ike – 2009 Fernandez Brothers Bike Tour

Ossining, a town, a distination, a vestige of family history

ike — Sun, 10 May 2009 21:34:03 +0000

Dear family, friends and fans,

What I really want to blog about is a bike ride I went on last Sunday. Before I do I will mention a bike ride Devon and I finished yesterday. We participated in a charity ride. The options were to ride 10,25, or 50 miles. Although we had planned to do each ride consecutively we ended up only doing the 50 mile ride plus an extra 6 miles just for fun. We had to restrict ourselves because someone (I don’t want to mention names) forgot their helmet and so we were the last team to start and finish. However, we did conquer the ride and despite a fight I had with my bike (yes I won) it was a successful ride.

Now, I will move onto the heart of this post. One week ago I mounted my bike for the longest ride in the history of Isaac Fernandez bike riding. The destination was of extreme significance to the Fernandez name and history, Ossining New York. In case you were not aware this is one of the first towns that Devon Fernandez called home. In fact he spent some time growing up in a brick apt. complex across from Nelson Park (both pictured here). Due the importance of the journey I had planned everything out; I had drawn a map, packed some snacks and charged my cell phone the night before. I was a bit concerned about the distance 48miles but I was determined.

Where Devon planned his future.

Ossinging was no disappointment. A short ride from Pleasantville, Ossining was like a dream come true. The town was full of apt buildings, people, stores, roads, and sidewalks. Unique in every aspect, I took a lazy route to the past home of my brother just so I could tour a bit more. I found the park they had built for Devon. In the park there were little boys playing soccer, and a statue of Devon. I also located the apartment building.

Where Devon taught his toddler friends to walk.

I grabbed a sandwich before the ride home. All in all it was a complete success. Before I wrap up I feel I am obligated to divulge a little secret weapon I used on my trip. RAIN

Thanks to my good luck and gods love when I awoke Sunday morning it was raining. Not a slow boring rain but one that would soak me thoroughly as soon as I started. I contribute the success of my journey to the rain for a number of reasons including speed, efficiency, and motivation.

1) SPEED– Rain is made of water & and water causes things to get wet and stretch. This is very useful when it comes to brake cables. Anyone who has biked knows that stopping is very frustrating because you lose all the momentum you have built up. The rain effectively disabled my brakes due to the stretching of my brake cables and eliminated the stopping option. This made my average speed much higher and trip quicker. Thank you rain.

2) EFFICIENCY – The rain got my map so wet that it became a wad of pulp in my pocket. This also helped because I did not need to stop over and over to check the map. Instead I could focus on a guess and check strategy, one I much prefer over traditional maps. (this added an extra 6 miles to the trip, fantastic!)

3) MOTIVATION – I always bring my cell phone in case of emergencies. The problem with this is that I always have a way out in case I get a flat tire, lost, or just tired. The rain was able to quickly disable my phone and significantly increase my motivation to finish what I stated.

Thanks to the persistent and continuous downpour I was able to conquer Ossining and visit the origins of Devon Fernandez. I hope this post was helpful.

LINK TO TRIP

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=62+Stephen+St,+Stamford,+Connecticut+06902&daddr=S+Highland+Ave%2FUS-9&hl=en&geocode=FcRwcgId3Lqd-w%3BFc7ucwIdrP2Y-w&mra=ls&dirflg=w&sll=41.070034,-73.704872&sspn=0.249515,0.527344&ie=UTF8&ll=41.045958,-73.569088&spn=0.124803,0.263672&t=h&z=13

Statue of Devon as a child.

Interstate Bike Ride

ike — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:51:08 +0000

New York is doing fine. I checked on her today. She is still there. I figured why do a intrastate ride when I could do a interstate ride. It was my first ride by myself. There was alot of hills toward the middle of my ride. I set out to do a 25 mile loop but after riding 15.5 miles out and not seeing my turnaround point I decided to turn back and thus no loop. Here are my riding states for the day.

Time: 2hours 38minutes
Distance: 31.1 miles
Top Speed: 35 mph
Elevation: 900ft total ascent

I felt pretty good the entire ride. I didnt stop or really feel a need to rest. There is a difference when you are not carrying any load. I will go out again this weekend.

My thoughts

ike — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:16:56 +0000

I couldnt have recaped our weekend any better. I would add that my body is very sore especially my bottom. I rushed back to stamford on monday to make class and just as I was pulling into the parking garage a girl rolled through a stop sign and I got into my 5th accident with the celica. SWEET! However, despite the conclusion the weekend was great, and I believe devon and I are well prepared for our cape cod adventure. I will continue to put my winter sleeping bag to good use.

Still in class

ike — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:00:26 +0000

Well im still in finance class and it is 10:10pm and the professor is talking about co variance he just said he has one more thing…..so lets just say i am glad dad bought me starcraft 8 years ago. I got a bunny too. It went to the office and people got a kick out of it. I will be done in 72 hours. I cant wait. Thank you grandma and grandpa for the card.

Count Down

ike — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:43:58 +0000

OK.. from today i have offically 9 days left at edgelab. If you count the weekend (which you have to) I have 14 days left. At that point I plan to meet up with Devon and purchase my bicycle. We will also try out our hammock. I only wanted to get one and share it but devon insisted on getting two.