Mike = Mike Delong, Jeff = Jeff Bauer, David = David Bundrick, Tom = Tom Cross, Davey = Davey Haynes, & Lou = Lou Wolff
Thursday / 22 Aug 2002
Newton to Bullard’s Farm / 73 miles
The 0400 start begins with shifting problems on Lou’s Bob Jackson. Should have paid more attention to it, but more on that later. Just before we start, Mike tells us the secret control had been moved further out since 2000, just in time for us to fill our third water bottles. Lucky for us as Lou and I would have run short on fluids in the 70+ mile run otherwise. I started the ride w/ arm warmers, a regular synthetic jersey & shorts,, an undershirt, and fingerless gloves. The arm warmers were rolled down soon after we got going, and removed at Bullard’s. Lead car was headed out of town faster than in 2000, we stayed with it for about 20 miles when Mike dropped a water bottle, maybe intentionally to keep our pace a reasonable one. Dave and Davey continued along with the group while Jeff, Lou, and I took a short P brake awaiting Mike’s bottle search. Remounted, we catch up with Davey just before we roll into Bullard’s. A short break to check in, fill bottles, etc and we are rolling again and again united with Dave. I remembered the hills on the section to be more arduous last time, maybe I was in shock for the whole ride? Along the first section, and all the rest, we note that the route sheet mileage is significantly shorter than our computers indicate, mine is 4 – 5% off.
Bullard’s to Brattleboro / 37 miles
Some flats and a few good little climbs describe this 35 odd mile section that departs Mass, crosses the SW corner of NH and brings us over the Conn.River into Vt. at Brattleboro. It’s apparent that David is not feeling up to par just yet as we will see him for most of the ride today. A Tom ? from Canton, Oh joins us for the first on many portions of the ride. He has a neat and very familiar Cilo equipped with an ATB crank and two rings similar to my setup back in 2000. I am feeling warmed up and quite good on the flat sections and ok on the climbs. I am trying not to make Lou work too hard on the hills or encourage Mike and Jeff to either, but put in a couple of ambitious pulls in the flatter sections with the intention of running off on the last downhill towards both NH and Vt. I snag the NH state sign w/o being obvious about it, and later when charging along down Rt. 5 headed towards the Vt. line I pick up a rear flat. There goes my Vt.. line sign win, but everyone waits for me to make the repair. One huge bent nail out, new tube in and we are about ready to roll. No, for some reason my first spare tube won’t hold air. Pull out the second one and inflate it. Not looking too good, barely 100 miles in and I am out of tubes already. Rolling towards the bridge, no one seems to be interested in pushing the pace towards the line, so I sneak up front, elevate the pace a bit and cross into Vt. first among our group of AA’ers.
BMB 2002 Lou and Mark’s Excellent Adventure
Mike = Mike Delong, Jeff = Jeff Bauer, David = David Bundrick, Tom = Tom Cross, Davey = Davey Haynes, & Lou = Lou Wolff
Thursday / 22 Aug 2002
Newton to Bullard’s Farm / 73 miles
The 0400 start begins with shifting problems on Lou’s Bob Jackson. Should have paid more attention to it, but more on that later. Just before we start, Mike tells us the secret control had been moved further out since 2000, just in time for us to fill our third water bottles. Lucky for us as Lou and I would have run short on fluids in the 70+ mile run otherwise. I started the ride w/ arm warmers, a regular synthetic jersey & shorts,, an undershirt, and fingerless gloves. The arm warmers were rolled down soon after we got going, and removed at Bullard’s. Lead car was headed out of town faster than in 2000, we stayed with it for about 20 miles when Mike dropped a water bottle, maybe intentionally to keep our pace a reasonable one. Dave and Davey continued along with the group while Jeff, Lou, and I took a short P brake awaiting Mike’s bottle search. Remounted, we catch up with Davey just before we roll into Bullard’s. A short break to check in, fill bottles, etc and we are rolling again and again united with Dave. I remembered the hills on the section to be more arduous last time, maybe I was in shock for the whole ride? Along the first section, and all the rest, we note that the route sheet mileage is significantly shorter than our computers indicate, mine is 4 – 5% off.
Bullard’s to Brattleboro / 37 miles
Some flats and a few good little climbs describe this 35 odd mile section that departs Mass, crosses the SW corner of NH and brings us over the Conn.River into Vt. at Brattleboro. It’s apparent that David is not feeling up to par just yet as we will see him for most of the ride today. A Tom ? from Canton, Oh joins us for the first on many portions of the ride. He has a neat and very familiar Cilo equipped with an ATB crank and two rings similar to my setup back in 2000. I am feeling warmed up and quite good on the flat sections and ok on the climbs. I am trying not to make Lou work too hard on the hills or encourage Mike and Jeff to either, but put in a couple of ambitious pulls in the flatter sections with the intention of running off on the last downhill towards both NH and Vt. I snag the NH state sign w/o being obvious about it, and later when charging along down Rt. 5 headed towards the Vt. line I pick up a rear flat. There goes my Vt.. line sign win, but everyone waits for me to make the repair. One huge bent nail out, new tube in and we are about ready to roll. No, for some reason my first spare tube won’t hold air. Pull out the second one and inflate it. Not looking too good, barely 100 miles in and I am out of tubes already. Rolling towards the bridge, no one seems to be interested in pushing the pace towards the line, so I sneak up front, elevate the pace a bit and cross into Vt. first among our group of AA’ers.
BMB 2002 Lou and Mark’s Excellent Adventure
Mike = Mike Delong, Jeff = Jeff Bauer, David = David Bundrick, Tom = Tom Cross, Davey = Davey Haynes, & Lou = Lou Wolff
Thursday / 22 Aug 2002
Newton to Bullard’s Farm / 73 miles
The 0400 start begins with shifting problems on Lou’s Bob Jackson. Should have paid more attention to it, but more on that later. Just before we start, Mike tells us the secret control had been moved further out since 2000, just in time for us to fill our third water bottles. Lucky for us as Lou and I would have run short on fluids in the 70+ mile run otherwise. I started the ride w/ arm warmers, a regular synthetic jersey & shorts,, an undershirt, and fingerless gloves. The arm warmers were rolled down soon after we got going, and removed at Bullard’s. Lead car was headed out of town faster than in 2000, we stayed with it for about 20 miles when Mike dropped a water bottle, maybe intentionally to keep our pace a reasonable one. Dave and Davey continued along with the group while Jeff, Lou, and I took a short P brake awaiting Mike’s bottle search. Remounted, we catch up with Davey just before we roll into Bullard’s. A short break to check in, fill bottles, etc and we are rolling again and again united with Dave. I remembered the hills on the section to be more arduous last time, maybe I was in shock for the whole ride? Along the first section, and all the rest, we note that the route sheet mileage is significantly shorter than our computers indicate, mine is 4 – 5% off.
Bullard’s to Brattleboro / 37 miles
Some flats and a few good little climbs describe this 35 odd mile section that departs Mass, crosses the SW corner of NH and brings us over the Conn.River into Vt. at Brattleboro. It’s apparent that David is not feeling up to par just yet as we will see him for most of the ride today. A Tom ? from Canton, Oh joins us for the first on many portions of the ride. He has a neat and very familiar Cilo equipped with an ATB crank and two rings similar to my setup back in 2000. I am feeling warmed up and quite good on the flat sections and ok on the climbs. I am trying not to make Lou work too hard on the hills or encourage Mike and Jeff to either, but put in a couple of ambitious pulls in the flatter sections with the intention of running off on the last downhill towards both NH and Vt. I snag the NH state sign w/o being obvious about it, and later when charging along down Rt. 5 headed towards the Vt. line I pick up a rear flat. There goes my Vt.. line sign win, but everyone waits for me to make the repair. One huge bent nail out, new tube in and we are about ready to roll. No, for some reason my first spare tube won’t hold air. Pull out the second one and inflate it. Not looking too good, barely 100 miles in and I am out of tubes already. Rolling towards the bridge, no one seems to be interested in pushing the pace towards the line, so I sneak up front, elevate the pace a bit and cross into Vt. first among our group of AA’ers.
BMB 2002 Lou and Mark’s Excellent Adventure
Mike = Mike Delong, Jeff = Jeff Bauer, David = David Bundrick, Tom = Tom Cross, Davey = Davey Haynes, & Lou = Lou Wolff
Thursday / 22 Aug 2002
Newton to Bullard’s Farm / 73 miles
The 0400 start begins with shifting problems on Lou’s Bob Jackson. Should have paid more attention to it, but more on that later. Just before we start, Mike tells us the secret control had been moved further out since 2000, just in time for us to fill our third water bottles. Lucky for us as Lou and I would have run short on fluids in the 70+ mile run otherwise. I started the ride w/ arm warmers, a regular synthetic jersey & shorts,, an undershirt, and fingerless gloves. The arm warmers were rolled down soon after we got going, and removed at Bullard’s. Lead car was headed out of town faster than in 2000, we stayed with it for about 20 miles when Mike dropped a water bottle, maybe intentionally to keep our pace a reasonable one. Dave and Davey continued along with the group while Jeff, Lou, and I took a short P brake awaiting Mike’s bottle search. Remounted, we catch up with Davey just before we roll into Bullard’s. A short break to check in, fill bottles, etc and we are rolling again and again united with Dave. I remembered the hills on the section to be more arduous last time, maybe I was in shock for the whole ride? Along the first section, and all the rest, we note that the route sheet mileage is significantly shorter than our computers indicate, mine is 4 – 5% off.
