I've been itching to go climb Bear mountain for awhile. I haven't been there since last summer. Riding to Bear and taking the train back to the city is a tough ride in itself. Riding there and back is another story. Today Chris and I decided over a doughnut and coffee that that was our plan for the day.
We barely got out of our neighborhood when I got a flat. It was wet out, and there was a huge chunk of glass that gashed my nearly brand new tire. I fixed it and went on without a second tube or Co2. We made it to a shop about 25 miles in and I re-upped. 1 80mm valve tube and 1 co2, $20!! I was raped, but I needed it so fuck it.
After that stop we decided that we wouldn't stop until we got to the top of Bear. Both of us hate stopping. Especially in Winter. It takes forever to warm up the legs. Chris got a flat about 30 miles later. We were hoping that this wasn't gonna be one of "those" days. Him and I have been through some rides where we've gone through an insane amount of tubes.
Anyways, we made it to Bear, had some snacks at the top as we enjoyed the view, and descended (always the best part) as my fingers went numb.
After the descent was the long ride back home. My right knee has given me a list of problems over the years. Today out of nowhere the outer right of my knee and my IT band were on fire. Every pedal stroke was pushed through pain. I had no choice at this point, so we just kept pushing. I rode a lot of it out of the saddle as it somehow temporarily relieved the pain. It hurt the most on climbs, and there was a ton of that.
We stopped at a gas station to rehydrate, and I took some sodium bicarbonate and Advil. It helped quite a bit, but by mile 100, We were both in the same pain cave.
We were both pushing it all day, but not to the limit. I think we maintained a strong, but not overly heavy pace. At that 100 mile marker all either of us could think of was food, so the pain had to be pushed aside. For what it felt like I had left in me, we were still able to push hard the rest of the way back. Even when we tried to take it easy, it just flat out hurt.
We made it back to Brooklyn with burrito's as our motivation. Food really helps the mind stay focused. I swear that on rides I am probably thinking about what I'm going to eat after about 90% of the time. We ended up at Taqueiria Tepango which is in our hood. Its a usual stop after rides as they let us bring our bikes in. We both inhaled our food and talked about all that ran through our minds all day.
All in all it was an awesome time. Most of my training rides right now are about 50-75 miles. No matter how much I ride I still feel a sense of accomplishment going over 100. Today was no exception. About 120 miles with over 7,000 feet of climbing. Done deal.
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