I have never been this dirty

ByAnthony Chan
At a Glance

A muddy, salty 75-mile winter ride with the Mineola Bicycle Club along Long Island’s North Shore — turning around at Caumsett State Park after climbing 3,500+ feet on grimy, post-snow roads.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Rode 75 miles along the North Shore with MBC teammate Frank
  • Climbed over 3,500 feet on the day
  • Turnaround at Caumsett State Park
  • Roads coated in melted rock salt and sand from snow clearing

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Winter roads get filthy: melting snow leaves salt and sand that cake the bike and rider
  • Fenders earn their keep: Frank stayed clean while Anthony rode “like it was a sunny day”
  • Base miles happen year-round: long off-season rides keep fitness rolling
  • Ride with a crew: club rides make even a messy day worth it

When the snow melts, so does the yucky rock salt (and sand) that is used to clear the roads. Long Island uses some sort of sand mixture in their snow clearing efforts. Thus, our Mineola Bicycle Club ride this past Saturday was an epic, non drafting, sandfest! Frank and I rode 75 miles, mostly on the North Shore. Our turnaround was at Caumsett State Park, where I had a chance to snap a few photos of the Cannondale EVO.

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The bike was already disgusting halfway through. Frank had installed a fender on his ride so he stayed dry and much cleaner than me. I, on the other hand, simply rode like it was another sunny day.

By the end of our ride, we had climbed a little over 3500 feet for the day. But the most interesting part of the ride was when I asked Frank to take a picture of my ass for me 😉

totally worth it.

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