A Rainy Ride

RIDE FOR THE FEAST 2008 - DAY 2

In the morning we rode a bus across the bridge to start our ride from a bike shop near Sandy Point State Park. Today's ride would take us back to Baltimore mostly via the B&A Trail. Once of the trail we wind our way to Carrol Park. The original plan was to regroup there and then have a police escort across the city to the Moveable Feast headquarters. Unfortunately the police backed out - so we transfered from Carrol Park to Paterson Park on a bus and then rode the final 10 blocks or so.

Steve, Matt, and myself were riding sweep - meaning that we would ride at the end of the group to make sure that everyone made their way to Carrol Park. We waited a while to let everyone get a ways down the road before heading out and managed to get almost to the first pit before encountering another rider. We then lingered a bit longer than we needed to at that pit as discovered that everyone was doing quite well and at one point we began to fear we'd be holding things up at Carrol Park. After picking up the pace for a couple miles we finally reached a small group of riders and rode with them into the second pit.

Shortly after heading out from the pit stop it began to rain... at the same time we started to hit the biggest hills of the ride and started to catch up with more riders. At the top of a long hill we pulled of to help with tire change. As we started to get back on the road we discovered that three more riders also had flats. To make things even more exciting a nearby power line began to shower sparks into the street as the wind and rain tangled it up in a tree. Eventually we got back on the road and caught up with the other riders at Carrol Park for the transfer to Patterson Park.

In the rush to get rolling again in the rain a few of us didn't leave with the group - so Steve, Matt, little Steve, and myself had our own little trip through East Baltimore. We arrive not longer after the group for the post-ride celebration.

All told we raised over $200,000 for Moveable Feast - not bad for a bunch of knuckleheads on their bikes.

30 miles on the day
899 miles to date

A tale of three Steves...

A Kelly, a Matt, a Kristin, and 80 or so others who spent their weekend riding in the wind and the rain to support the Moveable Feast.
RIDE FOR THE FEAST 2008 - Day 1 - Rehoboth to Easton
Above is the gang of seven, mostly Steves, who I spent the bulk of the ride taking turns in the wind with [Kristin is the 7th - see here - for another version minus one Steve plus Kristin]. To get to the sofa you have to rewind 95 or so miles to Rehoboth.

As usual the ride rolled out in one large group headed up the coastal highway and I must admit that my recent spill made me want to get out of the pack ASAP. After our first turn onto rt. 24 things start to string out and I began to make my way to the front in search of a less congested spot in the group. By the time we reached the first pit at mile 20 much of this group had taken shape - Kelly, little Steve, Florida Steve, and myself... after that pit we got a bit more organized and began a paceline. About half way to the second pit we passed Joanne (who was volunteering as a sag driver) I broke off to say high and shed my arm warmers - then got a nice workout trying to sprint back onto the group. I reached them just in time for the second pit stop.

After the second pit the brothers eschmacher joined on and we started to get our paceline a little more organized with everyone taking fairly regular pulls on the front - though it did seem for a while that a certain Steve's turn at the front kept coinciding with the towns rather than the windy farms...

Somewhere between the third pit (lunch) and the fourth we picked up Kristin, who Bart, Steve, and I met last year on this ride. Between the third and fifth pit we mostly kept together making a great team effort of covering the miles, sharing the wind, and encouraging each other.

A few miles after the fifth pit Kelly was taking a turn on the front when the rest of us splintered and she opened up a pretty good gap. After a bit I decided this was a good chance to get out of the saddle and sprint to catch up with Kelly. When I reached her we tried to pick up the pace and quickly learned why two person break aways rarely work. We did OK for a mile or so, but it didn't take long to exhaust ourselves - as a two person paceline offers only brief shelter from the wind. Which is when the sofa came into view - remember the sofa...

There on the on the side of the road was the most remarkable orange velvet sofa basking in the sun atop a manicured lawn with a hand lettered sign "FREE" - It seemed obvious to Kelly and I that this would make the perfect pit stop to chill out and regroup. We had just begun to sit down when the gang began to come into view... naturally it also seemed a great photo opportunity...

We made short work of the few miles we had left - finishing roughly 8 hours after leaving Rehoboth - minus the lunch and pits we pedaled for a little over 6 hours.

Today's soundtrack included - Lollipop (thanks to Lolly Pop Lane) and Victoria (thanks to first person I rode this route with two years ago)

Wildlife Highlights included - numerous turkey vultures including one group working over a deer carcass on the side of the road, a pair of shaggy donkeys. a beautiful Clydesdale, and a groundhog

[I'll try to take a stab at day two tomorrow]

100 miles on the day
869 miles to date