After the Ohio 600K I really had not planned on attempting "The 600" again this year. My feelings were that I was capable and didn't need to this year. Yes, a cycling goal not met but these things happen.
The DC Randonneurs debacle back in January has had me riding and enjoying brevets elsewhere. It's actually been quite a pleasure. I have met people I would not have seen otherwise and have been on some great routes in places I have never been on a bike.
I have looked at the New Jersey Randonneurs site a few times and noticed the Cranbury 600. I never paid much attention to the dates of the event and even where but a glance at the site a few days after my DNF in Ohio had me thinking differently. The route would pass through my favorite areas of New Jersey, not be forever in mountains and the odds of chipseal very low.
Putting all that to mind I started looking hard at the cue sheet and route July 4th weekend and Kristin was up for my attempting another 600. I spent part of the holiday weekend mapping it out and decided to go for it. Once again loaded to go...
The ride description was great, the majority of controls were to be at the quintessential New Jersey Institution, the Wawa Store. Yes folks the NJ Rando folks labled it "Tour De Wawa" and they were on the money. I love Wawa stores, probably more than Sheetz.
I mapped out the route on mapmyride, once again a frustrating experience. Bikely is way better! This gave me a better idea of where the route went, more so than just seeing the controls on a map. I wish I had done this for the Ohio 600. Something I hope to repeat in the future is the preride map. It helped in a few tricky spots where the roads have no signs.
I took Friday off and left around 2:00PM. It's only a three hour drive so that would put me in Cranbury about 5:00PM. I gave myself plenty of time considering Friday afternoon traffic. It was nice to be there five hours prior to the start. I parked in the old PNC bank lot per the instructions and scoped out the town. After a bit I went for some pizza. I forgot how great Jersey pizza is!
Cranbury Pizza was great, Ney York style pizza without having to go to New York! After the pizza I went back to the car and chilled for a bit. There was a concert in the park just down the street, it made for a very pleasant evening.
I got some ice cream from Gil and Berts ice cream shop and watched the show for a bit. After that it was time to put the bike together and get it rigged. Once the bike was ready and I was dressed, I met the volunteer running the event, Laurent. With the 10:00PM start time like PBP there was a certain feeling about the ride that was very hard to describe.
Once registered and ready, I went back for another round of pizza to top off the tank. About 10 minutes before the start, I was relaxed and ready to go. The night time start was much nicer than an early AM start.
At 10:00PM, 21 randonneurs and randonneusses head out onto the roads of North Eastern New Jersey in search of "The Wawa" store.
Laurent gave the signal and off everyone went, but me. I had forgot to turn on the Garmin and circled the parking lot while it homed in. As the local church bells struck 10, the signals came up and off I went as I pushed the start button. Hey, 377.6 miles is a long way to go before I am back in this parking lot, best to pace myself.
Road surfaces and terrain are a funny thing, it's amazing how much faster the bent is on flat and rolling terrain. Within 15 minutes I was in with the group that had left about 4 minutes before I started. I decided since this was a "flat" route that I would hang with the fast guys for a couple of hours and then drop down to a slower pace. We covered 32 miles in the first two hours and we passed a Wawa on the way, wait a minute, I thought this was "Tour De Wawa?" Ah, we were not to stop at every Wawa along the way. Okay so on we press passing Fort Dix and as we did all I could think of was an episode of M*A*S*H where Klinger talked about Fort Dix.
A little later I rolled into the first control with a rider behind me and several more resting at the control. Laurent met us there and was signing our brevet cards. A quick meal with chicken salad, a Coke, Gatorade and some chips and out of the first control with over 90 minutes cushion!
The route then had me rolling down wonderful 539. This would be one of several great long stretches of asphault that let me make time. Along pine barrens and long flat to low grades, through misty fog and cranberry bogs. The halo effect on car headlights as they apporached from in front was at times ghostly.
About 4:10AM and the mist gets thick, the air becomes very warm and I go over a draw bridge. Egg Harbor is close now, we pass the plant of these famous yachts. It was still too dark to capture a picture of the plant but here is one of the factory from their web site.
