Options, Options Everywhere

It's a bit of a long story but I missed my SIG ride yesterday. It may have been a blessing in disguise though. Feeling guilty, I set out to log some miles around Rockville Centre. However, the thought of doing 8-10 five mile loops wasn't sitting well so I ventured out a bit to gain some distance. In the end, I found a way to lengthen my standard ride to 8.5 miles and can also add mileage with an optional 4.5 mile loop and/or 3.5 mile extension. The 3.5 mile extension goes through some less than desirable areas but it's a nice gradual 1.75 mile climb so it's the closest thing to a hill I can't get around here.

Finding the extra miles locally is a huge benefit. It wasn't sitting well that I needed to drive my car in order to get some training miles. Now I can just roll out of my front door at a moment's notice and ride. That's cycling at its best.

Rockin' Out the Base Miles

I did my first ride in Rockville Centre (RVC) yesterday and it wasn't half bad. In fact, I'd say it was surprising good. It was really just a spur of the moment type thing. I wanted to get in a few miles to warm up for today's ride since I was in Florida this week and didn't do any riding. However, I didn't want the intensity of my Old Westbury Training Route nor the 30 minute drive each way. The upshot is I found a nice 5 mile loop here in Rockville Centre that I can now use to work in some base miles on a more regular basis.

The route, pictured below, is surprisingly good and very flat. There are only three or four "head on a swivel" moments. The most dangerous part is riding on Sunrise Highway which is far from ideal but definitely doable. It's never soothing to have cars whizzing past you at 50 mph but there's a very wide shoulder and the biggest risk is most likely a flat from all the road debree on the shoulders (knock on wood).

The key to riding in this area (or any area for that matter) is a rear view mirror that attaches to your glasses. I started using one when we were touring in Italy. It looks pretty darn goofy but it's invaluable to have a view of the traffic behind you as you maneuver on highly trafficked roads. Actually, the biggest risk to riding in RVC is the ridicule I'm going to face when my childhood friends see my in my ride gear. I got a preview last week when I was talking on the phone in front of the deli after a ride. All of a sudden I heard a voice from behind me "are you f-ing kidding me with that outfit?". It was a buddy of mine in a car with his family in tow. He immediately called a few other friends to rip on me (that's what good friends do in Rockville Centre).

The Art of the (Illegal) Park

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was skittish about parking at NYIT. The main reason is they have security cars constantly looping through the parking lot. In fact, on Monday I had to endure at least 5 security loops. I made the mistake of spending a decent amount of time putting on all my equipment by the side of my car with my bike still up on the roof rack. It was like an advertisement that I was doing something wrong. I thought to myself "this is so obvious, they have to know I'm parking illegally". My only hope was the security guards were thinking "this is so obvious, there's no way he's parking illegally".

I decided today to get as much prep work done at home as possible in order to minimize time in the lot. I wore my cycling shoes (typically I drive with regular shoes and put on my cycling shoes there) and had all my equipment laid out on my backseat ready to roll. When I arrived, I immediately took down my bike and laid it up against the car while I got prepped. It only took a minute or two to get everything done. I only saw one security guard this time, a nice little victory. Hopefully I won't run into any issues parking here because it's the perfect starting point for my training loop.

Speaking of the training loop, this was the first day I it exclusively. I've ridden all of the terrain before but as parts of different rides. The loop was even better than I was expecting but also very difficult because there's almost no stopping. Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing. But there's a huge difference between a 25 mile ride with no stops and one that has multiple lights/stops because you get no natural recovery periods. I actually pushed it too hard today. Funny because I was all set to write a post this morning titled "Take'r Easy", which was going to explain how it's better to ride slower early in the season while you build a base of miles. Then I go out and blast it today. I averaged 17mph for 24 miles. That's pretty much midseason form for a GROUP ride. Doing that solo this early in the season is pretty stupid. I need to tone it down next time.

The List Goes On...

As I'm finishing The Catcher in the Rye, I began thinking about which book would be next. I ran across this high school reading list and will pick my next literary classic from here. Again, I'm open for suggestions. Did anyone just hear a tree fall?

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Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice
Baldwin, James. Go Tell It on the Mountain
Bellow, Saul. Humboldt's Gift
Camus, Albert. The Stranger
Cervantes, Miguel de. Don Quixote
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness
Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage
Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe
Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield; Tale of Two Cities
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment
Eliot, George. Adam Bede
Ralph Ellison. Invisible Man
Faulkner, William. The Unvanquished; Intruder in the Dust
Fielding, Henry. Joseph Andrews
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby
Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary
Fowles, John. The French Lieutenant's Woman
Golding, William. . Lord of the Flies
Hardy, Thomas. The Return of the Native
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter
Hemmingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms; The Nick Adams Stories
James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady
Joyce, James. Dubliners
Kafka, Franz. The Trial
Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt; Arrowsmith
Malamud, Bernard. The Complete Stories: The Magic Barrel
Melville, Herman. Moby Dick
Orwell, George. 1984; Animal Farm
Paton, Alan. Cry the Beloved Country
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Complete Stories: The Tell-Tale Heart; The Black Cat; The Pit and the Pendulum
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye
Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath
Stendhal. The Red and the Black
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels.
Thackeray, William. Vanity Fair
Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; Innocents Abroad
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five
Waugh, Evelyn. A Handful of Dust
Wright, Richard. Native Son

Nothing Beats a Nice Loop

In life, familiarity can breed contempt but in cycling I believe it breeds confidence and strength. A great training ride is a key element to a happy cycling existence. Luckily, I just found mine on Long Island. I've pieced together some sections from a few rides I've done to create a nice 12 mile loop. The good news is it's twice as long as my prior training loop (Central Park) and the better news is it's 1% as crowded. On the downside, I need to drive 20 minutes to get to it and I'm still a bit skittish about parking at NYIT (although I was successful yesterday).

