As we walked to the car, we noticed sprinkles on the car that were illuminated by the light in our garage. A light, intermittent rain was beginning to fall. (Not the most auspicious way to start the day.) The drive down was uneventful (just the way we like these drives to be), arriving in the South Tuckerton Acme Parking Lot just under two hours from the time we had pulled out of the driveway at 166 Brook Drive. Other members of the DOGS began arriving only seconds after we pulled up next to Larry and Brenda Isherwood. Dave Snope and Susan Nicolich had ridden down with the Isherwoods in their big, red van. So it wasn't surprising to see Dave and Susan walking across the street from McDonalds to the Acme Parking Lot. By 9:00 AM, the following 18 teams had arrived, setup their tandems, signed the forms, and were preparing to head out on a 50 mile jaunt through the Pine Barrens and the "Jersey Devil," which include the flatlands between Tuckerton and Batsto Village and return, and began at 9:18 AM:
Teams Isherwood (Larry and Brenda), Henderson (John and Nancy), Troike (Ed and Trish), Cudworth (Alan and Debbie), Engleke (Don and Connie), Paulson (John and Debra), Powers (John and Carolyn), Cate (Tracy and Barbara), Cammisa (Lou and Heather), Snope/Nicolich (Dave and Susan), Boyd/Allison (Malcolm and Judy), Cook/Prudhomme (Mark and Cheryl), Dodson/Emerson (Dan and Michelle), Kristol/Brandriss (Dave and Marji), Willard/Hamanaka (Walt and Claire) LeGrand/Chan (Rich and Christina), Kornbluh (Mel and Barbara--our hosts for the day), and yours truly--Team Wells (Linda and George).
The morning was cool and overcast. Everyone was in various layers of clothing. The cloud cover and the cool temperatures were going to make this a good riding day. The only problem was the occasional gust of wind (a.k.a., South Jersey Mountains). The initial pace was moderately brisk and everyone stayed pretty much together, that is until the "hammers" came out of the peloton (somewhere around five miles into the route). Linda and I took a shot at getting in the draft of the "big DOGS" as they began working a tandem pace line. This was going to be awesome. Short pulls on the front, followed by working your way through the line to take a pull again. I (George) don't have a computer up front (I find it distracting and occasionally demoralizing), so I'm not sure how fast this line was moving, but I have the sense (based on the gear ratios we were using), that we were going somewhere around 25 mph. But, all good things come to an end. This line ended when a traffic signal broke up the group as well as hitting cross winds where the pace line didn't help. We fell off the back of the leaders and were never able to bridge back.
The roads used on this ride are excellent. Lightly traveled tree-lined and simply some of the best that Southern New Jersey has to offer. Linda noted that, in a little over an hour (10:36 AM), we were rapidly approaching the rest stop (parking lot at Batsto Village). All I was thinking was "so far, so good." While we both needed the rest, I wanted to make sure it wasn't too long a stop--I didn't want the muscles to get cold before starting the second half. We actually accomplished that as we rolled off after some quick snacks and a conversation with some of the other teams. 11:00 AM, 14 minutes after we had arrived in the parking lot, we were back on the tandem and on the roads again.
The second half was a bit better than the first half, primarily, because the prevailing winds were generally at our back, although the occasional turn put our noses back in the wind. About halfway through the return, looking in the rear view mirror, I saw a large pack of DOGS coming on--strong! As they approached, I told Linda "prepare to jump on a wheel." Fortunately, this became manageable--for a little while. Although we were pretty much toasted, we managed to maintain some contact for the rest of the ride. Catching a draft was essential to a strong finish. The pack split into two parts We were in the second part--of course, and kept trying to bridge to the leaders--it didn't work. The lactic acid was putting a burn in my quads, but we were determined not to slip off again. A pull, a draft, followed by another pull, nothing really organized, just survival and we made the left turn back in the ACME Parking Lot, (12:18 PM), not too long after the lead group had arrived. It was a good ride.
We all indulged in various types of pizza provided by our hosts (Mel and Barbara). (Mel and Barbara--please tell Frank that we all say thank you). George even got a slice of mushroom and sauce but without cheese, yippee! (Something that is on my restricted eating list!) Good friends, good conversation, a perfect end to a great day of tandem riding. (Thank you Teams Paulson, Powers and Dodson/Emerson for buying DOGS jerseys. Wear them proudly--whenever you want--you don't have to wait to wear them only on a DOGS ride).
Oh yes, the award for dogged determination goes to Team Cate who completed the entire 47 mile route despite having to stop to make various adjustments to their new tandem. While they technically finished last, they still completed the entire ride. So, you don't have to be fast, just fast enough to ride with your own conviction and determination, and with a bit of luck, you will probably find a team who rides at your pace. Congratulations on a great ride, Barbara and Tracy!
The season isn't over yet. Presently, another ride has been planned--two weeks from today--Sunday, 2 November. It will be led by Teams DBLS DOGS (Larry and Brenda Isherwood and Dave Snope and Susan Nicolich)--and any rides you want to lead--just send an e-mail to Dave Kristol and he'll put the announcement on the DOGS Website! Since we all definitely have one more opportunity this season, (and maybe even more), we DOGS get to ride together, again and a first time for those of you who haven't had a chance to join us.
As the tag says on OLN-TV--"Out You Go!"
Linda & George Wells
(Team Half-Fast)
Leaders - Doubles Of the Garden State (DOGS)