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Click here to read some recollections - from Dr. Spoke and Action Jackson

 

Seagull - 2009 Blog – From the Doctor: Excellent time~! Thursday – Joe, Stan and I made the drive to Ocean City. The digs were Outstanding~! A wonderful place. Friday - Got up early, got ready to make the 30 mile ride to the peer to meet the NJ Majors, Jed & George. It was too nice. 30 mph tail wind. The ride took just over an hour….. Sweet~! We hooked up with the NJ boys, Raij, James and one of their henchmen along with James’s wife and Attila at the peer. Now it is 30 miles back to Ocean City…. Into the headwind…. We stop for food at the Bob Evans. Joe continues on, solo. Raij makes a call to the other group with George & Jed. They are just getting off the ferry, about 4 miles back. We decide to roll slowly out, thinking they will catch up. Stan, T and I are together after James and his crew keep stroking. T is having difficulty, actually we are. The head wind is tremendous~! About 13 miles from Ocean City, George, Jed & the other NJ Majors catch up. Kerry is driving them. We are all together but for Stan & T. Joe has made his escape… off the front. ? The pace intensifies… These guys are rollin..I fall off the back 15 blocks from the end. The head wind has kicked my ass… Actually, everybody’s ass~! We run into Matt & Karen, chillin in their ride, taking in the sites. We rest for a few hours and go over to Salisbury to check out the sales at the college. No great deals. A lot of folks there. A lot of brothers & sisters. The Gahanna Lion (G. Cooley) shows up. We run into Brian & Avis. They need a place to stay. Joe hooks them up in jour condo. Bill Baugh checks in, late about 12:30 a.m. Saturday – We all drive over to the start finish. It is raining… ? However, by the time we get there, the rain has stopped. Now we must decide to do the century or the metric. We run into Ivan. He tells us that Ken & Bud have rolled on. Karen and Bill Baugh start driving the pace~!... We are amazed at Karen making the tempo behind Bill… At the turn-off George, Brian & Avis, T, Stan and Kerry do the metric. Everyone else does the century. I find myself with Bad Company (Ivan, Bill Baugh and Jed). Shortly, I am in the Red Zone… ? Senior citizen trying to hang with the big dogs. We stop at the first rest stop for too long. Manny is there. Talk about “a ghost from the past”. Bill Baugh leaves….. I wait 10 or so minutes and then roll out (say 40 minutes after we get there). Now the Dr. is alone rollin…. I turn into the headwind… This is ugly~!... Then out of nowhere comes Bill Baugh. He has turned around… I jump his wheel and suck on it till we get to the lunch spot. Bill and I are killing folks, nobody can stay on HIS wheel for long… bill is stroking~! About 8 miles from the lunch spot, I get cramps in both legs (thigh area) so sever it locks my legs and I run into Bill’s rear wheel. I do a “laugh-in”… no damage, just embarrassed. At the lunch spot I see a lot of folks…. I am bushed.. I see Joe Straughter. Joe did not make the 1st rest, just kept rollin. We stay a short while and Joe and I roll out. Now the pace is civil and we roll to the pie spot. On the way we run into Bishop… The brother has not been on the bike in 10 years and he is out there on the century. Now we have only 20 miles to go and I roll off from Joe. I have to keep the tempo up for fear of getting cramps again…. ? Five miles out, Bill Baugh and a tandem roll by. I start to jump but think better of it. I am in and so happy~! another Post-Seagull Ride Report - From Action Jackson (part 1/3): Thursday morning. 5am Sharon drops me off at John's house in Irvington, NJ. Everyone is in a groovy mood and the weather forecast is favorable. We begin to muster outside in the driveway. We check our rides for proper air pressure, lites and flashers. Helmets on, it’s a bit cold. James has on full gloves and I wish I did the same. We leave Irvington about 6am on a slow roll of 15 mph. No wind and glad to begin this new journey of ours. On board for the Jersey drive are John, James , Demetrice, Jamal, Nelson, Raj, Atilla, Jeb and George from MTCC of Columbus better known as the Ohio players. Outstanding SAG services are provided by Shona. There were no breaks to be had in North Jersey and none to be expected. Motorists on their Thursday morning commute didn't give a damn about a group of skinny cyclists in goofy spandex foolish enough to be on the road in the dark. Thank God for the flashers. They created an appearance of police activity from afar. After 40 minutes on the road the fellas felt the need to pick up the pace. James and I decided to let them go. It will be a long ride to day. I’ve heard somewhere between 120 and 129 miles. The sun rises off our left shoulder. We’re on a southern bearing south on Rt27 getting a solid 16/17 mph. South of New Brunswick traffic begins to thin and the pace warms up to about 18mph. Now we’re talking. As we enter