Dave's ride took us on various loops. The direct route to and from the start point would take a little less than 25 miles; with Dave's loops the riders who followed all the directions (some of us didn't) logged about 38 miles.
Linda and I rolled off at the head of the group, although traffic slowed the first left hand turn out of Loantaka Park. So, as usual, Team Wells was off the front playing fox to the hounds. As we pedaled an easy loop towards (albeit not directly) New Vernon, the pack was busy warming up and pedaling hard to catch the runaway foxes. We were later told of Walt's impressions of Phil Ligget as he provided rolling commentary on the catch. Of course, the catch took place just as the directions took the left turn up Long Hill Road (aptly named) and Team Wells promptly were spit out the back of the group. Due to our weight loss, we climb better but still not as well as most of the DOGS. We approached 40 mph speeds on the downhill side of Long Hill Road. We managed to catch and pass Team Adam but never caught the rest of the pack. By this time, the group had split up and we were spread out along the route.
We looped back to New Vernon, and out towards the Great Swamp, heading for The Raptor Trust and the mid-point rest stop. As Linda was reading out the directions, I realized that the direction to "turn right on White Bridge Road" was missing. Oops! Since I lived in the area most of my life until shortly before our wedding day--Flag Day, 14 June 1975, I know the way to The Raptor Trust, but how many others knew the turn on to White Bridge Road? Later, we heard that Marji and Dave were having that same conversation as Linda and George, when Marji noticed the omission. The good news was that the right people in each group of riders knew enough of the area and to turn right on to White Bridge Road, while, at the same time, Marji was posted at the intersection for the others who didn't know the area.
Rested and refreshed, the DOGS who are part of the BOG's (Bushnell Owners Group), pedaled off to tackle the hill that Dave used, so that we could avoid the gravel section of White Bridge Road. Along the climb, we did wonder what was worse -- a 10% grade or a quarter mile of gravel. The climb also gave us another screaming downhill -- the gravel was worse.
It was shortly after this that Team Wells caused Team Isherwood a problem. Like I (George) said, I grew up in the area, and I made the decision to stay on South Maple Avenue because I really don't like South Finley and the center of Basking Ridge. We had told Mark, and Mark had told Al & Deb, but nobody told the Isherwoods, who gave chase with the hope that we would turn back. We gave them an additional mile as well as a seven mile sprint drill to catch up with the post stop leaders. We also passed straight through some of Dave's final loops in New Vernon which includes some of those mini-castles. Meanwhile, our tandem was having some shifting problems and really needed an adjustment that could not be done along the road. So we took the direct route to Loantaka. We cut three miles off the route and turned "right" into the parking lot just as Team Isherwood and the other leaders were turning "left" into the parking lot.
We had our DOGS post ride picnic with excellent foods provided by all the participants. One new item that was a particular hit--the "Dog Bone" shaped Peanut Butter Cookies provided by Diana. They were rated 5-Woofs! Diana, I think you have a "signature item."
Brenda and Linda also "chatted up" a deaf roller-blader in the park whose husband was off riding his single bike. She wants to ride but is nervous because she cannot hear little things like cars approaching and, therefore, loves the idea of tandeming. We gave her information on tandems and tandeming as well as Mel's business card. I think we may see them at a DOGS ride someday soon.
Around 3 PM, we finally packed up and rolled on to the other parts of our lives. It was a great day, and a great ride. Many thanks to Dave and Marji for hosting this event.
Just a note for the rest of you -- there are still a lot of dates on the calendar that aren't marked in yellow.
Linda & George Wells
Leaders - Doubles Of the Garden State
BTW: Our tandem now shifts properly again. It took about an hour in the work stand while fiddling with the adjusters to get it dialed in correctly.