This "Old Westbury Training Route" as I've named it, gives me some nice options as I can create 24 or 36 mile training rides depending on my mood and what my upcoming ride schedule is looking like. Generally speaking, your mid-week rides should optimally be about 1/3 the distance of your longer weekend rides. Thus, 24/36 mile rides are perfect training for my typical 60-80 mile Saturday rides. Additionally, I've found a few nice hills just off this route if I want to do some hill training.

Instant Classic

I'm only about 30 pages into The Catcher in the Rye but I'm really enjoying the book. I found a page that does a great job illustrating Salinger's writing style and Holden Caulfield's point of view. Holden pays a visit to the house of Mr. and Mrs. Spencer on the way back from Pencey School, from which he was just expelled. Mr. Spencer is one of his teachers.

Enjoy.

Parking Dilemma

Armed with the powerful motivation that starts with each cycling season, I decided to head out for a ride in relatively brisk weather today. I left my house around 11am in order to catch what was likely going to be the warmest part of the day (low 40s).

As I pulled into the Westbury High School parking lot, I saw the security guard who pleasantly let me park there a few weeks ago. I decided to take nothing for granted so I pulled up to him and kindly asked him if I could park there for a bike ride. He gave me a stern no, stating there's no parking during school hours. I referred back to last time and he hinted it was after hours (he's right, it was). I asked him if there was anywhere else to park and he indicated it was a difficult area to find parking.

I left the lot in search of street parking. But all the side streets are very narrow and didn't appear to have any room. I saw a mail carrier and asked him where I could park -- he said there aren't many spots but pointed to an area maybe I could try. I didn't feel comfortable parking where he suggested.

I decided to cruise around a bit to find parking but everything was so tight and residential -- my excitement about cycling on Long Island was starting to fade. If I couldn't find a place to park mid-week, how was I going to do training rides? Just as I was about to give up, I saw a cyclist riding on the street so I pulled up and asked him about parking -- he lives in the area so he never needs to park. He also acknowledged how difficult parking was but suggested a municipal lot over by the LIE.

I found the lot but unfortunately it was for the town hall, courtroom and police department. I decided to go in and ask the cops what the town parking regulations were and where I could park. "No street parking in the whole town of Old Westbury", one cop said. "So I'm screwed, huh?" I asked. The cop then hinted that while it was 20 minute parking in their lot that they wouldn't break my balls if I left my bike there for a few hours to ride. But that they didn't want it turning into 50 cyclists parking there every day. I appreciated his kind offer but it didn't seem sustainable. The second cop suggested I check the colleges on Northern Blvd.

I pulled into the New York Institute of Technology and found a lot about 1/4 mile into the campus drive. I didn't see any signs for permits so I asked a few students. They all said that permits were required but that it's never enforced as half of them don't even have them ‎stuck in their windows. This felt like the spot to park, but it was almost 1pm and I was getting hungry. I decided to go home and try this lot the next time I ride. If it works out, the New York Institute of Technology is actually a great spot to park because it's on the route of the training ride I've been doing.

I'm also going to check with members of the LIBC to see if they have any suggestions for mid-week parking.

Literary Classics Revisited

My frequent library visits and search for interesting new books have actually made me yearn for the classics.

I'm starting with The Catcher in the Rye. Oddly enough, the library has only two copies and they are both in horrific shape. Not sure what this says about my first reading choice but I'm definitely enjoying the first few pages. Salinger has an crisp and deliberate writing style. It's matter of fact but insightful at the same time.

I'm thinking my next book will be A Separate Peace by John Knowles, however I'm flexible. Let me know if you have any suggestions. If nothing else it would be nice to know if anyone actually reads this blog or if it's the literary equivalent of a tree falling in a forest.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Just a refresher that the SIG is a 12 week progressive Saturday ride series that starts with a 40 mile ride at about 15mph and ends with a 100 mile ride at about 19mph. Last year, I could barely finish the 40 mile ride at a 15mph pace. I started out in the first group but go dropped (quickly) as as I was dropping from group to group I had leaders (who didn't know I was a leader - but who could blame them, I sucked) yelling at me "keep spinning your legs" to which I yelled back with the limited breath I had "I'M A F*CKING LEADER!!!!" as my legs twitched and buckled.

This year, the captain of the SIG program introduced me as a guy who has ridden his bike around the world and "it's early in the season so he's not much to look at but trust me he'll form into a great rider later on". OUCH. Well embarrassment is a great motivator. I was in much better shape this year. In fact, I was borderline strong. I guess the spinning has paid off, which is great.

I'm really motivated to ride this year. Each year it feels like I enjoy the start of the season more and more. With my semi-retirement status, I'm thinking I should be able to break last year's mileage mark of 3,600 miles although I don't want to pressure myself too hard.

Here's to a great ride season.