| Date | September 15, 2007 |
| Hosts | Pam and Rich Toft |
| Where | Toft home; Trenton area |
| Who (else) | Barbara and Ron Anderson, Barbara Flint and Neil McPhee, Pat and Ed Gifford, Brenda and Larry Isherwood, Cheryl Prudhomme and Mark Cook, Pat and Bill Rock, Linda and George Wells |
Rich says:
The mileage between turns isn't accurate... it's for reference... None
of the turns are so close you get confused... Example, I use .1 miles, but
it could be .12 or .09... It's for reference and not distance... If you have
a question let me know... but nobody got lost on the route...
The overall distance on the sheet is within about a mile of the actual...
One other tidbit on the sheet, we use the theory of "make the turn, then go"... So the line above is the turn and the next line has the distance, then the next turn... works good...
[Team Wells report]
Team Toft (Rich and Pam) worked us into their busy schedule and hosted the last DOGS ride for the summer of 2007. The day started out less than promising as the last remnants of hurricane Humberto were passing through New Jersey while the DOGS participating in today's ride were headed towards the home of Team Toft. In the minds of Team Wells, we were wondering if the ride was going to happen because we were passing through areas of showers. By the time we arrived at their house, (about 10:20 AM), the sun broke through the clouds and the day turned out beautiful. We had a taste of what fall rides will have in store for the DOGS as the summer season comes to a close. Humberto did leave behind his calling card -- strong, gusty winds that were blew, all day long.
Gathered for the ride were teams: Isherwood (Larry and Brenda), Wells (George and Linda), Gifford (Ed and Pat), Cook/Prudhomme (Mark and Cheryl, respectively), Anderson (Ron and Barbara), Flint/McPhee (Barb and Neil, respectively), Rock (Bill and Pat), and our genial hosts Team Toft (Rich and Pam).
As this was a first ride in the area around our State Capitol, we were not sure what to expect in the way of roads and terrain. Our hosts provided us with lots of gradual up-hills and a few screaming down-hill runs. The first few miles were typical NJ suburban roads passing by schools with the local football teams heading out for their contests and parents and children in the midst of their weekend errands. The sight of eight tandem teams (most of whom were resplendent in our DOGS wear), did get more than a bit of positive attention, best exemplified by a young lady in her parents' car cheering us on as we passed the intersection where they were waiting for the light to turn for them.
As is often the case with NJ roads, they soon shifted to rural areas. The first being the sites of "gentlemen farmers" (all the tax benefits of a farm without the actual farm work), that showed us impressive "Farm Houses" with manicured lawns and a paddock or two for the horses. There was one funny moment in one such area of very high value "farms" where the road is named "Poor Farm" - Yeah-Right! Later in the ride, we did get to see some actual working farms -- a rare site so far north in NJ.
Most of the roads were well maintained, albeit some were chip-and-seal surfaced, roadways with little traffic. There were occasional parts on higher traffic volume roads with smoother surfaces. Most of the secondary roads were long runs with few side roads and virtually no traffic. Of course we wended our way back to the home of Team Toft, going through an industrial park where we finally got the tailwind side of Humberto, and Team Wells was able to cruise along at very high speeds on flat, smooth roads for more that a few miles. Approaching 40 miles of riding in our legs, the tailwind was a welcome event.
At our post-ride fest, there was the usual abundance of food from chips and other munchies to Summer Sausage, Hamburgers, beans, salads, potato salad and, as usual, delicious desserts -- all made just a little bit better with the addition of conversation among the eight DOGS teams who had assembled for the ride. As usual, there are more rides being planned and discussed. So, keep your eyes on the website and email messages for new rides planned and scheduled. There are still many opportunities for road rides as well as the two scheduled off-road rides already on the calendar.
Finally, we do need a DOGS team to step forward to host the annual Winter Solstice Party in December. This year we would like to have it back in the Northern section of the state -- any volunteers before I start calling individuals?
Linda & George Wells
Leaders -- Doubles Of the Garden State