Hi Bruce and other fellow double century group,
Bruce's report for us slow group is mostly correct but I would like to clarify
one point.
According to his report, it sounds like that I called my wife and stopped the
ride at Pawling but it was not correct. I completed the ride with relatively
good condition (of course, it was good considering my level). I met my wife
right after I passed Pawling as we initially planned and she supported me from
that point. i continued the ride and arrived at SUNY at 7:45PM, exactly 15hrs
after I started the day. It was completion of my 8th double. When I first
finished the double on 1998, I never thought that I would do it again but it had
become some sort of B-pace double ever since.
Thanks Bruce for organizing this event every year.
Hiroshi
----- Original Message -----
From: brucekwells <bkwells@...>
Date: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 12:42 am
Subject: [NYDoubleCentury] Double Century report
To: NYDoubleCentury@yahoogroups.com
> 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
>
>