A few minutes later I arrived in Egg Harbor city at the Dunkin Donuts. I know have 3 hours and 30 minutes of cushion in 98 miles!
No chipseal, no "scenic" roads and yet, lots of scenery. Laurent signed my brevet card and offered me a chicken sandwhich, that when combined with a coke from the machine accross the street, really hit the spot! I must say he really ran the brevet exceptionally well.
I took this shot about 5:00AM when the store was supposed to open. Not even a body inside yet! About 5:15AM I headed back out on the road, knowing I would stop in less then 10 minutes. Employees were now inside but the DD was not open. Oh well, I was insearch of Wawa stores anyway.
Just outside of town the odometer crests the century mark for the first of hopefully three times this trip.
The temps are nice, I am to call home in an hour to wake up Kristin for Katie's swim meet. I pass the Atlantic City airport and glady go well around Atlantic City itself. Shortly after, I see another randonneur tossing back some what looks like coffee at a 7-11. The nerve of him! This was after all, this is TDW! A block later I rolled into my first un-official Wawa store I called home and no answer, the girls must already be up and gone or showering. I get a drink and some food, spend about 10 minutes and move out.
A few busy roads and the route went along a short section of bike trail and out towards the Atlantic Ocean. Once I crossed the bridge onto the barrier islands I went over the Ocean City inlet and took this shot;
I can watch the sea for hours on end, the ever changing patterns of the water, the smell is so relaxing. Sadly I can not linger for the day and enjoy the beach, perhaps another time.
I coast down the bridge and into Ocean City NJ. My parents and I stayed here for a weekend when I was a teenager. The town has grown some but it remains much the same place and not negatively affected by the casino growth of Atlantic City. It still has a lot of that "beach town" feel and not a suburb feel.
I have mentioned so often my disdain for chipseal and I am happy to announce I never encountered any chipseal on this ride. Sadly, the highway engineers in New Jersey have discovered something worse. I am not sure what you would call this stuff. The best description I can give is asphault that has worn away from rain and sand exposing all the course aggregate. From Ocean City to the South end of Sea Isle City it was like riding a rumble strip for about 12 miles. I think the road surface was just what I described.
The stretch along the shore was pleasant but slow, traffic and lots of stop signs traffic lights. I was happy when I hit the South end of Sea Isle City, the road smoothed out and I stopped at an un-official Wawa and had some donuts and a chocolate milk.
From here it was on to 7 Mile Island and into Avalon. We have vacationed here in the past, it's by far my favorite beach town and has my families most favorite pizza place, Tonios!
It was about 8:30 in the morning and they were not open yet. That's okay, there is a Wawa calling my name just a few miles down the street. All in all the road surface on 7 Mile Island is far better the OC or Sea Isle and while busy most folks are beyond polite. I roll into the Stone Harbor Wawa with over 4 hours of cushion.
The store is swamped! I follow the procedure, buy something, get a reciept and get my brevet card signed by the clerk. Not too far from departure and a couple more randonneurs arrive. It's often funny how you pass people on a brevet and never know it. We chat a bit and they go in search of breakfast the involves plates, forks and seating. I suggest the diner on the mainland not too far away. It was on one of my plans but I was skipping it as I was quite full from the donuts and quart of chochlate milk back in Sea Isle City. I bid them farewell and left Stone Harbor.
The traffic on the causeway to the mainland was light, I passed a couple of produce stands the family has been to on vacation. As I cross the Garden State Parkway I notice the diner is packed. People are waiting outside. I found out later my two fellow randonneurs see the packed diner and hit McDonalds for some pancakes.
The route goes through Dennisville and as I make the turn onto Dennisville road and I am rolling about 17.5 MPH, and feeling good. Suddnely a bee flies up, lands on my arm and stings me. It really hurt and smarted for a few hours. Still, not enough to make me stop and I push on to Mauriceville and the next Wawa store.
It was starting to get quite hot and the predicted 84 degrees F has long been passed, I read 90 degrees on the bike. Thoughts of how nice just hanging out at the beach ran through my mind. It helped me move on thinking of this shot;
No walls of chipseal on this ride or "scenic" roads, but the sun and the heat combined with being awake for 30 hours was dragging on me a bit. I had been up since 6:10AM the day before and its about noon time.
