Riding With Jamie!

So I got the chance to do something today that I sort of never thought I'd get the chance to do - ride with Jamie Swan.

Now you have to understand, I have been in awe of Jamie for years - he's just so damn cool! He used to race bicycles and then he was a mechanic for a few teams before deciding to open his own bike shop in Centerport, NY which he eventually moved to down town Northport. (You can read all about it here http://www.jamieswan.net/) The shop always fascinated me and I finally got the courage to go in one day. It was a small little shop in which he did lots of repairs and had a mixture of new bicycle parts, vintage parts and vintage machine tools.

I found that he wasn't unapproachable and actually would talk to me about things and answer my questions and I learned a lot from the few conversations I had with him. However, I've still always been in awe of his amazing life and have always secretly wished I could do what he did - open a bike shop (this of course is not to take away from my sponsor Chuck Adams and the great place he runs. I knew that lived in Northport and that he and a friend of his often did rides around the area. We even saw them in Port Jefferson a few times for the Fourth of July parades. But I would never in a million years dream of saying, "he let's go for a ride".

Well, today I had that opportunity! As I was commuting in today I saw someone stopped at one of the intersections I travel on as part of the 25A alternate bike route. It wasn't until I passed through the intersection (okay, I may have pushed the laws of motor vehicle observance a bit) that I noticed the rider had a Centerport Cycles jersey on. Well, there's only one person I know who might wear one and I had just passed him. I kept going knowing that there was a long light waiting for us up front and sure enough, Jamie rolled up next to me. We exchanged hellos and we talked about our rides and I explained how I was running late and he shared that this was the first time he had ridden to work at his new job (since he closed the shop in 2007) at Webb Institute in Glen Cove. As the light turned he said I don't want to keep you and I started out.

Now, it must be mentioned at this point that my average mph was hovering around 20 mph (see my previous posting "20 mph - Booyah!") so not only was I running late, I was also hoping to perhaps better my previous average. As a result I was humming along at about 22.7 ish when I look down and notice my shadow is stretching out in a different way - Jamie's on my wheel!!!!!

So I keep pulling and watch as our average picks up to about 23 and change - and I keep pulling. Knowing this particular stretch as I do I point out the obstacles to him as we pull up to the intersection of West 11th and West Oakwood Road ( I have to say, isn't technology cool!);


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At which point I signalled to turn right and he said he was continuing forward onto W. Rogue's Path. At this point I started cranking (not racing - as my in-laws would say) and I knew that if I could just keep my pace without blowing up I would meet him again at the intersection at the bottom of the hill as it gets ready to go to Cold Spring Harbor train station. Sure enough, as I came bombing down the bottom I saw him waiting at the traffic light to cross and I waved and kept on going.

Now you have to understand I know that there is no way I could ever "race" Jamie Swan and win - not even on one of his worst days. However, I was time trialing in the sense that I knew if I reached the bottom of Stillwell and was averaging at least 21 mph I might beat my fastest time so far this year. At the bottom of the hill I had 20.9 - there is still a chance!

So I start spinning on the way up the hill. I didn't want to blow up but I needed to keep it at a high cadence so I could ride my own ride and finish perhaps with at least 20 mph showing on the computer. Of course, I also kept checking over my shoulder since I was convinced that Jamie would come barelling up the slope behind me and pass me up. He never did but I kept cranking. At the top of the hill - much to my chagrin - the computer read 19.9. Agggghhhhhhhh! So I really had to push it to get it back. By the time I got to the intersection of Cold Spring Road I had gained back to 20.0. Now the race was on, could I get it up there to 20.1?

I just dropped my head and started cranking away reaching speeds on the flat of 24+ (not bad since I was still tired from cranking up the hill) and I saw the odometer creep up the 20.1 just as I got to this point (again, I love technology! I'm not good at it, but I love it);


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The entrance to the teacher parking lot!!!!! I had done it and I made it to school just a few minutes late - oops! Oh well, there is always tomorrow to make a run at an even faster average and time!

Now, its off on my way back home and this wonderful sight;


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Tonight we are taking Sarah out to Sushi Park for her birthday (its so hard to believe she's 11 today!) and we're telling her all about her trip to Alaska! She is going to freak! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow

Stay well and I will see you (in about 30 minutes) on the road!