Any experienced Dalmac rider knows the weather forecast. I had been paying close attention to the NOAA web site for a week. Flying in from D.C. limited my choice of gear for the ride. I knew it was going to be cold the morning of our second day. Unfortunately, I could not bring my very comfortable North Face sleeping bag. My plan was to borrow one from my friend Aaron. When we got to Vestaburg, I remembered 24 hours to late to ask for that sleeping bag.
Aaron and I often refer to our 2007 Dalmac because of the painful and memorable experience it gave us. On the third day of our 2007 ride, Aaron walked over to my camp chair with a OMG! look on his face. He asked me how good of friends we were? I was like "what do you want?" Arron then told me a story that we still laugh about today. He colorfully described something he witnessed in the bathroom only minutes before. A man asked another "how good of friends are we?" The other man said "I think we are very good friends, why?" The man then asked if his friend would look at something for him? Arron thought those two men must have been real good friends if one was willing to give the other the weather report from Uranus, if you know what I mean! Anytime, I want to get Aaron to laugh I ask him "How good of friends are we?
This year, when I asked Aaron If he had a sleeping bag for me he said he had something better and handed me a blanket. Two days later, I found out it was his only blanket. Aaron did something for me most of my friends would have said "you are going to Freeze tonight!" The next time Aaron asks me "How good of friends are we?" I will reply, the best!
It got down to 43 degrees and when we started our ride it was about 47. I was telling Aaron how cold I was and I needed to warm up inside. the Coffee was good and I was looking forward to the ride. We ate breakfast with Tony and we talked about riding together. As we were getting ready to leave, our friend Dick from Day 1 rode up. No one wanted to wait for Greg and Andy because of the punishment from yesterday. I have ridden with Greg a lot, It doesn't matter who else is on the tandem Greg is always fast.
We rode all morning at a good 16mph average and I think Greg and Andy caught us at about 40 miles out. We stopped for lunch in Lake George. It was 11 am and we were feeling good with 40 miles to go. Because today was going to be a 90 mile day I didn't want to go over 16mph in the afternoon. We all agreed to stop in Falmouth for Ice cream. Aaron was complaining a little. As the hills got bigger I got slower. The group got split up on Forward.
The best thing about the ride today was the light and variable wind. In 2001, 2002, and 2007 wind was always a factor. Aaron and I stuck together and were the last in our group to roll into Falmouth. We found Tony and Dick resting and eating Ice Cream Bars. I was surprised how tired everyone looked. I had been saving my energy all day. I was looking forward to the last 10 miles. We rested a little more for our push into Lake City.
Aaron was tired, and I could tell I was pulling him into camp. I pushed hard to see if I could drop him. No chance, he was stuck like glue. It was great to have a tent service this year. The worst part about the service is how it separated our group. I didn't get the time to talk with Greg as much as I wanted to. The air mattress made me forget about talking to anyone.
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