Down The Bethpage Bike Path

Route: Home to Amityville via 495 service road and Bethpage Bike Pathe
Mileage: 100 miles

We hit the road, excited to explore more of the Bethpage Bike Path today!  We picked a cafe at the end of it so we could ride the full thing!  We hadn't been riding for more than 30 min or so before the rain started.  It wasn't pouring...but it was raining at a steady rate.  For awhile.  And the sun didn't come out afterwards.  It wasn't so much that it was cold, which it was, but Jen just did not dry off.  Keegan seemed to have wicked away all the wetness from his clothes, but Jen was in the back on a bike without fenders and her bottoms were just soaked!  For those unfamiliar with bike shorts, having a soaked padded bottom just feels like a diaper!

We had almost made it to the Bethpage Bike Path when Jen decided to stop being a hero.  She didn't want to stop, but she knew if she kept biking another 70 miles or so in wet bottoms, the consequences were not ones she was enthused about dealing with.  So she navigated them to a Target where she could run in and get dry shorts (and undies!) for her and socks for both of them.  She looked like a mess going in there, but quickly got a new getup and came out a new woman!  We then headed to the bike path and headed south!  The road the whole length of the bike path, and it was terrific.

We arrived at out destination, Brownstone Cafe, which we thought would be pretty quiet, given it was Monday.  But it was hopping!  And we ended up waiting for around 35 minutes for a table, but it beat searching and biking around for a new place.  We had a tight schedule since Keegan had to get back, but we had a nice lunch and then headed out.

The bike path was great.  On the way back we saw a family of swans even! Two parent swans and their fledglings.  I wish I had got a picture! The path was so nice, but back on the main road, we hit a pothole--got a flat.  Pit crew--tube changed, we continue.  About 20 min from home--another flat.  Come on!!!  We realize this is not good.  Perhaps we don't know the way of the tandem.  Keegan suggests we get wider tires to withstand the potholes better and make for a cushier ride.  First thing on our to-do list is to order those before next week!  But after a loooong weekend of riding, we are hanging up the tandem until next week!