Archive → July, 2007
Newberg and back
Simcha and Gabe and I rode up into Harriman and, on a lark, decided to go on to Newberg for some reason. 83 Miles of fun in the (very hot) sun.
Distance (mi): 82.49
Time: 5:13:49
Avg. speed (mph): 15.8
Calories: 5,293
Ascending (ft): 4,074
Avg. HR: 142
Fastest speed (mph): 41.9
Max. cadence: 107.6
Max. grade: 13.4%
Max. HR: 179
On the approach to Storm King:
The view from the road. It’s a long way down!
Hangin’ with the our boys (or something):
In the distance, Pollepel Island:
In Newberg we crossed the Newberg-Beacon Bridge:
Through a tunnel on the east side:
Back across the Bear Mountain Bridge:
The last ten miles were really painful. I definitely was not ready for an 82 mile ride with over 4,000 feet of vertical climb.
Three Hills ride
Tallman Mountain (Mile 6), Hook Mountain (Mile 9.5), and South Mountain (Mile 18.5).
Max Grade 14.6% at mile 15, climbing up Scratchup Road to South Mountain Road.
Distance (mi): 26.51
Time: 1:42:10
Avg. speed (mph): 15.6
Calories: 1,747
Ascending (ft): 1,569
Avg. HR: 152
Fastest speed (mph): 36.2
Max. cadence: 101.7
Max. grade: 14.6%
Max. HR: 168
Battle of Stony Point
On Sunday we went to the Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site to see the events associated with the 228th anniversary of the capture of the Stony Point.
Mechel and Baila with a cheval de frise in the background:
The staff then staged a mock engagement:
After the reenactment, we walked up to take a look at the lighthouse. The weather suddenly became ominous, which made for a great photograph:
We narrowly missed getting wet!
YARTP
Yet Another Ride to Perkins, that is. Like we’ve done the last couple Sundays.
Distance (mi): 49.28
Time: 3:14:16
Avg. speed (mph): 15.2
Calories: 3,132
Ascending (ft): 3,239
Avg. HR: 144
Fastest speed (mph): 41.6
Max. cadence: 118.0
Max. grade: 11.1%
Max. HR: 168
Perkins is in the middle:
Couple o’ mountains
Via Scratchup Road and over Hook Mountain.
Zone Elev. chg. Distance Time Percent Speed Speed vs avg. Avg. HR
Ascending +566 ft 2.23 mi 12:54 17.1 % 10.4 -7.63 163
Flat (-2% to 2%) -46 ft 14.68 mi 48:29 64.3 % 18.2 0.18 155
Descending -1,161 ft 5.69 mi 14:03 18.6 % 24.3 6.31 146
Total -641 ft 22.60 mi 1:15:26 100.0 % 18.0 155
Google Earth file here. Track height is heart rate.
Truth
An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with one fisherman docked. Inside the boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, “Only a little while”. The American then asked why he didn’t stay out longer to catch more fish. The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?” The fisherman replied, “I sleep late, play with my children, take siesta with my wife Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life senor”.
The American scoffed, “I am a Stanford MBA, and could help you. You should spend more time fishing, and with the profits, buy a bigger boat to hold more fish. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you could buy a whole fleet of boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, after that open up your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually to NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.” The Mexican then asked, “But senor, how long will this take?” The American replied, “About 15-20 years.” “But what then senor?” The American smiled and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would sell your stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions.” “Millions, senor? Then what?” “Then you’d retire, move to a small coastal fishing village, sleep late, play with your grandchildren, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village where you would sip wine, and play guitar with your amigos.”
Wow.
Fishin’
Mechel saw a fellow fishing during our North County Trailway ride, and decided he wanted a fishing pole. Trish bought a pole for Mechel and Baila, and they went fishing at Willow Tree Park this morning while I was biking, but they didn’t catch anything.
This afternoon, we went to the last place we went kayaking to fish. I had to convince Trish to bring a bucket, as she was sure we wouldn’t catch anything. On my first cast with Baila’s Barbie fishing pole I caught a 3″ Pumpkinseed! He looked like this.
