itsflantastic
07-22-2011, 09:39 PM
On Friday, July 1, I got out of work and had planned on driving to NJ. On my ride home I noticed that the traffic was terrible and decided not to go sit in my car. I rode to the LBS instead, picked up a seat-mounted rack for my new-to-me Bruce Gordon Chinook (without rack eyelets!), and was on the road by 6.
Due to the spontaneity of it all, I was wicked unprepared. For starters, I was wearing sneakers, which was fine, but not the most efficient footwear for an adventure like this. Also, I didn't have a map. So from Boston to Connecticut, I guessed my route until I could find one. Gas Stations don't carry them anymore thanks to GPS.
Anyway, I made camp off of route 16 in Holliston MA around 8:30 that evening in some meadow. I hid my tent in some bushes, but unfortunately I didn't notice the poison ivy hiding there with me. The weather was perfect and the night was quiet-ish, but at around 3 am I was awoken by some guys on 4-wheelers that scared me half to death.
The next day I was up at about 5:30 and got moving before 6. My goal was New Haven Connecticut, about 140 miles away. The day was wonderful with mostly great roads and a lot of great sites. I even got to take a ferry ride where I met another cyclist. He clued me in and mentioned that e-Richie lived nearby - This was around Chester, Connecticut - but I didn't have the Twizzlers with me so I just kept riding.
Unfortunately, all the the hills were saved for last as I rode on 80 from Chester to New Haven. After a phone call with my brother, I was determined to catch the last train to NYC, so I was treating it like an ITT. At the brink of utter exhaustion I checked in with him one more time and had him read the train schedule to me again, and fortunately he had missed one later train. I had an extra hour.
I made it without too much worry. When I got to town I asked for directions from a really cute EMT. She gave me her number, but I had to catch that train (regret? a little). Caught the 7:30 train to NYC, met my brother at Grand Central and we rode our bikes down to Union Sq. for some noodles and a drink.
Epic.
As for the bike. It rode so awesome. It was surprisingly fast and handled great, even with the 20 extra lbs over the back wheel. It climbed and descended like a champ. A really solid bike, and my new favorite ride, I think. I was reminded that I should probably share the story with the recent Bruce Gordon post n' all.
Unfortunately, I didn't really take any pictures, but I remember what it looked like. As soon as I forget that just means it's time to do it again.
Cheers
Due to the spontaneity of it all, I was wicked unprepared. For starters, I was wearing sneakers, which was fine, but not the most efficient footwear for an adventure like this. Also, I didn't have a map. So from Boston to Connecticut, I guessed my route until I could find one. Gas Stations don't carry them anymore thanks to GPS.
Anyway, I made camp off of route 16 in Holliston MA around 8:30 that evening in some meadow. I hid my tent in some bushes, but unfortunately I didn't notice the poison ivy hiding there with me. The weather was perfect and the night was quiet-ish, but at around 3 am I was awoken by some guys on 4-wheelers that scared me half to death.
The next day I was up at about 5:30 and got moving before 6. My goal was New Haven Connecticut, about 140 miles away. The day was wonderful with mostly great roads and a lot of great sites. I even got to take a ferry ride where I met another cyclist. He clued me in and mentioned that e-Richie lived nearby - This was around Chester, Connecticut - but I didn't have the Twizzlers with me so I just kept riding.
Unfortunately, all the the hills were saved for last as I rode on 80 from Chester to New Haven. After a phone call with my brother, I was determined to catch the last train to NYC, so I was treating it like an ITT. At the brink of utter exhaustion I checked in with him one more time and had him read the train schedule to me again, and fortunately he had missed one later train. I had an extra hour.
I made it without too much worry. When I got to town I asked for directions from a really cute EMT. She gave me her number, but I had to catch that train (regret? a little). Caught the 7:30 train to NYC, met my brother at Grand Central and we rode our bikes down to Union Sq. for some noodles and a drink.
Epic.
As for the bike. It rode so awesome. It was surprisingly fast and handled great, even with the 20 extra lbs over the back wheel. It climbed and descended like a champ. A really solid bike, and my new favorite ride, I think. I was reminded that I should probably share the story with the recent Bruce Gordon post n' all.
Unfortunately, I didn't really take any pictures, but I remember what it looked like. As soon as I forget that just means it's time to do it again.
Cheers