NYC Century

Well this one was a dud!

Ha! Just kidding! It seems like a decent event all around, but with a course open to traffic, tons of red lights, and all the crap like glass and potholes in the city streets, this ride was pretty frustrating. I averaged about 9 mph for the ride, which was painfully slow, and almost crashed a couple of times due to crowds and riders not communicating. That's a shame because TA, the group that puts on the ride, is a great advocate for cycling in the city, and it looks like they had a tremendous turnout. I initially wanted to ride the 55 mile route.... then, after vacation and school and not riding as much as I wanted this week, I decided I ought to drop to the 35 mile and call it a day. THEN when I got out there, weaving through all of the lights was SO SLOW, and then, of course, I flatted at about mile 14 or so. I fixed the flat and proceeded to the first rest stop in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. There was no mechanic station to top off the air in my tire, but I was able to go to the bathroom, grab a snack and refill my water bottles.... I was dismayed to see that I was at mile 16 at the same time that I had told my husband that I was going to finish (!!!) and then, I noticed that I flatted AGAIN.

That was it for me. I called it a day.

The time I spent on the bike was fun, but I probably won't do this one again - it's just too annoying to try to ride on the city streets. That's why I love living so close to the greenway system.

In other news, I got an email last night saying that REI rejected me. This is actually good news! I had been having anxiety and panic over how I was going to manage showing up to open at 6 am and getting enough rest and free time to do well in school and to continue to stay active. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to have worked something out part time and gotten a bunch of new gear and knowledge, but it felt like a relief more than anything. Hope all the rest of you had a great weekend! I'm spending the rest of mine watching the Jets pound on the Bills!