Stories from the Road

Brooklyn's 201

The night before our tribute ride, Smokin' Al and I took a cab to Brooklyn to visit firefighter and friend Jimmy 'James' Brown of Brooklyn's Engine Company 201. I asked Jimmy for two firehouse badges in August so I could honor the 15 fallen heroes from the 201, 'The Emerald Isle' and Engine 10/Ladder Ten, 'Ten House' where he was stationed as a probie on September 11th, 2001. I wore the Company patches every mile of the way with the names of those'who answered the call' on 9/1 placed next to each badge. It was great to see his 'house' and meet the guys. We were honored to spend time with everyday life-savers and World Trade Center survivors. There were lots of tributes and Memorials to the four heroes that did not return from Manhattan that day. Empty places above name plates where helmets rest serve as constant reminders. Al and I managed to negotiate the New York Subway System to make our way back to Manhattan in time for our night-time adventure.

The 'unofficial' New York City night ride began a few minutes shy of 8:45PM and immediately passed Ground Zero along a newly paved bike path north along the Hudson River. We cycled through the darkness deep into Central Park stopping now and then to enjoy great city lights night views. Times Square was as bright as daylight and a feast for the senses. We wore our very colorful Yoo-hoo Jerseys and were hard to miss as we traversed one the world's most famed crossroads.

You got a friend

Experience has shown, the likelihood of Karen having a 'friend' in every town is almost certain and fortunately for the Team on this occasion, a definite asset. Our lunch stop, day one, within sight of the Jersey shore was Asbury Park where her 'friend' was the sort that did not require the usual reapplication of lipstick before greeting. Although the food provided by organizers was exceptional, Karen's 'friend' put on a pasta, salad and fruit spread that made us all glad we have Karen as a friend, Team member and fellow rider. Thanks for the goodies Judy!

Etiquette

We'd been fighting a headwind all morning and riding with no head wind sounded like a wonderful idea. The peleton ahead was moving at a pretty good pace, so it took us about 15 minutes to make up the 75 yard gap . Once we finally caught up to them, it was wonderful in the back. I was able to maintain the 24-26 MPH pace with very little effort. We were riding 2 by 2 about 9 or 10 deep. One by one, people were pulling off of the front of the group and merging in the back. Kelcey and I worked our way to the front, eventually becoming the number 2 people in the peleton. Even at # 2, there's still a fair amount of wind, especially since I'm not exactly skinny, and the guy in front of me was. After about 10-15 minutes of considerable effort to maintain the pace, I pulled to the left, and dropped back a few rows.

I'm riding along, enjoying the scenery and no head windwhen this guy pulls up and says, "hey, how you doing?" "oh pretty good, now that I caught up to you guys. You're moving at a good pace." "really? So, it took you guys a while to catch up to us?" "yeah, we're not exactly the fastest cyclists, but it sure is easy to maintain this pace here in the back." "yeah, they help out a LOT." So we ride a along for a while and we're passing these single cyclists and small groups. I call out "On your left." The guy thinks I'm talking to him and says, "I'm sorry, what was that?" "Oh, I was just saying 'on your left' to the cyclists we just passed. My friends bitch about big groups passing closely w/o saying anything, so I usually say something even if I'm in the middle." "oh" and he just smiled.

We rode along in silence for 10 minutes and just as I'm about to say, "My name's Schuyler, what's yours?" he moves up in the group and I kind of fall back. Kelcey catches me and says "Well, I'll never forget that." Yeah, me neither. Almost pulling a 20 person peleton. Wow!" While on the Cape May ferry , I'm talking with my friend Jay and mentioned I was in a huge peleton. "yeah, Kelcey was telling me Greg LeMond was in it." (In case you didn't know, LeMond won the Tour de France 3 times back in the early 80's. He was the Lance Armstrong of the 80's...) "really?!?!?!?" So I go and find Kelcey."hey, which one was LeMond?" "THE ONE YOU WERE TALKING TO FOR TWENTY MINUTES, YOU MORON!!!" Doh!!!! I rode with, and almost pulled Greg LeMond for a while. :-) One of my friends at dinner that night laughed at the fact that I was giving Greg LeMond cycling etiquette lessons... :-) -Schuyler

Gift

Al recalls a touching event that occurred along the route that was probably repeated more than once. While in line at a convenience store to purchase a 'portable' camera he was approached by another patron who inquired as to all the cyclists on the road and their purpose. After Al's description of our tribute journey, the gentleman pulled a $10 bill from his wallet wishing to contribute to the event. Actions do speak louder than words

Bud's for you

The shower lines, at the end of our toughest day, extended 50 yards with little movement toward the few drops of cold water they would ultimately surrender. For that night and the next day I would wear the nickname of "Beer Man" for my less than unselfish serving of a dozen cold beers to those in the first third of the slow moving procession. Not only was I invited into the line for my refreshment delivery but also to share the women's showers with a small group of thirsty females. I accepted their flirtatious compliment but declined their kind offer.