The Montauk Century (and 3 rules of cycling)

This weekend was the fourth year in a row that I rode the Montauk Century. A group of 13 of us left Morristown on Saturday afternoon for the drive to Long Island where the ride would start the next morning.  The weather forecast for the past week made it rather ominous - thunderstorms starting on Sunday morning and going pretty much through the week.

After eating a mountain of food at Ciao Baby (I think Frank Sinatra is buried under one of the tables) we walked back to the hotel for a fitful night's rest (sleep would be a misnomer as I don't think I got a wink!).  The alarm went off at 5:00 AM and we packed up and looked outside to promising dry pavement.  Things changed on our way down to breakfast - torrential rains with the weather channel only committing to at best light rain along the route. 

A bunch of the group were veterans of the torrential rains and crash plagued 2009 ride, so they opted to bail out rather than face the prospect of 7 hours in the rain - I, on the other hand had a mission to guerrilla market my NYC to Montreal ride to finishers on the 2 hour train ride back from the end of the ride.

The gang, in rain gear, at the first rest stop

The die was cast - 4 of us would ride (me and three of the others who had never done the ride) and the rest returned back to Morristown looking for better weather.  We set out under a light drizzle to occasional heavy rain heading east to Montauk.  The route was fairly easy to follow as it seemed that every quarter-mile there were a group of cyclists on the side of the road fixing a flat.  Paul and I set a pretty strong pace at the front for the 20 miles to the first rest stop, and again for the next 30 to the second one.

Drier weather at rest stop 2 (some of us shed the rain gear)

We then went "off route" and followed the 2010 route which took us for about 8 miles on a barrier island.  It was here that I got some closure from my tour du Canada ride last year, where on the East Coast, at the end, I neglected to do the customary "wheel dip" in the Atlantic Ocean - luckily for me, the "Atlantic Ocean" had flooded sections of the road so I "wheel dipped" by riding through the salt water puddles.

Road Flooded

We then headed over one of the major "cols" of the day, the massive 50' "Col de Hampton Bay Bridge"  It was fun to finally get a change in altitude.

A view from the bottom of one of the major climbs of the day!

Back on the mainland, on dry roads, we proceeded east towards Montauk.  Everyone agreed, at least silently, that my suggestion that Paul join us on the ride was a wise one.  He led the pack for almost the whole of the last 50 miles - I referred to him as our own "plutonium powered T-2000 Terminator" whose sole mission in life seemed to be to ride at the front of our group allowing us to draft behind him, until his nuclear core was spent.

As we rode through the Hamptons, we stopped at one of the beaches for a group photo in the sunlight mainly to rub in to the riders who bailed, how great a ride they ended up missing.

Check out the shadows on the asphalt.
(l-r Paul, me, Chris, Simon and Eric)

At the 3rd rest stop I mentioned that after riding the first 75 miles at a pretty good pace (I think only one rider had passed us while riding, since we started) we should tone things down and be careful since we were probably a little tired and our reaction times might be off.  Within the next six miles, I demonstrated my profound mastery of two of the three most important rules of cycling:
1) Always wear a good, well fitting helmet.
2) Don't crash.
3) If for some reason you fail to observe Rule 2, see and observe Rule 1.

It was at around mile 80 that, riding at the head of the pack, I made a late left hand turn and my front wheel came out from under me in a large patch of gravel.  Paul, reacting to my demise, kept going straight, and the others as well. I hit the pavement, first with my left thigh, followed by my left shoulder and then my helmet.  As I was collecting my thoughts, and  regrouping, my fellow riders looked after my bike - thank you Eric for readjusting my right brake lever.  The net result was pretty good road rash on my left thigh (I still can't figure out how you can tear your skin up but your bike shorts come out unscathed - I guess that is why my Pearl Izumi shorts are my hands-down favorite), a bruised left shoulder, and a pretty good dent in my helmet which did a magnificent job of protecting my left frontal lobe. 

I then mentioned to my fellow riders that after any crash you should ask the rider 3 questions to determine their level of alertness and orientation, and if they fail any of the three, call an ambulance, as they may have sustained a significant head trauma - they are:
1) What is your name? (I answered correctly)
2) Where are you? (again I passed with flying colors), and
3) What day (or date) is it?  (I aced that one too!)
Having demonstrated that I was normal (well, normal for me!) we got back on our bikes and kept on pedaling, as I did not want my injuries to stiffen up. 

At about the 90 mile mark, I think everyone in the group was silently thinking that despite seeing hundreds of riders with flat tires alongside the road, we would complete our journey without incident.  Chris then spoiled things with a loud call-out "Flat!"  We stopped to help, but I said that I should probably keep on pedaling so I wouldn't stiffen up, so I headed out east at a pretty good clip.

Little did I know that after about a minute head-start, the group sent Simon out to catch and ride with me so I would not ride alone after hitting my head. 

The End is Near!!!

 He almost caught me before the end of the ride. 

One of the great things about this ride is the warm showers at the end.  Before cleaning off, I thought I'd capture my "grit line"- just to show that it was not all fun and games.

Guess where my socks end.

After the shower, I bandaged up my wounds, and joined everyone for a well deserved beer before the customary "End of the Line" Photo, and the train ride home.

Two engines in this photo (LIRR and Paul)

After putting one of my marketing cards on the windshield of every car in the Babylon Train station, we headed back to Morristown with another great ride under our belts.

Thanks to all for a great weekend.

Ride summary and stats can be found here...