UPDATE: Maile N. has posted photos from the finish at the hotel. See yourself eating pizza here.
The forecast for Saturday was certainly gloomy but not ominous. In keeping with a recent post on TDR, I decided not to talk about the weather and instead packed a rain jacket, put the front fender on the tandem and left it at that.
The day turned out quite nice after all. We had one decent passing shower that stopped after 20 minutes or so, and after that only some random, threatening raindrops here and there. We enjoyed some spells of sunshine as well, and temperatures stayed in the 60s and 70s. Not bad.
See all my photos at my Flickr page and our GPS track at my MotionBased page. Most esteemed RBA Bill Beck also posted his photoset.
A total of 27 riders were sent off by organizer Maile Neel and co-organizer Lane Giardina, and all came home within the time limit. See the times at the D.C. Randonneurs results page.
We rode with the front group until the rollers got to us at mile 30 or so, and after that we rode with Russ Morris the rest of the way. We saw the leaders coming away from the first control at Syria, and talked with Bill Beck as he proved that a Carradice bag can hold the makings of a fine randonneur yard sale.
Mary, Russ, and I pressed on through the day with short stops, allowing ourselves a luxurious 40-minute stop at the Dairy Korner in Orange. Mary finally found a turkey sandwich to her liking! We were much improved with an actual meal after munching on convenience store food all day.
We also encountered a stuffed hamster in the road in Louisa County. What a fortunate fellow he was, unlike the collection of road kill we encountered throughout the day.
We enjoyed the easy run to the finish in fading light. The rain held off and we didn’t rush. All told, quite a nice day’s ride. Thanks to Maile, Lane and all the helpers in making this another successful D.C. Randonneurs brevet.
The Daily Randonneur 