...and some very good riding indeed.

I couldn't manage to drag myself out of bed at 6:30 yesterday morning to do the group training ride up 9W; I'd had a long week and desperately needed the sleep. That's one disadvantage of TNT's otherwise excellent training program; all the major rides are Saturday morning, and that's the day I most need just a few more hours. I'm sure yesterday's ride was beautiful, if probably a little bit on the cool side.

But I did make it out this morning, and did several loops of Central Park, for a total of 34.3 miles. More importantly, I pushed my hill-climbing past my comfort zone; instead of dropping down to my granny (the easiest crank) for Harlem Hill, instead even of relying on the largest gear in my middle crank, I forced myself to climb Harlem Hill in the second largest gear in my middle crank. Every time. It wasn't easy, but I made it up five times, which was pretty instructive. Even though I've got a little more padding around the middle than I did while training for El Tour de Tucson at this time last year, my legs are obviously still quite strong from all the hill climbing we did training for, and during, America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride around Lake Tahoe in June.

Of course, the endurance bicyclists among you know that leg strength isn't always the most important thing; I still need to ride often enough this fall, and long enough distances, for my ass to be ready. I think, but I'm not positive, that next weekend our trainig ride is a choice of the 50-mile or 75-mile routes of the Twin Lights Ride, which I found fairly hilly and challenging last year. Again, my only complaint is likely to be how absurdly early I have to get up to catch the ferry from downtown Manhattan to New Jersey... but I'm looking forward to the ride.

Fundraising: $6,413 so far, or 32.065% toward my goal of $20,000. I finally decided that the only way I was going to find enough "free time" to send out all the remaining e-mails was to take my laptop with me pretty much everywhere I go now, so I'm queueing up those e-mails during my commute on the bus and subway. Stay tuned, if you haven't gotten yours yet, you will this week!

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Well, I did it... I dropped off my bike this afternoon to have clipless pedals installed, cleats installed on my already broken-in shoes, and the whole bike tuned up, including a look at the front derailleur and a clean chain. I also put a new spare tube in my saddle bag, and once I install the free "bento" bag I got from doing the Twin Lights Ride on the front of my bike, I'll put a second new spare tube in there in case I have any other particularly disastrous rides. The tech also took a look at my tire treads, and said that while they should be fine for another few hundred miles, I should get new tires before El Tour de Tucson.

When I pick up the bike (probably tomorrow evening), they'll put it on a trainer in the shop so that I can ride in place for a while and try to get used to the clips. Because of the style of shoe I've been wearing for years, I had only one option - touring clipless pedals, which are double-sided. In other words, I can't just "punt" if I have trouble clipping in, and ride the flat side of the pedal with the flat part of my shoe - there is no flat side to the pedal. I'm committed.

This ought to be interesting.

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Today's Training Ride (Home to Sea Streak Ferry at Pier 11 in downtown Manhattan; the 75-mile [actually 77-mile] route of the Twin Lights Ride; Pier 11 to Wall St. 4/5 subway stop; 86th St. stop to home):

86.2 miles

Total to Date:

782.0 miles

So much for "relatively non-hilly territory!" I honestly don't remember who told me that, or whether anyone really told me that in the first place, but it was definitely wrong. This ride through beautiful, scenic Monmouth County, NJ - especially the fourteen miles from the final rest stop to the finish line - was exceptionally challenging. I'm exhausted, but I'm absolutely elated at how well I did. Once again, this is now the longest single day of riding I've done in twelve years - and for a ride that hilly, especially when the worst hills are at the end, I'm delighted not to have gotten off my bike except for official rest stops.

The weather was also dead-solid perfect; sunny with barely a cloud in the sky, high in the upper 70s. And I have to say, this ride was degrees of magnitude better organized, better executed, and the route better marked, than the NYC Century a couple of weeks ago. Transportation Alternatives could certainly learn something from Bike New York, who for some reason produces the Twin Lights Ride. Amusingly, I once again ran into my old friend Mark, who was once again doing the 50-mile route with his friend.

My back and neck still need work. My knee is understandably sore, but strong and intact. I will absolutely sleep well tonight.

Photo 1: Harvey, Bubbles, Hollywood, Fatima, Your Narrator. Photo 2: Harvey's, Bubbles's, Hollywood's, and Fatima's asses.

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Today's Solo Training Ride (Home to E. 90th Street entrance; six inside loops of Central Park, one outside loop; E. 90th St. entrance to home):

40.8 miles

Total to Date:

695.8 miles

This was a good warm-up to the Twin Lights Ride in central New Jersey this coming Sunday, a 75-mile route over relatively non-hilly territory.

For those observing Yom Kippur tonight and tomorrow, have an easy fast. Thank you as always for your support.

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Today's Training Ride (Home to 110th St. & Lenox by way of the Loeb Boathouse; the "55 mile" [actually 59-mile] route of the New York City Century Bike Tour through Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and back through Manhattan to 110th St. & Lenox; 110th St. & Lenox to Home):

67.6 miles

Total to Date:

602.8 miles

The weather was much nicer than anticipated, and although the route was frustratingly full of "city biking" with traffic lights and, well, traffic, it was a great bike ride. Mentor Kathryn and her friend Fatima were great companions, and we had a very good time passing some, being passed by others, feeling absolutely no guilt about multiple Krispy Kreme donuts at rest stops (along with far more nutritious road fare, of course), and generally just getting our bike on.

At the second rest stop on Canarsie Pier, I ran into my old college friend Mark, who was doing the 55-mile route with his friend Nicole... that was a fun coincidence, and we enjoyed catching up briefly.

We had just stopped at Costco in Queens not far from the Triboro Bridge for a snack and a drink when a couple of other riders told us that the section in the Bronx - which only 75-mile and 100-mile riders were doing - was quite hilly. I was all prepared to do another twenty miles of biking, but after yesterday's hill climbing clinic, I wasn't really interested in those particular twenty miles. I "punted," following the 55-mile route on 111th Street and finishing strong, knowing that the ride home from there would still make today the longest single day of riding that I've done in twelve years.

At one point fairly early in the ride, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, I unfortunately lost concentration for a moment and trashed a parked towncar's side-view mirror... with my forearm. I've got quite the swollen welt on my arm, but you should see the other guy. Anyway, I stopped to take note of what company it was from so I could let them know and offer to pay for the repair.

I feel great... I'm a little fried, and it's clear to me that I need to get my back as strong as possible if I'm going to keep increasing the length of my rides in the run-up to El Tour de Tucson. But my knee feels great, and other than having gotten up at five in the morning, I'm not exhausted. I can't wait until the Twin Lights Ride in New Jersey in two weeks, where I should have no problem doing the 75-mile route.

I hope everyone else has had a great weekend!

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