Arriving at Team Adam's HQ were Teams Isherwood, Brandriss/Kristol, Cudworth, Cook/Prudhomme, Hamanaka/Willard, and our intrepid hosts Team (and a half) Adam. There were two options, a 25 mile jaunt and a 40 mile ride. Team Wells, along with most of the other DOGS chose the 40 mile loop with Team Adam and Team Hamanaka/Willard doing the 25. (Actually Claire & Walt, due to an accident on Route 78, were delayed with all the traffic.)
These were familiar roads to most DOGS but in a different order and direction from previous rides. Using lightly traveled back roads we made our way from Berkeley Heights to Liberty Corner with lots of nice rollers. As we rode, more-and-more sunshine broke through the overcast and the temperatures became warmer. Whitenack Road was really interesting. It seemed much shorter--going down rather than up that road.
As we traveled the back roads, there were signs of the past week of rain, swollen rivers and streams, as well as places where the debris-strewn shoulders made us stay more in the middle of the road. Union School House Road (another familiar road to many of us, but also, in the opposite direction) has a really nasty short, very steep climb to a stop sign. Fortunately, Team Wells managed to get to the crest with zero traffic from either direction which allowed us to continue without putting a foot down. Then we began on our favorite road--Roxiticus where it seems to be flat to rolling but you are actually on a prolonged downhill section of the mountain with great scenery for both captain and stoker.
By the time Team Wells made it to Bedminster/Far Hills and the park with the porta-potties (thank you), the rest of the pack was finishing their break. Team Wells had a quick stop and rolled off with the pack. Team Adam took pity on our legs and provided a less-steep alternative to climbing Liberty Corner Road by directing us right on to Layton Road to the crest from where we roared down Liberty Corner Road that eventually becomes Church Street and into Liberty Corner center and out to Valley Road for the return to Berkeley Heights. Valley Road isn't all that pretty, but the downhill section into Stirling was welcome to our week-off-the-tandem legs.
There was a great gathering following the ride where we traded stories of weather survival in both New Jersey as well and Maryland. As the afternoon progressed, the temperatures began to drop as the front moved in and the winds increase. Team Wells were first to leave for home and back to our own grueling task of "water management."
Linda & George Wells
Leaders - Doubles Of the Garden State (DOGS)