A Ride Like No Other!

Upon completion of our bike trip to Manhattan (previous post), we had to make our return home.  So as we made our way by car the next day, we planned to make a stop over in Lake Placid.  We love Lake Placid - its a great town, and is also the place where we completed our first Ironman!  If you go there any weekend from May to July, you will surely see triathletes there in town to train for a weekend in preparation for the race every July.
Our purpose though was very specific - we had a mission.  Located just outside of Lake Placid there stands a mountain - a very tall one - known as Whiteface Mountain.  It is well known as one of the best/hardest bike climbs in the Eastern States, and we were itching to give it a go.

Here's the background - 2 years ago, my brother and I made an attempt up the mountain, but at about the 3km mark we were stopped at the toll booth (that we didn't know was there), and told we could not ride up any further because of the time of day - cyclists were only allowed to ascend during certain hours, so it was a bust.  Last year, my uncle went down to do some training with friends and they went to climb the mountain, but had terrible weather, so they drove up beyond the tolls, and rode the rest from there.  So, this had been over 2 years in waiting on the 'wish list', with neither of us having been able to complete the ride.

OK, back to the attempt.  This time, neither weather or timing would be a problem.  We had arrived at around 4:30pm, and knew the mountain cleared of vehicles by then, so we could get to the top!  The weather was great also, so the only thing that could stop us... the mountain.  Needless to say, we were both riding on 'less than fresh' legs :-)  After all, we had just ridden our bikes over 1000 km's in the past 5 days, but hey, you only go around once right?  And if it doesn't kill ya.... we had to give it a go!  We agreed that we each would just ride our own pace, and meet at the top.  We looked way up, and could see some sort of building at the top and looked back at each other with the understanding - there is no easy way.  We each took a deep breath, hit the start button on our watches and were off.

Now, in spite of my tired legs I was not going to just take it easy going up this beast (thought that really isn't an option, as I'd find out).  I had decided I was going for my best time, trashed legs and all - after all it was my first attempt so any finish would be a new best.

I took off and started spinning the legs good.  The grade starts right away though, so there is no easing into things.  Within minutes, I am breathing hard, unzipping the front of my jersey all the way to let the air cool the body and make it easier to breath (though that is relative!).  Very shortly, my legs start burning like crazy.  It feels like complete fire.  I know I have a long way to go, so I try and settle into a groove, but its not easy and the mind games start - 'Where's that toll booth? I ask myself. Ugh, I'm not even there yet. Man this hurts'.  I keep grinding, it doesn't get easier.  Finally I reach the tolls.  Nobody there to stop me this time, ok, that's good, keep climbing, I'm on to new terrain.

I look ahead of me and all I see is a continuous uphill of pavement, with no real end in sight.  I can't see the top of the mountain, due to the trees, so all I can do is keep pushing.  Soon I see a sign that reads something like 2600ft above sea level.  Alright, I think - that's progress.  I keep riding, the fire I felt in my legs had gone away, the body had managed the lactic acid build up from earlier, and I was starting to find a groove.  I was feeling better, but it was not getting easier.  The grade was constant, no flattening out, relentless.  Another sign, 2800ft,  and again 3200ft. These served as minor encouragement, I was going up, I was making progress, but it was tough!  I thought back to my uncle, 'how's he doing? I know his legs are pretty fried, he won't quit, he'll meet me up there... keep going.'



I look down at my computer - 13 kilometers from bottom to top.  I see a sign at the top - 4867ft Above Sea Level.  I look at my watch 1hr, 6 mins

The ride back down the mountain was exhilarating, to say the least.  How fast you want to go, is up to you and your courage.  Neither of us were in the mood to wipe out, so we stayed on the brakes and in control - that being said, I hit 85km/hr on the way back down :-)

This ride was one of the coolest things I have ever done on a bike!  I have replayed the experience in my mind many times over since that day, and have wished that I lived closer to such a climb!  Not to worry though, in another month I am going back to watch my uncle and another friend race in Lake Placid, and guess what else I'll be doing?  You got it - climbing up Whiteface to try and beat my time! :-)

Thanks for reading,
Jon
    

EPIC Bike Week 2010 (The Wrap Up)

Hello,

Well here I sit, enjoying  a full day of rest in the beautiful town of Picton.  I have a few moments to reflect on the week past, so here goes...

