So I settled on this past Wednesday because I also had to go to Central Park to umpire a company softball playoff game. I'd play but my shoulders are totally messed up. So the plan was to ride to work in the morning (23m), ride to Central Park in the afternoon (8m) and then home from Central Park (24m) for a total of 55m. Good warmup for the NYC Century ride.
Setting off at 6am, I was very pleased. A very nice 75 degrees and almost no wind. I headed down Sunrise Highway and didn't have any issues with traffic until about 6:30. By then I was on Conduit Ave and I realized that once you pass Cross Bay Blvd, it's not very friendly to bikes. Noted for the future. I eventually wound my way onto the streets of Brooklyn and as I've mentioned before, BKN is very bike friendly. Well marked roads, signs that are easy to find and follow. It was awesome. At that point I finally relaxed and an odd song found its way into my head: Polyphonic Spree's Light and Day.
My wife and I first heard this on Scrubs and instantly were taken by the song. We got the album and were incredibly disappointed. It's a bit too "ethereal" for me. Anyway, it's a weird song to bike to because there's no driving force. But there it was and I had to deal with it.
I was on Bergen Street in I believe Prospect Heights and the bike lane was on the left side. A car slowly pulls out from the right side and begins to get onto the street but doesn't turn at all. It kept going across the street at a very slow 5mph. I had already been slowing down because I had no idea what the car was doing. then he crossed into my lane and I pulled to a stop. He hit me anyway. No one was going at any speed so I wasn't hurt. I yelled at the guy to pay attention. If he hadn't hit me, he would have it the car that was parked right where I stopped. When I saw into the car it was an elderly man who seemed to be suffering from dementia. Or at least that's what my adrenaline-pumped mind was telling me. Regardless, I kept going after slamming his hood with my hand to drive my point home. About 100 feet down the road I turned around and noticed the car was still there. In the middle of the street. Not moving.
Anyway, I picked up again and headed for the Brooklyn Bridge. Unfortunately at a light at Pacific and I believe 3rd, I pulled away from a full stop and my chain snapped in half. End of ride. Bike fail. I was so incredibly upset. More often than not my bike fails before I do. It stopped me in the NYC Century last year, it's happened on Snickersville Pike and a few other places. So I took my bike onto the R train and went to work.
Vitals:
| Distance: | 19.52 mi |
| Time: | 1:07:25 |
| Avg Speed: | 17.4 mph |
| Elevation Gain: | 143 ft |
| Calories: | 1,521 C |
So now I had to get the bike fixed. That was done by Gotham Bikes on West Broadway near Chambers St. I always feel like I'm cheating on my local bike store when I go somewhere else. But I wanted to get home and I can't take my bike on the Long Island Railroad during rush hour. So I went to Gotham and they replaced the chain as well as the carriage (keep in mind I'm nowhere near a bike mechanic). I picked up the bike at about 3:15 and then headed up to Central Park.
I love taking the West Side bike path and at 3:30 in the afternoon it's pretty wide open. As I was moving along an old Genesis song, One for the Vine, came into my head.
I can't get this video to embed
This is a very powerful song, not one for biking necessarily, but powerful nonetheless. It's all about how a man becomes a leader in desperate times. Probably my second favorite song from the Collins era behind Domino.
The ride was pretty uneventful and I made it to the game in pretty good time.
Vitals:
| Distance: | 7.26 mi |
| Time: | 29:06 |
| Avg Speed: | 15.0 mph |
| Elevation Gain: | 249 ft |
| Calories: | 690 C |
After the game I called my wife and she said "you taking the train?" I said no and she was a bit surprised. "You're biking?" she inquired. I said yes. "Why?" "Because I want to." She did a phone shrug and said "OK, just be careful." I should note that I hadn't told her I had gotten hit by a car. That would have to be done in person to show her I was ok.
I took off from the North Meadow and went through Central Park on the west side. Such a beautiful place and I'm sorry I didn't take pictures because it was such a lovely, albeit humid day. Anyway, I got a little turned around at the south end of the park because I got out too early. But eventually I made my way over the Queensboro bridge and onto Queens Blvd. I chose Queens Blvd because I know it's got a service road and it was perfect in that respect. Unfortunately the pavement was ripped up in parts so it was an uncomfortable ride. At one point I was going at about 19mph and hit the cut pavement and the only way to deal with it is to coast. You can't hit the brakes because you'll slide and crash. Boy was that unpleasant.
Anyway, I survived, but from then on I felt like I was struggling. I even got another song from Genesis in my head: Burning Rope.
Also can't get this to embed. I believe there's a Blogspot limitation to one video embedded per post. Will need to remember that in the future...
So despite the cool song in my head, I was huffing it. And I didn't understand. I was easily two gears below my normal gear and I was struggling to keep it up to speed. This happened for 10 miles or so. I've gotten so paranoid about breaking spokes (which happens WAY too often), that I figured that's what happened. I refused to look though so I just powered through it. Finally I crossed the Nassau border and I looked down and I'll be damned if I didn't have my chain on the wrong chainring. It must have popped up in gear when I hit that rough patch on Queens Blvd. I cruised home after that and hit some decent speeds despite being over 50m for the day.
All told, I was happy with the day. I'll do this again, but not this year. I'll wait until next year.
Vitals:
| Distance: | 24.09 mi |
| Time: | 1:39:12 |
| Avg Speed: | 14.6 mph |
| Elevation Gain: | 834 ft |
| Calories: | 1,777 C |
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