[Chefelf]

Today, for the first time in a long time, I went for a bike ride. I've been using an elaborate set of poorly organized excuses and procrastinations to avoid returning to my triumphant glory days of cycling excellence. Today all of that was cast aside as I strapped on my cycling shoes, dusted off my helmet and pulled on my embarrassingly revealing spandex shorts and hit the road.

The roads of New York City (which one must ride to get to any "safe" biking areas) were the main deterrent to me getting back on my bike. People who know me personally know that I'm not exactly the greatest risk taker in the world. While some people bungee jump and skydive I consider my version of risk taking (such as actually touching the poles in a subway car with my bare hands or taking a taxi after 11:00PM) to be just as adrenaline-pumping.

All of that changed today when I hit the pavement in search of the local bike path. The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is an amazing bike path that completely circles the island of Manhattan. The entire path is about 32 miles long but given that this was to be my first ride in over a year I decided that I would only do about 10-15 miles.

The ride started out great. I descended the extremely steep hills of upper Manhattan toward the George Washington Bridge and made my approach on the path which brings you right to the base of the bridge by the water. It felt great to be riding along the Hudson River and traveling most of the distance of the island of Manhattan.

I knew I should turn around after five to eight miles in order to keep my ride to the prescribed length but after that distance I felt great so I decided to push it to ten miles, making the total trip around 20 miles. I finally turned around a little south of Chelsea Piers and made my journey home. I had my snack bar and realized that I'd fallen victim to a couple of serious rookie errors.

1.) I was more than halfway through the amount of water I'd brought. This wasn't a huge problem seeing as I was only going to be gone for about an hour and a half but still, I'd have to ration my water a little more carefully on the second half of the ride. Also, the snack bar was not nearly enough food for the energy I was expending. Also the Puffins I'd had for breakfast 3 hours ago were not exactly the best fuel I could hope for.

2.) The biggest mistake was that I'd forgotten to account for the wind. I was riding with the river (and the wind) on the trip south. The trip back was proving to be much more grueling as the wind did everything it could to slow me down. There was a three or four mile stretch along the river that completely kicked my ass.

3.) The fun declines to get to the base of the George Washington Bridge were now monstrous inclines on the way back at the end of the twenty miles. I had to rise 100-150 feet in about a quarter of a mile. The only satisfaction I found in this was that I somehow willed myself to do it without having to get out of my seat and walk my bike. Of course I looked like a prize fool as I jammed my feet up and down in the pedal clips, my tongue hanging out, mouth gaped open to take in all the oxygen I possibly could. Around each turn it would flatten for about 6 feet before curving again to reveal a comically steep incline, all leading to street-level which was the beginning of the longest hill of the bunch.

All in all if I had to do it again I would have done it a little differently. Still, it was good to get back out into the open air and feel the burn in my legs as I struggled against gravity, wind and all other such nonsense that physics and Mother Nature could throw at me.

[Deepsycher]

Well a long time ago I use to spend most of my time cycling around woods and town centres. There was one night when I went too far out and got lost 20 miles away. The roads were empty and so smooth that I forgot about everything else until looking at the time.

On the way back after finding my way out of a loop, I enjoyed speeding down the hills without stopping for most of journey. I kept on going despite the strain in my legs.

I experienced that, the thicker the bike frame, the smoother it is for me to ride especially round corners compared to a thin framed bikes, and the taller the bike frame, the faster I am able to accelerate without causing much strain. I know that the textures of the tyres could be responsible for the smoothness as well.

To this, could you state the size of your bike frame?

This post has been edited by Deepsycher: 04 May 2006 - 07:18 PM

[SimeSublime]

Also the Puffins I'd had for breakfast...

You make me cry Nate

[Chefelf]

To this, could you state the size of your bike frame?

To this, I cannot. Do you mean like inches? It's relatively small, I guess, but a good comfortable size for me.

You make me cry Nate

Wait a second... when you're talking about loving Puffins are you loving Puffins, or are you loving Puffins?

[Deepsycher]

To this, I cannot. Do you mean like inches? It's relatively small, I guess, but a good comfortable size for me.

Not an exact measurement but roughly, so relativey small gives me an idea to the frame size.
What I am looking for is a good sized bouncy woolen seat with a long pole for a comfortable ride so I do not have to stand up.

[Sailor Abbey]

I was wondering how you managed to wrangle some puffins for breakfast.

Its much clearer now, thank you.

[Gobbler]

I wonder if it contains what its title suggests...

[Chefelf]

I guess Puffins are not an international brand yet. Too bad... they're DELICIOUS.

[Otal Nimrodi]

I know!

[SimeSublime]

Yeah, we don't have them here, but the link to the cereal came up on the forums before, so I knew what you were talking about. I just thought it would be amusing to feign ignorance.