Great, now what?
Thankfully, a fellow happened by who showed us how to get the hook out.
Later, I caught a 5″ Yellow Perch. Trish got the hook out with some difficulty, and we put him in the bucket.
Baila in the bushes:
We’ll definitely take out the kayaks in search of larger fish.
Mo Mountains
Much like last week’s ride, I went out with Gabe and SImcha today. We rode 57.75 miles.
Due to operator error, I only have stats for the last 51 miles, which are:
14.8MPH Average, 43.4MPH Maximum
148bpm Average, 181bpm Maximum
For the entire trip, we had:
Total Ascent: 5,146 feet
Calories: 3092
It was really, really hot today. Probably in the mid-90s by the time we finished.
After climbing up Gate Hill Road, we headed down to Lake Sebago where we ran into Yeedle. Hi Yeedle!
The major thing we did differently is ride all the way down to Iona Island on the Hudson before climbing Perkins, which gave us an extra 671 feet of climbing, for a total of 1,240 feet. I left Simcha and Gabe watching a train go by on Iona Island. On the way up, I had to stop because a motorcyclist had gone off the mountain. The ambulance passed me on it’s way down, and I was stopped by the police where the accident occurred, as the tow truck was trying to get the motorcycle out of a tree below the road. When Simcha and Gabe came by, they allowed us through.
Hill stats:
Gate Hill: 8% for 1.06 miles
Climb to Tiorati: 4% for 1.46 miles
Perkins: 6% for 4.55 miles
Here’s an elevation chart, and a chart with elevation, speed, and heart rate:
Approach to Bear Mountain. The Perkins Tower is visible as a little nub on the top:
On Iona Island:
Simcha in the Iona Island feed zone:
Gabe checks out his bike:
Here’s the Google Earth data for the ride. Different visualizations can be turned on and off.
UPDATE: More on the motorcycle accident from The Journal News:
Motorcyclist in critical condition
The man who crashed his motorcycle at Bear Mountain State Park on Sunday morning was in critical but stable condition last night, a Westchester Medical Center nursing supervisor said. State park police identified the motorcyclist as Jose Caldas, 37, of Shirley, N.Y. Caldas was seriously injured shortly after 10:30 a.m. Sunday near Perkins Memorial Drive. He was transported to the Anthony Wayne Recreation Area in nearby Harriman State Park and airlifted from there to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. The crash remains under investigation, park police said.
Mountain Ride
I went for a 50-ish mile ride with Simcha and Gabe yesterday. Here are the stats:
49.3 Miles in 3 hours, 12 minutes
15.4MPH Average, 41.7MPH Maximum
145bpm Average, 178bpm Maximum
Total Ascent: 4600 feet
Calories: 3279
It was a cool and overcast day. We had a few minutes of rain, but it was perfect otherwise. We rode from Monsey to Harriman via Gate Hill Road (you know it’s going to hurt when the road is called “xyz hill road”. There were tons of folks in the park trying to get into the parking lot for Lake Welsh. We then rode down to the parkway and back up to Lake Tiorati. We then rode down to Bear Mountain and up to it’s top.
Ugh.
Anyway, lots of climbing, and it was a lot of fun!
Hill stats:
Gate Hill: 8% for 1.06 miles
Climb to Tiorati: 4% for 1.46 miles
Perkins: 7% for 1.60 miles
Here’s an elevation chart, and a chart with elevation, speed, and heart rate:
The tower at the top of Bear Mountain:
Cheaters:
Here’s the Google Earth data for the ride. Different visualizations can be turned on and off. Give it a shot.
Family cycling in Westchester
The four of us rode the North Country Trailway today. We started in Tarrytown and rode the 1.2 miles on the “Tarrytown Lakes Extension trail” to the North Country Trailway. Form there, we rode about 6.3 miles to the point where the trail briefly disappears and riders must ride on Route 100 for a while.
Here’s the route in Google Earth.
Here’s a video of Mechel and Trish riding along, and Mechel riding.
Baila sits along the shore of the Tarrytown reservoir:
