What's the story? Is it worth doing? Is it all it's cracked up to be? I actually went to do it once, but flatted in the first 20 miles, just when it started getting interesting (it started out very social).

What is The Gim cracked up to be?

The ride starts at the Cross-County Mall. I think it's on the edge of Yonkers. Starts between 9:15 and 9:20. The rollout is slow. I mean like 12mph slow. As the ride parades through Westchester, it grows and grows. It can be over 100 riders strong. Outside the Kensico Reservoir (I think), after about 12 miles of noodling, it's time to put it in the big meat. About five minutes later, the Gim Short goes straight while the Gim Long goes left.

From here, for about the next 30 miles for the Long, it is Game On. There's a hill within a half mile of the left turn. It can shed a few people, but for the most part, there's a regrouping on the descent. Then it's a few miles of flat roads, before the next hill. This one is straight and a bit easier, and there's a false flat downhill immediately after. So another regrouping. Then, after a real descent and some rollers, there's a right turn. You have to toe-tap at the stop sign. Then you have a stair-step climb that's the hardest of the course. It's followed by a few rollers, then a descent. At the end of the descent, there's a light and a left-hand turn. From here on, it's pretty much flat to the first sprint, which is on a bend just before a light. Then you go over a highway, down a little hill, make a right and it's more narrow roads. You go through a town (Rye perhaps), run a bunch of lights, and end up on Route 1 (aka Boston Post Road). It's about a mile on here before the finishing sprint at the Larchmont town sign. Lots of potholes and traffic on 1.

In terms of power, I typically ride it at a normalized power that compares to a kind of hard prospect race (but it is 30 miles rather than 43). But I'm usually at the front the entire ride, and typically am either first or in the first few over the top of the hills, and often leading out the sprint. But I'm typically riding it as a race substitute. One day, I was first over all the climbs and won the sprint at the end. People congratulated me like I had won a race.

In Larchmont, you're probably 10-12 miles from the start, but since you live in the city, it's easier to just ride home through The Bronx. Generally, I take Route 1 a few miles in and then ride over to Webster ave.

The noodle is too damn slow in the winter and even in warm months. I typically like to hit the ride a mile or two after teh start.

The ride portion can be race-like, which can make it hard and fun, but you have bad bike handlers and wheelsuckers who can take the fun out of the ride.

The way some people blow through lights, particularly the blind intersections toward the end of the ride, can be scary. Don't to this; it's bad.

The ride home has its highs and lows.

From my place in harlem, round trip is about 75 miles.

My best ever experience was on what I'll call the Gimbels Extra Long. About six or seven of us (I knew all but two of the gang) did something extra in Westchester and I came home with 100 miles in my legs. That the group was so small made it friendlier, everyone was pulling, everyone was contributing equally, and we all wanted to ride hard. It also might have helped that only two of the crew seemed to know where we were going. one guy, I'll call Mr. Gimbels seemed to be in charge, and Joao Correia was advising. After I got home, I changed, and rode down to the upper west side to watch Flanders and Roubaix with two of the crew from the ride.

"The way some people blow through lights, particularly the blind intersections toward the end of the ride, can be scary. Don't to this; it's bad."

My 1 time on the Gimbels, I did not blow through an intersection in Rye and got slammed by another rider approaching from the rear... crash and broken collarbone.

That said, I need to do that ride again... just to wipe the previous experience off the books.