April 29, 2001
20 people showed up for Steve Britt's NYC 200K Brevet (that's
130 miles). WARNING: Do not use a 23 with a double for this
ride.
The ride started at AYH. Steve Britt, the organizer, did a good job
signing people in - waivers signed and cards picked up. For
those who don't know what a brevet is, check out
"www.rusa.org".
There were some new comers to randonneuring - Sergey, Alex
Mostova, Anneline and Robert Dinkelmann, etc... There were
veterans too - Mike Yesko, Chris Pile, Karen Fantus, Alex
Bekkerman, Art Crowley and Karl Dittebrandt. Two riders came
from out-of-state - David Cohen and Bill (sorry, don't know his
last name).
Janine (?) and Debbie (?) were also newcomers - it was
surprising to see so many women on this ride.
The ride for me wasn't the most pleasant. A few of us had done
the route in October - so I knew what we were in for. Some riders
left early - before Steve had a chance to discuss the "rules" of
brevets and to wish us a good ride.
Riding up Riverside with Steve, Greg, Chris, Sergey and David
was enjoyable. Sergey was funny - he carried his digital and
every once in a while - you'd see him sneak it out and capture the
moment. Sometimes that moment was a little scarey - like riding
in the traffic lane of 9W! Most riders didn't notice him taking
photos. (By the way, he's still MIA - he didn't turn his card in or
respond to email - I have faith in him - maybe he went travelling -
he had his suitcase in the basket behind his seat - that's how to
identify him).
A funny moment was when Alex Bekkerman realized there were
3 Russians on the ride. He commented "let's start a Communist
Party " or something like that. Alex is amazing; he rode the entire
130 miles on his "blues" mountain bike. I was expecting his
customized scooter.
Anneline and Karen - unfortunately had mechicals. Anneline was
great - she fixed her front derailleur herself. Karen, not so lucky,
had a cable problem which ended the ride for her.
My ride ended at Sloatsburg - as I mentioned, don't do this ride in
a 23! After Sloatsburg Control Point, we had to climb Seven
Lakes Drive. Here is where I turned around and took the train
station - thanks to Karen's knowledge, she told me that train
went to Hoboken. I only had to wait 1/2 hour - got to know the
Firemen and a little Revolutionary War history of the area. The
next train would come 5 hours later! The conductor was very nice
- he lifted me bike onto the train and secured it for the entire ride
- so I was able to sleep. He told me "don't worry, your bike will be
on the Hoboken platform."
In Hoboken, I decided to take the ferry. It was a good experience
since I'm helping with the American Diabetes ride which uses
this ferry to return to Manhattan (I never took it). As soon as I
turned around with my tickets in hand, there appeared at least 5
cyclists. All were from a Long Island bike club and the leader had
just completed the 5BBC Leadership Course (Bob Castro). They
were so nice - inviting me to ride with them in Long Island. At
least 3 had a Litespeed like me!
Chris Pile was the first to complete the brevet with a time of 4:45
p.m. He was in the "slow" group with me until Sloatsburg (47
miles). That took 4 hours. He left us to catch up with David, Bill
and Eddie who were in the front and had at least a 1/2 hour
lead. He caught them just after West Point. He also caught Karl's
group before West Point - on Mine Road (don't do this "wall"
road!) So, his time for 75 miles turned out to be around 5 hours.
What a ride!
By the way, May 19th is the 300K.
diane goodwin
