The crack of dawn was breaking as the Duke headed to my abode to begin the journey. It would be a death defying ride down to Virginia for the duo.
A freak accident on 95 North in Maryland caused a van to travel across the divide and tumble several times at highway speeds toward my South bound car. Quick manuevering avoided further tragedy and near certain death. Though an ominous sign, it fortunately did not portend of things to come.
Cell phones kept us in touch with the dynamic pair of Merckx and Armstrong, our old college buddies and cyclists who would round out our foursome. Armstrong last seen in his Albany days weighing in at 145 lbs was now a muscular powerhouse exhibiting a well hidden 'roid like physique - the result of many evenings in the gyms of Boston.
Merckx, the self proclaimed "most recognized" triathlete in and around the DC circuit came dressed in his DC Tri Gear well tuned after a full winter and fall of cycling that included commuting to and from his job on the bike, afterwhich he could be seen either running the streets of DC or swimming in its lakes. If there was an ounce of body fat on him it eluded my eyesight.
Duke came along with cell phone in hand to conduct business and a pair of Everlast weight lifting gloves. If not for his helmet and shoes little would give clue he was about to embark on a hefty bicycling adventure. While I had every conceivable piece of bike gear from multiple sleak jerseys, frame pump with built in guage, eyeglass mirror, gel pants, gel gloves, and special cycling sunglasses, Duke proved to be the gearless wonder - proving that talent could overcome the need for biking gear, and talent is a quality that he held in abundance. I still don't quite understand how he finished the journey with the amount of crisis he had to overcome, the kind that comes with running several businesses.
Friday evening before the event was the time to register, check in to our hotel in Chester, VA, and to share dinner with 2000 of our soon to be fellow cyclists. There were carbon and titanium road bikes, leisure bikes, mountain bikes, tandems, foldups, and recumbents. There were as many different bicycles as their were people. And they came from all over the country.
We begin the adventure from James Blair High school in the sleepy town of Hopewell, Virgina. We extract and assemble our bikes from our cars and gear up. The final act of filling up our water bottles with a choice of water or Hammer Heed (a vile tasting protein laced eletrolyte solution) precedes the initial push forward. We plan to do the full 65 miles touring in and around Hopewell and its neighboring towns.
The tour is thankfully uneventful. Leading the group was fun and we managed for the most part to stay together for much of the ride. This was Duke's longest ride to date, and he was feeling good but concerned that he probably should not try to do the next day's century if he wanted to insure he would make it through the entire event.
more to come ...
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