Chappaqua Forum Ride--Absolutely FABULOUS!

[BumbleBeeDave]

WOW, what a GREAT ride I had today!

I headed down yesterday from Schenectady to Chappaqua in Westchester County, where Kevan the saint and his saintly wife Chris opened their home and their hearts to me to let me stay with them before our ride today. Kevan and I met mikemets at a local Italian eatery and carbo-loaded before turning back the clocks and resting up for today's ride.

This morning Kev and I headed out to pick up bagels and coffee, then at 9:30 we headed down to the train station to meet our fellow riders. I was wearing my full zebra suit, so Kevan rode about 50 feet behind me in hopes of not being recognized as actually being with me. :p

There we met mikemets, ClutchCargo, ChamUK, CarbonTi, and Lloyd--our honorary token "non-forum" rider. Then Mike and Kevan proceeded to take us on a delightful odyssey through the back roads of Westchester County, where we climbed hills, crossed bridges, careened headlong through a Yeshiva (with Rabbi and forelocked acolytes mouthing "***?!?" as the zebra clad specter flew by), and ducked under fallen trees to complete our journey.

After much good riding and fellowship, my instrumentation indicated 55.75 miles, somewhat over three hours and 45 minutes of ride time, an average speed of 14.9 (Yeah, we dawdled! Wanna make something of it?), and just under 3000 calories burned. After Kevan and I returned to his house, Chris plied us with steaming potato soup, hot garlic toast, and warm fresh cookies. I also met Kevan's teenage son, who respectfully did not laugh at my zebra suit--at least, not in front of me. Then Chris "forced" me to take the leftover soup and cookies home.

I absolutely promise to post some photos tomorrow, but for tonight I have driven home and I'm BEAT!

Thanks, Kevan!!! Thanks, Chris! You are the BEST!

BBD

[atmo]

hilary sightings atmo?

[edouard]

hilary sightings atmo?

agitator off, spin on

[atmo]

agitator off, spin on
is there a nat sherman's in chappaqua atmo?

[edouard]

.

[Kevan]

I saw no point in risking their political future with a bizarre man-zebra sighting and any potential emotional scarring that might have resulted, so I told Dave that the Secret Service would likely use him for target practice if we rode up to their house. Part of the reason why our average was so low was Dave became a bit offended that he might be shot and insisted on changing his political affiliation, so we had to stop at town hall to do that. Sorry Hillary, but hey... it was only one vote.

Dave, It was a pleasure having you here and you're welcome back anytime. Wait... I think the catus just drooped. Anyway, I want to thank you for showing Tucker your zebra suit. When I stepped back into the house after seeing you off, Tucker walked straight up to me, hugged me hard, pressing his cheek to my chest, and told me, "I love you man!" and thanked me for dressing in basic black. Still, he suggested though I lose the knicker look. Hey, it wasn't perfect, but I'll take it.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures and it was a terrific ride considering the conditions. Talk about your headwinds, yowzer! Thanks guys for making the ride a good one.

[Kevan]

is there a nat sherman's in chappaqua atmo?

naughty boy!

[david]

i was tempted to meet you guys but my wife had a friend in from texas and she asked me to wrangle our boys for the day.
how could i turn her down after dozens and dozens of hours i've spent on my bike while she watches over the wee ones?
oh well, we went for a hike around croton dam. amazingly beautiful. i kept my eyes out for you guys, but no luck.
hope i can join you next time.

[Kevan]

i was tempted to meet you guys but my wife had a friend in from texas and she asked me to wrangle our boys for the day.
how could i turn her down after dozens and dozens of hours i've spent on my bike while she watches over the wee ones?
oh well, we went for a hike around croton dam. amazingly beautiful. i kept my eyes out for you guys, but no luck.
hope i can join you next time.

That place was rockin' wasn't it? Love it when the water is boiling like it was today. I think we were there around 11:30.

I promise we'll do more rides like this in the future.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . before I collapse. If you look closely in the background you can see salmon jumping up over the dam to avoid having to look at me.

BTW . . . today's ride put me over 4000 miles for the season.

