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This ride was done on September 19th, 2020. If you’re looking for my GPS track and a link to the map pictured above, check it out on Gaia. If the link fails for whatever reason, shoot me a message and I’ll figure it out. If you follow the route above, note that there are some micro-optimizations I’d make in hindsight. I’ll try to cover any questions you may have about the ride below. Scroll to the bottom for a photo slideshow.
THE INSPIRATION
After my climbing gym closed for Covid and I didn’t have to schlep myself into the office, I found myself with more time for structured endurance training of my legs. Without a goal in mind, I decided to train exclusively in my Zone 1 and Zone 2 heart rate. Given how slowly I was moving, I wasn’t much of a fun running partner for Leah. Unlike high-intensity interval training, results were not immediate; fortunately, I knew what I was getting myself into after poring over Training for the New Alpinism and Training for the Uphill Athlete several times.
Prior to the NYC lockdown in March, I hadn’t used my mountain bike beyond commuting ten minutes to work. I would never have called myself a cyclist. I hadn’t even used my bike for dirt trails more than twice. My reluctance to use my bike for exploring the city was because of bike thefts, so I never saw it as a means of covering any mileage. I started to change my mind when I found the r/NYCbike community and what was possible.
MAKING IT HAPPEN
Throughout the summer I looked for new destinations to bike to, keeping a watchful eye on the mileage. When I felt comfortable with 20 miles, I bumped it up to 30, and so on. My longest ride was in Acadia National Park (see that story here) where I clocked in 100 miles over two days. Through some accident on the bike rental shop’s part I was given a brand new Specialized Tarmac road bike, which I’d later find out was $7,000! I hadn’t ridden a road bike before so it felt like I was on a rocket ship.
I floated the idea of doing a century ride to Bear Mountain with Ben and Greg. Only Greg had done a century ride before and he’d also be the only person with a road bike (although it was 30 years old).
While mapping out the route, I planned for us to return on the same path. Leah gave me the idea to cross the Hudson and cover new ground. I then realized how close I’d be to Croton Gorge Park and figured it was worth the additional miles. The estimated distance now totaled about 125 miles, and the most I had ever ridden in a single push was 60 miles on smooth national park road on a souped-up machine.
Leah suggested I rent a road bike for the attempt, but I refused. I wanted to prove to myself that my full-suspension mountain bike (weighing 30lbs) would be sufficient. I was willing to be stubborn, but I wasn’t willing to be an idiot. I planned out bail options along the Metro-North Railroad, plotted out water refuel stops and bike repair shops, and even refreshed myself on how to change my tube. I asked r/NYCbike for some optimizations on the route and even looked into some history of the area to amp up the enjoyment I’d get from cruising around upstate New York.
HOW I DID IT
I took a sleeping pill the evening before (reluctantly) to ensure I’d get a proper rest from an early bedtime. I drank half a liter of water at 5AM and made a simple protein shake for breakfast.
We met up at 6AM by the Tribeca bridge as it was convenient for the guys arriving from Brooklyn. The temps hovered around the low 50s and we pushed against 15mph headwinds. I could feel my body trying hard and I started to doubt myself, but when we finally made it past the George Washington Bridge and were protected from the brunt of the wind, I felt like I was dialed in.
After about 40 miles, I took off my softshell jacket and biked for the rest of the day in my sun hoody until about sunset. I did not pack a first aid kit beyond some Aleve (which I had planned to take at the halfway point), some wipes, and antibiotic. Some folks may not be a fan of this approach, but I was comfortable with the thin kit because of how close we were to civilization.
My strategy for food was a calorie drip of 150 calories per hour. At the top of every hour, I would eat about 100 calories of food and drink a third of a liter of water (which had calories from my drink mix).
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In the early morning hours, I biased toward sugars and gels given that my body was low on carbs from sleep. I had my last caffeinated snack at about 2pm. At the summit of Bear Mountain (around lunch time) I intentionally broke my 150 cal/hr rule and ate about 600 calories (mostly protein).
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By the end, I had burned about 10,000 calories that day. I carried all this in a hiking backpack (no panniers or cycling jersey to stuff this into).
WHAT I’D DO DIFFERENTLY
I don’t think there’s much I’d do differently, so I’ll call out some of the things I did that made a huge difference.
Having a softshell jacket helped with the wind and kept my core body temperature reasonable.
I relied heavily on my GPS, so I made sure to carry a big external battery which was absolutely necessary.
I’m glad I did this with friends. I’m comfortable hiking big objectives solo (e.g., Pemi loop in a day) but I felt more psychologically safe biking near car traffic knowing that I was with others.
I wore a heart rate monitor belt and could see my effort on my watch. This was mostly psychological as it gave me more confidence on hills (e.g., while pedaling up a hill I was in Zone 4, which I knew I could sustain for several minutes).
Having a high quality phone mount on my bike was amazing for removing my phone quickly and using it while mounted. I had been using cheap ones before and finally got an expensive one. I heard the Quad Lock is good but I use the Rokform mount.
WHAT SURPRISED ME
This is going to sound strange, but I was surprised at how prepared we were. There was very little in terms of what was unexpected. I even watched crappy GoPro footage from some cyclists who had done similar loops.
I thought I’d pay more attention to taking better photos, but I couldn’t find the headspace to do that. My mind was occupied with enjoying the scenery or keeping momentum. Most of my photos were taken while on the move.
The biggest surprise to me was that there was zero soreness in my muscles the next day. I assumed everything from my quads to my neck would need serious rest for days, but that wasn’t the case at all. I give full credit to my simple but diligent and consistent routine of great sleep, heavy hydration, lots of protein, liberal use of a massage gun, recovery yoga, breathing exercises, and long low-intensity workouts.
WHAT’S NEXT
While the temps are still good, I’m wondering what else I can get done.
Can I do more mileage with a better bike and/or less elevation? If so, where would I go? How much of my cycling fitness can I keep during the winter when biking will freeze my fingers off?
If you have any ideas for big linkups, let me know!
THE FULL STORY
I put together and pinned a story on Instagram (see here) but I might take it down at some point. Here it is in case you want some visuals to get you stoked. If you decide to try this, let me know! I’ll be cheering for you.
