Central Park Century - Random Thoughts
Not the first to post such a silly ride but wanted to post for anyone who is considering tackling what has always been a NYC cycling bucket list item for me: The Central Park Century!
Fun! Was surprised how much fun I had doing this. Yeah, any day on the bike is a good time, but I expected the monotony to be worse. Central Park is such a lively place (and, you always have to keep your head on a swivel) that I felt quite engaged for much of the ride.
Food and drink! Having the hot dog stands constantly available is really nice for water, fuel, etc. Had multiple hot dogs over the course of the day :)
Laps! Could just be my GPS (I use a Karoo Hammerhead) but it took me about 16.5 laps - see the map here. I began my ride at the W 72nd street entrance and crossed the 100 mile mark just north of Engineer’s Gate, around E 93rd, on my 16th lap! As seen on the map, I decided not to the Harlem Hill (again) after that point haha, and did the cut through back to the Three Sisters (I think they are called that?). Speaking of…
Climbing! The Harlem Hill certainly would hurt, but with proper pacing it was totally fine. In reality, the three sisters (the climbs after the Harlem hill) was the section that I dreaded the most.
Miles! 1-20 were a breeze, 30-50 were okay, then had lunch, 50-60 were a breeze, 60-80 was the hardest part, 80-100 was my favorite part. I’ve done a lot of century rides, and I think doing it in bite size pieces (i.e. laps of a 6ish mile loop) helped my lizard brain to consider it palatable. Huge 100 mile loop routes have felt more difficult to me than Central Park was.
Next up… 652 laps of the inner bike path around Columbus Circle? (Yes, I did the math 😈).
Thanks for reading! AMA
Not the first to post such a silly ride but wanted to post for anyone who is considering tackling what has always been a NYC cycling bucket list item for me: The Central Park Century!
Fun! Was surprised how much fun I had doing this. Yeah, any day on the bike is a good time, but I expected the monotony to be worse. Central Park is such a lively place (and, you always have to keep your head on a swivel) that I felt quite engaged for much of the ride.
Food and drink! Having the hot dog stands constantly available is really nice for water, fuel, etc. Had multiple hot dogs over the course of the day :)
Laps! Could just be my GPS (I use a Karoo Hammerhead) but it took me about 16.5 laps - see the map here. I began my ride at the W 72nd street entrance and crossed the 100 mile mark just north of Engineer’s Gate, around E 93rd, on my 16th lap! As seen on the map, I decided not to the Harlem Hill (again) after that point haha, and did the cut through back to the Three Sisters (I think they are called that?). Speaking of…
Climbing! The Harlem Hill certainly would hurt, but with proper pacing it was totally fine. In reality, the three sisters (the climbs after the Harlem hill) was the section that I dreaded the most.
Miles! 1-20 were a breeze, 30-50 were okay, then had lunch, 50-60 were a breeze, 60-80 was the hardest part, 80-100 was my favorite part. I’ve done a lot of century rides, and I think doing it in bite size pieces (i.e. laps of a 6ish mile loop) helped my lizard brain to consider it palatable. Huge 100 mile loop routes have felt more difficult to me than Central Park was.
Next up… 652 laps of the inner bike path around Columbus Circle? (Yes, I did the math 😈).
Thanks for reading! AMA