to should be good either way.

^ Not yet, I have ridden that route though and remember there was a fair amount of traffic. Be cool if they’d make a path the whole way up. 

JohnMalcolmson said:

^ Not yet, I have ridden that route though and remember there was a fair amount of traffic. Be cool if they’d make a path the whole way up. 

Ride 119 a couple of miles east and you can get on the South County Trailway.  Ride northeast over the hill, and you can get on a bike path that will take you to the the southern end of the North County Trailway.

Another Solo Sunday.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3753891730

Saw very few cyclists at all.  

I haven't ridden around the Delaware River Gap for over 25 years which is stupid since the area is absolutely stunning.
https://www.strava.com/activities/3753070155#kudos

Girl del Cielo is held around there right? I used to go camping there when i was a kid. Now that I think of it, I remember some guys actually raced GdC and camped overnight between the stages. Might be a cool touring trip.

Nathaniel Picard Busky said:

My route itself from yesterday doesn't matter much since it's 150 miles away from most of you. But I saw this incredible stone wall on said route and that's what's really important.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3752857390

That is incredible - Goldsworthy worthy.

BTW, nice work on those KOMs.... 

@jim_nelson Thanks! CT is the only place I can get them so I've been trying to take advantage!

https://www.strava.com/activities/3788307442

Saw many groups out on the road.  When I struck up a socially-distant conversation at the Nyack Beach public bathroom, I realized the guy I was talking to was headed the same way home.  I waited until he left, then made sure to figure out his route and go another way, so I wasn't tempted to chat.  Not like I was taking any KoMs in 95-degree heat.

I took a nice post-Tax season trip into the middle of nowhere PA. The roads were absolute amazing-ness, some gravel there too, which was not kind on the AllezSprint. Saturday, climbed about 6700ft over 65miles where I got a second flat, like 12-15miles away from the car. My girlfriend, luckily is super talented at bikes oddly enough (she avg's like 19mph for an hour in PP) ripped some hills back. I ended up walking towards a gas station to wait in some shade, while she came back. 

The roads over there are pretty quiet and some amazing climbs. We should try to organize a trip out there for a week once things open up again. It would be a lot of fun to have a group rip around the roads.

I took my first trip over the GWB on Saturday since Covid.
I was back at the bridge by 8am , shocked how may large groups were headed out.

You guys didn't tell me this "thing" has blown over  

cpulvidente said:

middle of nowhere PA. The roads were absolute amazing-ness, some gravel there too
The roads over there are pretty quiet and some amazing climbs. We should try to organize a trip out there for a week once things open up again. It would be a lot of fun to have a group rip around the roads.

You went quite a bit north, those roads look great. Will have to check them out.

Did some rides last year around the border of PA/NJ close to the Delaware river. Absolutely stunning. I'm itching to go back.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2323466513
https://www.strava.com/activities/2396586478

Reality is that we can drive about 90 minutes in almost any direction from NYC and be in the most gorgs bike routes.

Today was top 5 best and worst rides of my life. 

Cruising down 1st Ave and St Nick's I decide today is good day for Bear MTN. I was feeling great, was pushing tempo the whole time. Got  60miles under 3hour and then absolutely utterly cracked. I'm not sure if it's due to the heat or what, but man every house I say looked so tempting to sleep on the porch. Once I got into Nyack, I bought ten bills worth of sour patch kids, Gatorade, and Dr Pepper. I felt like I was transcending into the void of unknown at that point. Actually called my girlfriend to rescue me. 

PSA bring more water than you think this weekend. I went and ordered some tall boy bottles now. 

Gentlemen, dudes, brothers. Do not fuck with heat - it will win. Heat injury makes you more susceptible to future heat injury - as does age, dammit.

@cpulvidente

FWIW, I absolutely melted yesterday in only 35 miles.  Starting at noon wasn't really the problem.  I should have tried some better pre-cooling AND stopped for a shower AND reloaded my bottles around halfway rather than waiting till I had 30 miles done.

Today, I decided to stop around every 20 miles.  Basically, when I emptied my first bottle, it was time to stop.  

Hit a police precinct in Saddle River, where I not only showered in the sink (Head, shoulders, and arms--while avoiding chamois and shoes), but drank a big bottle in the middle of the shower, and then refilled it.  

Next stop was about 20 miles later in Park Ridge.  Found a spigot on the side of the train station.  Showered again.  though I was pretty sure the "non potable water" sign didn't refer to the spigot I was using, I didn't test it out.

Next stop was six miles later. Where I took my bottle in to the 7-Eleven, filled it with ice, got an XL big gulp of powerade and then poured the powerade into the two bottles, making sure to drink the one with less ice first.

I emptied my last bottle on the GWB, so knew I was going to stop at a hydrant for another shower and refill before getting home.  

And if you saw my birthday ride from this year--I rode 122 miles, stopped five times, and still came home 5lbs lighter.  Not only do you dehydrate quickly, but heat suppresses appetite.  Gummy candies can really hit the spot on days like these.  More savory bars might be 'better' for you, but they're often harder to get down.

My feeling is that hydration and cooling is like eating for a long day on the bike--once you get behind, it's hard to make up for the deficit you created.  I've also taken to occasionally using my ice vest post ride to help with the cooling.  Might start using it pre-ride so I get out the door a bit chilled.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3816704171

@Mark Taylor thought of you today when a deer looked ready to jump out at me in Englewood.  Could see the deer twitching and trying to decide.  Maybe I was lucky that there were two SUVs behind me.

Lots of big miles today. I went out to Long Island via service road of the LIE to the wall and Muttontown and looped back. Ran into ex-Kissenas Konrad and I think Wes? Two stops for water and Gatorade although it was mostly cloudy so not as hot I thought. Stopped by Redbeard too because why not? I always need something from them.