Another Sunday, another Wormhole.  This time, a variation of the Franklin Lakes loop.

Didn't see many people out on Hudson Terrace of the GWB either on the way in or out.  Maybe it was the forecasted rain in the morning or the afternoon heat.

I found an open bathroom by some empty tennis courts on the edge of Mahwah.  Was all set to dunk my head, but it started drizzling.  Figuring I was in for 30 miles of rain, I skipped the cooling.   My mistake. the drizzle stopped in ten minutes and the sun even came out.  On the edge of Bergenfield, I found an empty splash pad in a park that has a well-marked on button.  Cooled down there.  

https://www.strava.com/activities/3855266192

Another Sunday, another Wormhole.

@Thierry Bonnaire We rode side-by-side, conversational pace, til the far end of Ridgewood, he headed on his ride to Franklin Lakes, I went off to get to the Orchard.

At the Orchard, I was out of water.  Amazingly, there were about eight partially-emptied gallon water jugs by the recycling.  Not knowing the provenance or history, I went in, bought my own gallon water jug, filled my bottles, drank from my jug, and used about half of the others for a quick shower.  then consolidated the water into two jugs, put the crushed jugs in the recycling and went on my way.

Rode south on 9W for the final leg home.  I passed some guy on Stateline.  Said hi.  He said nothing, but sat in my draft for miles, picked up another guy who did the same.  Then, the first guy, after sitting on til Tenafly, attacked.  I kept my pace.  Caught him, kept rolling.  He attacked me again a mile later.  Too annoying.  I wasn't going to sit in his draft to the bridge and I didn't want to keep playing.  I let him go.  

https://www.strava.com/activities/3890337757

I have almost forgotten the "gift" of random wheel suckers on long rides. 

Jules said:

I have almost forgotten the "gift" of random wheel suckers on long rides. 

I didn't look back to see if he was fully in my slipstream.  on the positive, they can make you a little faster, thanks to aerodynamics.  And annoyance.  

I told myself if we weren't in pandemic mode, I would have caught him after the second attack, then attacked him on the last rise and left him in the dust.  Get a little 'turning the pedals in anger' mojo.

Don't take river road. Full of debris and downed trees

Short ride for me today but I did get chased by a dog. Used the old "bidon super soaker" technique and it worked like a charm. I took that as a sign (along with leaden legs) to head home early.

I rode outside for the first time since April and for the first time in the dark side kit (which is glorious and OMG I want a short sleeve jersey that isn't at Rapha prices). Of course my ancient Garmin ran out of juice 10 minutes in, but no matter, I have the Strava app on my phone, right? Just pair it up with Stages and we'll be cool right? Wrong. They removed BT device pairing (outside of smart watches?) and require you to download yet another app like Wahoo to record rides and then sync to Strava.

Hokay then.

I headed out on a short local spin, looking for the little neighborhood hills in my part of NE Queens, ones I drive on and promise to find on my bike one day. Nobody else on the roads except for a few utility riders going to work and barely any cars, even on major blvds. The misty weather was perfect and I didn't have to wear my mask outside of a few times passing by joggers. I found myself riding on the drops as I realized my stem is too short and ended up with a sore neck since I have a bad habit of just sitting upright on the indoor trainer.

10/10, would ride outside again with nobody around.

I find myself reaching for the CX bike more and more these days and I have enjoyed linking up the OCA with the little dirt paths in Nyack/Piermont via the Cuomo bike path. The hype has died down significantly and there are way less people on it. I've also been taking the east side through Manhattan because the west side path can be a lil crazy. It's really nice to head out for a 4+ hour ride and not repeat any roads! 

Phil Maronilla said:

Don't take river road. Full of debris and downed trees

WAs there myself yesterday.

I had to get off my bike three times, but picked my way around another three possible dismount points (CX skillz)

The funny thing is I called the Palisades Insterstate Park Commission Thursday to see if the road was rideable.  And the person who picked up the phone said "yes."

RobertMullen said:

I find myself reaching for the CX bike more and more these days and I have enjoyed linking up the OCA with the little dirt paths in Nyack/Piermont via the Cuomo bike path. The hype has died down significantly and there are way less people on it. I've also been taking the east side through Manhattan because the west side path can be a lil crazy. It's really nice to head out for a 4+ hour ride and not repeat any roads! 

Would you share your route 

Mark Taylor said:

RobertMullen said:

I find myself reaching for the CX bike more and more these days and I have enjoyed linking up the OCA with the little dirt paths in Nyack/Piermont via the Cuomo bike path. The hype has died down significantly and there are way less people on it. I've also been taking the east side through Manhattan because the west side path can be a lil crazy. It's really nice to head out for a 4+ hour ride and not repeat any roads! 

