Ride and Glide

A rather involved spree of updating h2omen.com was threatening to squander the best part of the day.

Albeit an extremely warm and humid one, but a fair day at that — and not one to be wasted.

A presage of silky smooth paddling to come

A couple of sports readily came to mind for this calm afternoon — paddleboarding, cycling, mountainbiking, and golf. Well cross off golf, as Chuck has a new puppy in the house. Mountainbiking; we were short on time for driving and that would make it a one-sport day. Road bike first and maybe paddle to cool off later?

Now, if Gordon didn't have the same array of options in his mind, it was guaranteed he'd have at least two after we rode past the liquid glass water of the L.I Sound, and later, Manhasset Bay, where a neighborhood party was in full swing in Manorhaven.

"That water's looking pretty good right now" he said as we stopped at the beach at Hoffstot Lane. 

The sky may have looked a tad lugubrious, but it was nothing more than the vanguard of cloud advancing in ahead of tonight's/tomorrow's rain.  Still plenty of time to ride and paddle if we wanted.

FITNESS GAIN

Hoffstot Lane — good place to stop and take a swig of
the old hydro, and take in the scenery.

With this full spring and summer of riding, it's done wonders for my fitness, so I'm now able to attack the smaller hills with an out of the saddle sprint. Before, the hills would slow me to a "spin cycle," as Gordon careened past. 

Now let's make no mistake, he can zip past me on any longer steep hill, but at least the 10-30 ft undulations are now a fun contest — which makes for a better ride for both of us. …

Today's ride brought out our/my best — a 12 mph moving average — over 14 miles. We haven't done a longer ride since Cape Cod's 16 miler. 

At the beach park gate, the sticker checker was still on duty when we rode past at 4, but by the time we would return, at 5, entry was sticker-free.

TRANSITION

Hill-eating monster. 

Having scoped out Manhasset Bay for SUPing on Aug 7 evening, we were ready to do a quick transition at the end of the bike ride.

A full glass of Kefir and some low-fat  milk, a change into water clothes, grab the boards and paddles, reverse the van into the driveway, open the hatch and slide the boards and paddles inside.

We were not the first SUPs on the bay today, Rich and Diana were already unloaded and Diana was walking their new board to the water -- sticker-free, too.  We shot the breeze with Rich for a while. Pretty sure he'll be getting a SUP of his own soon. Diana had already rounded the corner of the Marina and had paddled out of sight. 

Gordo was a bit apprehensive of heading into the deeps and open water of the Bay, but the boat traffic was minimal and the waters easy to navigate. 

SILKY SLIDING

The paddling was swift, smooth and easy. As good as it gets. A tiny wake swell here and there to keep it interesting. 

Amazing how hard it is to spot another SUPer among all those boats. I was getting kind of worried as Diana should have been easy to spot, but with all the pilings and pleasurecraft, we didn't see her until we got close to Plum Beach Point.

As we passed we shouted over to DIana how great the paddling conditions were — she was in full agreement. This was as good as it gets; and no burning sun, either. Cool water, and the barest hint of a breeze, but not nearly enough to stir the water's mirror-like surface.

Dad, why did you tell me the water was shallow at Plum Beach
Point — could definitely have used my swimming trunks there!

At Plum Point, I told Gordo to watch out because the water gets shallow quickly. He took it a bit far and jumped off into overhead-deep murk. Oops! … and swam it in the rest of the way.

The multi-boat party scene was in full swing. These folk know how to have a good time, alright. 

Meanwhile close to our boards the mossbunker were breaking the surface as they tried to escape their bluefish predators underneath. 

Boat ramp clean-off zone. Board and peeps at peace after a
fine day's biking and paddling. 

A couple of seaplanes droned overhead — we weren't sure if we'd be visited or not. We were paddling right past what looked like the seaplane hangar, in a stretch of open water perfect for landing. Hopefully that one doesn't land here! Nope he's flying on toward the city.

One of the yachts we passed in the bay was a rather spectacular 156 ft Pendennis superyacht the MITseaAH.

The photo below doesn't do it justice.

By the time we got back, the boat dock landing was no longer an option — the tide was less than fin deep and the ramp area is notoriously muddy. Deep mud, dank mud, oily mud and worse. Not something you ever want to step in (again, if you've ever been in it.).

So board portage it was. But the consolation is that the boat ramp has a water spigot for hosing off the not-so-salubrious bay water. That and the fact we'd had two great rides/glides in one afternoon.

A great ride and a great glide.