Multi-Sport Mix-Up

As fine a day for dog-walking as I can remember in a long time.

Tideway ... looking N across the Sound before
a long fast decent. 

And as fine a day for cycling. Well, maybe not quite perfect, but definitely good enough.

Tell the truth, it was kind of windy, which means as a windsurfer, I should probably have been windsurfing. But sometimes the call of the road bike is just too strong to ignore, especially when it's been a while.

The bikes; they had been slacking off during September, when a string of good surfing weekends at Long Beach took control of the agenda.

Today, however, I was in dire need of a cardio fix, mixed with that unfakeable road glide sensation.

For cyclists it's one that you feel you just can't get any other way but riding ... or skiing, or surfing, or snowboarding, or ...

After a week at a conference in D.C., the body was screaming for some kind of calorie intensive workout. A good hour of climbing and descending is sometimes the best recipe.

The road bike was getting a wee bit dusty too.

But the call was so loud in my ears I didn't hear the story the wind was telling: "It's ripping on the on the south shore, dummy!" But the mind was in two-wheel mode, and that was that.

Maybe I missed a great early fall no-gloves-needed windsurf day, bbut a great ride was had nonetheless. That's the price of being a multi-sport kook, I guess. Hopefully there will be more windsurfing days before the cold sets in. [20-20 hindsight - the next weekend delivered. October usually gets it done.]

DECISION TIME
That's when you either load up the boards and drive, put on the bike gear and ride — or do something else. A profound pause in the wind told me it was probably going to fade to calm.

Wrong.

Naturally, by the time I got the bike on the road, the wind was fairly blasting across Middleneck Rd. A crosswind; SW shifting West.

Never mind; whatever the wind, the month away from the bike was not an issue. The legs felt strong, just a little off; nowhere near as much as I had expected. And after pfaffing about to get ready, it was off to the races. In the month since the last road ride, the nastiest potholes and crevices of the last section of Sands Point had been re-paved. Finally. That downhill was getting extremely treacherous.

The roads in between, however, were primed for squirrelcide. Chestnuts and acorns everywhere, twigs and leaves and busy furry-tailed rodents dicing with death as they collected their treasures between passing cars, and bikes.

The "Secret Spot" before Ariel Court was developed.

By the time I got to Hoffstot, an approaching cold front was cranking. Great spot for a N wind there. It accelerates as it wraps around the point, (the offshore areas may require more sail area to power up.) But today, there's no sailing here :( because there's no parking allowed. anywhere. here. You'd need to boat launch.

But once back in time, before the last beach was walled off by a $-gazillion mansion, we found a way to guerilla sail. And this is what it looked like. It involved a stealth gear drop off, parking in a mystery "membership" facility, and a couple of bike rides back and forth to the Squidburban. A lot of effort for a short sail, but worth it for the memories and those long luxurious swells a noreaster can bring.

An old friend getting in some quality reading time, while
the boys sailed a light noreast.

A little further round the point, the wind was wailing from behind now, NW or W by NW. Nothing like a tailwind and a 2-degree downgrade for some fast riding.

The wind was proving to be solid material for some windsurfing fun on Manhasset Bay, but with a long 8-hr drive ahead tomorrow, I was in no mood for hours of packing, rigging, wetsuitupping, and undressing in a stiff cold damp wind.

The Point, looking NbyNNW

The wind is often a roll of the dice — will it stay up long enough (it's a 40 min drive and a waste if the wind is not certain). This time it did. I had misread it for sure — it was windy enough till dark.

But the call of the bike was as loud and strong as the wind today, and it would not be denied. The riding was good, smooth and flowing, the stuff road bikes dream of, if not their riders.

OK so the max speed function is not working too well. 218 mph it certainly was not :O 

Peaky looking elevation challenges.

SURF BIKE SEQUENCE
I know my son Gordo is itching to surf again, and so am I.

This ride got the blood flowing, and the embers glowing, however, what I've found is that the two activities are best done in a particular order.

Surf, then bike, is my preferred sequence.

The rigors of the bike don't leave the legs and back in nimble enough condition for surfing the next day. Surfing demands agility and extremely live legs and a flexible back or it's a "fail" (especially if you are 50+). Riding I can do even with slow legs, it's just more painful and more of a challenge, which is usually just fine for cyclists ;).

Sands Point with 4 side loops/hills.