Big plans for the weekend started out as essentially a joke. Erich and I were riding and discussing the Battenkill. The Tour of the Battenkill is a brutal race in the nature and fashion of a spring classic. 100k's of backcountry roads, gravel, and generally less than ideal weather. A great race put on by an excellent promoter. In any case, Erich and I were discussing plans for Labor Day weekend a couple weeks back, and in an off kilter moment I suggested (mostly in a jovial manner) that we should rocket up the east coast to ride the Battenkill. We both laughed, then had one of those shared, "man, that's feasible" moments. Plans fell into place, a message was sent through facebook and all of the sudden E is talking with Dieter Drake (the promoter) and we have a guide for the course. Unbelieveable. The cycling industry/cultural scene has always amazed me for the approachable nature of most involved. A shared love for something so simple establishes bonds in such an organic way. Anyways, onto the trip...
So, E and I both took Friday off so as to get a head start on the weekend and get up to NYC. Yet another piece of the puzzle fell into place when his sister-in-law (who lives in Manhattan) was going to be out of town. Free place to stay in Murray Hill? yet another piece falling into place. Next, a place to stay in the Battenkill valley...campsite: booked. Bags packed, hit the road. In Manhattan by about 4 just in time to catch E's sister-in-law for a few minutes, hit Sid's bike shop, and get some dinner. Lombardi's pizza
After dinner, we wandered around town to enjoy some of the typical sites and ended up in Central Park. Our mission to find this bakery not too far from Sarah's apartment took us about 45 minutes of walking...had it been 41 minutes, we would have been there before they closed, but alas, we went back to the apartment with sweettooth intact.
Part two tomorrow, pre-ride of the 2011 Tour of the Battenkill course!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment