Cycling Blog: A Little Background...
Just a little background to get this cycling blog off the ground.
Back in 2002, I was having a great time biking 4-5 times a week with my Cannondale Super V400 mountain bike all around New York City and parts beyond. I had purchased the bike back in late spring, 2001 and spent the summer and fall riding all over the place to get my "legs" back. I felt very fortunate that the winter of 2001-2002 was the warmest on record. I took full advantage and rode on any day where the temperature was above 42 degrees.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City, I took a night tour around town visiting lots of neighborhoods from the Bronx to lower Manhattan. Here's a small sampling of the pictures I took on that tour:
In almost every neighborhood I visited there were throngs of people either enthusiastically showing their appreciation for the local fire companies or quietly remembering a lost friend or neighbor at one of the hundreds of ad hoc shrines dotted about the city. Witnessing New Yorkers come together in this way was a moving and unforgettable experience. Now, I write almost every neighborhood because--and I feel I have to communicate this--as I passed through New York's wealthier neighborhoods, I saw no candlelight vigils, no one on the street waving flags: nothing. It seemed to be business as usual on Park avenue and the Upper East Side in general.
Let's fast forward to early summer 2002. I started to experience extreme pain in my neck and numbness in my left hand after 3-4 of riding. I thought it was just soreness from riding too much but the pain didn't get better. In fact it got worse and by June 2002 I wasn't able to turn my head to the left or right without experiencing excruciating pain. Furthermore, my left pectoral muscle and left tricep had become very weak and had diminished in size. I went to see a chiropractor which turned out to be one of the worst decisions in my life. I later found that I had developed a pinched nerve in my neck and I was in trouble! I had 2 options: surgery or let my body heal over time. I was not at all comfortable with the idea of having a surgeon messing with the vertebrae in my neck so I chose to wait it out. The summer of 2002 turned out to be the most painful summer my life. My condition took over 9 months to fully heal. The moral of this little story: if you are a mountain biker, watch out. I made the mistake of riding my mountain bike on the road for long rides. The extended riding in the mountain bike riding position caused my problem. Road bikes are for touring, mountain bikes for roughing it. I now ride a road bike and have recently completed 2 back-to-back 80 mile rides (that's over seven hours of riding) and I don't have any problems. You've been warned!
If you live in the North East and you are interested in purchasing my Cannondale Super V400 mountain bike please let me know by leaving a comment in this blog.
2003 I basically took off from riding. I wanted to give my body plenty of time to really heal up well so that I could get back into the game strong and ready to take on new challenges. Plus my first child was born in February 2003 and that kept me very busy.
By summer 2004 I was really itching to get back in the saddle. I was excited and ready to get myself a new road bike to commemorate my return to cycling. But choosing a new bike would be difficult. Sooooooo many brands and types to choose from! The most important thing was to get a bike that would be tough enough to take on some major touring. I did some research and came to the conclusion that I was looking for a steel frame road bike. Steel framed bikes are tough and long lasting and aren't prone to the vibrations and noises that are often found in bikes with aluminum frames. Carbon? Way too fragile!
I stopped by Performance to see what they had to offer and I was happy to find that they had the Fuji Roubaix Pro on sale. At $350 below suggested retail I bought it on the spot, along with accessories, Performance SPD pedals and some really cheap shoes (a regrettable decision. I now ride with Sidi Genius 4 Lorica shoes with what is left of my feet.) I didn't like the fact that the bike has a carbon fork but I this was something I could live with. The best thing about this bike is the Reynolds 853 steel tubing but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Shimano 105 components are really first class. Shifting is effortless with just one finger! I thought I would have to get the Ultegra or Dura Ace drive train to experience that kind of quality. The saddle, as expected, was total garbage and would have caused my narrow behind much pain. Fortunately, I have a Brook B-17 saddle which, at the time of my new road bike purchase, was almost perfectly broken-in (Lots of mountain bikers have had great success with the B-17. Not me. I personally don't understand how anyone can use a Brooks B-17 on a mountain bike. It's the best saddle in the world but it's not meant for a mountain bike. I tried to break-in my B-17 on my Cannondale mountain bike but was woefully unsuccessful after trying for over 250 miles of riding. The mountain bike riding position is just not a good match for the B-17, for me anyway. I finally got the saddle broken-in properly on my new Fuji.)
Now armed with my new road bike, I was ready to train hard and take on new challenges. I had never taken part in an organized bike tour and I decided that 2004 would be a great year to start. I did some research on the 'Net and found lots of great rides still available to me even though the summer was almost over. My new goal was to train for and do the New York Century Tour organized by the good people at Transportation Alternatives AND the Monmouth County New Jersey Twin Lights Tour which would take place a week after the New York event. I was a bit nervous about trying to do two century tours on two consecutive Sundays but I was confident in my ability to train hard and with discipline and get the job done.