Bullard’s to Brattleboro / 37 miles
Some flats and a few good little climbs describe this 35 odd mile section that departs Mass, crosses the SW corner of NH and brings us over the Conn.River into Vt. at Brattleboro. It’s apparent that David is not feeling up to par just yet as we will see him for most of the ride today. A Tom ? from Canton, Oh joins us for the first on many portions of the ride. He has a neat and very familiar Cilo equipped with an ATB crank and two rings similar to my setup back in 2000. I am feeling warmed up and quite good on the flat sections and ok on the climbs. I am trying not to make Lou work too hard on the hills or encourage Mike and Jeff to either, but put in a couple of ambitious pulls in the flatter sections with the intention of running off on the last downhill towards both NH and Vt. I snag the NH state sign w/o being obvious about it, and later when charging along down Rt. 5 headed towards the Vt. line I pick up a rear flat. There goes my Vt.. line sign win, but everyone waits for me to make the repair. One huge bent nail out, new tube in and we are about ready to roll. No, for some reason my first spare tube won’t hold air. Pull out the second one and inflate it. Not looking too good, barely 100 miles in and I am out of tubes already. Rolling towards the bridge, no one seems to be interested in pushing the pace towards the line, so I sneak up front, elevate the pace a bit and cross into Vt. first among our group of AA’ers.
At the control I dig through our drop bag here and pull out two spare tubes to restock my tool bag. Can’t find the fabled fried rice at first so I dig into the PB&J, then Lou finds the warm food stashed in a cooler. Lou and I split the contents of one of the little white cartons of Chinese carbohydrates after tossing a bunch of soy sauce over it to increase our sodium intake. Note that this was not one of those “Low Salt” areas we keep seeing along the route.
Brattleboro to Ludlow / 54 miles
As I remember it from 2000, this stretch of the route really separated the men from the boys and I am definitely one of the boys. Some serious ups along this stretch in both directions. I was whipped half way thru it last time. Lots of little ones then comes Andover Ridge and Mt. Terrible shortly before you roll down into Ludlow. But first we roll thru several little towns or hamlets, including Grafton, sight of my very unsuccessful sleep test with a space blanket back in 2000 with Tom. Grafton becomes even more interesting for another rider later in this ride. Davey has found some of the climbs challenging and a knee is giving him some pain. Sometimes he is with us, sometimes in front of us, and sometimes lagging behind. I try to stay back with him when he looks like he is having problems, but he does not seem to appreciate the company right now. He sort backs off and disappears behind us for a bit, but I am sure we will see him again soon. Starting up the Andover climb, I am convinced that I am towing way more that just me up the grade. I keep looking back to see just how large the car is that silently hooked on when I finally realize my rear tire is again going down. Nah, can’t be. Just put a fresh tube in it after pulling out that really big nail! Oh yea, maybe the hole from the nail let some sand in, wore a very small hole in the tube, way slow leak, etc. Just about then I realize that Chris the mechanic, who has been shadowing us up the climb taking pictures, should have a floor pump in his truck. Re-inflating the tire makes the rest of the climb much more manageable. I catch back up to Lou and explain what I think is wrong. At this point, the look in Lou’s eyes tells me he finally is comprehends what I said about how difficult it is to explain to someone else about how hard this ride actually is. Mt Terrible really isn’t, at least for someone like me at my plod along pace. On the climb up it, Sandaway Fong from the 0600 start group, spins by and Mike rides partly up with him before being dropped by the ambitious Mr. Fong. He seems so much like just a regular superman looking at him, then you find out he does this ride in less than 60 hours on a regular basis. Then he seems to be about 12 feet tall!
Ludlow to Middlebury / 65 miles
At Ludlow while stuffing in more food, etc., I worry about my rear tire, which seems to be holding air fine now? I know it will go flat just out of sight of the control so I find Pierce and ask for a little help. We toss the tube, stick a insta-patch on the tire over the nail hole, and stuff in a fresh tube and fill. Apparently that worked cause I finished the ride w/o ever messing with either tire again. No drop bag at Ludlow so I have to wait till Middlebury to pick up another spare tube for the seat bag.
Amazingly, thus far the ride is going as planned. Mike, Jeff, Lou, and I are hanging together and making better time that I did in 2000. Maybe 2100 is a reasonable arrival time for Middlebury. Alas, as we depart Ludlow, the sky overhead appears to suddenly darken slightly, providing a clue to what may lie ahead. The town of Ludlow is the base for the Okomo Ski Resort BTW. Leaving Ludlow, we head towards the Killington Ski Resort. When you are cycling and you see a ski place ahead, you can bet you have some climbing to do. There was a nice descent for a ways out of Ludlow, then some nice flats for a bit, then we started the climb towards Killington. Oh, and the rains came too. Started out just like a short shower that appeared to just about taper off any minute, but it continued on and on. Gave up and pulled out my spiffy new REI rain jacket (that I decided I really needed last time but didn’t have) and my disposition improved significantly, even if the weather didn’t. Along this portion of the ride, we pass a house in the country with a family on the porch cheering, clapping wildly and shouting encouragement to us, just what I might need shortly on Middlebury Gap. Just before the turn off Hwy 100 to ascend up Middlebury Gap, we all stopped at a gas station and met up with the wife of another rider that had been lurking in our little group. His wife was as sunny as a July afternoon back home, despite the hard rain that had been falling for what seemed like years now. But no reason to complain cause we were not cold, just wet. The arm warmers were rolled down or removed often and replaced as needed. In fact, I was a bit warm with the arm warmers on under the rain jacket, but warm was much preferable to cold. Rigged up the helmet light and turned on the taillights, as it was sure to be dark by the time we got over the top of the gap, especially with the cloud cover. Just before we get to the beginning of the climb, we pass by a farm with a horse on the wrong side of a fenceline, off about 100 yards from us. The horse sees us and trots off, but it does not move like a horse at all. We have seen our first moose in Vt. All those “warning moose crossing next 2 Miles” signs take on real meaning now. How’d you like to run into something that outweighs small cars while charging down Middlebury Gap at 45 mph in the twilight? Maybe I should exercise those Avid canti’s a bit? Lou and I get dropped immediately by Jeff and Mike once the climbing begins in earnest. The guy with the sunny wife in the van stays with us, never pulls, but stays with us all the way up and over into Middlebury. As I remember, there is one last really steep pitch just about ½ mile before the gap and that pitch gets Lou. We are both using our smallest gears, his a 26/26 and mine a 26/25 on this hill and Lou announces he is not too proud to walk, promptly dismounting. Not wanting to make him feel bad about it later, I hop off and roll the Holdsworth up the last 100 yards of the hill to the top of the gap alongside him. At the top we hear clapping and cheering from a handful of ride volunteers and stop to chat with them a few minutes. Its lots downhill for a while and though the rain seems to have stopped, we will get plenty chilled so we push on for the town of Middlebury and the control. At speed on the descent I can use both headlights powered by the SON hub to full advantage with as I look for Moose and attempt a controlled but expedited descent off the gap. There are a couple of steep drops on this side, but it is longer and less steep overall. As we get pass thru E. Middlebury we pick up another rider (I think he was one of the few Brit’s on this years ride) ahead of us that appears to know where his is going and is happy to pull us along on the flats faster than we might ride it w/o him so we gladly accept his tow to the control. Arrived there about 2120 in a very slight drizzle. Only 20 min behind our target time and I am quite pleased.
Middlebury / 230 miles out
Remembering again how much time I wasted at controls last time, I remind Lou that if we make good use of our time here, we could get 5 hours sleep. Mike & Jeff can’t decide if they are going on or bedding down here for a short nap, but I know all along that Mike will be rolling shortly. David eats and hits the road while Mike and Jeff contemplate their future. Lou and I grab some food and drink, then find our drop bags in a different building than last time. Accommodations are not as nice as before, but there are only two people already sacked out so we snag two cots, and head to the showers. After 230 + miles of mostly New England hills, a hot shower has incredible power of rejuvenation to this Florida boy. I make a run up to the manned portion of the control asking for a 0330 wake up call (or shake) and call my wife Lynda to tell her of our progress, and Bonnie so we can plan to meet for breakfast the next day. Lynda is having a bad night with the kids and has no enthusiasm for even listening to how happy I am about the ride so far. Further, she suggests I don’t have to call her each evening to let her know I am still breathing, etc. I only get (hopefully) Bonnie’s home answering machine, but it is the machine’s own voice so I don’t know for sure I called the right number. Ever the optimistic one, I suggest Lou and I will make the Burlington Friendly’s restaurant at or shortly after they open at 0600 in the morning. Get up at 0330, ride at 0400, two or so hours to ride about 30 miles there. Well it sounded reasonable to me then, anyway.
I find myself awaking to look at my watch many times during the sleep period, and even take a run outside to drain that pesky full bladder once, noting that it has resumed raining lightly outside. By 0320 I am wide awake and wave off the nice control worker hovering nearby with clipboard and watch in hand, ready to give me the additional 10 min before executing the dreaded shoulder shake. Back in 2000 I laid down at about 0030 after asking to be awoke at 0330 and remember being sort of miffed at the control worker waking me up just as I had laid down. Surely three hours couldn’t have passed so quickly, I had just shut my eyes. But my watch confirmed that they were indeed on time, not early and it was time to roll then as now. First person I see is Davey, just about ready to ride off. He got here a bit after us, bedded down, and is ready to ride already. I wish him well and hope we connect later in the ride.
