Stripes for Sandy Hook

26 local pro and amateur road cyclists are showing their support for Sandy Hook by putting green/white stripes on their top tube. They are positioning the stripes 26cm from the head tube in tribute to the 26 victims. The 26 bikers are planning to ride from Sandy Hook Elementary School to DC to deliver a petition for gun legislation. They asking other bikers to show support with their stripes. I have mine on my bike shown above. If you feel like sporting stripes, take a pic and post it on their facebook site https://www.facebook.com/SandyHookRideOnWashington

The New Banner?

Brothers Running 1st Ever

Del Ray Beach. First time ever running together!

Old Croton Aqueduct Trail and the Croton Dam

 I set out for a flat hard packed dirt ride on the trail that was home to NYC's water supply beginning in the early 1800's. The starting point was the Croton Dam seen above. As you can see it was active and quite majestic.

 The elevation of the dam was freakin high. Really high!!

 This was the fireroad that led up to the trail which runs from Croton down to NYC. I only rode down to Ossining and back.

 In the picture above you really can't see it but that the Hudson River in the background. The views were incredible. Most of the trail ran parallel to the Croton River and it was like looking into a canyon it was so high.

Pic above shows what most of the trail looked like, but as you can see by my GPS data there were a few insane climbs as well.

Singlespeed XC Xmas

I have gotten a good amount of rides in lately. It was 53 degrees on Thursday and I did 22 miles on the newer northern section of the North County trail with my road bike; a great ride! Today I rode from home and for the first time took the Cannondale ghetto rigid singlespeed into the forest. I didn't actually hit the singletrack Upper Gussy trail. Instead I rode the 2 miles from home to the fireroad. Continued on the fireroad up and over to the blue trail and then down to the boat ramp. Then back home via the paved roads. I was curious to see how i handled hills on dirt with just one gear. Not too bad. I need to try the singletrack next time.

New Route

I tried a new section of the North County Trail in Westchester today on my singlespeed Cannondale mountain bike. Its all new pavement and it is so much nicer than the lower sections of the trail. They did a really nice job designing this section with bridges and tunnels. You never cross over any roads. Next time back here I have to do more of it and on my road bike. Elevation gains are minimal which hard to find in Westchester. Actually the section I rode went from Carmel to Brewster which in Putnam County. I hear it connects and runs all the way up to Columbia Cty.

Its Cold Everywhere

47 degrees in Florida for Mike......

and about 20 degrees this morning for me. This was about the coldest I have ever felt out riding. I did about 45 minutes on the road bike and it was brutal. My face and head were frozen even with the balaclava. I think I need to get a thicker one for temps this cold. My ride was pretty lame in terms of mph and distance. I just didn't want to go that fast because the wind just hurt too much. Crazy!