| Date | July 13, 2003 |
| Hosts | Debbie and Alan Cudworth |
| Where | Bull's Island, Hunterdon County |
| Who (else) | Claire Hamanaka and Walt Willard, Brenda and Larry Isherwood, Cheryl Prudhomme and Mark Cook, Dave Snope, Linda and George Wells |
"Surprisingly Flat" was a description of the ride, it turned out that the "surprise" came at 10 miles into the ride with a left turn onto Route 579--up a hill that had an average grade of 13%! Alan warned us all before we left the Park that when we turned onto Route 579 that this was to be a "granny gear" climb. We (Team Lanterne Rouge) dropped down to our 34-36 combination and ground our way up the grade. TeamBreeze (who else) "danced on the pedals" leaving the rest of us gasping as we drug our bodies and tandems over the crest -- BTW: this wasn't one of those short-and-steep climbs, this one was long and steep. Needless to say, it was the worst of the day and only 30% into the ride. (Thanks, Alan and Debbie for this climb being early in to the ride when our legs were still fresh).
After that climb just about anything qualified as "flat." The roads were, for the most part, quite empty and with good surfaces. Well, there was the pack of motorcyclists who passed us (my ears are still ringing) and the one road that had just been recently treated with chips and tar (oh joy) but that's New Jersey.
Linda and I appreciated the many times that you guys stopped to wait for us (we don't call ourselves "Team Lanterne Rouge" for nothing). Because you waited for us, when necessary, you made it possible for us to maintain some contact with the group for most of the ride.
The finish was awesome! Two screaming down-hills (reports are that Team DoubleOccupancy went over 50 mph!) with just enough uphill at the end to make for a coast over the hill and come to a gentle (albeit rolling) stop and a left onto Route 29, then back to the Park. 5.5 teams walked across the Delaware to sample the PA side roads. (Team Lantern Rouge stayed to rest and capture a table for the post ride picnic). Do we smell another ride from this Park in the future? Keep an eye on the web site. It could happen!
Oh yes, we came across two non-DOGS tandem teams during the ride. One of the teams was aboard their new Co-Motion. Looks like they will join us soon because we just got an e-mail from them that makes this a likely prospect. The other team did not seem quite as interested, but you never know.
For those of you who were unable to join us today, we're all looking forward to seeing you on the roads at a future club ride.
Linda and George Wells