It appears that Lou is pretty organized, but my head is foggy and it takes me too long to get my act together before I am ready to walk up to the control area for something to eat before we depart. The ride to Burlington put a hurting on me last time and will do so again this morning as well. Before we depart the bag drop/nap area, a very tired and wet looking Tom arrives looking for a hot bath and a change of clothes. He started @ 0600 instead of 0400 with us and we slept for 5 hours, and then he must be at least 3 or more hours behind us already, or is he really ahead of us because of the different starting time? I ponder this as I roll the bike up to the control area looking for coffee, cause I know I really need some if I can’t figure this out straightaway. Changed into clean duds; a s/s wool jersey on top of a light undershirt, knickers, arm warmers, and clean gloves, I’m feeling good as new. Didn’t eat much at the control as there was not much that appealed to me. Hot chocolate mixed with coffee tasted good, should have had 3 of ‘em. A few packaged baked goodies and I think I am good to go. Lou on the other-hand, a couple of servings of oatmeal, nice warm, filling oatmeal, something I should probably learn to eat someday.
Middlebury to Rouses Point / 87 miles / Friday 23 Aug 2002
Only 30 or so miles to the restaurant, but we don’t get rolling till about 0445. Still we shouldn’t be too late. Hate to keep Bonnie waiting. Again, the profile for this section does not appear to be as difficult as it is for me this morning. We depart with a two other distinct small groups, leaving them behind in just a few miles. I note again that early in the ride, folks seem to prefer to ride with their friends only, unknown elements are not welcome. We ride along alone for a bit, then Lou picks up a rear flat. In the dark it will be hard to make a quick repair but it didn’t seem to take that long. A sliver of glass is easily found using our helmet lights. Lou’s down one tube now, but I have two. Onward and as it starts to become light, we roll up on a group of three riders that we have seen and passed before. I think briefly that we should stick with them, but we say hello and roll right past them in our hurry to meet Bonnie. It seems to take forever to make the restaurant; we get there about 0720 maybe. Bonnie (a good friend from back home that moved to Vt. recently) is, or at least acts delighted to see us and we promptly sit down and order lots of food and coffee, eating like it would be our last warm meal. All too soon we have to part ways and head north. Bonnie offers us a ride as she has bike racks on the new Subaru, tempting but I am not feeling that bad as of yet.
The route still has a few challenging hills for my tender limbs then sort of flattens out as we make the Grand Isles on Lake Champlain. About 20 miles from Rouses, we find a country store with the same three riders encountered earlier, parked out front soaking up the morning sun while admiring the view of the lake and listening to someone playing and Irish Whistle. How could we not stop? The three are friends and all from the NE area so they know most of the route, etc. They are ready to ride just as we sit down and nibble on baked goodies from the store. I could still be sitting there probably.
The rest of the ride to Rouses Point passes painlessly. The bridge across to NY is a tall one and the cute wife we saw before Middlebury is jogging down the bridge towards us to meet her husband, who has again been lurking with us but never riding upfront. We have had a nagging headwind most of the way here on the lake, hope it is still blowing out of the NW on our return ride this evening.
Rouses Point, NY to Huntingdon, Quebec / 47 miles
We arrive at the control about 1130 and find plenty to eat. Davey is just heading out for the border crossing. Lou asks Pierce to take a look at the way his bike is shifting (Clue # 2) and I snag some chain lube and a rag to squelch the squeaking coming from my connecting links after yesterdays rain washed away my fresh wax job. Eating and filling water bottles takes longer than it should cause sitting down still feels really good! Not only is the destination different this year, we take a left turn out of the control and ride thru town to a different border crossing. At the Canadian checkpoint, the nice but very serious man confirms with us that we are part of the BMB “bike race” and asks where we are from and where are we headed, etc. Lou starts to describe the route and distance we have left on this outbound leg and I interject sharply, “we heard you could tell us about the “short cut” to the turnaround? This throws him for a minute or two before he realizes I was kidding.
Off we go into Canada on the unmarked portion of the ride. Apparently they really do speak French in Quebec as we meet an older gentleman (hey he looked way older than me or Lou!) at his gate causing him to greet us in French with the word bicycle a couple of times and a bunch of other excited sounding words I of course did not know. We briefly explained in English what we were up to and he appeared as excited of the idea as we were at just about making it to the half way point. You can see Covey Hill for quite some time before you get to climb it. It is indeed not a really tough climb, but unexpected to those of us that had the very flat course to ride back in 2000 up here. I again gave in and used the 26 front ring (hey I brought it along, why not use it some?) on the steep portion of the climb when we finally got to it. We heard later that we could have looked to the north just after the top and seen the outskirts of Montreal. Too bad, it was a beautiful clear & sunny day and getting warmer. Over the top a bit and we encounter Mike and then Jeff on the return route, and then a bit further back we say hello to Dave as well. The road gets really rough and broken, signaling the nearing town of Huntingdon and sure enough, here comes Davey about a mile before we arrive at the control. He says he is hurting, riding very slow, and that we will surely catch up with him again before Rouses Point (reminding me of the “soft pedaling” promises of the past).
Huntingdon, Quebec to Rouses Point / 47 miles
I am prepared this year, the turnaround control last time was not too well stocked but there was plenty of food if you wanted to pay for it. I have a Canadian $5 note and a couple of $2 coins with me but find neither local nor US currency is needed here. The nice ladies behind the lunch counter were making sandwiches as fast as we could eat ‘em and the counter was piled w/ baked goodies, fresh fruit, etc. Apparently this was the Canadian equivalent of a VFW hall as there was a bar on the other side of the room with a couple of boys holding court there. I briefly considered trying to join them for a quick cold one, but the heat on this portion of the route had kind of gotten the better of me and I decide against it.
Lou and I departed at the same time as the three New England boys we encountered previously. Turns out one of them had lived down in Ft. Lauderdale for a few years, my home town until I departed for college. Lou and I tried to join their pace line for the return trip but within about 10 miles they decided they didn’t want company and politely suggested we were riding too fast for them. We see Tom and then Scott and Melinda outbound and looking good just after we descend Covey Hill. We encountered a couple of other groups along the way back, including the Ohio Tom with someone else we didn’t know, but they picked up their pace as we approached and we couldn’t ride w/ ‘em. No problems, it was much more downhill on the way back and mostly a tailwind as well. Not that we would catch up to that soft pedaling Davey till Rouses.
After waiting in a long line of cars to re-enter the US, we roll into the control parking lot and see Davey walking back from a Pizza place across the street with a large pie. Guess the offering at the control didn’t suit him. I remember having a couple of servings for the Chicken & rice dish and helping Davey empty his pizza box too. Davey again says he is beat and wants to ride slow, suggesting he would be slowing us down it we ride together. I am amused at this, reminding him he has been in front of us all day.
Rouses Point to Middlebury / 88 miles
It won’t be dark for a while yet, but we mount the helmet lights with the understanding that they will be needed soon enough. Davey, Lou, and I depart together, determined to get back to Burlington, or actually Williston, Vt. to the Fairfield Inn where we have a room, and a mail drop box awaiting us. The wind is gone and the evening ride is enjoyable with the bright, full moon over the lake. I suggest we stop at the same store that we stopped at on the way out because the full moon is huge and it seems only right to spend a few minutes enjoying it’s reflection off the lake. At the store there is an outdoor thermometer showing 60F and 45% relative humidity. Nice weather for late August. This store, like all the others we encounter till we get close to Burlington are closed. We stop at another closed one somewhere down the road to make adjustments and some other riders pull in behind us. One of them is the guy from Scotland I met on the ride in 2000 and he is looking for coffee, apparently he needs it badly. (He and I departed Middlebury early the second morning of the 2000 ride together, tagged along with some stronger cyclists from Denmark for a while, when I dropped off to find some breakfast he dropped off, indicating he needed some sleep. I stopped at a little marina/store with a kitchen for a hot meal. I passed him spread eagle fast asleep in someone’s front yard about 5 miles down the road. His bike was leaned up against a telephone pole, head and taillights still turned on!) He didn’t finish the ride back in 2000 and says he is back to make up for that this year.
Williston, VT / 466 miles / 236 for the “day” / Saturday 24 Aug 2002
It seems to take forever, but we finally reach the Burlington area and the hotel. Pretty close to 0100 Saturday morning, closing time for the Friendly’s so we decide to find a snack at an open gas station store. Inside we see our old buddy Ohio Tom shaking badly, trying to warm his hands holding a large cup of coffee. We snag some fairly unappetizing food and head for the hotel. Davey, declining our offer to share our room, finds that the Fairfield is booked solid and heads up the road to seek out another hotel. The hotel clerk has a room for us, but can’t find the box we mailed here with clean clothes, food, etc. We wistfully head up to the room to shower, etc., asking him to call us if he finds the box. Just in-case, I give the clerk both Davey and Tom’s names in case they show up looking for a space to sleep. The shower and bed feel great, but it is just a bit less fun slipping the same ride gear back on in the morning. We get almost another 5 hours of sleep cause we didn’t plan to meet Davey at the restaurant till they open at 0600. Another hot, sit down meal and we are feeling very good. The ride back to Middlebury is uneventful and seems pretty slow, but we are there much earlier than I was back in 2000, and my sleep quota is way up this time.
