Cause Co-Motion! On the Road

On a somewhat more successful non-sleep related front, I got my bike tires replaced on Monday*** and this weekend I rode 78 miles--42 on Saturday with a friend and 36 on Sunday by myself. I felt pretty good for just my second weekend out (after last weekend's 60 miler on Saturday). On Saturday I could have kept going for much longer, but on Sunday I definitely felt the burn. For sure though, I feel well on my way to doing the full 100 miles at the Montauk Century in May.

I basically took the same route each day: beginning at home, heading to Central Park via Greenpoint>Queens>59 St bridge, then cutting across town over 60 St into the park. I did two and half Central Park road loops before exiting during the third at 100 St & Central Park West and heading west across town to the Greenway to make my way downtown (Sunday's route varied by exiting the park at the end of my second loop at 59 St and heading across town there to the Greenway). From the Greenway, I traveled south to Warren St and cut across town to head over the Brooklyn Bridge for Prospect Park, where I did one loop before heading home through Fort Greene.

It was a very nice ride that was relatively stop free, minus crossing town in lower Manhattan and again in Brooklyn on the other side of the bridge. I've noticed recently that as I've begun traveling faster and faster during my exercise rides--work commutes and leisurely rides aside--I've become more and more aware of the general annoyance of stopping and sitting at lights, and particularly my disinterest in doing so. I take this as a relatively good sign about my commitment to pushing myself, but it's also frustrating as I become more aware of the fact that it is difficult to ride in New York, generally speaking, without spending a good amount of time sitting at lights. But then, I guess questing after "the best" routes is part of the fun of biking here anyway, so on with it then.


Here's the map of my trip on Sunday:


View Larger Map


NOTE:
***= To my amusement, the local bike shop dude broke one of his own tire levers getting my old tires off, making me feel like less of an asshole for my struggles last weekend.