Riverhead to New Suffolk Again

It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down
I had the radio on, I was riding
The trees went by, me and del were singin
Little runaway, I was flyin
Yeah runnin down a dream
That never would come to me... Tom Petty

I used my MTB for this ride so I wasn't exactly flying. The round trip from the Riverhead Waterfront to New Suffolk 34 miles round trip, I averaged 15.1 MPH, max speed 24.2 MPH going down hill with a good tail wind. Two spots along New Suffolk Avenue have spectacular views of the Peconic Bay and the Salt Marshes.




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Fat Tire To Mattituck

Memorial Day, the unofficial first day of Summer. Unofficial as it may be, it's the first long weekend of the warm weather season. I officially reset the odometer on my bicycle and my log entries. It's a method I've used over the years to gauge my century readiness. The rainy weekends have set my training schedule back. I decided to ride my fat tire bicycle which is usually reserved for used for cold temperature training. My logic may be wrong but the increased rolling resistance and heavier weight seems to make me work harder thereby increasing the training effect. My fat tire stats 42.8 Miles, Average Speed 11.5 MPH Max Speed 19.2 MPH.

Riverhead to Westhampton Beach

Today is my Century training ride and I decide not to carry my camera only water and snacks. This is of my favorites training rides The first 10 miles out of Riverhead is Route 51 which is relatively traffic free with wide shoulders and mostly flat. As you follow Dune Road from Westhampton Beach to Ponquogue you can stop for views of the Alantic Ocean Beaches or Moriches Bay and Shinnecock Bay. The ride is about 55 Miles and completely doable in 6-7 hours at a leisurely pace. However head winds should be accounted for.


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First Ride of 2009

Finally a dry Saturday. My first ride of 2009... correction my first ride out in the East End for 2009. I've been taking mostly short flat rides in the city. I chose to take a short loop of the 'Tank Hill' on Sound Shore Road. As I crested the hill a group of riders were comimg down in the opposite direction. The ride was pleasant with a short brake at the Beach for a view of the Long Island Sound. The ride back West was another story. The head wind was stronger than when I started out. Right now my legs are paying the price for cranking it up into the headwind.

My ride stats: average speed was 14.5 MPH, Distance was 20.1 Miles, Max Speed was 27.7 MPH, must have been on a downhill stretch.


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Rites Of Spring

March 20th Thursday, the first day of Spring. Weather forecasts called for scattered 'snow flurries'. The month of March is known to be cruel, teasing us with 60F degrees one day and snow the next. The forecasters obviously didn't look out their windows the flurries were a traffic stopping whiteout. But it's Spring, time to get my bicycle out for the Spring ritual.

Aquebogue and Jamesport

Out in the east end of Long Island the summer rental crowds are gone and everything seems to return to its bucolic state. The trees, compared to the Catskill Mountains are not as showy with their colors, the sandy beaches and the gold brown seagrass of the salt marshes all add to the tranquility. These photos were taken along my bicycle route from Aquebogue to Jamesport and Mattituck.

Bethpage State Park

This path runs from the middle of the Island in Bethpage to the south shore village of Massapequa New York, paralleling the southern section of the Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Trail. Despite the fact that it is in the heart of a densely populated area, it provides a quiet, bucolic environment that is rare in this part of the island. The northern starting point of the path is the Bethpage State Park picnic area.

Back To The East End

Back to the East End of Long Island this weekend, back to beaches, farms, vineyards and flat roads. The sun is setting earlier as winter is slowly but surly coming. Retuning later than expected from my ride I couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture the changing colors of the setting sun reflecting off the Peconic Bay. I paid the penality for stopping. My legs stiffened and my fingers numbed from the cold as I struggled to maintain a pace during the last few miles toward home. It's not too soon to plan for an alternative to my bicycling weekends. Door Number One or Door Number Two

North Fork Pumpkin Picking

It's mid Fall, as I bicycle pass the farms they are full of families with children picking pumpkins and losing each other in the tall corn stalk mazes. Most pumpkins are made into jack-o-lanterns and with stacks of hay and corn stalks used as decorations for halloween and the fall season.

Shinn Estate Vineyard

The Shinn Estate Vineyards is one of the smaller of over 25 Vineyards in Long Island's North Fork. The tranquil and peaceful setting reminds me of a Zen Garden. I didn't try the wines, but definitely will when being steady on two wheels is not required.

Riverhead to Cutchogue #3 and "Sophia's Choice"

Saturday, Memeorial Day weekend an opportunity to ride 3 consequetive days. More importantly our ride leader received an e-mail from Sophia Loren promising to join the ride. At 9:30 AM about 19 Sophia Loren groupies gathered with their bicycles at the Riverhead Town Marina, many whom would remember Sophia Loren. But by 10:00 AM the group was ready to leave "Sophia-less". As we started off everyone quietly acknowledged "Sophia's Choice" was Carlo and not our ride leader.
The complete set of photos are here.

My Bicycle

My bicycle it's almost my constant companion. Some one once said to me, 'I'm surprised you don't take that thing to bed with you!' I replied 'I don't need to, when I'm asleep I have a 'dream bicycle' and I am smugly bypassing gas stations, and SUV's waiting at the traffic circle in The Hamptons.

Profile of my custom built Tesch. First generation lugless design.

Seat stays blending into the seat tube and seat bolt binder.

Ishiwata oversized fork and lugless fork crown.

The jewel-like finish of the Campagnolo Crank.

The compact Simano 13-22 9 speed cassette. A smooth shifting and quiet combination, the only sound is the beating of my heart at 145 BPM and the buzzing of the 110 PSI kevlar tires on the macadam road.