Middlelbury to Ludlow / 65 miles
No clean clothes to change into, but we fuel up and head out, again under an ever-darkening sky. A Canadian couple on tandem plays leapfrog with us as they stop to make adjustments, then cruise by, then stop again to strip off clothes as it is plenty warm. They did the Rocky Mountain 1200 recently, and they boy can they climb! We catch them just before the summit of Middlebury. Lou stops to don his rain jacket as it is starting to spit rain at the top. Preferring to wait till we get to the store at the intersection with Hwy 100, I cruise on down. It sort of rains, then stops, then sprinkles again, but someone filling a car at the store says the rain won’t last long. I believe him and we all depart the store w/o rain gear on. Apparently there is a local century ride going on as we pass about 300 cyclists headed north on this part of 100 as we head south. You can tell the true New England residents, as they are the ones in cotton tank tops still smiling as the cool rain falls. The closer we get towards Killington, the harder the rain falls and I have to admit the local guy was probably wrong. Rain gear in place again and all is ok once more. We have picked up another sort of local companion. His name was Dale and he is from New Salem near Bullard’s Farm. He will shadow us all the way back to Burlington but again, never goes to the front to share the load. At the top of the climb to Killington, there is a store with a large covered porch that I suggest we again stop at for a few minutes respite from the elements. Davey is looking for some real food, Dale purchases an “I Love Vermont” sweatshirt to wear for extra warmth and I notice Lou and others coming out of the shop with large cups of hot coffee. I wait a bit then decide I need one too, but can’t finish it before everyone is ready to go. I mention the Mexican Restaurant ahead in Ludlow and suggest we target it for a hot meal instead of the control. After describing the burritos offered there last time, Davey is ready to be there right now. Remembering the insulated third water bottle hanging from my downtube, I pour the hot coffee in it and roll back out into the rain with my buddies. There is a long and sort of steep grade down from here and the shoulder of the road is wide but really torn up and rough. Coasting down it at 30 or 35 mph, almost airborne from time to time, sipping coffee with only one hand on the bars reminds me how much I appreciate the stable ride of my old heavy touring frame. A bit later and closer to Ludlow when the climbing starts, Davey’s knees don’t seem to share the same enthusiasm for dinner that Lou does. Lou earns my vote for mountain goat this trip cause we won’t be able to keep up with him on most of the steep climbs from now on. In fact, we won’t see him again till we get to Ludlow and Taco Taco. Davey and I take our time climbing back up to Ludlow with Dale and find Lou at the restaurant awaiting us. Dale heads on to the control and we ordered very large burritos, extra chips and salsa and some guac as well. Way better than the warmed over mac & cheese and a baked potato being served just down the road. We considered briefly purchasing T-shirts from Taco Taco to wear for the ride back into Newton tomorrow. The hot meal does us all good, but it especially makes Davey’s day. It’s still raining pretty hard outside, and we are really chilled after the remaining mile down to the control.
Ludlow to Brattleboro / 55 miles
Still plenty of time till dark and only 55 miles to Brattleboro, our target for the night. There are plenty of riders trying to get warm and dry inside the control. A small hair dryer is getting a real workout drying out gloves and warming fingers. It appears that others are waiting while clothing is spun in the laundry’s dryer. Didn’t make any sense to me as they will all be wet again as soon as they mount up. The three of us depart and it’s almost an immediate climb up towards Mt. Terrible. Again it is not so terrible, and the climb warms us enough that I wish I had removed my arm warmers under the rain jacket, until the long downhill anyway. On the climb up Andover Ridge, the rain tapers off and pretty much stops. There are a couple of more steep climbs, but they are fairly short. I find my self pushing the pace a bit, remembering passage of this section with Tom back in 2000 taking forever as he couldn’t stay awake. A bit after it gets dark we are on the way into Grafton and spot taillights ahead of us. Shortly we catch up to Melanie and my Scottish riding buddy from 2000. We have more ambition than they and soon we can’t see their lights.
The left turn in Grafton makes me shiver, remembering trying to sleep there using the space blanket last time. Tom couldn’t keep his eyes open and needed rest. I laid there on cold concrete listening to him snore for want seemed like days with my teeth chattering before deciding I had to move on. This year, the intersection reportedly claimed another ailing rider as well. Tom will tell us later that when he rode thru here, a rider had fallen asleep on the long downhill leading up to the T intersection and continued across the street running into the house on the other side. Apparently the residents were sympathetic to his plight as they loaned him a front wheel to continue the ride on, his being seriously damaged from the impact with the house. We also learned that this guy trashed the loaner front wheel down the road as well, presumably due to the lack of sleep again. Maybe Tom’s bivy sack would have done him some good.
Dale promises he knows the way to Brattleboro from Saxton River and warns about the bad the pavement just ahead. As soon as we make the left on R. 121 we see our Canadian tandem team has problems. Their stoker suspension seatpost has snapped off at the seat clamp and they have been trying to find a way to remount the rear seat so they can continue. They have called in to the ride mechanics and help appears far away. With three additional engineers on the job now, we set about finding a solution. While we are assessing the situation, I am amazed to see Melanie and the Scot ride by us without saying a word or offering assistance, etc. Davey suggests ditching the seat, moving their rack bag up a bit, and repacking it so the stoker can sit on it for the remaining 20 or so miles. I carry their tool pouch and Davey takes her seat. Off we go again with Davey and I riding on either side of them trying to assist in the illumination duties so they can avoid the major bumps along this stretch of road (if you could call it a road). After Saxton’s River I remember the route and head out after failing to convince the rest of our crew we are headed the correct way. It is a long and lonely stretch but much of it is freshly paved and a joy to glide along on. Only Lou takes me at my word, the rest feel compelled to stop and discuss the route sheet apparently. Down at Putney, Lou and I await the rest of the crew. They seem surprised that we waited on them. Since we will be getting home pretty early tonight, I plan to stop at the 24 hour gas station/store just ahead and suggest Lou and Davey stop as well. The rest cruise on into the control while we shopped for a few nice beers for after dinner at the hotel. One 22 oz bottle each of a local brew, tucked into our middle back pockets for the last 5 miles should warm them to the proper temp for drinking upon arrival at the control.
Brattleboro / Mile 622 / 156 for the “day”
Checking in to the hotel is a fair challenge as there are many folks trying to do the same thing. The clerk runs everyone out that does not have a reservation, confirming Davey’s fear of no room at the inn. The Canadian tandem team can’t seem to get their room either, apparently their support crew has already picked it up but are no where to be found. I offer them a space on our floor if needed. Hey, it’s a short day tomorrow, we can have a little party tonight. There are two rooms for the control but they are a madhouse of activity and no chance to sleep in either of them right now. Davey asks about rooms around there and finds all booked up. He is forced to take a warm dry spot on the floor in ours as our reservation of two double beds turns into a single and a small one at that. Hot showers, leftover fried rice (from Thurs?) and a few other snacks make a great meal with the beers we have procured. The Oatmeal Stout was possibility the second best I have ever had, just behind Sam Smiths. We plan for a late departure and get a solid 6 hours sleep.
Brattleboro to Bullard’s Farm / 37 miles / Sunday ?? Aug 2002
In the morning while procuring coffee for Lou and Davey, am I ever surprised to see Mike and Jeff just arrived at the control! Turns out they packed it in the night before around Saxtons because of the weather and along with David, found an inn for the night. David has already departed but Mike and Jeff appear ready to call a truce and cruise in with us confirmed diurnal types. Mike says his knees are hurting and he is in no hurry now. I had left a note for my Quad riding buddies Holly and Nick, hoping to have their company for the last days ride back but it appears that won’t pan out so I am glad to have their company.
Mike and Jeff are ready before us, so they plan to ride on to Bullard’s and will await us there. Good plan I think, remembering the hot, berry laden pancakes served there last time. Just before we depart, Davey points out a fixed gear bike, fenders and all, at the control. I just knew it had to be some crazy Brit. We meet up with him on Rt 9 just into NH and indeed it was, with a 47/17 gear set and he admits he waked once or twice thus far. So did I and with much smaller gears than he. There are a few good hills here in this corner of NH before we get back into Ma. At the top of about the first one, our mental condition shows a problem. Lou apparently bats his rear ergo shift lever in the wrong direction for the big downhill coast. The slightly misadjusted rear derailleur obeys the signal and shifts his chain up between his first cog and his spokes. This of course makes it really hard for the rear wheel to continue coasting down the hill as gravity demands. I get to see all this from behind and it looks really ugly from where I sit. Rear wheel locks, emits a bit of blur gray smoke, bike slithers back and fourth once or twice, then rear wheel attempts to pass front wheel and it’s a classic high side with Lou pitched off down the hill, superman style. I just know Lou has joined the ranks of riders that used to have two straight collarbones. He landed way hard and ugh, it looks like his ride is over. But amazingly, Lou jumps up and apologizes to me for spoiling my ride? I try to settle him down, figuring shock will be setting in shortly, however he appears to be surprisingly undamaged. A little scuffed up, but surprisingly little road rash and two totally functioning arms/shoulders! Can’t say much for his rear wheel however.
We are only about 6 miles from the hotel control and I saw Chris and his truck there. I think we need some serious first aid assistance, and maybe a wheel if I am wrong about the former. We drag the bike out of the road, and I can smell burnt rubber from the sliding rear wheel as I do. Pulling out my wife’s trusty cell phone that I have obediently carried along the whole ride, I try to dial up the BMB emergency number. Signal strength appears ok but the call disconnects as soon as it rings. I try the Motel 6 phone # since I have it programmed into the phone too and it disconnects as well. We stopped right in front of a house with 3 cars in the drive, it is Sunday morning about 0800. I tell Lou to take some Vitamin A (Advil) to help with the swelling that will start shortly and walk up to the house to try and use the phone. A face appears at the door within 30 seconds of my first knock. I apologize for bothering the resident, but explain the crash and the need for first aide, etc and ask if I can use the phone. “Sure, just a minute” comes the reply. Shortly, the door swings wide open and I am pointed towards a phone in the kitchen. The guy tells me how to call across the river and while I am dialing the phone I note the following: Cup of warm coffee and Sunday paper spread on kitchen table, male house resident standing behind kitchen door with not a stitch of clothing on! I explain the failed cell phone attempts and he explains that I would have been successful had I tried from the top of the hill, instead of where we landed. I make it thru the Motel 6 voice mail crap and get to the desk clerk and ask politely if they could fetch someone from the BMB control to the line, especially if it could be a mechanic. Chris answers in just a minute and I explain our plight. He promises to head our way as soon as he can. I thank the homeowner again, by now he is emboldened, standing only behind one of the kitchen chairs and I head back down to see how Lou is fairing.
