You can also read it here:

http://www.westchestercycleclub.org/latestNews.php

Maybe Aaron and Richie will write up their adventures on the rain date
ride last Sunday. Sounds like an interesting story from what I heard
so far.

The double century was held on June 15th this year, better known as
Father's Day. While riding on Father's Day is not ideal, it was the
only day I could do it this year, as I had to take my daughter to camp
the following Sunday. I like to do the ride on Sunday for two
reasons: less traffic, and it gives you a day to prepare.

I arrived at SUNY about 5 minutes before the ride to no cars in the
parking lot. Jerome Jousse showed up shortly, as he had been driving
around looking for everyone else. As we were getting ready, Jim
Sannerud arrived on bike. He explained that he had to be back early,
so he would ride with us for a while and turn around. Just after 5am,
Barbara Kingsborough and Bob Beringer showed up. Bob would be our sag
for the day and Barbara would ride with us. With no one else showing
up, we departed at 5:10am. Jim turned back in Purdys so he would be
back in White Plains before 9am.

The group rode well together, but there was no way we were going to do
a 20 pace with just 3 people for most of the ride. Just north of
Brewster, we overtook Hiroshi Uehara, Brad Kenyon and Klaus Schreiber.
The latter two had left from Tarrytown at 4:30. Hiroshi left from
SUNY about 25 minutes before we did. The three met up on Rt 35 north
of Katonah when Brad and Klaus stopped to fix a flat. Our group
quickly passed then after explaining we were the entire ride and that
we would probably see them at the first stop in Dover Plains.

As luck would have it, I flatted just before Dover Plains. The roads
were wet due to the rains of the early morning. We did not get rained
on, but I think the wet roads contributed to the flat. Rubber cuts
easier when it is wet. Bob stopped the sag wagon and gave me a hand
inflating the tire with a floor pump. Although we did not see them,
the second group saw us just as we were leaving, so they arrived
shortly after we did at the breakfast stop around 8:30 am.

The faster group got back on the road after breakfast, and this was
the last we would see of the slower group. Brad became concerned
about being unable to sustain the ride on Route 41 going into
Massachusetts. So he headed west on 23, then south on 22, and took
the train from Wassaic back down to Pleasantville. In the spirit of
staying the course with the riders you started with, Klaus joined him.
Hiroshi continued on to Pawling at about 150 miles and decided to
call his wife for a sag.

Fortunately for us, we had some headwinds riding into Massachusetts.
I say fortunately, since they were not that strong and it would mean
the normal headwinds when we turned south on Rt 7 in Great Barrington
would be tailwinds. The Rt 7 stretch is notorious for headwinds and
is a real drag when you want to stop for lunch, but instead have to
fight strong headwinds for 5 miles. As I predicted, we had tailwinds.
The first I remember in 20 odd years of doing this ride.

Lunch was not eventful, except that Jerome noted he was really
struggling since the first stop. Lucky for him, the route is mostly
downhill for the next 50 miles. We continued on at a good clip. The
pacelining on Rt 7 was really nice, as usual, and the hills into Kent
were taken at a reasonable speed.

The weather was cool, so we did not need to stop in Kent for water
like we did last year. The key to riding 200 miles in one day is to
limit stops. Even if you want to just get water, a stop costs you 20
minutes by the time everyone gets what they need. The next stop was
Pawling. Barbara and I got chocolate milkshakes. They really hit the
spot. Jerome availed himself of the bike shop to purchase some
chamois butter. Long distance riding can do that to you!

Pawling would be our last stop. Cold homebrew was now calling our
names. After the climb south of Mt Kisco on Rt 128, Jerome had to
take a break. While he was drinking energy drinks and such, he was
toasted and wanted to quit. I remembered I still had a bunch of grapes
in my pocket and started feeding them to him. That was the magic
bullet. Jerome was now leading the charge back to SUNY!

We pulled in with exactly 11 hours of ride time, less than 13 hours
after we started, giving us an average of 18.2 Not bad for three
people. One flat in our group and no other problems. Bob arrived
with pizza and lawn chairs. I served the home brew. All agreed it
was another great double and we will be back to do it again in 2009!

Bruce