I rode yesterday on my Landshark touring bike with 2 friends {on a Bruce Gordon tourer and an All Rounder w/ the shellacked bars]. We had all been there before and thought this year was the best yet. The flags were a great help despite the closness in color. The roads were in fabulous shape and the last gnarly downhill [as it was described in the cue sheet] was as much fun as in year's past. The weather was very nice, no where near as hot as last year. It is really fun to see so many bikes that you read about. I think the most popular brand was Surly, but the variety was overwhelming, At least 2 riders on 3 speeds, several on Rohloffs, but I didn't see any fixed. I will be back next year. Steve
Plymouth, New Hampshire
On Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 2:23 PM, Norm and Val Lafleur <nvlafleur@verizon.net
> wrote:
> Yesterday as a volunteer at D2R2 I saw many familiar CR names on the
> sign up sheet. I hope you folks will post your experiences on this ride
> to the list. I was also pleasantly surprised at the number of steel
> bikes and wool jersey's in the group. I noticed a Della Santa, a
> Vanilla, many Rivendell's including at least one with nicely shellacked
> cloth tape. Also Bridgestone, Bianchi and others. I haven't seen this
> much steel at a non CR event In about 15 years.
>
> This ride continues to evolve. For example, this year we marked the
> course with flags to reduce the need to continously monitor cue sheets.
> Unfortunately our color choice made it difficult to tell the difference
> between the 100 mile and the 100k flags and some were hard to see in the
> roadside weeds. We would appreciate any feedback which could help us
> improve for next year. You can send me feedback off list but I'm sure
> other list member's would enjoy any stories of this epic ride.
>
> For those not familiar with this ride, it is either 112 miles with
> 15,670 feet of climbing or 63 miles with 7780 feet of climbing , 70% on
> dirt roads in Western Ma. and Southern Vt..
>
> Norm Lafleur
> Ashfield, Massachusetts
> USA