By now, Davey has come back and is trying to fix Lou’s rear wheel. It’s got at least 4 broken drive side spokes and a couple of others look pretty questionable. Davey says he works wonders with a spoke wrench so we hand him one and stand back. We open up the rear canti and Davey indeed makes the wheel ride-able in short order. Our friend in the house now walks down to offer a hand, clothed this time. We thank him again and off we coast down hill, keeping a reasonable distance away from Lou should that now really weak rear wheel not handle the loads imposed. About 5 or so miles later, here comes Cavalry Officer Chris with spare wheels galore. Except his are 9’s and Lou’s is a stone-age 8 speed setup. I turns out that the wheel he gets is Holly’s spare so she did sort of ride in with us today afterall. He sets to making it work as best he can while Davey and I get to chat with a couple in the truck that bailed sometime back. They look so clean and fresh, even though we just got 6 hours sleep. We also note a bike w/o a seatpost atop Chris’s truck. Sure enough, it is Chris’s bike and his seatpost is now shimmed in place on the team Canada tandem. Lou gets to learn which cogs match his shifter and which don’t for the remaining 20 or so miles to Bullard’s and we limp on in, hoping Chris can work miracles with Lou’s wheel in the meantime.
Bullard’s Farm / 659 miles out
Chris is there and says the wheel is fixed!. He takes Lou’s bike and points towards the control saying, go eat. Off we go. There are too many of us looking for food and the electrical circuit is overloaded trying to handle a coffee maker, electric skillets, etc. Seems it was just like this back in 2000. Davey needs hot food worse than we do and we are all glad to see Mike and Jeff here safe and sound as well. Surprisingly, they wait forever on us while the Jackson is re-mated with it’s wheel and we can each procure some hot food from the control. There is a tense moment or two when Davey and the female Canadian Stoker before square off over an order of pancakes, or maybe it was an omelet. Anyway, everyone calms down, we all get something to eat and all is right with our world again.
Bullard’s Farm to Newton / 72 miles / 110 miles for the day
BMB 2002 Lou and Mark’s Excellent Adventure
Mike = Mike Delong, Jeff = Jeff Bauer, David = David Bundrick, Tom = Tom Cross, Davey = Davey Haynes, & Lou = Lou Wolff
Thursday / 22 Aug 2002
Newton to Bullard’s Farm / 73 miles
The 0400 start begins with shifting problems on Lou’s Bob Jackson. Should have paid more attention to it, but more on that later. Just before we start, Mike tells us the secret control had been moved further out since 2000, just in time for us to fill our third water bottles. Lucky for us as Lou and I would have run short on fluids in the 70+ mile run otherwise. I started the ride w/ arm warmers, a regular synthetic jersey & shorts,, an undershirt, and fingerless gloves. The arm warmers were rolled down soon after we got going, and removed at Bullard’s. Lead car was headed out of town faster than in 2000, we stayed with it for about 20 miles when Mike dropped a water bottle, maybe intentionally to keep our pace a reasonable one. Dave and Davey continued along with the group while Jeff, Lou, and I took a short P brake awaiting Mike’s bottle search. Remounted, we catch up with Davey just before we roll into Bullard’s. A short break to check in, fill bottles, etc and we are rolling again and again united with Dave. I remembered the hills on the section to be more arduous last time, maybe I was in shock for the whole ride? Along the first section, and all the rest, we note that the route sheet mileage is significantly shorter than our computers indicate, mine is 4 – 5% off.
Bullard’s to Brattleboro / 37 miles
Some flats and a few good little climbs describe this 35 odd mile section that departs Mass, crosses the SW corner of NH and brings us over the Conn.River into Vt. at Brattleboro. It’s apparent that David is not feeling up to par just yet as we will see him for most of the ride today. A Tom ? from Canton, Oh joins us for the first on many portions of the ride. He has a neat and very familiar Cilo equipped with an ATB crank and two rings similar to my setup back in 2000. I am feeling warmed up and quite good on the flat sections and ok on the climbs. I am trying not to make Lou work too hard on the hills or encourage Mike and Jeff to either, but put in a couple of ambitious pulls in the flatter sections with the intention of running off on the last downhill towards both NH and Vt. I snag the NH state sign w/o being obvious about it, and later when charging along down Rt. 5 headed towards the Vt. line I pick up a rear flat. There goes my Vt.. line sign win, but everyone waits for me to make the repair. One huge bent nail out, new tube in and we are about ready to roll. No, for some reason my first spare tube won’t hold air. Pull out the second one and inflate it. Not looking too good, barely 100 miles in and I am out of tubes already. Rolling towards the bridge, no one seems to be interested in pushing the pace towards the line, so I sneak up front, elevate the pace a bit and cross into Vt. first among our group of AA’ers.
At the control I dig through our drop bag here and pull out two spare tubes to restock my tool bag. Can’t find the fabled fried rice at first so I dig into the PB&J, then Lou finds the warm food stashed in a cooler. Lou and I split the contents of one of the little white cartons of Chinese carbohydrates after tossing a bunch of soy sauce over it to increase our sodium intake. Note that this was not one of those “Low Salt” areas we keep seeing along the route.
Brattleboro to Ludlow / 54 miles
As I remember it from 2000, this stretch of the route really separated the men from the boys and I am definitely one of the boys. Some serious ups along this stretch in both directions. I was whipped half way thru it last time. Lots of little ones then comes Andover Ridge and Mt. Terrible shortly before you roll down into Ludlow. But first we roll thru several little towns or hamlets, including Grafton, sight of my very unsuccessful sleep test with a space blanket back in 2000 with Tom. Grafton becomes even more interesting for another rider later in this ride. Davey has found some of the climbs challenging and a knee is giving him some pain. Sometimes he is with us, sometimes in front of us, and sometimes lagging behind. I try to stay back with him when he looks like he is having problems, but he does not seem to appreciate the company right now. He sort backs off and disappears behind us for a bit, but I am sure we will see him again soon. Starting up the Andover climb, I am convinced that I am towing way more that just me up the grade. I keep looking back to see just how large the car is that silently hooked on when I finally realize my rear tire is again going down. Nah, can’t be. Just put a fresh tube in it after pulling out that really big nail! Oh yea, maybe the hole from the nail let some sand in, wore a very small hole in the tube, way slow leak, etc. Just about then I realize that Chris the mechanic, who has been shadowing us up the climb taking pictures, should have a floor pump in his truck. Re-inflating the tire makes the rest of the climb much more manageable. I catch back up to Lou and explain what I think is wrong. At this point, the look in Lou’s eyes tells me he finally is comprehends what I said about how difficult it is to explain to someone else about how hard this ride actually is. Mt Terrible really isn’t, at least for someone like me at my plod along pace. On the climb up it, Sandaway Fong from the 0600 start group, spins by and Mike rides partly up with him before being dropped by the ambitious Mr. Fong. He seems so much like just a regular superman looking at him, then you find out he does this ride in less than 60 hours on a regular basis. Then he seems to be about 12 feet tall!
Ludlow to Middlebury / 65 miles
At Ludlow while stuffing in more food, etc., I worry about my rear tire, which seems to be holding air fine now? I know it will go flat just out of sight of the control so I find Pierce and ask for a little help. We toss the tube, stick a insta-patch on the tire over the nail hole, and stuff in a fresh tube and fill. Apparently that worked cause I finished the ride w/o ever messing with either tire again. No drop bag at Ludlow so I have to wait till Middlebury to pick up another spare tube for the seat bag.
Amazingly, thus far the ride is going as planned. Mike, Jeff, Lou, and I are hanging together and making better time that I did in 2000. Maybe 2100 is a reasonable arrival time for Middlebury. Alas, as we depart Ludlow, the sky overhead appears to suddenly darken slightly, providing a clue to what may lie ahead. The town of Ludlow is the base for the Okomo Ski Resort BTW. Leaving Ludlow, we head towards the Killington Ski Resort. When you are cycling and you see a ski place ahead, you can bet you have some climbing to do. There was a nice descent for a ways out of Ludlow, then some nice flats for a bit, then we started the climb towards Killington. Oh, and the rains came too. Started out just like a short shower that appeared to just about taper off any minute, but it continued on and on. Gave up and pulled out my spiffy new REI rain jacket (that I decided I really needed last time but didn’t have) and my disposition improved significantly, even if the weather didn’t. Along this portion of the ride, we pass a house in the country with a family on the porch cheering, clapping wildly and shouting encouragement to us, just what I might need shortly on Middlebury Gap. Just before the turn off Hwy 100 to ascend up Middlebury Gap, we all stopped at a gas station and met up with the wife of another rider that had been lurking in our little group. His wife was as sunny as a July afternoon back home, despite the hard rain that had been falling for what seemed like years now. But no reason to complain cause we were not cold, just wet. The arm warmers were rolled down or removed often and replaced as needed. In fact, I was a bit warm with the arm warmers on under the rain jacket, but warm was much preferable to cold. Rigged up the helmet light and turned on the taillights, as it was sure to be dark by the time we got over the top of the gap, especially with the cloud cover. Just before we get to the beginning of the climb, we pass by a farm with a horse on the wrong side of a fenceline, off about 100 yards from us. The horse sees us and trots off, but it does not move like a horse at all. We have seen our first moose in Vt. All those “warning moose crossing next 2 Miles” signs take on real meaning now. How’d you like to run into something that outweighs small cars while charging down Middlebury Gap at 45 mph in the twilight? Maybe I should exercise those Avid canti’s a bit? Lou and I get dropped immediately by Jeff and Mike once the climbing begins in earnest. The guy with the sunny wife in the van stays with us, never pulls, but stays with us all the way up and over into Middlebury. As I remember, there is one last really steep pitch just about ½ mile before the gap and that pitch gets Lou. We are both using our smallest gears, his a 26/26 and mine a 26/25 on this hill and Lou announces he is not too proud to walk, promptly dismounting. Not wanting to make him feel bad about it later, I hop off and roll the Holdsworth up the last 100 yards of the hill to the top of the gap alongside him. At the top we hear clapping and cheering from a handful of ride volunteers and stop to chat with them a few minutes. Its lots downhill for a while and though the rain seems to have stopped, we will get plenty chilled so we push on for the town of Middlebury and the control. At speed on the descent I can use both headlights powered by the SON hub to full advantage with as I look for Moose and attempt a controlled but expedited descent off the gap. There are a couple of steep drops on this side, but it is longer and less steep overall. As we get pass thru E. Middlebury we pick up another rider (I think he was one of the few Brit’s on this years ride) ahead of us that appears to know where his is going and is happy to pull us along on the flats faster than we might ride it w/o him so we gladly accept his tow to the control. Arrived there about 2120 in a very slight drizzle. Only 20 min behind our target time and I am quite pleased.
