Northfork 100 Century Ride

Tomorrow is one of the big rides of the year and my last one of the longest season I have every ridden ... eighteen months.

Usually, I ride from February or March until November, from the end of snow and ice on the ground until the onset of winter. But, of course, my season for the last year and a half has been totally messed up since we went straight from late Fall (warm December and January) into mid-summer in New Zealand. So, I've been going without a break for almost eighteen months. So, tomorrow is my last 100 mile ride and then start a long off season, riding easy during September through February.

But, tomorrow, is a great ride, out through the flat farmlands and vineyards that stretch out on the Northfork of Long Island

The red line is the route, snaking to the southwest from Greenport High School to Wildwood State Park and then up to the northeast all the way to Orient Beach State Park way up at the tip of the fork and back to Greenport High School. There will probably be several hundred of us who will leave on buses from Madison Square Garden/Penn Station tomorrow morning at 5:30 am and meet up with several hundred others who are making their own way out there for the ride, which should start around 8:00 or so. The weather should be low 80s (upper 20s) and the humidity dropping during the day, with little wind. The last time I did this ride, my time was about six hours but it all depends on whether there are other riders who want to work together in pace lines. The route is almost totally flat, flat, flat, which will be a relief after riding hills in Massachusetts last week and in New Zealand for the past few months.

When I rode this ride in 2005, I did the entire distance with a New York City fireman who had been one of the first at Ground Zero and one of the last rescuers to leave, several days later. The miles slipped by listening to some awful stories from that time. We finished the ride at a bar in Greenport and I remember watching the TV there and seeing a huge blob called Katrina heading towards New Orleans. Let's hope tomorrow is another memorable ride, but maybe for different reasons.