I pass through Mauricetown and into, you guessed it right, a Wawa store. I refilled my water, had a coke and gatorade. A brief rest and I am back on the road.
As I make my way along the road the afternoon heat hits me a bit and I am exhausted. I pull off the side of the road, pull the seat pad from the bike and use it as a matress for about 10 minutes. I swig some water and feel a bit better. It is 98 degrees out on the road. The asphault is even hotter.
Several miles later I can tell I am closer to the Delaware Bay as the route passes marshes. I stop at a Sunnoco station and begin the process of a quick recharge. It dawned on me that I had not eaten in some time. Not since the Wawa in Sea Isle City. I should have had something in Mauricetown. A cheeseburger and a coke have me feeling better quickly, I refill the camelbak and pour cold water over my head. In minutes I am ready to ride.
During all this one of the two guys I saw in Stone Harbor arrives. Turns out his brother in-law is the other rider and has become ill. The heat I guess. The plan is for the healthier one to ride to the siesta stop to recharge the batteries for their lights so while the other is back a bit resting, the first is pushing on. He takes off a few minutes before me.
The miles tick off and a few miles from the control I see him just up ahead, a pickup truck passes me and it contains his brother in-law. He can ride no more and a game warden is giving him a ride to the siesta stop at mile 214.
The other one and I ride together on to the control in Seabreeze. It's a typical randonneur conversation, we talk about what we see by doing this and other brevets. As we get closer to the bay the wind picks up. Our road speed is about 16 or 17 and we keep it up to avoid the masses of horse fly just waiting to bite us. As we ride along through the marshes, fiddler crabs are crossing the road every so often, what a treat! You only see stuff like this on a bike and only when going places most folks never ride. We get to the control, see the answer we need and make a quick getaway. This is an informational control, we will write the answer on our brevet cards later.
It's a quick five miles to the next control, here we arrive at a 1700's estate. Eagle Manor has been rented by Walter and Laurie and they have opened their home to us as a control and oasis.
After 214 miles this is quite a site to see. KNowing my drop bag is here with catered food, showers, a mattress and a few hours rest warms the heart.
Laurent was looking quite relaxed sitting in a chair under a giant tree. He noted our time and signed our brevet cards. In the house we were waited on with lots of food and drink. It was wonderful, I ate a little bit, called home and cooled off before taking a shower and a 30 to 45 minute power nap.
I arrived with nearly 5 hours of cushion and decided to spend half of that here. After waking I was still a little weak in the stomach but a coke and some delicious home made chicken noodle soup brought me to life again. I only had a 163 miles to go! Less than 300K I told myself, and I have covered 300K before.
My other reason for the longer stay was a hope to have some cooler air to ride in and it paid off. It had dropped into the lower 80's and was very pleasant. It was 6:45PM as I left Eagle Manor.
The ride was pretty unecentful from here to the next control, a Wawa at route 40. I pulled into here and caught a few more riders. Laurent was here for a brief stop and a jeep with the two brother in-laws that had abandoned the ride. At this point 7 had dnf'd, one third of the starters were not going to finish but hopefully ride well another day.
I decided at this point that chicken noodle soup was my new friend and got a cup, a coke and some pineapple. It hit the spot and I put on the lights and left for Hammonton.
The miles were ticking away a little slower now but the distance was getting shorter too. Well before Hammonton I passed a point where there was only 200K to go! I was back up to a three hour cushion from about 2 and was feeling a little tired when I got to Hammonton.
102 miles to go as I got to the Wawa in Hammonton. Yes another control, another Wawa. Sticking with the same menu I also loaded up some extra snacks, the next control was about 55 miles down the road that I would ride in the middle of the night.
I left Hammonton after midnight. I really wanted to sleep for about 30 minutes but the town bums kept bothering me for a dollar for a hot dog and such. I tightened up lights a bit, they had rattled loose earlier that day in Ocean City. After that the shell jacket went on and off I went, I decided I would fair better finding a nap spot in the park 15 miles ahead.
