| Date | August 9, 2003 |
| Hosts | DBLS DOGS (Dave Snope, Brenda and Larry Isherwood, Susan Nicolich) |
| Where | Califon Island Park; Hunterdon/Morris/Somerset Counties |
| Who (else) | Cheryl Prudhomme and Mark Cook, Ann Smith |
Saturday morning August 9th we awoke to less than promising skies. Despite a few drops of precipitation, four confident cycles and their pedal masters assembled in the parking lot of Califon Island Park: Doubles Dogs (Brenda, Larry, Susan, Dave), Team Road Raiders (Cheryl & Mark) and Ann Smith on her half bike. We took off through the town of Califon tackling a long, slow ascent up Frog Hollow Road. It was characteristic of the entire ride to come - significant rises and falls to the terrain challenging our ability to run the gamut of all available gears that Mel provided. (By the way, on a personal note - this reporter was extra pleased with the exceptional cooperation of the gear-changing mechanism after Dave Kristol performed his magic on the bike earlier in the week. I was finally able to switch to the "granny" gear at will and the chain was not jumping and skipping for the first time all on its own!!! Made it through the entire day without dropping the chain once!)
Well, back to the riding.... Picturesque scenery including deer at the side of the road, old waterwheels from abandoned mills of days gone by, shady, narrow trails, gorgeous new and old homesteads, elaborate gardens of wonderful smelling flowers, right on down to the flock of turkey vultures circling overhead waiting patiently for some unsuspecting cyclist to perish near the top of one of these mountains!!!!
In any case, the ride concluded with an exhilarating descent back into the park, where we shared great food with the friends, flowers, and a butterfly or two.
The rain finally arrived as we were cleaning up. We all enjoyed the ride and thank our hosts for sponsoring. Next time place this one on your schedule with a "do not miss" note attached.