So I and 4 friends decided to do the short (100 k) Deerfield Dirt Road Randonnee this past Sunday. I opted for an off-topic MTB. Other bikes include 2 steel Paramount MTBs, a steel Specialized and a Riv. Atlantis. We ended up cutting the ride short cause two riders were caput at the end of the Green river. (One couldn't squeeze his brakes very well at that point). Plus we had missed a turn in Halifax, plunging down a long decent into West Halifax, only to have to go back up the bloody hill. We were used to climbing by that point, however.
Throughout the ride, my mate Bruce Miller would just look at me, repeating the mantra: "Eddie Albert"
This is because Eddie did the ride the week before on a Masi GC with a 41 X 28 gear. He later said to me "hardest ride of my life" So, we were on easy street by comparison.
As we neared Greenfield, our mantra shifted to "cask-conditioned ESB" as we planned to visit The People's Pint pub after the ride. I hartily recommend both the ride and the pub, and congratulate Eddie for surviving on that gear!
Mark Hoffman
New Britain, CT