I registered for both tours and began my training. I had moved from the Bronx to Philadelphia a couple of years ago so this is where I trained. Philadelphia has lots of special bike lanes which is great but they are disappointing in that they often don't last for more than 3 to 5 miles before they simply disappear. I needed to find the best roads for training and that took a few weeks. I eventually found that Route 13 and Route 413 were the best I could do in my area. Neither road has bike lanes but they each have a decent amount of shoulder space and offer relatively long stretches of smooth riding (smooth in the sense that the traffic lights are few and far between and the roads are relatively free of debris.) My chosen circuit also included a good number of steep hills which was something I knew I needed. I settled into a pattern of riding these two roads for a total distance of 40 miles per ride. I was doing 40 miles 3 to 4 times a week for 3 weeks. I trained at night because I don't do well in the heat and humidity. Heat, I'm fine. Humidity, I'm cool. Combine the two, and I'm garbage! I invested in a bunch of NiMH rechargeable batteries for my Vistalite system a last year so light wasn't a problem.
Finally, it was the night before tour day, September 11, 2004. I had rice, sardines and beans for dinner (solid and predictable-I didn't want any stomach problems on tour day) and I settled into bed at around 11:00.pm. This was really very late considering that I would have to get up at 3:00am in order to shower, eat a quick breakfast and make it to Central Park by 5:30am but my baby girl was having a "bad night" of mysterious crying and weird tantrums (I think maybe another tooth was sprouting.) I had just lost consciousness when at 2:00am I was startled out of sleep by the sound of my little KT (that's my baby's nickname) thrusting my bedroom door open causing it to crash into the closet door with a great noise. She couldn't sleep and now I was in big trouble! I did my best to get her back to bed and was finally able to do so by 3:00am. Yes, that's right: that was my wake up time! So on just about one hour's worth of unconscious sleep I headed to the shower and started my day. I was very worried about attempting a century ride on such little sleep but there was no way I was going to quit. I was very excited to participate in my first century bike tour and that helped to pump me up but I still had some butterflies in my stomach. I knew that drinking coffee would only exacerbate my nervous stomach but I had a cup anyway. Breakfast was Weetabix (a great whole grain wheat cereal that I loved from my boarding school days) and sardines. Yes, I can hear you saying to yourself, "yuck! Sardines for breakfast!?" Heh. Yeah. Good stuff those sardines.
My plan was to leave at 4:30 and I was running late. I stuffed my bike into the back seat of my car (instead setting up my Saris Bones transporter as planned-no time!) got the rest of my gear into the car in a hurry and set off. The morning air was cool and very dry and I thought this was a good omen. Thankfully, I had remembered to fill the fuel tank 2 days previous so I had no need to stop for fuel. My stomach was still nervous so I started contracting and relaxing my stomach muscles--kind of a short sit up, but sitting up--which helped to calm things down; the movement is not even close to a full range of motion but it really works with butterflies. By the time the sky started turning from black to a deep purple I was doing OK.
As I approached the final toll booth on the New Jersey Turnpike, I suddenly noticed two powerful beams of light shooting skyward from downtown Manhattan. The lights were so bright that they seemed to extend endlessly into space. I quickly realized that I was looking at the September 11, 2001 memorial. The lights mixed with the colors of the early dawn to produce a poetically beautiful image; two towering columns lighting the way for the murdered souls of 911. I found myself staring-instead of driving(!)-and thought about stopping just to take it all in for a minute but I decided that I really couldn't spare the time. I sped on, a bit disappointed for not stopping, but very glad to have been able to steal a few gazes.
I reached New York's Central Park at 6:00am. This was half an hour later than my planned arrival time but I was very fortunate to have found a prime parking spot just a few blocks from the start of the tour. Since I pre-registered I was able to make my way to the start without having to check-in. I performed a quick final check of my bike and set off.
The weather was quite perfect: cool, sunny and virtually no wind. The tour route starts at the north end of Central Park and continues down Fifth Avenue's famous Museum Mile. I was surprised at the number of cars and buses that early on a Sunday morning. Fifth Avenue wasn't choked with vehicles but there was enough traffic to make the riders come to a complete stop at almost every red light. It was stop and go all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge; there's a moderate incline half way up the bridge then a gentle downward slope into Brooklyn. It was single file over the entire span so the flow of bikes was slow; I was, however, glad that there was no stopping for I was getting tired of dismounting.
