Girls Bike NYC: 2023 Montauk Retreat
This season has been an ambitious one for Girls Bike NYC and we’re keeping it going, right to the very end! We recently had our very first weekend retreat and while a severe storm and major flooding, which led to a declaration of a state of emergency for New York City, almost threatened our chances, twenty-one of us braved the weather and somehow made it out east to Montauk!
Liz, Lexa, and I were all planning on driving out together in Liz’s car on Friday afternoon, but when I received the below picture that Liz shared, showing the flooding conditions on her street, I wondered if we’d even be able to get out of Brooklyn.
Then came the innumerable flash flood warnings and notices about subway lines going out of service, one by one.
By some miracle, the LIRR remained in service and we started feeling some FOMO as people shared pictures of their bikes on the train, already on their way. We opted to wait it out for a little bit to see if the road conditions and traffic might improve with time. The latest flashflood warning was predicted to end at 2:30 PM, and there would be a break in the rain, so we decided that Lexa and I would make our way over to Liz’s apartment at that time. It turns out that break in the rain wouldn’t last very long.
Despite the rain starting back up again, Lexa and I both made it safely to Liz’s where we loaded up our luggage and bikes. I took this opportunity to use my bicycle as a drying rack for what would turn out to be our four-and-a-half hour drive to Montauk.
Lexa was our fearless driver, who managed the traffic and the HEAVILY flooded roads we wound up taking through Long Beach to get to Ocean Parkway. Once we felt we were in the clear and out of the worst of the weather, we started blasting Now That’s What I Call Music, Volumes Three through Five, because that is the best idea any of us have ever had.
By the time we arrived in Montauk, our roommate, Belinda, had already checked into what would end up becoming known as the “Grandma Room.” Belinda got us into the room so that we could bring our luggage in and then Liz, Lexa, and I headed out for a quick dinner (and some drinks to calm our nerves after the stressful drive out of Brooklyn).
After dinner, we decided to make a stop at Jaime’s/the Party Room, where we caught up with some of the group that had made it to Montauk earlier in the day.
Then, since we are grandmas, it was time for bed.
Saturday was supposed to be another rainy day, so the leaders all agreed that we would swap the routes that we had planned for each day, moving our shorter, eighteen mile route out to the Montauk Lighthouse to Saturday, and the longer, fifty mile route to Sunday. In another effort to avoid some of the bad weather, we pushed the start time of Saturday’s ride to 12PM, which meant we had time for a lazy morning around town.
Lexa has a way with marine life… On her first time leading a ride for Girls Bike NYC, we spotted dolphins while riding through the Rockaways. On this trip, she was out on our hotel room’s balcony and spotted a seal, which we all admired and watched for several minutes.
After the seal sighting, we made a pit stop at the Party Room to grab Jaime and get some breakfast and coffee. We picked up breakfast wraps and other goodies from Joni’s before getting some beverages from Left Hand and heading back to the Party Room for breakfast.
Finally, it was time for the cycling to begin! All twenty-one of us met up at (and managed to fit under) the gazebo in the center of town.
Kate provided an overview of the ride before we got rolling, since she was able to get to Montauk a few days ahead of the retreat and do another once over on the routes we had decided on. Then we were off! The rain held out for almost the entirety of this loop to the lighthouse and back to town.
It was a short, fun route but a few of us were itching to do a little more riding, so Liz, Lexa, Lena and I set out for another little ride around town, with Liz leading the way.
Once we finished our extra miles, we sent a message to the group chat to let everyone know we’d be heading to Montauk Brewery for some beers. While we were riding, other groups had broken off for lunch, a hike to some cliffs along the beach, or some rest back at the hotel rooms, but once we were at the brewery, lots of them came to join us, with our group ebbing and flowing.
After some beers, it was time for a hot shower and getting ready for our dinner at Naturally Good Cafe. Their team worked with us to provide a delicious, healthy catered dinner (with all food allergies considered!) in their rear dining space, which they decorated just for our event! We (maybe I should only speak for myself) stuffed our faces, enjoyed the delicious foods and desserts, spent some quality off-the-bike time together, and posed like tourists in our various Montauk sweatshirts that had been purchased.
After dinner, the grandmas (and an honorary grandma, Lena) convened in our hotel room and struggled to place our food orders for the next day’s ride to Amber Wave Farms, before hitting the hay.
Sunday’s weather was a bit nicer to us, if we ignore the headwinds we had to face for a good portion of the ride. Since we had a longer route and all still had to get back to the city later that day, we gathered again at the gazebo, bright and early.
Jaime shared some of her wisdom with us before we broke into two groups to make the riding a little easier and safer on some of the busy roads we would be on, and we were rolling by 7:35 AM! This loop took us around some of the backroads of Montauk, along marinas and beaches, and then through the beautiful neighborhoods of East Hampton and Amagansett, where we had lunch at Amber Waves Farm.
We were on a tight schedule since many people had trains they needed to catch but we of course made time for a few photo shoots. The fearless leaders for the weekend’s rides:
And our pumpkin patch takeover…
Despite the winds we faced as we rode back east, we made great time and ended the weekend with everyone safely back in Montauk.
This effort was a huge undertaking, much of it shouldered by our leaders, Kate and Lexa, who identified and scouted routes, and organized our delicious Saturday night dinner, respectively. I’m so grateful for the efforts that they and the other leaders contributed to make this retreat such a success. Many of us gather weekly for the duration of the Girls Bike NYC season from March to November, but this weekend gave us a unique opportunity to get to know each other off of our bicycles. I feel very lucky to have been able to spend this time with people who I hadn’t yet had the chance to get to know. So many of our riders are such genuine, sweet, caring people and while I worried what could happen over a busy weekend with twenty-one individuals (wouldn’t anyone wonder what could happen?!), I returned back to the city feeling like I had made such rich and fulfilling connections with so many new women.
I am so appreciative of Kate, who created this community for our riders, and I am so grateful to be given the chance to contribute to and shape our group alongside the other club leaders. And to all of our riders, thank you all so much for always being appreciative, welcoming, supportive, and encouraging - it takes all of us to be able to cultivate such an amazing space in the cycling world.