Middlebury / 230 miles out
Remembering again how much time I wasted at controls last time, I remind Lou that if we make good use of our time here, we could get 5 hours sleep. Mike & Jeff can’t decide if they are going on or bedding down here for a short nap, but I know all along that Mike will be rolling shortly. David eats and hits the road while Mike and Jeff contemplate their future. Lou and I grab some food and drink, then find our drop bags in a different building than last time. Accommodations are not as nice as before, but there are only two people already sacked out so we snag two cots, and head to the showers. After 230 + miles of mostly New England hills, a hot shower has incredible power of rejuvenation to this Florida boy. I make a run up to the manned portion of the control asking for a 0330 wake up call (or shake) and call my wife Lynda to tell her of our progress, and Bonnie so we can plan to meet for breakfast the next day. Lynda is having a bad night with the kids and has no enthusiasm for even listening to how happy I am about the ride so far. Further, she suggests I don’t have to call her each evening to let her know I am still breathing, etc. I only get (hopefully) Bonnie’s home answering machine, but it is the machine’s own voice so I don’t know for sure I called the right number. Ever the optimistic one, I suggest Lou and I will make the Burlington Friendly’s restaurant at or shortly after they open at 0600 in the morning. Get up at 0330, ride at 0400, two or so hours to ride about 30 miles there. Well it sounded reasonable to me then, anyway.
I find myself awaking to look at my watch many times during the sleep period, and even take a run outside to drain that pesky full bladder once, noting that it has resumed raining lightly outside. By 0320 I am wide awake and wave off the nice control worker hovering nearby with clipboard and watch in hand, ready to give me the additional 10 min before executing the dreaded shoulder shake. Back in 2000 I laid down at about 0030 after asking to be awoke at 0330 and remember being sort of miffed at the control worker waking me up just as I had laid down. Surely three hours couldn’t have passed so quickly, I had just shut my eyes. But my watch confirmed that they were indeed on time, not early and it was time to roll then as now. First person I see is Davey, just about ready to ride off. He got here a bit after us, bedded down, and is ready to ride already. I wish him well and hope we connect later in the ride.
It appears that Lou is pretty organized, but my head is foggy and it takes me too long to get my act together before I am ready to walk up to the control area for something to eat before we depart. The ride to Burlington put a hurting on me last time and will do so again this morning as well. Before we depart the bag drop/nap area, a very tired and wet looking Tom arrives looking for a hot bath and a change of clothes. He started @ 0600 instead of 0400 with us and we slept for 5 hours, and then he must be at least 3 or more hours behind us already, or is he really ahead of us because of the different starting time? I ponder this as I roll the bike up to the control area looking for coffee, cause I know I really need some if I can’t figure this out straightaway. Changed into clean duds; a s/s wool jersey on top of a light undershirt, knickers, arm warmers, and clean gloves, I’m feeling good as new. Didn’t eat much at the control as there was not much that appealed to me. Hot chocolate mixed with coffee tasted good, should have had 3 of ‘em. A few packaged baked goodies and I think I am good to go. Lou on the other-hand, a couple of servings of oatmeal, nice warm, filling oatmeal, something I should probably learn to eat someday.
Middlebury to Rouses Point / 87 miles / Friday 23 Aug 2002
Only 30 or so miles to the restaurant, but we don’t get rolling till about 0445. Still we shouldn’t be too late. Hate to keep Bonnie waiting. Again, the profile for this section does not appear to be as difficult as it is for me this morning. We depart with a two other distinct small groups, leaving them behind in just a few miles. I note again that early in the ride, folks seem to prefer to ride with their friends only, unknown elements are not welcome. We ride along alone for a bit, then Lou picks up a rear flat. In the dark it will be hard to make a quick repair but it didn’t seem to take that long. A sliver of glass is easily found using our helmet lights. Lou’s down one tube now, but I have two. Onward and as it starts to become light, we roll up on a group of three riders that we have seen and passed before. I think briefly that we should stick with them, but we say hello and roll right past them in our hurry to meet Bonnie. It seems to take forever to make the restaurant; we get there about 0720 maybe. Bonnie (a good friend from back home that moved to Vt. recently) is, or at least acts delighted to see us and we promptly sit down and order lots of food and coffee, eating like it would be our last warm meal. All too soon we have to part ways and head north. Bonnie offers us a ride as she has bike racks on the new Subaru, tempting but I am not feeling that bad as of yet.
The route still has a few challenging hills for my tender limbs then sort of flattens out as we make the Grand Isles on Lake Champlain. About 20 miles from Rouses, we find a country store with the same three riders encountered earlier, parked out front soaking up the morning sun while admiring the view of the lake and listening to someone playing and Irish Whistle. How could we not stop? The three are friends and all from the NE area so they know most of the route, etc. They are ready to ride just as we sit down and nibble on baked goodies from the store. I could still be sitting there probably.
The rest of the ride to Rouses Point passes painlessly. The bridge across to NY is a tall one and the cute wife we saw before Middlebury is jogging down the bridge towards us to meet her husband, who has again been lurking with us but never riding upfront. We have had a nagging headwind most of the way here on the lake, hope it is still blowing out of the NW on our return ride this evening.
Rouses Point, NY to Huntingdon, Quebec / 47 miles
We arrive at the control about 1130 and find plenty to eat. Davey is just heading out for the border crossing. Lou asks Pierce to take a look at the way his bike is shifting (Clue # 2) and I snag some chain lube and a rag to squelch the squeaking coming from my connecting links after yesterdays rain washed away my fresh wax job. Eating and filling water bottles takes longer than it should cause sitting down still feels really good! Not only is the destination different this year, we take a left turn out of the control and ride thru town to a different border crossing. At the Canadian checkpoint, the nice but very serious man confirms with us that we are part of the BMB “bike race” and asks where we are from and where are we headed, etc. Lou starts to describe the route and distance we have left on this outbound leg and I interject sharply, “we heard you could tell us about the “short cut” to the turnaround? This throws him for a minute or two before he realizes I was kidding.
Off we go into Canada on the unmarked portion of the ride. Apparently they really do speak French in Quebec as we meet an older gentleman (hey he looked way older than me or Lou!) at his gate causing him to greet us in French with the word bicycle a couple of times and a bunch of other excited sounding words I of course did not know. We briefly explained in English what we were up to and he appeared as excited of the idea as we were at just about making it to the half way point. You can see Covey Hill for quite some time before you get to climb it. It is indeed not a really tough climb, but unexpected to those of us that had the very flat course to ride back in 2000 up here. I again gave in and used the 26 front ring (hey I brought it along, why not use it some?) on the steep portion of the climb when we finally got to it. We heard later that we could have looked to the north just after the top and seen the outskirts of Montreal. Too bad, it was a beautiful clear & sunny day and getting warmer. Over the top a bit and we encounter Mike and then Jeff on the return route, and then a bit further back we say hello to Dave as well. The road gets really rough and broken, signaling the nearing town of Huntingdon and sure enough, here comes Davey about a mile before we arrive at the control. He says he is hurting, riding very slow, and that we will surely catch up with him again before Rouses Point (reminding me of the “soft pedaling” promises of the past).
Huntingdon, Quebec to Rouses Point / 47 miles
I am prepared this year, the turnaround control last time was not too well stocked but there was plenty of food if you wanted to pay for it. I have a Canadian $5 note and a couple of $2 coins with me but find neither local nor US currency is needed here. The nice ladies behind the lunch counter were making sandwiches as fast as we could eat ‘em and the counter was piled w/ baked goodies, fresh fruit, etc. Apparently this was the Canadian equivalent of a VFW hall as there was a bar on the other side of the room with a couple of boys holding court there. I briefly considered trying to join them for a quick cold one, but the heat on this portion of the route had kind of gotten the better of me and I decide against it.
Lou and I departed at the same time as the three New England boys we encountered previously. Turns out one of them had lived down in Ft. Lauderdale for a few years, my home town until I departed for college. Lou and I tried to join their pace line for the return trip but within about 10 miles they decided they didn’t want company and politely suggested we were riding too fast for them. We see Tom and then Scott and Melinda outbound and looking good just after we descend Covey Hill. We encountered a couple of other groups along the way back, including the Ohio Tom with someone else we didn’t know, but they picked up their pace as we approached and we couldn’t ride w/ ‘em. No problems, it was much more downhill on the way back and mostly a tailwind as well. Not that we would catch up to that soft pedaling Davey till Rouses.
