Saturday, July 18, 2009

Death By Hills

That's the name of the NYCC ride I did today, and it was an apt one.

We met on the NJ side of the GW Bridge at 8:30. We had a really nice turnout, about 20 or so. Most NYCC riders are expert paceliners and, thanks to the sheer size of the club, you can always get a nice homogenius group that can work together smoothly. Besides, I knew a lot of people on this ride.

We were really crusing on the flats and the downs. Even on the climbs we were holding together for the most part.

Last week's century was definitely brutal. Today's ride, at 85 miles, was a ballbuster of a different kind. The primary purpose of this ride was, essentially, to hit all the steepest climbs between the GWB and the Bear Mt. Bridge. Some stretches of road were just sick. We're talking well above 20%. On one particular stretch one rider was trying to zig-zag across the road and took a fall while attempting the virtual switchback. Others had to put down a foot due to the extra slow speed. I was able to climb straight up only by litterally pedaling as hard as I could, out of the saddle with my head down. Thankfully these beasts weren't that long and I was feeling stronger than last week.

By comparison, climbing Perkins Drive to the summit of Bear Mt. Was a walk in the park.

I finally ran out of steam after crossing the bridge and crawled my way to Cold Spring. Once there we all enjoyed burgers and beer at The Depot. The plan was to take the train back. Helen had decided to spend the day antique shopping in Cold Spring and I was able to get a ride back. If only the Hutch weren't so backed up, we'd be already home.

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