Cycling, Cycling, and More Cycling
Adventures at 200k
I left VA for NY at 1am, lost my credit card at a gas station on the Jersey Turnpike, and and arrived in Hoboken before the bathrooms opened in the Train Station. Why did I leave at 1am? Didn't I learn my lesson with the 300k brevet? Apparently not. I was working on Friday and before I knew it it was 7pm. If I drove up then, I would have gotten to Stanhope at 11:30pm been able to catch a couple zzz's and then I would have had to take the train from Netcong (4am-ish) to Hoboken, then the PATH into Manhattan...I saved my self some travel time by riding straight to Hoboken.
I spent 4 years at
Stevens Tech in Hoboken, so I'm pretty familiar with the city, but I'd forgotten how rough the roads can be. I rattled my way up to 110 West End Ave, the location of
Toga Bikes, the start location. Diane and Dan were there already and I was the second rider to arrive, but from the outside the area looked deserted. After the ride start, we rattled our way uptown to the George Washington Bridge. There was way to much red light running for my tastes, but by the end of the trip, I was dodgin' cabbies like a bike messenger. I figured I might be able to catch a glimpse of Toilet Tower or at least the Stevens Center from the bridge, but I guess it was too far. From there, we went up 9W and then took 502 west. Somewhere around 25 miles into the ride, the vibration was too much for my tail light and it jumped ship. I managed to recover the pieces, but that was pretty much how my day felt...
Diane made us sandwiches at the control point around 57 miles. She wanted to fill my water bottles for me. Talk about going above and beyond the call of duty! For anyone wanting to try one of her rides, here's the website:
www.NJRandonneurs.com It doesn't get any better than this.
