In my mind, it makes much more sense to finish a ride before enjoying a cup of coffee. This whole business of stopping in the middle of a ride, getting comfortable in a coffee shop in your sweaty chamois, and then setting out on the road again to head home has never appealed to me. Like, we have coffee stops in NYC. Why can’t I finish my ride first and THEN get cozy with some coffee?

All photos throughout by Daghan Perker

Knowing full well that the majority of the TBD squad loves a good coffee ride, sweaty chamois notwithstanding, I agreed to a team ride on Saturday in light of being fully vaccinated and starved for some company on the road. But somehow, somehow, I knew I had to prevent the dreaded coffee stop.

If I was going to get what I wanted — a no stop ride — I was going to have to play it cool. When there were early ride requests for natural breaks, I didn’t object. When one natural break turned into two natural breaks, I acted like it was no big deal. (Inside, I was screaming).

Once we made it to the Market, I knew the temptation for the coffee and $10 snack break would be strong for my teammates, so I casually suggested we ride to Piermont to turn around. Everyone agreed, but for some reason we stood around in the Market parking lot chatting. I started to feel anxious. OMG, is this going to turn into something longer than a natural break? WTF are people doing just standing around?!?!?!?!

I tried to relax. I got on my bike and started to ride slowly toward the parking lot exit. Matt, knowing full well that I hate stopping, started to needle me about the stop. But, people seemed to catch on to my slow roll to the exit, and we, thankfully, set out on the road again to Piermont.

And dear friends, playing it cool worked, because when we got to Piermont, Lucia suggested we ride on to Nyack. NO STOPPING. After peer-pressuring some Brooklyn teammies into making the trek a few miles further to north, I confessed that tricking them into a Nyack ride had been my plan all along. If I was smarter, I would have duped them into an Orchards ride. But maybe I’ll save that trick for the next no-stop team ride.

Overall, the ride was fantastic, and some teammies even threw down for some spicy sprints. I’m looking forward to the next team ride in which I trick everyone to ride to Bear with me!

The Full Gallery

All photos throughout by Daghan Perker