Day 1 - Oshawa to Niagara Falls - 202 km's 'The Adventure Begins'

We left town just after 7am on Monday morning (May 31), with the goal of reaching NY City - ok, the south tip of Manhattan to be specific - hopefully by Friday.  We knew it would keep us hustling, but that's what makes up part of the fun of the adventure :-)  This day was fairly uneventful, with the exception of getting into and through Toronto while dealing with Monday morning traffic!  The roads were a tad busy, but Lindsay (my uncle) does an awesome job of mapping out the most ideal routes, that are as 'bike friendly' as possible.  Once you're into Toronto, its not that bad, as the bike path is set up along the waterfront and makes for easy riding.
In the afternoon, my uncle had a brief encounter with "Bonktown"!  For those not familiar, the term 'bonking', is used in endurance sports and refers to the feeling of being zapped of energy, its a place you never want to visit :-)  This often happens suddenly and is usually a result of low fuel/food in the body (sugar, liquid, carbs etc.).    Well,  as is the case, the sudden drop in energy caused him to quickly fall off the pace, and we knew, he was in need of some more food.  Thankfully we were close to a Tims, so a can of Pepsi, and bagel were in order!  Its actually pretty amazing he never had any other issues with this, as he had just run a marathon the day before! ;-)  The rest of the ride, was beautiful into Niagara Falls - quiet roads, and great views of the country side.  With a few km's to go, we had a big climb and then rolled on down to the hotel.

Day 2 - Niagara to Newark - 196 km's 'Welcome to Flatsville'

Its hard to describe the feeling of getting back on your bike at 7am, after just riding it 200 kilometers the day before.. lets just say its memorable ;-)  We quickly crossed into the US, and were on our way.  The US has great roads that are marked for bike travel, with nice wide paved shoulders for 99% of the time.  We had great weather this day, with a slight tail wind and we would have made great time this day, except for 1 problem.. well 6 actually.
On this day, I became the Mayor of "Flatsville".  This was my own self-designation after having 6 flat tires in one day!  For the record I've never had more than 2 in a whole year of riding, sometimes I go more than a year without one.  So, six in 1 day, was absolutely baffling, but believe it or not we found the culprit after the 6th one.  A very tiny pebble (and I mean tiny) had wedged into the rubber and was just poking through the other sider (puncturing the tubes inside).  Yes, we had checked for something like this earlier and each time, but it was so small, it went undetected.  Aside from these frequent stops - it was hard to ride for an hour without a flat, the day was great. We were relieved to find the pebble in the tire, and once we removed it, we rode the rest of the day without problems.      

Day 3 - Newark to Utica - 187 km's 'Hump Day'

In the typical work week, Wednesday is often called the 'Hump Day'.  Its the hard one to get over, but once you get it done your closer to the weekend.  Well in many ways, this day turned out to be my own 'hump day'.  By now, my body was well aware of what was going on and on this day I could tell it was fighting back a little.  As we rode, the wind was constantly flipping around a lot, sometimes helping, but other times hurting.  Wind makes a big difference when you're riding a bike, and so do road grades - once you become a cyclist, you are always very aware of both, even when your driving in your car :-)

The day itself was a grind, but we kept pull'n and made our intended destination.  

This is a good time to say, we were both happy to have Colleen (my aunt), driving along the route with us.  She would never follow us, but rather 'leap frog' us and was great at providing fresh drinks at crucial times when there were sometimes not many options for stops along the way.  She would also go ahead and scout for places to stay, and on this night we treated ourselves to the Hampton Inn!  If you ever get the chance, stay at one, they are wonderful with lots of complimentary treats like cookies, crackers, meet cheese, and a great breakfast :-)  Oh, since we rode a little less this day, we took advantage of the gym at the hotel and did a short little run in the treadmill.  I didn't want to forget how, so a little 6km run was a great reminder :-)

Day 4 - Utica to Hudson - 207.75 km's 'Lets Go South!'

