Finally a dry Saturday. My first ride of 2009… correction my first ride out in the East End for 2009. I’ve been taking mostly short flat rides in the city. I chose to take a short loop of the ‘Tank Hill’ on Sound Shore Road. As I crested the hill a group of riders were comimg down in the opposite direction. The ride was pleasant with a short brake at the Beach for a view of the Long Island Sound. The ride back West was another story. The head wind was stronger than when I started out. Right now my legs are paying the price for cranking it up into the headwind.
My ride stats: average speed was 14.5 MPH, Distance was 20.1 Miles, Max Speed was 27.7 MPH, must have been on a downhill stretch.
What a weekend of bicycling. Denis Mechov won The Giro d’Italia by a close margin. Lance Armstrong finished despite a broken collar bone. My fans waited to cheer me on my Tour of Jamesport despite my flating at the beach.
Finally a dry Saturday. My first ride of 2009… correction my first ride out in the East End for 2009. I’ve been taking mostly short flat rides in the city. I chose to take a short loop of the ‘Tank Hill’ on Sound Shore Road. As I crested the hill a group of riders were comimg down in the opposite direction. The ride was pleasant with a short brake at the Beach for a view of the Long Island Sound. The ride back West was another story. The head wind was stronger than when I started out. Right now my legs are paying the price for cranking it up into the headwind.
My ride stats: average speed was 14.5 MPH, Distance was 20.1 Miles, Max Speed was 27.7 MPH, must have been on a downhill stretch.
March 20th Thursday, the first day of Spring. Weather forecasts called for scattered ’snow flurries’. The month of March is known to be cruel, teasing us with 60 degrees F one day and snow the next. The forecasters obviously didn’t look out their windows the flurries were a traffic stopping whiteout. But it’s Spring, time to get my bicycle out for the Spring ritual.
After several disappointing weekends of poor snow conditions in the Adirondacks I decided to stay closer to home. The weather forcasters predicted snow accumulation in the East End to be more than up North. Though not ideal Indian State Park was a great change of scenery.
Back to the East End of Long Island this weekend, back to beaches,farms, vineyards and flat roads. The sun is setting earlier as winter is slowly but surly coming. Retuning later than expected from my ride I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture the changing colors of the setting sun reflecting off the Peconic Bay. I paid the penality for stopping. My legs stiffened and my fingers numbed from the cold as I struggled to maintain a pace during the last few miles toward home. It’s not too soon to plan for an alternative to my bicycling weekends.
It’s mid Fall, as I bicycle pass the farms they are full of families with children picking pumpkins and losing each other in the tall corn stalk mazes. Most pumpkins are made into jack-o-lanterns and with stacks of hay and corn stalks used as decorations for halloween and the fall season.
On a recnt bicycle ride I decided to stop at The Shinn Estate Vineyards it is one of the smaller of over 25 Vineyards in Long Island’s North Fork. The tranquil and peaceful setting reminds me of a Zen Garden. I bought a bottle of their Chardonny on my ride back.
It was longer ride starting from Riverheadto Shelter Island and back to Greenport than I had expected. As the sun started to set I decided to have dinner there and wait for the train back to Riverhead.
Mural on the East End Arts Council in Riverhead barn. An idealized view of life in the East End. It is quickly becoming another suburb of New York crowded with malls and big box shops.
