Clausland Mountain

 
The climb up Clausland Mountain Road felt longer than the .3 miles listed in the NYCC regional hill guide. The park didn't in fact have the advertised picnic area but given that there's no other option we stopped there, ate our lunch and took this photo.

The day started with a much larger group. I announced our route and plan for the day to the assembled riders. I specifically mentioned that we'd go up 155th St. and make our way to the GWB from there as well as the 18 mph cruising speed and that we'd go via River Road in NJ. A group of riders nonetheless proceeded up Riverside Drive to 165th St., hammering a 20 mph pace. I felt I had to follow them though I refused to match their pace lest I leave the rest of the riders behind.

The lead riders did stop after crossing the bridge to wait for me but as soon as I arrived they proceeded to head north on Hudson Terrace despite my loudly calling to them that they were going the wrong way. That left me with four riders to follow me to Palisades Park. We opined that we were better off without impetuous hammerheads who wouldn't stay with the group and headed for River Road.

At the traffic circle for the Edgewater boat basin, Eliot split off. He was just ahead of me by a second or two and I called out loudly to him that he was going the wrong way but he ignored me. The rest of us figured he'd catch up to us at Alpine and continued. We never saw or heard from Eliot again. With the park full of cyclists, police and motorists we weren't worried about Eliot's safety.

Our group formed up in a paceline on 9W and headed north. We had a great time and the paceline went fairly well. I managed to hold my line fairly well. As the miles went by, we got better at keeping a consistent pace. I had no trouble communicating turns (I didn't prepare/distribute a cue sheet, I just programmed my GPS and in so doing studied the map; I'm familiar with the overall area from other trips up the lower Hudson Valley) to the lead rider even from the back of the line.

Here's the
Garmin Connect - Activity Details for this trip

My constraint for the day was that I had to get back by 2PM to get ready for the trip to New City. We got back at 2:22 PM but it worked out in the end: by the time I got myself showered and dressed, my wife still was almost ready and I didn't have to wait long.