December 1998 Ride Minutes

December 1st, 1998, Tuesday: A cool and damp quick day around the Central Park loop.

December 3rd, 1998, Thursday: The weather seems unseasonably warm but isnt the bicycling grand for another speedy park loop day!!!

December 6th, 1998, Sunday: The combined club riders held a brief dicussion meeting and referred some of their comments and concerns from 1998 to our resources. We will contact many of the appropriate or available respondees to their thoughts and attentions. We departed the LOEB Boathouse gathering site at about 10:30amEST and enjoyed the ride to ARMONK. We thank the Bronx based ARROW BICYCLE for helping with a flat tire. We arrived at ARMONK at about 1:15pmEST and enjoyed our afternoon and evening stay. The general ARMONK village and Kenisco Dam Park areas are very beautiful and good for recreational and tour bicycling. An early 4amEST return to the White Plains METRO Train and ride back to a Manhattan morning meeting completed our event and ride. Warm temperatures and absolutely grand weather made it a successful adventure to Westchester Countys pastoral countryside.

December 13th, 1998, Sunday: This was an almost springlike pastoral day for our Manhattan Waterfront Ride. The construction blocks from our last waterfront ride are for the better part cleared. And this was a wonderful ride. We made super time for the whole loop of lower Manhattan from West 55th Street back to East 61st with under two hours!! This busy, busy holiday season had given us a few days away from riding but we had Wednesday and Sunday loops on our usual Central Park route. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!!!

December 20th, 1998, Sunday: Again, a busy holiday week with Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday fast loop training rides. Today, we returned to Staten Island for the South Beach and FDR Boardwalk followed by a trip to the central island HIGH POINT NATURE PRESERVE. We received a number of concerned enquiries regarding overenthusiastic off road bicycling at or near the preserve. The preserve is a delicate natural habitat. And today we did look about this problem. We will report here as the matter is discovered.

End of CHANUKAH!! HAPPY CHANUKAK END!! CHISTMAS DAY IS FRIDAY, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

December 25th and 26th, 1998, Friday and Saturday: We had a late afternoon meeting for another community group at Elmsford, Westchester County, and used the time to make another longer distance ride to the pastoral Westchester countryside. Our cold weather is started (refer to the webpage precaution on hyperthermia) , and the ride was COLD. But, of course, with suitable cold weather preparations, layers/vest/double leggings and socks/head and face cover/thermal gloves/etc. cold weather bicycling is really much like cross country skiing. The roads were all clear of the 1" to 2" snow. A great ride of about 69 miles round trip and we averaged from 14 to 15 mph.

December 27th, 1998, Sunday: Another COLD morning!! We arrived for breakfast at about 8:00amEST. And no one appeared for over an hour of our usual about 75 regulars. I began a speech to myself about stalwart northern heritage people and wimps and the first snowy, cold Sunday, and then about 25 to 35 regulars finally arrived. (It is only a FEW days after the WINTER SOLSTICE. All right.....) We chatted over cold weather and the care for road salting and gravel. A and B level rides departed. And our quick ride to the Cloisters and Ft. Tryon made a fast and heated tour. We met with the 5 Borough and New York Cycle Club at the Park Cafe. All enjoyed the bright and brisk winter morning. YES!!!!!