Now that I’ve biked to the southern most easterly part of Long Island, Montauk, this particular ride would be to the northern most easterly part of the Island, Orient Beach State Park.
The ride distance would be 110 miles (2 miles shy of the IRONMAN bike distance) so I needed to allocate sufficient calories for at least the first two-thirds of the ride. I packed 6 gels (100 calories each), a bottle mix of approximately 1000 calories of accelerade and maltodextrin. Enough salt tablets to consume 3 every hour and Gatorade in my behind saddle bottle cage.
I opted for the aero helmet to keep up to race specific gear choice.
Last week I went to ACME Bicycle for a fit tuneup (included with the fee of the initial bike fit) since I was having a slight back issue in aero. Jonathan Blyer, owner and fitter extraordinaire swapped out my spacer stack on the aero base with a more specific 40mm option.
We did some testing on the trainer and the back issue seemed to have been corrected. However the true test would be on this ride.
In contrast to my 127 mile ride to Montauk which ended at the lighthouse and doesn’t have a designated beach area, the ride to Orient Point would conclude at the beach. So that would be perfect to have a cooldown recovery swim.
It had rained the night before and the weather for the day would be perfect with zero chance of precipitation throughout Long Island.
Most of this ride or at least two-thirds of this route I have done before on my rides to Montauk, Splish Splash and Harbes Farm. I was looking forward to new riding territory.
I packed my run shoes in the car as Anh would be joining me with the kids at Orient Park. I needed to do at least a 20 minute brick run off this ride for more race simulation.
It was a very humid day so I ran short of hydration early. At mile 80 or so I stopped and bought some needed fuel. I bought some refreshing coconut water, an organic ginger/lemon drink and a litre of water which I distributed in my two aero bottles and drank the rest before remounting the bike.
The endless farms and small family owned restaurants always gives me the urge to pull over and indulge. However one of the perks to having someone meet you is the urgency to be on time. (one day I very much look forward to just planning out and having a tour out East with Anh so we can leisurely enjoy all Long Island has to offer – including the North Fork winery trails 😀)
At the pay booth to the Orient beach there is a 2 mile stretch of just beach which couldn’t make for a more scenic beach entrance.
I got to the park and did some light spinning then relaxed at a picnic bench awaiting the family to arrive by car.
Orient State Beach Park provides quite a bit of amenities, including bar-b-que grills, playground facilities for the little ones, lockers, showers, concession. Whether you bike, drive to Orient Point you won’t be disappointed while enjoying a full day of beach and relaxing fun.
Enjoying with the little lady below.
Mama and the little man swimming around
Just chilling with the Iron horse
On our way back home we stopped in Greenport for dinner and dessert. A next town that has places to explore, wish we had time to stop by the carousel at the harbor with Miles. One can also take the ferry to Shelter Island from Greenport.
After some Latin dinner we had some pastries from D’Latte in Greenport
Completed Stats:
110.90 mi
6:09 moving time
3,123 feet elevation
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