 Our First Double Century |
We all felt it was time to take our cycling to the next level and cross a boundary we had only talked about. It was time to ride our first Double Century. Here is the story of our first 200 mile day.
Three riders Ken Silvestri, Tim Picard and Joe Gaudio gathered at the shop for our longest nonstop ride yet.
We had planned on an early start to take advantage of all the sunlight the day had to offer. This way we would not need to carry our headlights with us.
The early morning proved to be rather gloomy with thick clouds and fog. Because of the dense fog we decided to delay our start about 30 minutes. A light mist was falling as we rolled out at 5:45 AM.
Our route would take us north on Route 169 into Massachusetts. Knowing we had no headlights a pre-determined turn around time of 1:15PM was established. That would give us an equal amount of daylight hours for our return leg.
The roads were wet and it was obvious that the weather was going to be a factor today. Everywhere we went it appeared like it had "just" rained....and in actuality it had. Soon we were wet and cold from the spray the tires were shooting up at us.
Our pace was respectful averaging 16 mph for the first 50 miles. The day was still overcast and chilly with no signs of improvement. As we started getting into the hills our pace fell off a bit.
Our good friend Herb Petersen who knew our planned route sent a text stating where we should be at that moment to make it home before dark. According to his calculations we were already behind schedule. Herb is a math wiz and you can be sure his calcs were right on.
Nobody cared when I announced Herb’s text message. We were still strong and it was early, but in hind sight we now know he was 100% right. We were already running late.
All of us were soon wet and chilled to the bone. Joe's entire body was a mass of goose bumps from the damp cold air. Tim's face was beet red like an Artic explorer and Ken said his hands were numb with cold. It had reached the point where it was becoming difficult for him to hold onto the handlebars.
The skies became darker and it looked like a downpour could happen at any moment. There was no question if we got soaked now the ride would be over.
We stopped at a convenience store along the route and bought three pairs of brown gardening gloves. Those thin gloves were a lifesaver.
At 1:15PM Joe stopped his bike and said it’s time to turn back. Ken looked at his odometer and realized we had only traveled 90 miles. Turning around now would leave us 20 mile short of our 200 mile goal. He was also amazed that we had only traveled 10 miles since we stopped for the gloves. It seemed so long ago had our pace slowed that much?
We knew that we had to turnaround now or ride without headlights in the dark. Joe and Tim said we could just pack on the few missing miles near the shop when we return. Ken said there was “no way” we would ride past the shop and get in the remaining 20 miles. If we stop now were finished. Let’s just bang out another 10 miles before we make the turn.
Foolishly they agreed with Ken and followed him deeper into the hills. As they rode Ken started running the numbers in his head. He soon realized we were not going to arrive before dark....not even close. Our average had fallen off to just over 15mph. We are way off our planned return time.
Just below Princeton, MA and still only 95 miles out Ken changed his mind. “Joe your right we do have to turnaround now”. The words no sooner left his lips and all three bikes were headed south.
We agreed to make up the missing 10 miles near the shop on home turf where it would be safer without lights. It was 5:55PM when Ken looked at his phone and a spotted another text from Herb. The message said “It is 5:30 now you should be at the 160 mile mark". His odometer said 153 miles and this text came 25 minutes ago. Herb’s numbers were right on the money and he knew it. We were way off our planned schedule.
Ken said nothing for a while and then told the crew..."Herb has us about 20 miles behind schedule"..... He received no replies. Our average pace had dropped to only 15.3 miles per hour. The threat of rain loomed and darkness was setting in fast.
At the 175 mile mark we were worn out and cold. The pace had fallen back again to barely 15mph. The air had once again become thick with a foggy mist. The heavy cloud cover could easily trim 30 minutes off the light we preciously needed.
"Only 25 miles more to go guys….no big deal" Ken said. Well 25 miles is a big deal when you are wet, cold and have been in the saddle for over 11 hours.
It was dark as we reached Route 85 in Salem, Connecticut. Once we cross this road we will be on our “home turf" again. We are almost there. It is pitch black as the clouds have blocked out any light the moon would have offered us.
As we waited for our chance to cross Route 85 Tim looked at us with the blank look of the riding dead and said ….”I need sugar or something”.
No one had the energy or presence of mind to even answer him and just shot across the road towards the shop not knowing if he was even following.
Tim gathered himself back together and followed us. Once across the road it went from dark to absolutely black. The added tree cover of the back roads blocked any light that had filtered through the clouds.
Ken as the others had only brought sunglasses expecting a sunny day. Tim and Joe had removed their glasses earlier but Ken’s glasses are prescription and he needs them to see. Ken stayed right behind Joe trying to follow the dark object rolling in front of him with Tim in the rear. When Joe who has 20/20 vision said it was so dark he could not see the yellow line anymore we all knew we were in trouble.
Our pace slowed to only 5 mph as we tried to find the road. It was like riding a bike through a bottle of black ink it was so dark. At this rate it will take us 3 hours to cover the last 15 agonizing miles.
The famous "Homes Road Hill" was lurking ahead and could prove to be particularly sinister tonight. We crept slowly to the top of the hill with our legs aching and bodies cold. We all knew at the next intersection a decision would have to be made. Either turn left and ride the one mile back to the shop or turn right and get in the last few miles we needed to reach 200.
Visibility was less than 10’ as we turned right away from the shop to ride the few more miles we needed to complete our task.
At 9:30PM we pulled into the shop we had left 15 hours earlier. Our hands and feet felt were tingling with numbness and our bodies chilled to the bone. Our first "Double Century" had been conquered.
Who would have ever thought at this point that we would ride many more double, triple and even quad centuries in the years to come.