"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own"   Sri Chinmoy

50k Cycling - Rockland County NY - August 2026

The day of the marathon at Rockland is one I usually end up cycling rather than running. In fact I've only run the race a couple of times, and been one of the lead cycling crew around a dozen times if not more. This time round, conditions were cool and I had a few layers on as I started riding the loop ahead of the eager, leading runners. I was on first-lady duty, so after around one lap I was able to slot in ahead of the fastest female runner, who I later discovered was called Anya, riding a steady pace and ringing the bell to make a path through the slower runners as the leaders lapped the field. Anya finished in 2.52, so it had been pretty sedate cycling. After that I decided to head out and explore Rockland County a little and just make the distance up to 50k. For me that's a landmark distance, and something I hadn't managed to ride since injuring my knee in March of 2026

During the slow loops of the marathon, I started to feel a close connection with the beauty of Rockland, with its serene lake and lofty trees. There was a herd of deer out browsing in the early morning light as we started at 7 and at one point I was having to ride through a flock of canada geese and shoo them from the path for the lead runners to have a clear run. I also felt something when I passed the 24 mile mark, remembering a very significant inner conversation I had with Sri Chinmoy there back in 2004. That was the year I ran 3.19. 

After Anya's finish, I shed a layer or 2 of kit and rode at a decent pace out along the course, back on the circuit road of the park to the parking lot and then out into the relaxed and quiet roads of Clarkstown. This was a very pleasant slice of Americana, with the quirky addition of some russian architecture in the form of the Tolstoy Foundation and what looks like an orthodox church, complete with golden cupola.

A few extra miles around the streets, with their detached houses and huge, well-kept gardens, brought me out on Joy Drive and Bliss Lane. I think I also passed Mirth Avenue. Next came Twin Ponds Park with a fountain in the middle of one of the lakes, and then my circuit completed as I returned to the park and notched up 50k

The next day my knee felt better rather than worse for the longer ride, and I manage 4.7 miles jogging out around Cunningham Park. As I write this, I'm waiting to see if I have any negative reaction to that distance! Anyway, after a bit of a downturn in my sporting fortunes this last few days has felt like the longed-for upturn, with a medal in the 800m Race Walk, a 2 mile race where I was mid-pack rather than at the back, and now a 50k on the bike. Here's hoping.

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