| Date | August 10, 2014 |
| Hosts | Rich Brookler, Debbie Ungerleider, Alan Scherl and Rita Tesar |
| Where | Westwood, NJ |
| Who (else) |
On the longer ride:
Tandem teams: Debbie Ungerleider and Rich Brookler, Caren and Mike Bianco,
Karla Doremus and Rich Tranfield, Dale and Billy Fisher, Cheryl Prudhomme
and Mark Cook, Carlos, Sophie and SydneyBlu Garcia (on the triple).
Single riders: Eric Schmidt (our traffic director and photographer),
Rhonda Pekow, Dave Pawlyk, Rosemary Panno, Peter Cafaro.
On the shorter ride: Tandem teams: Rita Tesar and Alan Scherl, Linda and George Wells. Single riders: Gerald McBride, Marianne Ansari, Shari Summers, Dave Tider, Peggy and Bill Telgheder, Carlos Vasquez, Steven Herr, Paul Brodek. |
Routes: Long ride from Glen Rock to Nyack and back (45 miles). Shorter ride from Westwood to Nyack and back (28 miles)
[Debbie Ungerleider report]
The riders on the longer route started and ended at Rich and Debbie's
house. The shorter route started and ended near the train station in
Westwood. The weather was perfect, but quite hot. Rich & Debbie's
group rode 45 miles, with 1043 feet of climbing, and an average speed of
16.3mph. Alan & Rita's group rode 28 miles, with 500 feet of climbing
and an average speed of 13.8mph. Our midway snack stop was at the Runcible
Spoon in Nyack, where the two groups met up and attempted a group photo
(some riders didn't quite make it into the photo). The long route group
then continued around our loop, back to Glen Rock, traveling back through
Piermont (single file, of course), Closter, Westwood and Paramus. The
short route group did the same route back, ending in Westwood.
Our ride was followed by a fun pot-luck after party at Rich & Debbie's house, with lots of delicious food, drink and conversation for the 2nd year in a row! Thanks to everyone who participated in the ride and brought great dishes.
Sunday, 10 August, was the second (annual?) combined outing of DOGS and the Bicycle Touring Club of New Jersey (BTCNJ). The DOGS Teams who participated in the shorter (28 miles) of the two rides, consisted of Team Wells (George and Linda) and Team Scherl/Tesar (Alan and Rita, respectively), leaders of that ride along with a number of BTCNJ single bike riders. This ride began at the Westwood Train Station and went to the Runcible Spoon in Nyack for a snack and returned to the Westwood Train Station.
It was a surprising journey for Linda and me because we rode our first tandem in this area early in our tandeming life (late 90's). Our first experiences were challenging since the routes we chose took us up-and-over the hills that run North-and-South (of course we were much heavier then). Sunday's route, with some added wisdom/knowledge of Team Scherl/Tesar, got us over the shortest passes between the valleys. The steepest climb was getting up to the level of the restaurant from Piermont Avenue to South Broadway that topped out at 4.5%.
The leaders also set a good pace, not too fast or too slow, and we re-grouped frequently and made it to the snack spot and back without being over stressed or over tired. We also had to be doubly careful as the often narrow road surfaces were often riddled with cracks and potholes and the fact that the Piermont Police Department has a very strict policy of enforcement when it comes to bicyclists (and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of us there on weekends). So we kept an eye on the roads and minded the stop signs and lights, particularly when in the precincts of Piermont.
As captain, I spent most of the ride focused on the next 100 feet of roadway, but Linda did get to see some of the scenery so here is her view from the Rear Admiral's Chair:
Let's begin with the day -- it was gorgeous -- and you all probably know that if you had a chance to venture outside. Also, the 28-mile ride began about 1:15 PM -- one of the first, if not the first, times a DOGS road-ride has ever begun in the afternoon. Next, even though the roads were rough in spots, as George mentioned in a previous paragraph, just about every home along the way (no matter what side of the road I was looking), was breathtaking -- dripping with "money/taxes!" Many of the homes overlooked our famous Hudson River. As we traveled along, we drew closer-and-closer to the Tappan Zee Bridge, then passed under it so that we could get ourselves to the Runcible Spoon for something tasty and lots of nice conversation.
When we returned to the Westwood Train Station, we thanked Alan and Rita for their wonderful leader-led-ride, their great, almost flat route, but especially, always keeping us together, and stopping, often, to be sure that nobody was ever left behind. We told them, in the 18 years the DOGS have been in existence (which began August 1997 when we were the New Jersey Tandem Club (NJTC), yesterday was the first leader-led ride that we attended that we were able to remain with the pack, starting and ending together. (You guys must be pros at leading rides. Again, thank you, Alan and Rita!) When I mentioned to Team Brookler/Ungerleider (Rich and Debbie, respectively) that we all remained together, Rich told me the two teams plan to lead these rides again, next year. Let's hope the weather will be just as beautiful as yesterday.
After leaving the train station, along with other BTCNJ riders, we all followed Alan and Rita (in our cars, of course) to Rich and Debbie's in Glen Rock to enjoy more delicious goodies and conversation.
Looking at Mark and Cheryl's Ride-with-GPS page, we noted that the longer route was made longer by starting and finishing at the home of the DOGS host Team Brookler/Ungerleider (Rich and Debbie, respectively), and they did ascend some of the steeper crossings of the ridgelines. Of course, somebody from that group will have to report on their ride.
We were the first to leave since we had to return home to give Harry and Ron (meow) their evening, moist, Royal Canin Dinner. They are accustomed to getting their dinner at 5 PM. We had such a nice time at Rich and Debbie's, that Harry and Ron did not get their dinner till after 7 PM. (Ron was very angry with us. You should have heard him when we walked in the door!) And speaking of last night's dinner for the boys, it's getting on to that time to give them tonight's dinner.
Stay Upright!
Linda & George Wells
Leaders - Doubles Of the Garden State (DOGS)