…:: Alex Smirnov ::…

Perhaps posting my travel/adventure plans for 2011 will make me more likely to stick to them. And maybe not. Regardless here, are the first three I am already registered for. More to come later. Unless of course – not.

Tough Mudder, Bear Creek, PA (April 9, 2011)
An equivalent or more likely a downright rip-off of the famed British Tough Guy, it’s American equivalent Tough Mudder offer similar suffering that that one voluntarily signs up – and pays for. Possibly in more ways than one. 4 of us – Millicent, Bill, Hyuck and me – signed up for a 10 mile test of physical and mental toughness, strength, endurance, stamina and fitness. The event takes place at Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania. Seeing how this is a ski center, there are probably hills involved. In fact a quick look at the course map confirms this suspicion. There is 19 obstacles on the course, ranging from innocuously sounding “Cool Running” to ridiculously macho “Ball Shrinker” or “Death March”. And just who thought of “Hold Your Wood”? Anyway, we are planning to drive out the day before, stay in Allentown, race the next day, recuperate and explore the area and then hit the Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail that starts out in Jim Thorpe, PA and end just south of Scranton, PA. The trails is supposed to be very scenic (it’s a gorge after all) and is about 26 miles one way, along the Lehigh River. Hopefully the weather will hold for both days. A little preview of Tough Mudder can be found in this YouTube video from the TriState race in 2010.

TD Bank Five Boro Bike Tour (May 1, 2011)
This also appears to be a fairly unique event, judging from pictures, videos and personal experiences of those who attended this bike tour. I received a flyer for this in the mail few days before the registration opened. We were quite lucky because we registered among the first and the entire event and less than 40 hours later the event was sold out completely – all 30,000 or so spots. Understandable though, how often do you get to ride your bike down the FDR drive? The entire course is about 42 miles and as the name suggests, goes through all of the 5 boroughs of New York City. it starts early morning in Battery Park in Southern Manhattan and will end, for us at least, at the ferry terminal on Staten Island. The pdf of the course is available here. Andi unfortunately has to sit this one out, but Matt, Millicent, Richard, Laura and Hyuck will be there. Again, here is a pretty cool video of what it looked like in 2010.

Montauk Century Ride (May 15, 2011)
The Montauk Century Ride, organized by Five Borough Bicycle Club takes place about two weeks after the NYC Bike Tour and starts in Babylon, NY with the finish line at Montauk, NY. Thus far only Millicent has signed up, we will see who else joins us in the end. This was supposed to be our first 100+ ride of the year, but since registering we have discovered randonneuring and chances are, we will sign up (and hopefully complete) the 200 km brevet in New Jersey on April 23. Anyway, the very approximate route of the Montauk Century is shown in the map below.

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