About 3:30AM and it's time to pull off the bike for a nap. I see shadows I know are not there. I have plenty of time, I just need to catnap. I set the alarm for 30 minutes and get a really good nap. Actually better than at the sieasta stop. 4:15AM and I am back on the road rolling through the long 20 mile stretch of pine barrens and bogs. It's really neat and very isolated.
As dawn arrives I stop at a restaurant and bar that is closed but has a table and chair out front. Here I take a break and kill off a gatorade and some peanut butter crackers. Just what I needed to keep going. I also pull the headlamp and lights off the bike. I can now read the cue sheet with the abient light again.
6:15AM and I am in Vincentown! About 2 and a half hours of cushion! I have 7 hours and 45 minutes to go 52 miles. I now begin to feel I will complete the ride in time. An order of Wawa pancakes and bacon fills me up. I find out that a large group is just 35 minutes ahead of me. I am energized.
The next 50 miles I take my time, relax and do not push myself. The route now has some hills but all of them are reasonable and what I expect to find when riding. The roads are nice and so is traffic.
About 2 miles from Cranbury and it hits me as to what has happened, I am less than ten minutes from finishing "The 600." I am thrilled, I have broken my 400K glass cieling and feel good. Tired, exhausted but good.
As I roll into the control, Laurent is there to greet me. He had passed me in his car a while before when I was stopped to call home. He made sure i was okay and moved on.
Here at the control, he and some others invited me to join the for some ice cream. I broke down the bike and loaded it into the car, change my clothes and joined them for a great post ride treat.
I learned a lot on this ride, I have a much better feeling for what needs to be done to finish PBP. There is a lot of work to do but I now know I can do it. If at times it sounds easy, it's not, it's just so much fun, you gloss over the rough stuff.
The ride home was tough, cars make a great numbing feeling that put you to sleep, I napped and drove and napped and dirve all the way home to get there safely. Dinner was great and sleep yes sleep came easy for some reason. After all, I had only been awake for most of 64 hours.
Last, this was my first success at a 600K but my second attempt. I felt cheated by the weather on the Ohio 600K, but it gave me the chance to ride this one.
One last note, according to Laurent I am the first recumbent rider to finish a New Jersey Randonneurs 600K. Okay, I'm sold!
The DC Randonneurs debacle back in January has had me riding and enjoying brevets elsewhere. It's actually been quite a pleasure. I have met people I would not have seen otherwise and have been on some great routes in places I have never been on a bike.
I have looked at the New Jersey Randonneurs site a few times and noticed the Cranbury 600. I never paid much attention to the dates of the event and even where but a glance at the site a few days after my DNF in Ohio had me thinking differently. The route would pass through my favorite areas of New Jersey, not be forever in mountains and the odds of chipseal very low.
Putting all that to mind I started looking hard at the cue sheet and route July 4th weekend and Kristin was up for my attempting another 600. I spent part of the holiday weekend mapping it out and decided to go for it. Once again loaded to go...
The ride description was great, the majority of controls were to be at the quintessential New Jersey Institution, the Wawa Store. Yes folks the NJ Rando folks labled it "Tour De Wawa" and they were on the money. I love Wawa stores, probably more than Sheetz.
I mapped out the route on mapmyride, once again a frustrating experience. Bikely is way better! This gave me a better idea of where the route went, more so than just seeing the controls on a map. I wish I had done this for the Ohio 600. Something I hope to repeat in the future is the preride map. It helped in a few tricky spots where the roads have no signs.
I took Friday off and left around 2:00PM. It's only a three hour drive so that would put me in Cranbury about 5:00PM. I gave myself plenty of time considering Friday afternoon traffic. It was nice to be there five hours prior to the start. I parked in the old PNC bank lot per the instructions and scoped out the town. After a bit I went for some pizza. I forgot how great Jersey pizza is!
Cranbury Pizza was great, Ney York style pizza without having to go to New York! After the pizza I went back to the car and chilled for a bit. There was a concert in the park just down the street, it made for a very pleasant evening.
I got some ice cream from Gil and Berts ice cream shop and watched the show for a bit. After that it was time to put the bike together and get it rigged. Once the bike was ready and I was dressed, I met the volunteer running the event, Laurent. With the 10:00PM start time like PBP there was a certain feeling about the ride that was very hard to describe.
