| Date | June 1, 2013 |
| Hosts | Susan Nicolich and Dave Snope, Cheryl Prudhomme and Mark Cook |
| Where | Whittemore Wildlife Sanctuary, Oldwick, NJ |
| Who (else) | Barbara and Tracy Cate, Barb Flint and Neil McPhee, Brenda and Larry Isherwood, Kathy and Daniel Parker plus Rick Zieleykievocr, Linda and George Wells |
Participating Teams: Wells (George & Linda), Nicolich/Snope (Susan & David), Cook/Prudhomme (Mark & Cheryl), Cate (Tracy & Barbara), Isherwood (Larry & Brenda), Parker (Daniel & Kathy) Flint/McPhee (Barbara & Neil) and on a single bike accompanying Team Parker -- Rick Zieleykievocr (spelling?) Neil & Barbara only rode part of the way because they had an appointment to show their house (we’re going to miss you!).
The hot weather has arrived once more, and we all gathered at the Whittemore Wildlife Sanctuary parking lot in Tewksbury in preparation for an almost 35 mile loop around the area. We had a slight delay with the planned starting time but that was not a big problem. Greetings, signups, and meeting our new DOGS team (Team Parker (Dan & Kathy) and Rick, their future son-in-law) as well as working out a slightly shorter route for teams Cate and Parker were all accomplished and we got underway. The 34.6 mile loop had only one significant challenge starting at mile six and climbing to mile seven, going up about 200 vertical feet with some ramps that topped out at 8%, just before the summit. This was a climb that required the tandem teams to find the right gear and rhythm and just keep pedaling up and over. The downhill side was a blast! The rest of the ride was filled with rollers.
The real challenge of the ride was the second crossing of Route 22 on the return leg of the ride. That was difficult and split up our group of four teams finding those breaks in rather fast traffic on a busy Saturday afternoon. Three teams stopped for ice cream while Team Wells pedaled on, largely because George's legs told him that if he stopped pedaling, they were going to refuse to re-start. Faced with a potential strike, it made sense to keep pedaling and skip the ice cream.
The last three miles of the ride were an easy cruise back to the parking lot which, upon our return, was packed, as was the street. We discovered that Oldwick/Tewksbury was having some kind of celebration and the main road was blocked off just above the turn-off for the sanctuary. The plans to go to the Oldwick General Store to purchase lunch went out the window. I guess we could have ridden the tandem, but George's legs had already stopped pedaling.
This was another great day out with the DOGS and the pace of the pack was definitely social. Sorry that many of you missed this ride. However, there are more DOGS rides on the calendar. Upcoming in June are: Dirty DOGS Allegrippis Trails Weekend at Lake Raystown 2013 (14-16), The 2013 Summer Solstice Ride (22nd), and The Kingdom Trails VT Mountain Bike 2013 (29th thru 3rd). And there is always the potential for an impromptu ride to be hosted by any DOGS team that wants to share one of their favorite rides with the rest of us.
Linda & George Wells
Leaders -- Doubles Of the Garden State (DOGS)