From left to right: BumbleBeeDave, mikemets, Kevan, ChamUK, CarbonTi, and ClutchCargo.



















WELL . . . apparently my Zebra suit was SO ugly that Serotta's server refused to accept the photo. I'm getting a " Attachment only partially uploaded." error message . . . Perhaps Serotta Andrew can fix this tomorrow? . . . :confused:

BBD

[atmo]

you all look alike atmo

[ClutchCargo]

Kudos to Kevan for a great tour of his local backroads. I live in the county and found a whole new area to enjoy! I think I'll file yesterday's ramble under "why I ride."

Thanks Kev, BBD, Mikemets and the rest for a great ride that (almost) made me forget those gusty headwinds!


Ride on!

[ti_boi]

Wow! Sounds Great.....glad to hear it was a success...... :beer:

[ChamUK]

This was a fantstic ride. Like Clutch, I live in Westchester, and Kevan and Mike showed me some great new routes.
BTW, from now on, a ride isn't a ride without some dude in a zebra suit in the group.

Thanks Again!

[Kevan]

This was a fantstic ride. Like Clutch, I live in Westchester, and Kevan and Mike showed me some great new routes.
BTW, from now on, a ride isn't a ride without some dude in a zebra suit in the group.

Thanks Again!

Don't encourage him. We got back to my house and it was all I could do to get Dave into the house before the neighbors saw.

It was terrific to finally meet ChamUK.

[mikemets]

Couldn't have enjoyed yesterday more, thanks for joining us in Chappaqua.

Nice route, great views
Not too many cars
Good weather, even with the wind
No mechanicals, not even a single flat, and yes, Dave really was there
Very nice people
Everyone finished safely

This forum really is a special place, and I find it hard to describe to non-forumites, so I no longer bother trying, I just continue to reap the rewards on a daily basis :D

[mikemets]

oh yeah, and some nice bikes:
2 Serottas
Calfee
Colnago
Peg
Seven
Look

[CarbonTi]

Many thanks to Kevan and mikemets for showing some great roads and vistas during this ride. Great company, great views, good roads, light traffic. Prime ingredients for a fantastic ride.

When the West-Chap happens again, it is not to be missed.

[david]

count me in next time!
thanks

[Kevan]

count me in next time!
thanks

there are the November and December century rides coming up.

[david]

can you tell me about these centuries?
thanks

[mikemets]

...and boy do I need to stay out of the kitchen :eek:

[BumbleBeeDave]

This one was really fun to ride across--like riding on razor blades.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . try to decide exactly which portion of the Croton Reservoir to throw BumbleBeeDave into . . .

[BumbleBeeDave]

Which one? Beats me!

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . near another reservoir.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . on the road to ???

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . a few roadblocks.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . windy!

[Kevan]

you sure know your way around a peep hole.

Nice pictures!

[Jeff Weir]

I was unbale to make the ride, but I did show up at the end and had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. BBDave.......

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . at Croton Reservoir at full flow. Kevan said he had never seen it any higher than this. We marvelled at the thundering cascade--and then went to find the bathrooms.

[Kevan]

I was unbale to make the ride, but I did show up at the end and had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. BBDave.......

a killer.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . over Croton(?) Reservoir. mikemets reported that he tried to jump off this bridge in high school, but he was arrested by the local gendarmes before he could complete the Westchester county rite of passage.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . rampage! From front to back . . . ClutchCargo, ChamUK, and Kevan in the blue vest waaaaaaay in the back!

[Keith A]

Great pictures and lovely scenery...certainly something that we don't get around my neck of the woods.

BTW, what's those things on your hands? :D

[Keith A]

Hey Jeff, that's not the picture that BBDave showed me...

http://www.highheels.com.au/images/products.large.1198.3746b[1].jpg

[Kevan]

I'm inviting the wives.
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only.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . Keith A couldn't join us, but I know he was getting ready for Halloween . . .

BBD

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . unable to make it, as he was working on his car . . .

BBD

[Kevan]

. . . unable to make it, as he was working on his car . . .

BBD


You look good!