The Journey Begins
On the weekend of October 19th to the 21st a combination of RPP (Reading Pagoda Pacers) (runners) and BCBC (Berks County Bike Club) members diverged on the Dogfish Head Brewery in Lewes, Delaware for a 60K, 90K or 120K cycle ride. For those of you who do not indulge in the IPA style beers, Dogfish Head makes 60, 90 or 120 minute IPA beers that are pretty good. Such the designated distances.
14 of us stayed in one large house, sleeping arrangements were wherever you fell; so this made things very interesting. Saturday morning came very early for all of us. Start time for the bike event was 8AM and our house we were staying at was approximately 20 minutes away.
Riding Time
No breakfast for most of us other than the usual coffee, Green Tea, Red Bull (like really), OJ and more coffee. It had rained through the entire evening, including driving to the event. AM temperatures were in the low 50’s so deciding what to wear for the ride was also quite interesting. You all know the drill. Don’t want to be to warm, to Cold, don’t want to sweat too much, and don’t need the chills at mile 20, 40, 60 or even 80K. So most of us just dressed nude... just kidding (now that’s funny).
The ride started promptly at 8AM, off we went; all 14 of us scattered all over the place. At mile 7, one of our riders decided to have a large piece of glass puncture his rear tire. During the 7 minute time period that it took us to change the flat, probably 300 riders passed us. But also during that same time period most of our entire group stopped & re-grouped (not sure if this was a good thing at the time); eventually it was.
Teamwork
The strong riders in the group pulled the weaker riders along giving encouragement, hi-fives and allowing the weaker cyclist to draft. Drafting on a bike is truly amazing. The lead cyclist’s break the initial wind allowing the slower cyclists to tuck-in behind, continuing the same cadence/speed using less energy, it really-really works!
Enjoying The Ride
The ride in itself was all on Delaware rural roads, crossing many marshes, lagoons & waterways. I think around the 60K mark we even had to wait for the ferry to cross the Nanticoke River, truly interesting. Our particular ride ended in less than 5-hours of actual riding time with an average speed of 17 plus miles per hour. Overall the day was exciting, interesting , fun and safe, all had a great event. The day ended at Dogfish Head Brewery with us indulging in adult beverages. On the way back to the house we were all staying-in we came across another brewery, called Big Oyster Brewing; wow did they have great beverages. The night ended at the house with our entire group singing, playing cards, games and some trying to do cartwheels, boy was that a hoot . The end.