Once registered and ready, I went back for another round of pizza to top off the tank. About 10 minutes before the start, I was relaxed and ready to go. The night time start was much nicer than an early AM start.
At 10:00PM, 21 randonneurs and randonneusses head out onto the roads of North Eastern New Jersey in search of "The Wawa" store.
Laurent gave the signal and off everyone went, but me. I had forgot to turn on the Garmin and circled the parking lot while it homed in. As the local church bells struck 10, the signals came up and off I went as I pushed the start button. Hey, 377.6 miles is a long way to go before I am back in this parking lot, best to pace myself.
Road surfaces and terrain are a funny thing, it's amazing how much faster the bent is on flat and rolling terrain. Within 15 minutes I was in with the group that had left about 4 minutes before I started. I decided since this was a "flat" route that I would hang with the fast guys for a couple of hours and then drop down to a slower pace. We covered 32 miles in the first two hours and we passed a Wawa on the way, wait a minute, I thought this was "Tour De Wawa?" Ah, we were not to stop at every Wawa along the way. Okay so on we press passing Fort Dix and as we did all I could think of was an episode of M*A*S*H where Klinger talked about Fort Dix.
A little later I rolled into the first control with a rider behind me and several more resting at the control. Laurent met us there and was signing our brevet cards. A quick meal with chicken salad, a Coke, Gatorade and some chips and out of the first control with over 90 minutes cushion!
The route then had me rolling down wonderful 539. This would be one of several great long stretches of asphault that let me make time. Along pine barrens and long flat to low grades, through misty fog and cranberry bogs. The halo effect on car headlights as they apporached from in front was at times ghostly.
About 4:10AM and the mist gets thick, the air becomes very warm and I go over a draw bridge. Egg Harbor is close now, we pass the plant of these famous yachts. It was still too dark to capture a picture of the plant but here is one of the factory from their web site.
A few minutes later I arrived in Egg Harbor city at the Dunkin Donuts. I know have 3 hours and 30 minutes of cushion in 98 miles!
No chipseal, no "scenic" roads and yet, lots of scenery. Laurent signed my brevet card and offered me a chicken sandwhich, that when combined with a coke from the machine accross the street, really hit the spot! I must say he really ran the brevet exceptionally well.
I took this shot about 5:00AM when the store was supposed to open. Not even a body inside yet! About 5:15AM I headed back out on the road, knowing I would stop in less then 10 minutes. Employees were now inside but the DD was not open. Oh well, I was insearch of Wawa stores anyway.
Just outside of town the odometer crests the century mark for the first of hopefully three times this trip.
The temps are nice, I am to call home in an hour to wake up Kristin for Katie's swim meet. I pass the Atlantic City airport and glady go well around Atlantic City itself. Shortly after, I see another randonneur tossing back some what looks like coffee at a 7-11. The nerve of him! This was after all, this is TDW! A block later I rolled into my first un-official Wawa store I called home and no answer, the girls must already be up and gone or showering. I get a drink and some food, spend about 10 minutes and move out.
A few busy roads and the route went along a short section of bike trail and out towards the Atlantic Ocean. Once I crossed the bridge onto the barrier islands I went over the Ocean City inlet and took this shot;
I can watch the sea for hours on end, the ever changing patterns of the water, the smell is so relaxing. Sadly I can not linger for the day and enjoy the beach, perhaps another time.
I coast down the bridge and into Ocean City NJ. My parents and I stayed here for a weekend when I was a teenager. The town has grown some but it remains much the same place and not negatively affected by the casino growth of Atlantic City. It still has a lot of that "beach town" feel and not a suburb feel.
I have mentioned so often my disdain for chipseal and I am happy to announce I never encountered any chipseal on this ride. Sadly, the highway engineers in New Jersey have discovered something worse. I am not sure what you would call this stuff. The best description I can give is asphault that has worn away from rain and sand exposing all the course aggregate. From Ocean City to the South end of Sea Isle City it was like riding a rumble strip for about 12 miles. I think the road surface was just what I described.
