Harriman

On June 11 I had the fortune to be able to do a training ride with a few friends upstate in Harriman State Park. After waking up at 3 Am to confirm that the forecast of scattered thunderstorms would not wash us out, I picked up the ZipCar at 6am and picked up my friend in the city around 6:30am who greeted me with coffee and a bagel- :) and began to follow Google Maps directions via the i Phone. We first headed through the Lincoln Tunnel and were routed through Hoboken to 1-495 due to construction- ... we drove a little through Jersey and crossed back into NY state. At the point when the exit came that was suppose to take us into the park, my friend/navigator dropped her phone under the seat and we missed the exit. Usually wouldn't be a problem, except on this specific highway the next exit wasn't for 17 miles. We were running late to meet our friends and lost. We arrived at the parking lot in the park about 45 minutes late, got our bikes adjusted a little and headed out for a "hard, tough" ride! The park was beautiful, lush green, pristine lakes, deer, geese and lots of Hills. We started looping through the park and rode up a series of 3 climbs, the first the longest, the second the steepest and the third "easy". After we ascended to the top, we stopped and decided what the rest of the ride would look like. We split into 2 groups and I was elected to ride up the Perkins side of Bear Mountain, the "easier" side. I don't know if there is anything easy about climbing a Mountain! But I did it, in my low gears and grueling burning in my quads, I was able to ride to the top. And from the top, on a clear day you can see West Point and the Manhattan Skyline, I guess that means I will have to do it again, because we had no viability. And at the top, I tested my blood sugar levels, still safely around 145. and so we rode down reaching speeds of over 40mph. The pure satisfaction of that accomplishment fuels me to ride again.
In total I rode over 35 miles of rolling hills, and my first Mountain.

Note: I was not able to get any pictures because of the fog, but here is an image for enjoyment!