This morning the weather was just perfect. I took off a bit earlier today.
Launch of flight 55:
I flew for about 45 minutes:
The grass was slick with dew, so I slipped and fell at the very end of the landing:
Reviewing the video to see what went wrong with the landing:
For the sake of completeness, here’s the video from yesterday’s and today’s flights:
We drove north to Bangor, where we will spending Shabbos with Congregation Beth Abraham. We managed to squeeze our RV into the driveway of our hosts, Bruce and Naomi. I went for an afternoon ride and ended up at this lake:
This morning was the beginning of another warm Northeast day here in Norwich, Connecticut. We’re parked here at the Brothers of Joseph congregation, where thankfully we’re plugged in so we have air conditioning:
Our day started at 4:30, and although none of us are early risers, we were dressed, packed, and downstairs by 5:15! The balloons and decorations from the night before were replaced with these adorable bicycle themed planters on the tables:
After breakfast, we went to get our bicycles and headed for the starting line. On the way, we were asked a few questions by a local reporter who heard that B was the youngest rider to ever participate in TDS:
We gathered at the starting line full of excitement and maybe a few jitters! A DJ was on hand playing upbeat music to set the mood.
Our starting line selfie:
Rest stop selfie, still smiling:
The first 32 miles of the route were fantastic. The girls set a great pace of about 13 mph for the majority of the time. Having a chance to refill our water bottles and grab a quick snack at each rest stop made a big difference. Just getting off of our bikes for a few minutes and walking around felt great and made it feel as if it were just a series of smaller rides. By the time we headed into the lunch stop around mile 52, I was definitely feeling tired. The girls were really upbeat despite the fact that overall we were slowing down quite a bit. B and C both decided they would continue to ride for as long as they could. The majority of the big climbs were in the last twenty miles, but I admired their dedication and headed out with them!
C headed out before us, but had a little crash. She injured her ankle just enough to make riding any further impossible. She called the sag wagon to be picked up and by the time we caught up to her, B and I gladly joined her. After a few minutes in the vehicle, a huge rain storm broke and the roads became too dangerous to ride. All remaining riders were picked up as well, and we met at the final rest stop one mile out of Camp Simcha. Soaking wet, tired, but really happy to be together for our last rest stop selfie:
The rain slowed down enough for all 126 women and girls to carefully ride into camp together. The energy and excitement at the finish line is unbelievable. Hundreds of people, including the campers, were there holding signs, cheering, dancing, laughing and supporting the riders as we arrived in camp. After dancing for nearly twenty minutes, the celebration moved into the gymnasium where the campers performed, awards were presented, and the riders received their medals.
B receives her TDS medal from a camper:
Team Bike Hard Love Harder (sporting blinking tutu’s and fish helmet covers this year!) receives a special award for raising over $18,000!!!!
After the presentations, we headed for the showers followed by a delicious BBQ dinner. We boarded our bus back to the hotel, and within minutes, B and C were asleep. It was an amazing day that none of us will ever forget.
This morning Ben tested out using wider tires with our bikes for off-road use. To allow the wheel to rotate, he had to cut off the outermost knobs of the tread pattern:
Ben also went for a ride today with Moshe:
Today was spent anxiously awaiting our departure for the hotel to officially register for Tour De Simcha 2015. We both took time to give our bikes a final tune-up, including swapping out B’s off-road tires for her road tires.
We arrived at the hotel around 6 pm and went through the registration process. Volunteers were spread around the large meeting room to assist us with our welcome packets, fitting our jerseys, and entering any donations we received in the last few days. In addition to our registration packets, we received an amazing package of goodies meant to introduce us to the products that would be available at each rest stop along the route.
After checking our bikes in and settling in our hotel room where we joined our friend C, we headed to the pre-ride pasta party. The dining room was decorated with plenty of TDS themed balloons and was filled with hundreds of people and a huge buffet of delicious foods to choose from. As we were waiting in line, we noticed the TDS homepage was being displayed on two large screens at the front of the room. In real time, we could see the total donations continue to increase. While we were eating, the entire room erupted in cheers and screams when the total reached $500,000! Together, the 126 women and girls riding in TDS 2015 raised over a half million dollars for Camp Simcha and Camp Simcha Special.
B and C having a great time at the pasta party:
We couldn’t resist taking a couple of mother/daughter selfies:
The highlight of the evening was listening to our honorary TDS captain, Arianna, speak to us about her journey. She concluded her speech with a wonderful song about doing things (even difficult things!) with style. Her infectious smile and incredibly positive attitude made a big impression on all of us.
B and C were lucky enough to have their picture taken with Arianna after the party:
Somehow we all need to settle down and get some sleep tonight. Our alarm will be going off at 4:30 tomorrow morning!
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