After waiting in a long line of cars to re-enter the US, we roll into the control parking lot and see Davey walking back from a Pizza place across the street with a large pie. Guess the offering at the control didn’t suit him. I remember having a couple of servings for the Chicken & rice dish and helping Davey empty his pizza box too. Davey again says he is beat and wants to ride slow, suggesting he would be slowing us down it we ride together. I am amused at this, reminding him he has been in front of us all day.
Rouses Point to Middlebury / 88 miles
It won’t be dark for a while yet, but we mount the helmet lights with the understanding that they will be needed soon enough. Davey, Lou, and I depart together, determined to get back to Burlington, or actually Williston, Vt. to the Fairfield Inn where we have a room, and a mail drop box awaiting us. The wind is gone and the evening ride is enjoyable with the bright, full moon over the lake. I suggest we stop at the same store that we stopped at on the way out because the full moon is huge and it seems only right to spend a few minutes enjoying it’s reflection off the lake. At the store there is an outdoor thermometer showing 60F and 45% relative humidity. Nice weather for late August. This store, like all the others we encounter till we get close to Burlington are closed. We stop at another closed one somewhere down the road to make adjustments and some other riders pull in behind us. One of them is the guy from Scotland I met on the ride in 2000 and he is looking for coffee, apparently he needs it badly. (He and I departed Middlebury early the second morning of the 2000 ride together, tagged along with some stronger cyclists from Denmark for a while, when I dropped off to find some breakfast he dropped off, indicating he needed some sleep. I stopped at a little marina/store with a kitchen for a hot meal. I passed him spread eagle fast asleep in someone’s front yard about 5 miles down the road. His bike was leaned up against a telephone pole, head and taillights still turned on!) He didn’t finish the ride back in 2000 and says he is back to make up for that this year.
Williston, VT / 466 miles / 236 for the “day” / Saturday 24 Aug 2002
It seems to take forever, but we finally reach the Burlington area and the hotel. Pretty close to 0100 Saturday morning, closing time for the Friendly’s so we decide to find a snack at an open gas station store. Inside we see our old buddy Ohio Tom shaking badly, trying to warm his hands holding a large cup of coffee. We snag some fairly unappetizing food and head for the hotel. Davey, declining our offer to share our room, finds that the Fairfield is booked solid and heads up the road to seek out another hotel. The hotel clerk has a room for us, but can’t find the box we mailed here with clean clothes, food, etc. We wistfully head up to the room to shower, etc., asking him to call us if he finds the box. Just in-case, I give the clerk both Davey and Tom’s names in case they show up looking for a space to sleep. The shower and bed feel great, but it is just a bit less fun slipping the same ride gear back on in the morning. We get almost another 5 hours of sleep cause we didn’t plan to meet Davey at the restaurant till they open at 0600. Another hot, sit down meal and we are feeling very good. The ride back to Middlebury is uneventful and seems pretty slow, but we are there much earlier than I was back in 2000, and my sleep quota is way up this time.
Middlelbury to Ludlow / 65 miles
No clean clothes to change into, but we fuel up and head out, again under an ever-darkening sky. A Canadian couple on tandem plays leapfrog with us as they stop to make adjustments, then cruise by, then stop again to strip off clothes as it is plenty warm. They did the Rocky Mountain 1200 recently, and they boy can they climb! We catch them just before the summit of Middlebury. Lou stops to don his rain jacket as it is starting to spit rain at the top. Preferring to wait till we get to the store at the intersection with Hwy 100, I cruise on down. It sort of rains, then stops, then sprinkles again, but someone filling a car at the store says the rain won’t last long. I believe him and we all depart the store w/o rain gear on. Apparently there is a local century ride going on as we pass about 300 cyclists headed north on this part of 100 as we head south. You can tell the true New England residents, as they are the ones in cotton tank tops still smiling as the cool rain falls. The closer we get towards Killington, the harder the rain falls and I have to admit the local guy was probably wrong. Rain gear in place again and all is ok once more. We have picked up another sort of local companion. His name was Dale and he is from New Salem near Bullard’s Farm. He will shadow us all the way back to Burlington but again, never goes to the front to share the load. At the top of the climb to Killington, there is a store with a large covered porch that I suggest we again stop at for a few minutes respite from the elements. Davey is looking for some real food, Dale purchases an “I Love Vermont” sweatshirt to wear for extra warmth and I notice Lou and others coming out of the shop with large cups of hot coffee. I wait a bit then decide I need one too, but can’t finish it before everyone is ready to go. I mention the Mexican Restaurant ahead in Ludlow and suggest we target it for a hot meal instead of the control. After describing the burritos offered there last time, Davey is ready to be there right now. Remembering the insulated third water bottle hanging from my downtube, I pour the hot coffee in it and roll back out into the rain with my buddies. There is a long and sort of steep grade down from here and the shoulder of the road is wide but really torn up and rough. Coasting down it at 30 or 35 mph, almost airborne from time to time, sipping coffee with only one hand on the bars reminds me how much I appreciate the stable ride of my old heavy touring frame. A bit later and closer to Ludlow when the climbing starts, Davey’s knees don’t seem to share the same enthusiasm for dinner that Lou does. Lou earns my vote for mountain goat this trip cause we won’t be able to keep up with him on most of the steep climbs from now on. In fact, we won’t see him again till we get to Ludlow and Taco Taco. Davey and I take our time climbing back up to Ludlow with Dale and find Lou at the restaurant awaiting us. Dale heads on to the control and we ordered very large burritos, extra chips and salsa and some guac as well. Way better than the warmed over mac & cheese and a baked potato being served just down the road. We considered briefly purchasing T-shirts from Taco Taco to wear for the ride back into Newton tomorrow. The hot meal does us all good, but it especially makes Davey’s day. It’s still raining pretty hard outside, and we are really chilled after the remaining mile down to the control.
Ludlow to Brattleboro / 55 miles
Still plenty of time till dark and only 55 miles to Brattleboro, our target for the night. There are plenty of riders trying to get warm and dry inside the control. A small hair dryer is getting a real workout drying out gloves and warming fingers. It appears that others are waiting while clothing is spun in the laundry’s dryer. Didn’t make any sense to me as they will all be wet again as soon as they mount up. The three of us depart and it’s almost an immediate climb up towards Mt. Terrible. Again it is not so terrible, and the climb warms us enough that I wish I had removed my arm warmers under the rain jacket, until the long downhill anyway. On the climb up Andover Ridge, the rain tapers off and pretty much stops. There are a couple of more steep climbs, but they are fairly short. I find my self pushing the pace a bit, remembering passage of this section with Tom back in 2000 taking forever as he couldn’t stay awake. A bit after it gets dark we are on the way into Grafton and spot taillights ahead of us. Shortly we catch up to Melanie and my Scottish riding buddy from 2000. We have more ambition than they and soon we can’t see their lights.
The left turn in Grafton makes me shiver, remembering trying to sleep there using the space blanket last time. Tom couldn’t keep his eyes open and needed rest. I laid there on cold concrete listening to him snore for want seemed like days with my teeth chattering before deciding I had to move on. This year, the intersection reportedly claimed another ailing rider as well. Tom will tell us later that when he rode thru here, a rider had fallen asleep on the long downhill leading up to the T intersection and continued across the street running into the house on the other side. Apparently the residents were sympathetic to his plight as they loaned him a front wheel to continue the ride on, his being seriously damaged from the impact with the house. We also learned that this guy trashed the loaner front wheel down the road as well, presumably due to the lack of sleep again. Maybe Tom’s bivy sack would have done him some good.
Dale promises he knows the way to Brattleboro from Saxton River and warns about the bad the pavement just ahead. As soon as we make the left on R. 121 we see our Canadian tandem team has problems. Their stoker suspension seatpost has snapped off at the seat clamp and they have been trying to find a way to remount the rear seat so they can continue. They have called in to the ride mechanics and help appears far away. With three additional engineers on the job now, we set about finding a solution. While we are assessing the situation, I am amazed to see Melanie and the Scot ride by us without saying a word or offering assistance, etc. Davey suggests ditching the seat, moving their rack bag up a bit, and repacking it so the stoker can sit on it for the remaining 20 or so miles. I carry their tool pouch and Davey takes her seat. Off we go again with Davey and I riding on either side of them trying to assist in the illumination duties so they can avoid the major bumps along this stretch of road (if you could call it a road). After Saxton’s River I remember the route and head out after failing to convince the rest of our crew we are headed the correct way. It is a long and lonely stretch but much of it is freshly paved and a joy to glide along on. Only Lou takes me at my word, the rest feel compelled to stop and discuss the route sheet apparently. Down at Putney, Lou and I await the rest of the crew. They seem surprised that we waited on them. Since we will be getting home pretty early tonight, I plan to stop at the 24 hour gas station/store just ahead and suggest Lou and Davey stop as well. The rest cruise on into the control while we shopped for a few nice beers for after dinner at the hotel. One 22 oz bottle each of a local brew, tucked into our middle back pockets for the last 5 miles should warm them to the proper temp for drinking upon arrival at the control.
Brattleboro / Mile 622 / 156 for the “day”
Checking in to the hotel is a fair challenge as there are many folks trying to do the same thing. The clerk runs everyone out that does not have a reservation, confirming Davey’s fear of no room at the inn. The Canadian tandem team can’t seem to get their room either, apparently their support crew has already picked it up but are no where to be found. I offer them a space on our floor if needed. Hey, it’s a short day tomorrow, we can have a little party tonight. There are two rooms for the control but they are a madhouse of activity and no chance to sleep in either of them right now. Davey asks about rooms around there and finds all booked up. He is forced to take a warm dry spot on the floor in ours as our reservation of two double beds turns into a single and a small one at that. Hot showers, leftover fried rice (from Thurs?) and a few other snacks make a great meal with the beers we have procured. The Oatmeal Stout was possibility the second best I have ever had, just behind Sam Smiths. We plan for a late departure and get a solid 6 hours sleep.