Back in 2002, I was having a great time biking 4-5 times a week with my Cannondale Super V400 mountain bike all around New York City and parts beyond. I had purchased the bike back in late spring, 2001 and spent the summer and fall riding all over the place to get my "legs" back. I felt very fortunate that the winter of 2001-2002 was the warmest on record. I took full advantage and rode on any day where the temperature was above 42 degrees.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City, I took a night tour around town visiting lots of neighborhoods from the Bronx to lower Manhattan. Here's a small sampling of the pictures I took on that tour:
In almost every neighborhood I visited there were throngs of people either enthusiastically showing their appreciation for the local fire companies or quietly remembering a lost friend or neighbor at one of the hundreds of ad hoc shrines dotted about the city. Witnessing New Yorkers come together in this way was a moving and unforgettable experience. Now, I write almost every neighborhood because--and I feel I have to communicate this--as I passed through New York's wealthier neighborhoods, I saw no candlelight vigils, no one on the street waving flags: nothing. It seemed to be business as usual on Park avenue and the Upper East Side in general.
Let's fast forward to early summer 2002. I started to experience extreme pain in my neck and numbness in my left hand after 3-4 of riding. I thought it was just soreness from riding too much but the pain didn't get better. In fact it got worse and by June 2002 I wasn't able to turn my head to the left or right without experiencing excruciating pain. Furthermore, my left pectoral muscle and left tricep had become very weak and had diminished in size. I went to see a chiropractor which turned out to be one of the worst decisions in my life. I later found that I had developed a pinched nerve in my neck and I was in trouble! I had 2 options: surgery or let my body heal over time. I was not at all comfortable with the idea of having a surgeon messing with the vertebrae in my neck so I chose to wait it out. The summer of 2002 turned out to be the most painful summer my life. My condition took over 9 months to fully heal. The moral of this little story: if you are a mountain biker, watch out. I made the mistake of riding my mountain bike on the road for long rides. The extended riding in the mountain bike riding position caused my problem. Road bikes are for touring, mountain bikes for roughing it. I now ride a road bike and have recently completed 2 back-to-back 80 mile rides (that's over seven hours of riding) and I don't have any problems. You've been warned!
If you live in the North East and you are interested in purchasing my Cannondale Super V400 mountain bike please let me know by leaving a comment in this blog.
2003 I basically took off from riding. I wanted to give my body plenty of time to really heal up well so that I could get back into the game strong and ready to take on new challenges. Plus my first child was born in February 2003 and that kept me very busy.
By summer 2004 I was really itching to get back in the saddle. I was excited and ready to get myself a new road bike to commemorate my return to cycling. But choosing a new bike would be difficult. Sooooooo many brands and types to choose from! The most important thing was to get a bike that would be tough enough to take on some major touring. I did some research and came to the conclusion that I was looking for a steel frame road bike. Steel framed bikes are tough and long lasting and aren't prone to the vibrations and noises that are often found in bikes with aluminum frames. Carbon? Way too fragile!
I stopped by Performance to see what they had to offer and I was happy to find that they had the Fuji Roubaix Pro on sale. At $350 below suggested retail I bought it on the spot, along with accessories, Performance SPD pedals and some really cheap shoes (a regrettable decision. I now ride with Sidi Genius 4 Lorica shoes with what is left of my feet.) I didn't like the fact that the bike has a carbon fork but I this was something I could live with. The best thing about this bike is the Reynolds 853 steel tubing but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Shimano 105 components are really first class. Shifting is effortless with just one finger! I thought I would have to get the Ultegra or Dura Ace drive train to experience that kind of quality. The saddle, as expected, was total garbage and would have caused my narrow behind much pain. Fortunately, I have a Brook B-17 saddle which, at the time of my new road bike purchase, was almost perfectly broken-in (Lots of mountain bikers have had great success with the B-17. Not me. I personally don't understand how anyone can use a Brooks B-17 on a mountain bike. It's the best saddle in the world but it's not meant for a mountain bike. I tried to break-in my B-17 on my Cannondale mountain bike but was woefully unsuccessful after trying for over 250 miles of riding. The mountain bike riding position is just not a good match for the B-17, for me anyway. I finally got the saddle broken-in properly on my new Fuji.)
Now armed with my new road bike, I was ready to train hard and take on new challenges. I had never taken part in an organized bike tour and I decided that 2004 would be a great year to start. I did some research on the 'Net and found lots of great rides still available to me even though the summer was almost over. My new goal was to train for and do the New York Century Tour organized by the good people at Transportation Alternatives AND the Monmouth County New Jersey Twin Lights Tour which would take place a week after the New York event. I was a bit nervous about trying to do two century tours on two consecutive Sundays but I was confident in my ability to train hard and with discipline and get the job done.