The stretch along the shore was pleasant but slow, traffic and lots of stop signs traffic lights. I was happy when I hit the South end of Sea Isle City, the road smoothed out and I stopped at an un-official Wawa and had some donuts and a chocolate milk.
From here it was on to 7 Mile Island and into Avalon. We have vacationed here in the past, it's by far my favorite beach town and has my families most favorite pizza place, Tonios!
It was about 8:30 in the morning and they were not open yet. That's okay, there is a Wawa calling my name just a few miles down the street. All in all the road surface on 7 Mile Island is far better the OC or Sea Isle and while busy most folks are beyond polite. I roll into the Stone Harbor Wawa with over 4 hours of cushion.
The store is swamped! I follow the procedure, buy something, get a reciept and get my brevet card signed by the clerk. Not too far from departure and a couple more randonneurs arrive. It's often funny how you pass people on a brevet and never know it. We chat a bit and they go in search of breakfast the involves plates, forks and seating. I suggest the diner on the mainland not too far away. It was on one of my plans but I was skipping it as I was quite full from the donuts and quart of chochlate milk back in Sea Isle City. I bid them farewell and left Stone Harbor.
The traffic on the causeway to the mainland was light, I passed a couple of produce stands the family has been to on vacation. As I cross the Garden State Parkway I notice the diner is packed. People are waiting outside. I found out later my two fellow randonneurs see the packed diner and hit McDonalds for some pancakes.
The route goes through Dennisville and as I make the turn onto Dennisville road and I am rolling about 17.5 MPH, and feeling good. Suddnely a bee flies up, lands on my arm and stings me. It really hurt and smarted for a few hours. Still, not enough to make me stop and I push on to Mauriceville and the next Wawa store.
It was starting to get quite hot and the predicted 84 degrees F has long been passed, I read 90 degrees on the bike. Thoughts of how nice just hanging out at the beach ran through my mind. It helped me move on thinking of this shot;
No walls of chipseal on this ride or "scenic" roads, but the sun and the heat combined with being awake for 30 hours was dragging on me a bit. I had been up since 6:10AM the day before and its about noon time.
I pass through Mauricetown and into, you guessed it right, a Wawa store. I refilled my water, had a coke and gatorade. A brief rest and I am back on the road.
As I make my way along the road the afternoon heat hits me a bit and I am exhausted. I pull off the side of the road, pull the seat pad from the bike and use it as a matress for about 10 minutes. I swig some water and feel a bit better. It is 98 degrees out on the road. The asphault is even hotter.
Several miles later I can tell I am closer to the Delaware Bay as the route passes marshes. I stop at a Sunnoco station and begin the process of a quick recharge. It dawned on me that I had not eaten in some time. Not since the Wawa in Sea Isle City. I should have had something in Mauricetown. A cheeseburger and a coke have me feeling better quickly, I refill the camelbak and pour cold water over my head. In minutes I am ready to ride.
During all this one of the two guys I saw in Stone Harbor arrives. Turns out his brother in-law is the other rider and has become ill. The heat I guess. The plan is for the healthier one to ride to the siesta stop to recharge the batteries for their lights so while the other is back a bit resting, the first is pushing on. He takes off a few minutes before me.
The miles tick off and a few miles from the control I see him just up ahead, a pickup truck passes me and it contains his brother in-law. He can ride no more and a game warden is giving him a ride to the siesta stop at mile 214.
The other one and I ride together on to the control in Seabreeze. It's a typical randonneur conversation, we talk about what we see by doing this and other brevets. As we get closer to the bay the wind picks up. Our road speed is about 16 or 17 and we keep it up to avoid the masses of horse fly just waiting to bite us. As we ride along through the marshes, fiddler crabs are crossing the road every so often, what a treat! You only see stuff like this on a bike and only when going places most folks never ride. We get to the control, see the answer we need and make a quick getaway. This is an informational control, we will write the answer on our brevet cards later.
It's a quick five miles to the next control, here we arrive at a 1700's estate. Eagle Manor has been rented by Walter and Laurie and they have opened their home to us as a control and oasis.
After 214 miles this is quite a site to see. KNowing my drop bag is here with catered food, showers, a mattress and a few hours rest warms the heart.
