| Blooming Metric - May 21, 2001 ORGANIZER START ROUTE Terrain was hilly |
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| Yes, I did the Blooming Metric - not the Montauk (or Mountauk) Century. Because of distance and fatigue, we weren't able to get to Manhattan start in time.
Everything was pointing in the direction of riding Blooming Metric. I had never done it before. Chris was pre-registered. His dad was meeting him with his Long Island bike club (riding from the ferry). Norwalk is where the ride starts and Chris lives. All of us were exhausted from driving to Bedford and back. To arrive in Manhattan around 1 or 2 a.m. and then try to be at Penn Station by 5 a.m. doesn't work. I had already put many hours (days) into planning the Montauk Century. Two years ago I tried to do the 100 miler on no sleep. I was sagged at the 25 mile mark and I hadn't even ride the day before! Blooming Metric - COLD in the morning! No t-shirts if you weren't pre-registered. Oh, well. I really didn't want to do this ride. I didn't want to leave the bed - too tired and too sore from all those hills! Just riding 2 miles to start was painful. At the start, I saw Brian from Brooklyn (5BBC member), I thought "good, here's my way out - I'll ride with him". I knew I HAD to ride or I'd be labeled "loser". This could turn out to be a good recovery ride. Jenny Jung was there - lost a LOT of weight. Steve (Cat 5) from CRCA and Pam (Bike New York volunteer) were also at the start. We began. This time, Chris was there to push me (yes!) AND talk (yes!). Being from the area, he served well as a tour guide. The route went along the shore until Westport - so pretty. Chris told us there are lots of escaped parots living here (truck accident years ago). The entire ride was scenic - big houses, "blooming flowers", Long Island Sound, back roads, little towns, rolling hills,etc... Most memorable was the food: Sobe - lots of it, in squirting |
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| After that Gatorade bar, I hooked up with some fast cyclists (it's always a great feeling to draft behind riders who have your speed and style) - I felt stronger, my speed increased and I finished shortly after Chris arrived to the end. His group rode quickly - passing many cyclists. That Gatorade bar is sooooo good. I highly recommend it along with Gu and Power Aid.
We hung out in the sun on the lawn - looked at the Sound - watched everyone finishing. The hero sandwiches were enormous and lots of them. Freebies were being thrown out. Pat collected Pedros Ice Wax, Free subscription to Bicycling Mag., t-shirt and more stuff. Someone won a bike. Others got free week at a gym. Starbucks coffee was there. Lots of soft drinks, bottled water, and Sobe. One of the members of the club saw I was cold and offered some t-shirts, I was happy to get one of those shirts. I couldn't get one at the beginning of the ride. So, I gave one to Pat and another to Bob Meyer. The bad part of the ride was that NYCC members starting late didn't get any food at the end. There was plenty of carbo loading stuff along the way - the sandwich was what I needed. Rob (last name?), Keith Goldberg(stein?), and Herb all arrived much earlier than the others - so I guess they ate. Ed Fishkin was there too! This is a great ride - too bad Montauk and Blooming Metric falls on the same day. I think it's great for training. People were so happy. This ride reminded me a lot of the Golden Apple - from Katonah. There were 2100 riders yesterday. Before yesterday, I use to think it was an inconvenience to do this ride. Not any more. |
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| Homemade cookies, oatmeal, chocolate chip. Fig Newtons - individually wrapped (by the way, 1/2 a pack saved me on the 200K Brevet Saturday). Gatorade's newest power bar (yum, saved me too), bagels, water, etc....
Chris met his dad at the first stop (20 miles), Pat and I took off to do the 100K. There's a point called "Indecision" - this is where one can change from 100K to 75K - I took it - Pat didn't. She tried to coerce me into the 100K with threats of "Ridge of the Rockies." (I plan to do a PAC Tour in September) Poor Pat, she had to step Well, my route went to different stops. I waited for 1 hour at the first stop thinking Pat was coming back there - nope - eventually, the NYCC showed up - Ralph Yazzo, Chuck, Bob Meyer and Dan Meyer, Linda and Tony Napp, Michael Samuels, Dawn, etc... I saw Brian again and almost wanted to ride with him - at a slower pace. My legs were logs! I was going to ride with Linda and Tony (by the way, Linda was brighter than usual - she looked great - rhinestone gloves!) riding "Bubbles". Funny thing, while riding - I looked over and saw a group of |
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