I registered for both tours and began my training. I had moved from the Bronx to Philadelphia a couple of years ago so this is where I trained. Philadelphia has lots of special bike lanes which is great but they are disappointing in that they often don't last for more than 3 to 5 miles before they simply disappear. I needed to find the best roads for training and that took a few weeks. I eventually found that Route 13 and Route 413 were the best I could do in my area. Neither road has bike lanes but they each have a decent amount of shoulder space and offer relatively long stretches of smooth riding (smooth in the sense that the traffic lights are few and far between and the roads are relatively free of debris.) My chosen circuit also included a good number of steep hills which was something I knew I needed. I settled into a pattern of riding these two roads for a total distance of 40 miles per ride. I was doing 40 miles 3 to 4 times a week for 3 weeks. I trained at night because I don't do well in the heat and humidity. Heat, I'm fine. Humidity, I'm cool. Combine the two, and I'm garbage! I invested in a bunch of NiMH rechargeable batteries for my Vistalite system a last year so light wasn't a problem.
Finally, it was the night before tour day, September 11, 2004. I had rice, sardines and beans for dinner (solid and predictable-I didn't want any stomach problems on tour day) and I settled into bed at around 11:00.pm. This was really very late considering that I would have to get up at 3:00am in order to shower, eat a quick breakfast and make it to Central Park by 5:30am but my baby girl was having a "bad night" of mysterious crying and weird tantrums (I think maybe another tooth was sprouting.) I had just lost consciousness when at 2:00am I was startled out of sleep by the sound of my little KT (that's my baby's nickname) thrusting my bedroom door open causing it to crash into the closet door with a great noise. She couldn't sleep and now I was in big trouble! I did my best to get her back to bed and was finally able to do so by 3:00am. Yes, that's right: that was my wake up time! So on just about one hour's worth of unconscious sleep I headed to the shower and started my day. I was very worried about attempting a century ride on such little sleep but there was no way I was going to quit. I was very excited to participate in my first century bike tour and that helped to pump me up but I still had some butterflies in my stomach. I knew that drinking coffee would only exacerbate my nervous stomach but I had a cup anyway. Breakfast was Weetabix (a great whole grain wheat cereal that I loved from my boarding school days) and sardines. Yes, I can hear you saying to yourself, "yuck! Sardines for breakfast!?" Heh. Yeah. Good stuff those sardines.
My plan was to leave at 4:30 and I was running late. I stuffed my bike into the back seat of my car (instead setting up my Saris Bones transporter as planned-no time!) got the rest of my gear into the car in a hurry and set off. The morning air was cool and very dry and I thought this was a good omen. Thankfully, I had remembered to fill the fuel tank 2 days previous so I had no need to stop for fuel. My stomach was still nervous so I started contracting and relaxing my stomach muscles--kind of a short sit up, but sitting up--which helped to calm things down; the movement is not even close to a full range of motion but it really works with butterflies. By the time the sky started turning from black to a deep purple I was doing OK.
As I approached the final toll booth on the New Jersey Turnpike, I suddenly noticed two powerful beams of light shooting skyward from downtown Manhattan. The lights were so bright that they seemed to extend endlessly into space. I quickly realized that I was looking at the September 11, 2001 memorial. The lights mixed with the colors of the early dawn to produce a poetically beautiful image; two towering columns lighting the way for the murdered souls of 911. I found myself staring-instead of driving(!)-and thought about stopping just to take it all in for a minute but I decided that I really couldn't spare the time. I sped on, a bit disappointed for not stopping, but very glad to have been able to steal a few gazes.
NYC Century Bike Tour
I reached New York's Central Park at 6:00am. This was half an hour later than my planned arrival time but I was very fortunate to have found a prime parking spot just a few blocks from the start of the tour. Since I pre-registered I was able to make my way to the start without having to check-in. I performed a quick final check of my bike and set off.
The weather was quite perfect: cool, sunny and virtually no wind. The tour route starts at the north end of Central Park and continues down Fifth Avenue's famous Museum Mile. I was surprised at the number of cars and buses that early on a Sunday morning. Fifth Avenue wasn't choked with vehicles but there was enough traffic to make the riders come to a complete stop at almost every red light. It was stop and go all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge; there's a moderate incline half way up the bridge then a gentle downward slope into Brooklyn. It was single file over the entire span so the flow of bikes was slow; I was, however, glad that there was no stopping for I was getting tired of dismounting.
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posted by Steve Brown | 7:48 PM
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