Link to Strava

Saturday, May 22nd was the day for a century ride on Long Island. I had signed up for this ride back in the beginning of 2020 and it was supposed to happen in September of 2020 but, got cancelled due to Covid. The organizers were able to arrange it on this last weekend. We took a ferry across the Long Island Sound from New London to Orient Point at 7 am. Reached Orient Point State Park around 8:45 to start the ride. They wanted to minimize crowds due to Covid restrictions and didn't have a mass start.

This was one of the best supported rides I have done so far. There were rest stops at 13, 30, 50 and 80 miles along the route. There were the usual PB&J sandwiches and grapes and bananas at these stops. But, they had a lot more than that.

At the 13 mile stop, there was a big surprise: PIES. I had a big slice of blueberry pie about 45 minutes into the ride. Didn't seem like a good idea at that time but, it was good fuel for the ride.

The weather forecast called for mostly cloudy and a rainy day but, it turned out to be the opposite. Sunny and hot. I was glad that they had arranged for picking up extra gear at the first rest stop to be transported to the start/end point. I dropped off one layer. It was still hot as the ride continued.

By the time we reached the 80 mile rest stop, it was around 3 pm. I was exhausted, hot and cranky. Thankfully, they had arranged for a water pipe with drip irrigation type device. It felt so good to just let the water flow over my head and cool down. The organizers outdid themselves and brought freshly made pizza at this stop. Eating a slice of warm pizza just changed my outlook on life for the rest of the day. Again I thought that was a bad idea and I would throw up in a few miles as I started riding again. But, that one slice really did a great job as fuel for the last 20 miles.

At the end of the ride, of course, there was more food and beer. It was the first century for my friend and he was very happy to complete it. Took the ferry back home and my wife had made a big spread of Indian food for us. I probably put on a few pounds on the day of this 100 mile ride. Next century ride is planned for September along the coast of New Hampshire and Maine. Hope they have good support like this ride.

Here is a nice video of the ride on Relive.