Princeton on a east south east heading our eyes are filled with direct sun light and it’s a bother for me. I had clear glasses. But the roads we are traveling on are about as smooth as a baby's rear and the shoulder is wide enough for 3 wide. (Nascar term) Man this feels good. We arrive in Cranberry, NJ for our first morning break. This is definitely a BFZ, brother free zone. The diner on Main Street looks good so we give it a go. Hitch the horses outside and pull up to the counter for service. Our waitress is a real Madge. Everyone is very friendly and several folks approach us about our travels. Where you boys from? After an hour or so we’re back on the road fueled up and feeling frisky. Just itching for a fight. In no time the pace heats up and we are at it. Jeb and George came here to ride and up to this point I guess the pace had been a bit boring. Not anymore. The wheels are spinning for real. Jeb and George are stretched out aero style as they came to Jersey with rides tricked out with aero bars and cool handle bars to match. We’re making good time now but no one is paying attention to where we're going. The road is straight and flat and were riding hard as hell producing some real sweat as a byproduct of our efforts. While down in the drops I notice the road sign says we are heading north on Rt206. I slow up... Ah, D are we suppose to be going this way? Time out. We huddle up. John and D check the cue sheet. They had reconned the route a week ago and are the navigators. I suggest we look at my map of New Jersey. Turns out I don't have it. I transferred gear to the SAG vehicle from my back pack and the maps were a part of it. We consult with a local officer of the law who sets us straight and are back on our way recovering 3 to 4 miles of lost travel. There is a reason for New Jersey being referred to as the Garden State. We’re in Burlington County and it is just beautiful a bit north and west of the Pine Barrens. This will be my first trip through the Pine Barrens and I will be looking for the Jersey Devil. As a whole we are still looking good and riding with the wind. Nelson has been pulling the train strong. John is staying on course with solo fliers every now and then. James and Ohio Jeb are in the big ring grinding it out and laying the hammer down. They are riding out of sight. Me, I decide to stay in the comfy lee of the pace line, occasionally sweeping, making sure the last cyclist makes the turn because at this point the road is long and you can find yourself several minutes away from the front. Like 10 minutes. We will not mention names here. By now the speed of the pack has begun to exceed 23 miles per hour sustained. We’re putting the hurt on and it feels good. Midday sun is upon us and we are wet from head to toe. Approaching a blind corner we decelerate and bang a hard right turn.. Who appears out of nowhere lounging in the warm sun looking very relaxed is Shona with the SAG vehicle stocked with Gator Aid,trail mix, water, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches We needed the rest in a big way. Serious damage was done to each other. I thought the race was going to be in MD on Saturday. Not Thursday in NJ. 45 minutes later we are on our way. Shona is on her bike now as Raj drives SAG. At this point we still haven't seen Attilla. We know he is on his way. Our journey is taking us through the Pine Barrens and numerous state parks south along Rt 563. This county road has minimal vehicular traffic. The shoulder is very wide. About 120 miles in I begin to struggle concentrating on the bike. Maintaining a straight line is a challenge. It has been a long day. I got off work at 1:45am. 2 hours of rest was all I had. Adrenaline can take you only so far… in this case 120 miles. We had been in the saddle for well over 10 hours and it is beginning to show on some more than others. My ass is killing me and I just can't find a comfy position. We are approaching Egg Harbor City, Atlantic County. The road sign indicates Pleasantville, our destination for the day, is 9 miles away. James having pulled strong all day has suffered with a cramp for several miles and finally has to call it a day. His leg has fully locked up. Time to call Shona and get him off the road. There is always tomorrow. Between 5 and 5:30pm we pull into the parking lot of the Days Inn wet with sweat, dirty and tired. I check the odometer on my trusty steed and it boldly displays 136 miles. The most I have ever ridden in a day. We are hungry and tired and in need of a good shower and dinner. I pop 2 Advil and head over to the diner across from the parking lot for a recovery drink of chocolate milk. I had dinner with John, Nelson and Jamal. Some of the other cats ordered in. I returned to the hotel room greeted by the aroma of Tiger balm. D had apparently lathered himself up and was feeling the better for it. It’s lights out with a 9:30pm curfew. Rise and shine 5:45am Friday morning. The saga continues later this evening. RJ