Brattleboro to Bullard’s Farm / 37 miles / Sunday ?? Aug 2002
In the morning while procuring coffee for Lou and Davey, am I ever surprised to see Mike and Jeff just arrived at the control! Turns out they packed it in the night before around Saxtons because of the weather and along with David, found an inn for the night. David has already departed but Mike and Jeff appear ready to call a truce and cruise in with us confirmed diurnal types. Mike says his knees are hurting and he is in no hurry now. I had left a note for my Quad riding buddies Holly and Nick, hoping to have their company for the last days ride back but it appears that won’t pan out so I am glad to have their company.
Mike and Jeff are ready before us, so they plan to ride on to Bullard’s and will await us there. Good plan I think, remembering the hot, berry laden pancakes served there last time. Just before we depart, Davey points out a fixed gear bike, fenders and all, at the control. I just knew it had to be some crazy Brit. We meet up with him on Rt 9 just into NH and indeed it was, with a 47/17 gear set and he admits he waked once or twice thus far. So did I and with much smaller gears than he. There are a few good hills here in this corner of NH before we get back into Ma. At the top of about the first one, our mental condition shows a problem. Lou apparently bats his rear ergo shift lever in the wrong direction for the big downhill coast. The slightly misadjusted rear derailleur obeys the signal and shifts his chain up between his first cog and his spokes. This of course makes it really hard for the rear wheel to continue coasting down the hill as gravity demands. I get to see all this from behind and it looks really ugly from where I sit. Rear wheel locks, emits a bit of blur gray smoke, bike slithers back and fourth once or twice, then rear wheel attempts to pass front wheel and it’s a classic high side with Lou pitched off down the hill, superman style. I just know Lou has joined the ranks of riders that used to have two straight collarbones. He landed way hard and ugh, it looks like his ride is over. But amazingly, Lou jumps up and apologizes to me for spoiling my ride? I try to settle him down, figuring shock will be setting in shortly, however he appears to be surprisingly undamaged. A little scuffed up, but surprisingly little road rash and two totally functioning arms/shoulders! Can’t say much for his rear wheel however.
We are only about 6 miles from the hotel control and I saw Chris and his truck there. I think we need some serious first aid assistance, and maybe a wheel if I am wrong about the former. We drag the bike out of the road, and I can smell burnt rubber from the sliding rear wheel as I do. Pulling out my wife’s trusty cell phone that I have obediently carried along the whole ride, I try to dial up the BMB emergency number. Signal strength appears ok but the call disconnects as soon as it rings. I try the Motel 6 phone # since I have it programmed into the phone too and it disconnects as well. We stopped right in front of a house with 3 cars in the drive, it is Sunday morning about 0800. I tell Lou to take some Vitamin A (Advil) to help with the swelling that will start shortly and walk up to the house to try and use the phone. A face appears at the door within 30 seconds of my first knock. I apologize for bothering the resident, but explain the crash and the need for first aide, etc and ask if I can use the phone. “Sure, just a minute” comes the reply. Shortly, the door swings wide open and I am pointed towards a phone in the kitchen. The guy tells me how to call across the river and while I am dialing the phone I note the following: Cup of warm coffee and Sunday paper spread on kitchen table, male house resident standing behind kitchen door with not a stitch of clothing on! I explain the failed cell phone attempts and he explains that I would have been successful had I tried from the top of the hill, instead of where we landed. I make it thru the Motel 6 voice mail crap and get to the desk clerk and ask politely if they could fetch someone from the BMB control to the line, especially if it could be a mechanic. Chris answers in just a minute and I explain our plight. He promises to head our way as soon as he can. I thank the homeowner again, by now he is emboldened, standing only behind one of the kitchen chairs and I head back down to see how Lou is fairing.
By now, Davey has come back and is trying to fix Lou’s rear wheel. It’s got at least 4 broken drive side spokes and a couple of others look pretty questionable. Davey says he works wonders with a spoke wrench so we hand him one and stand back. We open up the rear canti and Davey indeed makes the wheel ride-able in short order. Our friend in the house now walks down to offer a hand, clothed this time. We thank him again and off we coast down hill, keeping a reasonable distance away from Lou should that now really weak rear wheel not handle the loads imposed. About 5 or so miles later, here comes Cavalry Officer Chris with spare wheels galore. Except his are 9’s and Lou’s is a stone-age 8 speed setup. I turns out that the wheel he gets is Holly’s spare so she did sort of ride in with us today afterall. He sets to making it work as best he can while Davey and I get to chat with a couple in the truck that bailed sometime back. They look so clean and fresh, even though we just got 6 hours sleep. We also note a bike w/o a seatpost atop Chris’s truck. Sure enough, it is Chris’s bike and his seatpost is now shimmed in place on the team Canada tandem. Lou gets to learn which cogs match his shifter and which don’t for the remaining 20 or so miles to Bullard’s and we limp on in, hoping Chris can work miracles with Lou’s wheel in the meantime.
Bullard’s Farm / 659 miles out
Chris is there and says the wheel is fixed!. He takes Lou’s bike and points towards the control saying, go eat. Off we go. There are too many of us looking for food and the electrical circuit is overloaded trying to handle a coffee maker, electric skillets, etc. Seems it was just like this back in 2000. Davey needs hot food worse than we do and we are all glad to see Mike and Jeff here safe and sound as well. Surprisingly, they wait forever on us while the Jackson is re-mated with it’s wheel and we can each procure some hot food from the control. There is a tense moment or two when Davey and the female Canadian Stoker before square off over an order of pancakes, or maybe it was an omelet. Anyway, everyone calms down, we all get something to eat and all is right with our world again.
Bullard’s Farm to Newton / 72 miles / 110 miles for the day
Mike, Jeff, Lou, Davey, and I depart together for the last leg and right away I can’t figure out why Mike waited so long on us. It is a clear, warm, beautiful day and I take what appears to be an ambitious pull as I see Mike sliding off the back. I head back after him as does Davey and he apologizes, saying he wants to ride by himself a while. Shortly he is headed up the road and we won’t see him again till the finish line. Lou looks quizzically at me and I shrug and say, that’s just Mike. Jeff chimes in admitting that though they have ridden the entire ride together thus far, they could have been riding alone most of the time as well. I figure Jeff will be up the road shortly as well but he hangs around with us, apparently feeling the need to escort us old feeble types to the finish as we are obviously slowing him down the entire way home. The route takes us thru most every really bad patch of asphalt possible, or it seems that way to my sore backside. Shortly, Davey mentions that he could really use some real food again and soon. About 30 miles from the end we find a sandwich shop open with several riders outside with similar thoughts I guess. We have sandwiches made and for the first time in quite a while, look for shade to avoid the warm Ma. sunshine. Soon the road and the finish line beckons and we are refueled and rolling. Traffic starts getting testy way before we are home and becomes quite trying at times. Hey, it’s Sunday afternoon, can’t you folks see we have an epic bike ride to finish here?. Finally we have Newton in our sights, can’t be more than about 8 more miles when I realize I am off the front w/ no one behind me. Looking back I see Davey waving his arms, indicating Lou has bike problems. I turn around and Lou had flatted. We make short work of it and Jeff returns to assist as well. When we are ready to proceed, Jeff asks if we want to catch up with Davey, etc., or just cruise in at an easy pace. Like I said earlier, we had been slowing him down all day. We beg for the easy pace and he is happy to oblige, pulling our ailing butts the remaining mileage to the hotel, finishing sometime around 1730 for another 85.5 hour ride for me. I count it as a major victory as my goal this year was to finish and try and double the amount of sleep I got back in 2000. I got pretty darn close.
Mike, Jeff, Lou, Davey, and I depart together for the last leg and right away I can’t figure out why Mike waited so long on us. It is a clear, warm, beautiful day and I take what appears to be an ambitious pull as I see Mike sliding off the back. I head back after him as does Davey and he apologizes, saying he wants to ride by himself a while. Shortly he is headed up the road and we won’t see him again till the finish line. Lou looks quizzically at me and I shrug and say, that’s just Mike. Jeff chimes in admitting that though they have ridden the entire ride together thus far, they could have been riding alone most of the time as well. I figure Jeff will be up the road shortly as well but he hangs around with us, apparently feeling the need to escort us old feeble types to the finish as we are obviously slowing him down the entire way home. The route takes us thru most every really bad patch of asphalt possible, or it seems that way to my sore backside. Shortly, Davey mentions that he could really use some real food again and soon. About 30 miles from the end we find a sandwich shop open with several riders outside with similar thoughts I guess. We have sandwiches made and for the first time in quite a while, look for shade to avoid the warm Ma. sunshine. Soon the road and the finish line beckons and we are refueled and rolling. Traffic starts getting testy way before we are home and becomes quite trying at times. Hey, it’s Sunday afternoon, can’t you folks see we have an epic bike ride to finish here?. Finally we have Newton in our sights, can’t be more than about 8 more miles when I realize I am off the front w/ no one behind me. Looking back I see Davey waving his arms, indicating Lou has bike problems. I turn around and Lou had flatted. We make short work of it and Jeff returns to assist as well. When we are ready to proceed, Jeff asks if we want to catch up with Davey, etc., or just cruise in at an easy pace. Like I said earlier, we had been slowing him down all day. We beg for the easy pace and he is happy to oblige, pulling our ailing butts the remaining mileage to the hotel, finishing sometime around 1730 for another 85.5 hour ride for me. I count it as a major victory as my goal this year was to finish and try and double the amount of sleep I got back in 2000. I got pretty darn close.