Monday, August 18, 2014

Training (of a sort) for Climate Ride Midwest

For those of you who have followed my bicycle travels, you know that I'm not a big fan of training for my long distance rides. Not because it isn't useful -- it definitely is -- even necessary one might say. It's just that it's....well...boring. And time consuming. And did I mention boring?

Don't get me wrong. I love biking. Obviously. But waking up and thinking, "Gosh, I've got to put in 40 miles today, and maybe tomorrow or the next day, so I can be ready in a couple of weeks for Climate Ride" does not inspire me particularly. Plus it takes a huge chunk out of the day. So what to do?

The answer, for me, was to make training a bit more fun and interesting. I like the Climate Rides, among other reasons, because they're new routes, new people, new experiences. So I figured I needed to make my training rides a bit more like that as well. Living on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, I tend to train on the same routes over and over, where I know the distances and climbs, typically going over the GWB and north on Route 9W. I could do it in my sleep at this point (that's a figure of speech, by the way, for those of you who might be a bit slow on the uptake).

So, recognizing that we were about to take a week of family vacation up in Truro, Cape Cod, before our boys both went back to their respective colleges, I decided to resurrect a ride I did in 2009 -- from New York to Truro -- with some adjustments. The adjustments primarily consisted of cutting it back from 6 days and 400 miles to 4 days and 240 miles -- otherwise I would be arriving after my family (which sort of defeats the purpose of a family vacation). I also did some small route adjustments just for the sake of variation and trying something new, but with a 5 year gap since I last rode the route this was not a particularly large concern.

And it was fun, interesting and excellent training! Maybe less so if I was training for serious climbing, as the whole route was relatively flat, but the upcoming Climate Ride is in the Midwest, after all.

I trimmed down the route this time around by taking a bus out to Peconic, LI, on the North Fork (with my bike underneath in the cargo bay). That basically cut out 110 miles and 2 days of not such pleasant riding (except, surprisingly, for some excellent Greenways in Queens!). From Peconic, I rode about 20 miles on gorgeous and empty back roads to Orient, LI, where I caught a ferry to New London, CT. And I was off!

And the timing worked out pretty well, too. I crossed the town line into Truro on my bike literally about 5 minutes ahead of Laura, Ben and Stephen in the car.

Here are the 4 days of routes, as usual, for those of you who might be interested, as well as a few photos:

Day 1 (the mileage reflects only biking, not the bus or ferry rides!):



Crossing the New London I-95 bridge (fortunately on the separate pathway!)

Day 2 (riding mileage overstated by about 8 miles for the bus ride needed to get across a bridge and into Newport, RI):



Lunch along the way, about 40 miles in, in Narrangansett -- not a bad spot!

Fully loaded bike perched on the front of the bus!

In Newport, along the water.
Day 3 (a long haul -- and without any busses):




Crossing the Bourne Bridge

Serious Canal traffic! (also below)



And the grande finale -- Day 4:

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

I Challenge Myself is on a Roll (Literally and Figuratively)

For those of you who have followed my biking adventures (and, if you're reading these words, that probably includes you!), you'll recall that much of my fundraising is channeled to supporting I Challenge Myself, the non-profit of which I've been Board Chair for almost 10 years. So I thought a report on their recent (and amazing) progress was in order.

First, on June 8th, the kids at ICM biked their annual Century Ride (100 miles), basically from Upper Manhattan to Carmel, NY, along the various Westchester bike paths, and back again. The picture at left was taken after the ride -- they don't look much the worse for wear! In fact, we had to pull them off the field behind them, where they were running around and playing Frisbee, in order to take the photo!

I rode with them again this year, and it was again an inspiring experience. The kids were playful, but careful and polite riders, and really looked after and supported each other on the ride. They also were pretty darn strong in the saddle. This year, we also also had more volunteers than ever -- supporting all aspects of the ride, from meal and snack set-ups, to driving sag wagons, to riding along with and encouraging the kids. It was a long day for everyone, but the kids really did a great job, and I'm not exaggerating to say that all the adults came away impressed with the whole undertaking and, I think, re-invigorated themselves by the good use of their donated time.

Second, a smaller subset of riders took off in late July on a multi-day summer bike tour program, covering almost 400 miles, of seven colleges in Upstate New York: Syracuse, Cornell, Binghamton, Oneonta, Cobleskill, Bard and West Point. Each visit included a guided campus tour and meetings with financial aid and admissions counselors. I just recently met with the kids, and the bonding, enthusiasm and excitement they all showed, having completed a challenge of this size, was extraordinarily heart-warming and inspiring. Please check out their Facebook page for some amazing coverage of this adventure! And if you can't be bothered with clicking the link, here are some photos for you without leaving this very page!



Last, but certainly not least, through the dogged determination of our Executive Director, Ana Reyes – ICM earlier this year received a 3 year Carol White PEP Grant, which is a US. Dept. of Education federal grant, worth over half a million dollars! It means we will be vastly expanding our program, including hiring additional staff, to reach more kids through a cross-fitness program that we hope will become a standard for physical education across all of New York City's public high schools. We'll still maintain our Cycling Smarts program and its Century Ride, as well as the College Summer Bike Tour, but this additional program will, we hope, be a way to get entire schools involved in challenging themselves!

Now I've never quite figured out whether getting a grant of this size positively or negatively impacts prior financial supporters. One reaction might be: "they've got a lot of money now -- they don't need my $50." The other (and the one we hope for) is: "wow, they're really taking it to a new level -- I want to be associated with this organization and support it more than ever!" Seriously, though, the grant does have an obligation to raise some matching funds that means that continued support from our best and earliest donors continues to be needed and much appreciated. End of pitch.

More posts coming soon about my upcoming Climate Ride Midwest ride -- which will be in support of both Climate Ride and I Challenge Myself. I hope you'll follow along.