June 13, 1998

This was one soggy ride. The rain started about 12:30 am and only stopped for brief stretches to drizzle. There were downpours and lightning and thunder to spice things up a bit. I was expecting a tornado to round out the weather collage we saw that day.

I was going to chuck the bulky Gore-Tex jacket in favor of a lighter jacket at the start. I said to myself "better safe than sorry". That was the best move I made all day. For the first leg, all 20 or so of us rode as a group to the first checkpoint, about 30 miles or so into the ride. I didn't think to bring any batteries, as I thought my Vistalite would take over when the Cateye bonked out. So I filled my water bottle and watched everyone shuffle through their bags. I was a little nervous when I saw no bananas. I hadn't brought any food, dummy me. I decided to take the next 40 miles to Bullard Farm easy so I woudn't be too hungry when we got there. Most of the ride was wet and dark and downhill. I met up with a fellow named Kayo and another rider near the end. Both my lights kicked the bucket about the time they came along. Kayo had a nice light so stuck with them and another fellow. I chowed at Bullard Farm and stocked up bananas and cookies. Another good 60 or so miles and we'd be at the midpoint in Ashfield. I rode with a group that included the GPS/pannier guy, the guy with the small wheels ( Ken I think ), the fellow with the big green poncho and tiny bike, a tandem, a bunch of titanium Merlin riders, and a few others. It was pretty grim riding in the rain. The slow grind up to Ashfield produced a flat after my tires met up with a broken bottle ( that’s about the 7th flat with these pricey Continentals ). I was only five or so miles from the checkpoint. I spoke briefly with some kindly homeowners who took my bad tube for disposal and kindly gave me a clothes pin to reattach my soggy ziplocked map to my STI cables. At Ashfield, I met with the group who we left with at Bullard, but I didn't feel like leaving too soon. I was pretty cold and miserable. I hanged around for about an hour sipping hot chocolate and chatting with the checkpoint person and waiting for someone to leave. Finally I left with several riders only to be dropped after the nice downhill from Ashfield. I rode it alone into Amherst. I got a new tube to ease my fears of another flat. I was quite impressed with the nice college town of Amherst. The hill up to Pelham I was also impressed with, although in a less than favorable way. Sandiway Fong, a tandem, and some other gonzo passed me on the way up this wall. This hill completely wiped me out. It was raining heavily. I was hallucinating, weaving, and seriously looking for a nice pine tree to curl up under to take a nap. Lack of sleep and that darned hill. I busted out some cookies I had stowed - chocolate peanut Nutter Butters - very tasty - and some Powergel I got at the bike shop in Amherst. Those kicked in and I was on my way. However, I was still a little disoriented as where the route was going, and Bob Orlando came along and straightened things out. We asked for directions from serveral people and they showed us the way. They must have thought we were out of our gourds standing in a downpour asking directions.

Anyway, Bob and I reached Bullard Farm and also met up with Bruce Ingle and David Johnson. Here I watched enviously as David changed into some dry clothes. I had not brought along one thing with me except what I carried on my person. I had only ditched my bulky Vistalite and battery pack in the beginning to bring back to the finish. Next time I may explore the idea of bringing along a duffle bag with some dry stuff in them. Although they probably would stay dry about one minute into the ride, at least you would be dry for that brief moment! My Gore-Tex jacket was holding up pretty well. I discovered if you close the neck up tight, you could keep reasonably warm. I was soggy from sweat, but I wasn't drenched.

We made it as a group to Princeton amid some fog. The next 40 or so miles would be relatively "nasty-hill-less" I was told. It was getting dark and I knew we would all want to stick together for the last leg. It was during this leg of the trip that I noticed that I had no longer noticed when it started or stopped raining. It was becoming apparent the rain had soaked permanently into me. I was feeling very smelly and tired and it was getting painful to sit down and bump over *PAINT LINES*. Anyway, Bruce, Bob and I pulled into the parking lot around 10:40pm and saw David there with a goofy grin, telling us how he got his second ( or third or fourth? ) wind ( or was that cup of coffee??) and had taken off.

This turned out to be a 254 mile ride for me, a distance I would like to keep as my longest in a day at least until next year. I am set to do the 600K ride in several weeks, I am optimistic because this is broken down into a 212 mile day, followed by a 170ish mile day. At least I will get some sleep and the start is at 3am, not midnight. And hopefully there will be clear skies and moderate temperatures. Yeah right.