Bear and back

I am so lucky to have such amazing people to ride with. We've shared so much over the past years and continue to push each other more and more. Labor day was spent riding almost 120 miles and climbing over 7000ft as we rode to Bear mountain and back to Brooklyn. Click the photo above (via cycleangelo) for our instagram shots, or check out the ride on Strava below.

Kensico Dam 8/25

We haven't done this ride for awhile, so it felt fresh which is good. The ride starts in Brooklyn and goes up through the Bronx where we catch a bike trail that leads almost right to the dam. Most of the ride is fast and flat, but we took some diversions with a couple brutal climbs. My legs felt great all day and I pushed it hard, especially on the climbing.

We had a huge lunch (gnocchi and beer for me), then spent a little while relaxing at the dam, and headed back home. We ran into a few snags on the way home as part of the path was closed. We had to hop a couple fences and go through some sketchy terrain, but we made it back on track in one piece. The end of the trail is gravel and loose dirt which is always a treat. I love blasting through that shit on a road bike! All in all about 80 miles of riding with an awesome group of people!

Al on Payne Hill climb

hoppin fences

Kensico dam

reward.

Solo mission: Brooklyn to river rd to piermont and back...

This past wednesday I took a solo ride to Piermont via river rd. Just under 66 miles. We're having such awesome weather here, its insane. To me, 35-45 degrees is plenty warm to fully enjoy a nice long ride. I mean, I do enjoy long rides in even colder temps, but the overall enjoyability goes down when it goes under 35 imo. Shit has been perfect here. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same, and another long excursion is planned. Until then...

All photos via iphone 4 and instagram:

self portrait taken in the same place as THIS one, almost exactly a year later...

Random Saturday Ride to Piermont

I don't usually have Saturdays off, and there are always people riding on Saturdays. Naturally I joined in. We rode from Brooklyn to Piermont. About 65 miles total for the day. We've all ridden this route before. The difference today being a constant headwind, and it was cold as fuck!! Awesome day!

break in Piermont

Bike porn at Strictly cycles

More ride info at my Strava page.

Sunday ride to Elmsford, NY and Kensico Dam 12/4/11

This past Sunday 5 of us rode through the Bronx, and up through Elmsford, NY and to Kensico Dam. Right after the Bronx, you hit trails that go most of the way there. A few parts of the trails were on dirt, gravel or mud. There were also some spots that required dismounting to walk over sketchy bridges and rock paths across water. Overall it is a really scenic route with some of the best downhill sections I've ridden. 2 guys were riding fixed, which was pretty nuts for this sort of ride. Ride totaled in to just under 76 miles.

More info on my Strava page.

TDBX 2011

About 20 of us got together yesterday to ride the Tour de Bronx. Out of any organized TA ride, this is my favorite. I do this ride every year. Its the only time I ever venture up into the Bronx, and I think it covers the area pretty well.

More photos on my Flickr.

Ride to Mitsuwa

I haven't rode fixed in awhile, and its been even longer since I got together with everyone riding fixed. Sunday we rode to Jersey City for a good ride and some eats at Mitsuwa. All shots via iPhone.


click to enlarge:

NY Century: Into the sun

Yesterday was the NY century. 4 of us rode together and put in around 116 miles total. I saw parts of NYC that I never knew existed, yet half the time I had no idea where I was. One crash and 2 flats later, we were home. Good times. Photo taken and edited on iphone 4.

Rockaway beach ride

Today we rode to Rockaway beach. I had some great fish tacos at Rockaway taco, then we headed back. Super chill, laid back ride through the gloom. My only shot of the day, taken and edited on iPhone 4:

Brewster ride, 9/4/11

Last Sunday a bunch of us took the train up to Brewster, NY and rode back to NYC. The ride was awesome. The weather was perfect and there was never a shortage of beautiful scenery. 80% of the ride was on backwoods trails. There were a couple of miles of dirt trails where I wish I had my CX bike. Overall we totaled a bit over 80 miles.

All photos via iphone.

This is a partial map before my phone died:


Flat top tubes make great coffee holders...










We ran into a classic car show mid way through.

9W piermont ride 6/22

Somehow a bunch of us ended up with a wednesday off together. Paolo (super six) and Angelo hadn't broken in their new rides yet, so this was a perfect opportunity. It started in the rain and ended in the sun. 9W is always a challenging and rewarding ride. Especially if you ride the way back on a stomach full of mexican food. Although the food was great, I don't think I'll make that mistake again!

all photos via iphone

San Jose, SJFixed, iMinusD

chillin in the hotel, pre-ride

One of the best times I had while in California was my ride with SJFixed. These guys do a couple group rides a week, and I was lucky to get in on one while I was there. San Jose is soooo nice to ride in, especially after you've been battling traffic in NYC. The roads are well taken care of and seem endless. The sun is just...different. There is barely any traffic to worry about, and there are bike lanes everywhere. I could easily get used to that.

While I was in San Jose I also checked out iMinusD. They had some serious bikes on display. Unfortunately all I had on my was my iphone. I snagged a jersey and some stickers. Definitely worth checking out the shop if you are ever there. It feels like a tight knit community out there for sure!

It was a great experience being able to ride on the left coast with some like individuals. I wish I could have got in on more rides. Next time I'm out that way I'm definitely making my trip more bike centric!

All photos via iphone 4