A few weeks ago, Leland said he wanted to plan a trip to visit his mother in her country house in the Catskills. “Great”, I thought, “I’ll bike part way there and he can pick me up.”
I had hoped that at some point I could find a destination to ride to directly versus the many many loops that I have been doing. Whenever I would drive somewhere and I’d see someone cycling, I would imagine that they were traveling from one location to another and secretly wished I could do that someday, without inconveniencing my family too much.
This trip to upstate New York seemed like the perfect opportunity. I went on RidewithGPS.com to map out the route. It was very simple, take 44 West to 199 West right into Red Hook, NY. The plan would be to meet Leland for lunch in Red Hook.
I packed a lot of gels, blocks and other delicious delicacies along with 4 bottles, some filled with water and some with Powerbar Perform powder and a Camelbak filled with even more water! I headed out at 8:30 am and arrived in Red Hook a bit after 2 pm.
I can report that the ride was very uneventful and even a little boring. I stopped once for more water, a few times to text Leland about my progress and a few stop lights. No falls, no flats! Woo hoo!
At mile 40, I decided I was pretty bored and I wasn’t sure how’d I make it another 40 miles. I’m not sure what I thought about, but I guess I just focused on the task at hand. The ride was broken up into 15-minute increments, as that was when I would eat or drink something. I guess that helped pass the time.
I feel very accomplished about this ride, for several reasons:
1. I ate the right number of calories and it all settled well in my stomach.
2. I hydrated well.
3. I didn’t get lost!
4. I had no aches or pains. Every now and then, I would move my neck in all directions to make sure nothing got tight.
5. The entire ride was overcast and about 80 degrees. It was a little humid, but not scorching.
6. I perfected peeing on the bike! Six times! When the urge would hit, I would stand up on the bike, Scoot my butt past the seat and “let ‘er rip! I would have to time it so that I was on a downhill. I am not able to pee and pedal at the same time. Who knew? After only a few minutes, my shorts would dry and it was almost as though it never happened. When I finished the ride, however, I noticed that my socks were a bit saturated. Gross! I guess that’s a good argument for cycling sock-less.
All in all, it was a great training session, one of which I’m very proud.