We didn't exactly pick the shortest route to NY :-)  This was of course by design, as we wanted to ensure enough riding to fill the week with lots of training.  On this day, if it all went well, we would end up passing through Albany, and then heading south following the road which parallels along the Hudson River.  This was motivating, to know that we would no longer be going East by the end of the day!  

The morning weather was over cast, which was a welcome sight.  Until now, it had been pretty warm and sunny, so a little cloud coverage was great.   We started off, and 35 minutes into the ride - bam, flat #7!  Yep, we both smiled and couldn't believe it.  This time however it was not a subtle leak, we had made wrong turn, which took us over some rough road covered with "stuff", and I hit a sharp plastic object which punctured the tire.  The object made a solid gash in the tire, so a new tube would not suffice, I needed new rubber.  We patched it up and rolled to the next town, found a bike shop and fortunately the guy came in early so I bought some new tires, and in a few moments we were good to go again.  These things happen, but the whole ordeal set us back about an hour, so we knew we'd need to keep at it to make our distance.  

We were greeted with a few big climbs later in the morning.  The views were sweet, with green hills all around.  After riding mostly flat roads the past few days, I enjoyed the variety in elevation.  Things flattened out again though, and with the help of some good wind and a shortened lunch stop, we pushed onward through Albany, headed southbound, finally making our stop in Hudson.

Day 5 - Hudson to NY - 206 km + 33km of touring :) 'Lets Here It For New York...'

Friday was here and it was time to head for the Big Apple.  We had picked a hotel near the George Washington bridge on the New Jersey side, so that Colleen didn't have to drive into Manhattan (especially on a Friday evening!)  We knew it was a little over 200 km's to the bridge, so the night before we debated about just ending at the hotel, and then riding to the end of Manhattan on Saturday morning.  This would have been the more sensible option, but we both wanted to have the feeling of finishing the intended route on the Friday, so we set out to accomplish that mission.

It was the fifth day of riding, and when we set out the first hour or so was a little rough for me.  I was riding, but it felt like my body was just slow to get going.  I had learned from previous days though, that if I ate well, the body would often feel better as the day went on, and this day was no exception.  

This day was memorable for two reasons: 

1.  The hills!  By far this day was the most challenging terrain, with seemingly endless climbs, one after the other... and some that were actually called mountains (Bear Mountain, to be specific).  We climbed a lot this day, and it was pretty warm as well.  The views were amazing; catching glimpses of the Hudson River, seeing huge mountains in the distance, and riding through the quaint little towns along the river.  It was awesome, and as we got closer to New York, we saw massive estates and gorgeous parks, as well as an increasing number of cyclists :-)

2.  New York!  Its kinda funny, but in all of the planning and peddling, it never really dawned on me just how cool riding my bike across the bridge and down Manhattan would be!  It was absolutely incredible.  The views of the city, and all of the little nuances that can only be seen by bike, were so unique!  If you ever visit New York, be sure to go along the path that follows the Hudson River.  Rent some bikes if you can, and ride the trail.  You will see a whole little world; basketball courts, tennis courts, parks, soccer fields, baseball fields, couples sitting along the water, vendors, restaurants, yachts; it was an endless stream of activity!  

I must admit that after riding over 200 km's I was a little hesitant about going into the city that night (ya we were tired), but I was glad we did it.  We took our time and cruised on down the trail (which is about 16kms one way), and reached the destination.  The statue of Liberty was in plain view, and the mission was complete.  It was an awesome feeling, and worth every minute.  We soaked it all in for a moment, and we each called our spouses to share the achievement with them (they were both thrilled to hear of our safe arrival).  We snapped a few pictures (which I hope to post soon), and then had to bike back to the hotel of course, and just in time for the sun to set! :-)  

5 days, and over 1000 kilometers of riding... its impossible to write about all of the adventures along the way, but there's a glimpse.  Thanks to my uncle for planning the route.  We have had some amazing adventures on our bikes, and I hope to have many more!  Thanks also to Aunt Colleen, she is a first class support crew!  Well, thats all for now, I need a rest - I'm tired just writing about it! ;-)  

Thanks for reading, 

Jon

PS - The very next day, I experienced one of the coolest bike rides of my life!  I'll write about it, later on this week.  Cheers.