Would you share your route 

https://www.strava.com/activities/3899118159#kudos

(This includes a stop at Boxer Donuts)

Awesome!!

@David Yang Can you post said NE Queens hills?

I only hit a handful, there were a few more I didn't pursue and there are plenty more out there in Whitestone, Little Neck, etc. There may be public triangle ride routes with detailed rundowns, but those start heading way out to the island.

has anyone ridden river road recently? is there still a lot of stuff on the road?

Will Kalbacker said:

has anyone ridden river road recently? is there still a lot of stuff on the road?

A friend was there yesterday.  You can ride it, but have to get off once or twice.  Still messy.

Rode to Piermont and back with my son today.  (this could go in several threads)

Piermont Bicycle Connection is seen as a dining establishment by the state, so you can't fill up a water bottle there, you have to buy water.  You also can't use the bathroom.

When going slow, it's amazing how few KJ I used,  something like 800 for 41 miles.  

OTOH, for Oscar, it was his longest ride of the year.  When we hit Tenafly, he started talking about the sandwich, chips and soda he wanted when he finished.  

As we were riding south on 9W, we could see a thunderstorm ahead.  Lightning and the works.  By the time we got to Tenafly, it had passed, though there had been flooding.  by the time we got to Englewood Cliffs, there was no evidence of rain.  

Living the dream JP! 

Road down “Route 306” and East Saddle River Road yesterday. Saw under 10 cars the whole way. 

RichFreeman said:

Road down “Route 306” and East Saddle River Road yesterday. Saw under 10 cars the whole way. 

That's the beauty of the Saddle River Wormole zone.

Did another double-dose of Skyline.  Sadly, it's been even longer since I've been able to rip the descents.  drivers just can't go fast enough.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3956692800

Also saw Chaim and Jeff C coming back on the GWB when I was starting out.  Both appeared to be riding solo.  #smarttraining

Spent yesterday pedaling around Bucks and Hunterdon County, bordering the Delaware River Canal. A route variation on the Fleche Buffon, about 12 climbs, all of them hitting over 10% with the infamous Uhlterstown Hill Road climb hitting over 25%. 

(rode a 34 front w/ a 30 cassette)

The Jersey and Pennsylvania side have these awesome well maintained gravel bike paths by the river, finished the ride by hitting about 10km of those and then gorgeous River Road on PA.

Flatted my front twice on the trails, not yet sure what caused it, don't think I pinched, but that's the most obvious suspect. Testament to bring more than you think you'll need! Day went from mist, cloudy, to clear 90 degree summer, to light rain by the finish. Snicker bars and ice cream stops kept me fueled.

Good times.

I honestly missed you.

If you never ridden around here, highly recommend.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3956337780/

Is there a reverse to "wish you were here?" 'cause I *definitely* wish I was THERE!

Great shots Eloy!

Decided to head north through westchester today.

As I was riding through Bronxville, I saw a sign that the Bronx River Parkway was closed to cars.  Totally forgot about this.  Rode it up to White Plains before heading north to Ossining.  

Stopped at the Tappan Zee to refill bottles.  Since I had gone a bit longer north than expected, I decided to skip riding across the Hudson.  But then I realized that the trip back from Tarrytown is a good bit shorter than the trip back from Nyack.  Added a few hills to round the ride out to 70 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3988724880

Half Wormhole today.  Went west first, then over to the Orchard, descended it an climbed Little Tor before heading back largely on 9W.

I don't know if it's the "cool" weather, but definitely felt faster today.  And the numbers back it up.  

Saw Greg Donovan heading out on St. Nicholas as I was heading back.  For a neighbor--he's three blocks away--I barely see him.  Good to know he's riding.  

https://www.strava.com/activities/4022705687

I’ve had a low volume few weeks. It was nice to go a little longer today.

Had an awesome Labor Day ride in Westchester 
around the Kensico dam

Meant to post earlier, did a loop around Greenwood and Wawayanda Lake in NJ two weeks ago.

Including a climb up St. Peter, there's a small ski resort at the top, and then the infamous Barret Road, which is 3 km avg 9%, with some portions around 18ish% ouch.

Was fun, been on Wawayanda before a few times for the Westwood velo cyclocross, was sweet to ride some of the trails, that park is specially beautiful.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3983104902/

missed you, the only thing that would make these rides better would be riding with some of you.

@eloy

You might not recall this, but years and years ago, we rode from Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ out to Warwick and back, taking in Skyline, Old Westbrook, going by the Bubblecross course, then Upper Greenwood lake, going by Westwood cross, then back over Mount Peter, Sterling Forest, through Harriman up past Lake Welch, and then to Ho-Ho-Kus again.

Love to take a group on that ride someday.

(btw, Waywayanda was the site of the first-ever NJ State MTB Championship in 1987)