The Rise Up Ride Yukon Edition Begins!
TRUR Yukon 2022: Day 2
The Rise Up Ride Yukon Edition Begins!
Date: 21 April 2022
Start Location: Riverdale, Bronx, NY
End Location: Chicago, IL
Distance/mode: 1348 km/train
Time: 24:00:00
Leaving Riverdale, Bronx fully-loaded and bound for Alaska in a multi-modal kind of way
Coincidently, one year ago, in 2021, the Rise Up Ride began the same way. I rolled out of our apartment in Riverdale, fully-loaded, for the short ride downhill to the 231st Street subway station to board the train to Penn Station. Pam was home to memorialize the moment this year, but little had changed (except my handlebars and cockpit setup.) This year, I’d take the train through Pittsburgh to Chicago and California rather than to Minnesota. But, same departure ritual, starting the journey by cycling down the hill to take the subway to Alaska.
Since the end of September, I’d been home training indoors. It wasn’t the plan when I returned. I’d been researching a ride across Brazil, continuing down into Argentina to visit friends. As COVID rates surged in NYC and Brazil, I canceled my reservation to São Paulo and hunkered down with @paminnyc, waiting, planning, and training.
The significant difference between the ride last year is the change to my cockpit setup. Too many km on bad roads above 60° N had left me with some tendon problems in my right hand, which resulted in surgery last month. So, with some tips from Greg Edwards @outigoagain, I replaced my alloy handlebars with some more forgiving Deda Elementi Gera Carbon Handlebars, wrapped with thick Lizard bar tape and gel inserts to damper the vibration. These bars have more expansive flat areas and nice curves that provide comfortable hand positions. But I still needed more “real estate” for mounting my electronics.
Special kudos go to Joe Stiller, owner of Baryak https://www.baryak.com/ , a Veteran-owned company in South Dakota that manufactures bike expedition equipment for cyclists. As he writes, “This is a project we have been working on since 2012, frustrated with conventional bar packing systems that hampered and hurt braking and shifting performance. Our system outboard mounts handlebar-mounted packs to give you more clearance and freedom of movement between your packs and your cables. All while giving you extra places to mount GPS units, SPOT and Satellite Tracking Systems, Lights, Bottle carriers, or whatever else you can dream of.” Joe patiently worked with me to free up my space on the handlebars by recommending a second parallel carbon fiber rod slightly above and forward of my stem. The BarYak Ultra 2020 secures to my handlebars, allowing me to mount my Garmin Edge 1030 and InReach Mini 2, and my headlight and Quadlock phone mount on the Baryak, rather than the handlebars. This frees up more space on the bars for changing hand positions. Thanks, Joe! I’ll be real-world testing the equipment up in the Yukon this summer.
While I love the concept of Amtrak and all their recent improvements for transporting bicycles, I’m less thrilled with some of the employees. Where’s the “customer satisfaction” survey to fill out after each trip filled with lousy baggage services, surly disgruntled staff, imperious conductors, absolutely filthy bathrooms onboard, and unreasonable unwritten policies?. At the lovely new Moynihan Station, adjacent to Pennsylvania Station, I arrived more than an hour before my departure, repacked my panniers and frame bags into two checkable bags, and waited in a long, long line. Thirty-five minutes before departure, on arriving at the counter, I was informed that I had missed the cut-off for baggage check and was told, “well, I asked everyone in line if they were on the Pennsylvanian!” I’d been repacking my bags ten meters away and never heard her announcement. She said that my only alternative was to bring all my gear on board. Shit. Red Cap to the rescue! Thank you, Derrick, who helped me schlep my bags!
During the night, I changed trains in Pittsburg, loaded my bike into the Pennsylvanian’s luggage car, and settled in for a reasonably good night’s sleep, albeit only slightly reclined. By 10:00 am this morning, we rolled into Chicago, and I loaded up my panniers and pedaled about ten blocks to my hotel, home until tomorrow’s departure for California. Exhausted, I napped until the sound of thunder woke me mid-afternoon and dashed my plans to cycle down the lakeshore. Unfortunately, gale-force winds and sheets of rain made the afternoon better for writing than riding.