Laurent was looking quite relaxed sitting in a chair under a giant tree. He noted our time and signed our brevet cards. In the house we were waited on with lots of food and drink. It was wonderful, I ate a little bit, called home and cooled off before taking a shower and a 30 to 45 minute power nap.
I arrived with nearly 5 hours of cushion and decided to spend half of that here. After waking I was still a little weak in the stomach but a coke and some delicious home made chicken noodle soup brought me to life again. I only had a 163 miles to go! Less than 300K I told myself, and I have covered 300K before.
My other reason for the longer stay was a hope to have some cooler air to ride in and it paid off. It had dropped into the lower 80's and was very pleasant. It was 6:45PM as I left Eagle Manor.
The ride was pretty unecentful from here to the next control, a Wawa at route 40. I pulled into here and caught a few more riders. Laurent was here for a brief stop and a jeep with the two brother in-laws that had abandoned the ride. At this point 7 had dnf'd, one third of the starters were not going to finish but hopefully ride well another day.
I decided at this point that chicken noodle soup was my new friend and got a cup, a coke and some pineapple. It hit the spot and I put on the lights and left for Hammonton.
The miles were ticking away a little slower now but the distance was getting shorter too. Well before Hammonton I passed a point where there was only 200K to go! I was back up to a three hour cushion from about 2 and was feeling a little tired when I got to Hammonton.
102 miles to go as I got to the Wawa in Hammonton. Yes another control, another Wawa. Sticking with the same menu I also loaded up some extra snacks, the next control was about 55 miles down the road that I would ride in the middle of the night.
I left Hammonton after midnight. I really wanted to sleep for about 30 minutes but the town bums kept bothering me for a dollar for a hot dog and such. I tightened up lights a bit, they had rattled loose earlier that day in Ocean City. After that the shell jacket went on and off I went, I decided I would fair better finding a nap spot in the park 15 miles ahead.
About 3:30AM and it's time to pull off the bike for a nap. I see shadows I know are not there. I have plenty of time, I just need to catnap. I set the alarm for 30 minutes and get a really good nap. Actually better than at the sieasta stop. 4:15AM and I am back on the road rolling through the long 20 mile stretch of pine barrens and bogs. It's really neat and very isolated.
As dawn arrives I stop at a restaurant and bar that is closed but has a table and chair out front. Here I take a break and kill off a gatorade and some peanut butter crackers. Just what I needed to keep going. I also pull the headlamp and lights off the bike. I can now read the cue sheet with the abient light again.
6:15AM and I am in Vincentown! About 2 and a half hours of cushion! I have 7 hours and 45 minutes to go 52 miles. I now begin to feel I will complete the ride in time. An order of Wawa pancakes and bacon fills me up. I find out that a large group is just 35 minutes ahead of me. I am energized.
The next 50 miles I take my time, relax and do not push myself. The route now has some hills but all of them are reasonable and what I expect to find when riding. The roads are nice and so is traffic.
About 2 miles from Cranbury and it hits me as to what has happened, I am less than ten minutes from finishing "The 600." I am thrilled, I have broken my 400K glass cieling and feel good. Tired, exhausted but good.
As I roll into the control, Laurent is there to greet me. He had passed me in his car a while before when I was stopped to call home. He made sure i was okay and moved on.
Here at the control, he and some others invited me to join the for some ice cream. I broke down the bike and loaded it into the car, change my clothes and joined them for a great post ride treat.
I learned a lot on this ride, I have a much better feeling for what needs to be done to finish PBP. There is a lot of work to do but I now know I can do it. If at times it sounds easy, it's not, it's just so much fun, you gloss over the rough stuff.
The ride home was tough, cars make a great numbing feeling that put you to sleep, I napped and drove and napped and dirve all the way home to get there safely. Dinner was great and sleep yes sleep came easy for some reason. After all, I had only been awake for most of 64 hours.
Last, this was my first success at a 600K but my second attempt. I felt cheated by the weather on the Ohio 600K, but it gave me the chance to ride this one.
One last note, according to Laurent I am the first recumbent rider to finish a New Jersey Randonneurs 600K. Okay, I'm sold!