[Team Wells Report]
Hi to all DOGS!
Hope you all had a chance to get out on your tandem last Sunday, 27 June because it was a beau-ti-ful day--blue skies, sunshine all the way, temps in the mid to high 70s (at least when we started) and low, low humidity--just about perfect weather for doing anything outside.
Mark Cook and Cheryl Prudhomme of Gillette led us up and down the hills of Somerset County. You all probably read Mark's 23 June e-mail, Time for a Head Count, in which there were seven teams who had contacted him and Cheryl to say that they would be participating in their ride. Well, they received a very pleasant surprise. There turned out to be ten teams who rode the Pleasant Valley Park (PVP) Peddlin' and Paddlin' Party. Explanation regarding the "Paddlin" part of this ride will come near the end of this report.
The individuals who attended this ride included Larry and Brenda Isherwood (Team Breeze), Walt Willard and Claire Hamanaka (Team Double Occupancy), Bob and Helen Bird, Tracy and Barbara Cate, Greg and Susan Adam (one of our newest teams), Alan and Debbie Cudworth, Dave Snope (on his single; sorry you had to work Susan (Nicolich)), Vilis Ozolins (Mark and Cheryl's neighbor; on his single), George and Linda Wells (Team Half Fast), and Mark Cook and Cheryl Prudhomme (Team Road Raiders). Mark took the group photo and just about 10 AM, when we were about to leave the parking lot, a van with two tandems inside came in to the parking lot and parked near the end of it. Everybody pedaled up to these guys and out jumped Bill Stusnick and his wife Lydia Chambers and their sons Hunter and Henry who stoked for their parents at the Peddlin' and Paddlin' Party. When Bill and Lydia became members, we were going by our first name, the New Jersey Tandem Club (NJTC) and Hunter and Henry were probably in a trailer attached to their parents' tandem. But today, they are probably eight and nine years old and able to get up the hills of Somerset County! Sure hope you guys will think about renewing your membership with Doubles of the Garden State (DOGS). The Stusnicks got their tandems out their van, and we were on our way by 10:15 AM (later than planned, but if we had been earlier, we would have never met them).
Almost immediately after we left the parking lot, we very carefully walked our great steeds over the water hazard. Shortly after we turned right on to Valley Road, we passed by the street on which DOGS members Ann Smith and Gisela Witz live, but were unable to join us for last Sunday's ride. (Linda turned and yelled "Hello," to Ann and Gisela).
Mark and Cheryl chose tree-lined, relatively quiet roads, with little traffic but a few "formidable" grades--like 10-12%. At. 4.7 miles, we turned left on to Allen Road, which was a long, steady up through "The Hills" of Somerset County but a screaming down and quick right at the bottom on to Somerville Road. At 8.4 miles, the cute sheet said, WARNING--and lots of things that required an "Eagle eye--and brakes!" Somewhere between Father's Day, Sunday, 20 June and Saturday, 26 June, the potholes and rough road were repaired! For some of us, the rest of the ride was familiar, i.e., ETR '97 roads that Cam and Karen Witt (another DOGS Team) planned for us, as well as rides that Alan and Pam Bergstrom (more DOGS) have led.
George just reminded me--Whitenack Road (24.0 miles on the cute sheet). He grew up in this area and knows the roads better than I do. From this Stoker's point of view (which was only to my left and right), it seemed like this was a hill beyond compare on Father's Day, but I felt as though we got to the top quicker when we did it with the rest of the DOGS last Sunday). Once at the top of Whitenack Road, we "flew" down the other side and eventually made a right (26.8 miles) on to Route 525, also known as Mount Airy Road. We didn't want to go over the speed bumps at Lyons Hospital, so we stayed on Route 525/Mount Airy Road, left on to Valley Road, and made a left back into Pleasant Valley Park (PVP). Again, we walked "The Enterprise" through the water hole (as Bob and Helen Bird went by us on their tandem), a left turn and another left back into the parking lot and to "Claire," my plum 1994 SL2 Saturn.
The fast teams had beat us, as usual, and there were a few teams still to arrive for a super nice picnic under the shade of a big tree. Team Stusnick/Chambers were unable to stay for lunch due to their sons' 3:30 PM piano recital. Many goodies were supplied by various teams as well as our hosts. George prepared two bowls of his Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with low fat Caesar Dressing. Alas! We brought home two empty bowls! (Wednesday (day before yesterday) lunch was more of the same that George prepared for us.
I told you in the last sentence of the second paragraph that I would explain the "paddlin" part of the party. When Mark and Cheryl aren't riding their tandem, they're so good at this other sport, they are on a team that enjoys platform tennis. Thus the reason we parked near the platform tennis courts: so that Mark and Cheryl could teach platform tennis to anybody who was willing to get more exercise after riding up and down the hills of Somerset County. Debbie, Helen, Susan, George, and I enjoyed watching the others while we just stretched out in the sunshine.
BTW: George has already made something entirely different that we hope everybody will enjoy tomorrow at the Blairstown farm (we call it a cabin-in-the-woods) owned by Tracy and Barbara Cate, following the ride that will be led by Walt and Claire Willard in the Hills of Warren County.
Stay Upright!
Linda & George Wells
Leaders - Doubles Of the Garden State (DOGS)