| Date | July 27, 2013 |
| Hosts | Wendy Samuelson and Jeff Winick (Team Two Tandems Behind the Couch) |
| Where | Nyack and Piermont, NY |
| Who (else) | Mike and Caren Bianco, Bob Bird (and imaginary stoker, Helen), Beryl Brodsky and Tom Fritz (and Darrell the dog, our DOGS' mascot), Mark Cook and Cheryl Prudhomme, Bill and Dale Fischer, Larry and Brenda Isherwood, Neil McPhee and Barbara Flint, Dave Snope and Susan Nicolich |
Susan, with her big smile, gave this a "double thumbs up" and said "this was really cool!"
Caren, wearing her ETR shirt remarked, "Can you bring this weather to next weekend's ETR?"
Darrel the DOGS' mascot said, "Are you kidding me, I gotta get out of my trailer, again?" each time we went through a narrow passage that could not get the trailer through.
Bob Bird said, "I miss Helen."
The single bikers at the café we passed screamed, "Look, Tandemania!" The DOGS replied "woo hoo!" and pumped their fists.
Brenda said, "Hey, your cue sheet is off. We only rode 29.9 miles, not 30!"
Wendy wearily thought at the post-ride picnic, "Thank goodness Mark and Larry are working the BBQ! We're so exhausted from getting up at 5 AM to prepare all of this food, and leading this ride, and Jeff is just sitting in his chair and not moving..... What, did he think the BBQ was going to work itself?"
We met up at the Rockland Lake State Park in Nyack, and rode a potpourri of different surfaces. We started out along the paved recreation path along the beautiful lake with mountains in the background, then to a rail trail along the scenic Hudson River with views of the Tappan Zee Bridge, then through low-traffic village streets with bucolic gingerbread houses and mansions along the Hudson River, and then to a rail trail with a bird's eye view of the beautiful homes along the Hudson River.
At one point, Jeff and Wendy lost a bolt, but we're not sure if that happened at the DOGS' Kingdom Trail week, as certainly these rail trails are not heavy riding. Larry and Mike saved the day, as Mike offered his bolt off of Caren's stem, and Larry, the DOGS' bike mechanic, fixed it.
When we got to Piermont, we had a fun rest stop at a "bike deli" where there were many bikers lounging outside on the patio seating area. Next, we rode through a wooded state park in Piermont on a paved road, down to the super-long paved pier, with dramatic views of the Hudson River. There, the Eyewitness News cameras were waiting for us, and Wendy yelled out to the DOGS "Surprise, we'll be on the evening news!" Actually, they were doing a story on a boat accident. We then circled back, rode up what seemed like a 180° hill, and looped back in the reverse, taking the rail trail behind the homes, through the village streets, along the Hudson River rail trail path, and along the Rockland Lake State Park.
We finished off the day by having a fun-filled BBQ potluck by the lake of Rockland County State Park.
Mike Bianco's photos are at: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/113566451035765687001/albums/5905763354778623569.