D2R2 2017

[Peter H]

Hi

Anyone heading to the D2R2 this year?

Sounds/looks like a great ride and a fun mellow weekend.

I'm thinking of heading up and trying to decide on bringing the whole family, anyone on the list bring kids before?

-Peter

[Call Me Jay]

Yup.  Two years ago, I did the Green River Tour with one kid on a trailer bike. Last year, my whole family did the Family Ride--wife on CX bike, 4 year old in a Burley towed by my Homer, 6 year old on a BMX and 9 year old on CX bike.  My nine year old had a scare with a bad driver but otherwise a great event (and admittedly, that could have happened anywhere).  I've also done the longer routes solo in years past.  Do it.    

[Broccoli Cog]

I'm riding this year. I'm doing the 100K option on my Sam. I've never done it before but it's been on my list. Not sure what the vibe is like for small kids because mine are grown. If you decide to go we should meet up!

[Peter H]

Thanks Jay & Broc for following up and giving me an idea of what to expect. I'm planning to head up with the family including our newborn son ( hence the delayed response!).

Looking forward to seeing some of you from the list there!

Best,

Peter

[Deacon Patrick]

Congratulations, Peter! What a blessing!

With abandon,

Patrick

On Friday, May 5, 2017 at 5:47:44 AM UTC-6, Peter H wrote:

 including our newborn son

[somervillebikes]

I rode the D2R2 in 2011, 2012 and 2013 (115k once and 100k twice, never had the balls for anything longer-- even the 100k is pretty challenging), but I haven't been back since. I may make it back this year. One thing that prompted me to take a break from it, despite the breathtaking beauty of the area, was the crowds, which seemed to get bigger each year. The vibe is really good overall, but increasingly there were racing teams that were riding it as training, not taking in the experience as it was intended, and there were also lots of groups of people who were riding abreast and taking up the whole road. It kind of turned me off by the third time, but on the other hand, it's a wonderful cause, and the food and beer are plentiful and very good. I believe all routes take in part of the Green River route, but I'm guessing the Green River ride itself is a lot more relaxed (and flat). 

Anton

velolumino.com

On Monday, April 24, 2017 at 10:50:59 PM UTC-4, Peter H wrote:

[Brad]

I've been wanting to ride the D2R2 for a long time, but work always conflicted. This year I committed early and paid up for the 160k. I have one friend riding the 160k with me and a handful of friends riding the 100k (and one riding the 180k). I'm excited. I'm not riding my Riv though. Seems like the ride's probably not appropriate for the Quickbeam.

Brad

Queens

On Monday, April 24, 2017 at 10:50:59 PM UTC-4, Peter H wrote:

[Eli Queen]

I'll be riding the 100k w/ a few friends. Should be a great weekend to get out of the city, do some camping ... I really can't wait. My 5 year old won't be coming along though (She'd probably try to talk me into towing her on her trail-a-bike the whole way :)

For any of you how've done it in the past: I'm trying to decide if I can ride my Albatross-ed Rosco (see attached), or if I should do it on a Cross Check that I have. Maybe put some 40mm Gravel King SK tires on the Rosco?  Any input form the group would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Eli

[EasyRider]

Finally! A picture of a built-up Red Roscoe! More?

[Broccoli Cog]

I'm still in and would love to meet up with like minded riders I am taking a very unracer like approach. May even wear "Jorts"

[Bob Ehrenbeck]

This year's D2R2 will be the my first. And as an added bonus, my bike (650Bx42 Rawland) and I will get there from NJ via Amtrak's Vermonter train.

Being unfamiliar with the terrain (I've heard about how really challenging some of the longer courses are) I'm sticking to the 40-mile Green River route for the first go round.

Bob E.

[Eli Queen]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It would be awesome to meet some of the kind folks from this list while in Deerfield.

- Eli

[Call Me Jay]

I'll be there again this year with my two boys, age 8 and 10, and either my Homer or Legolas. We should definitely all meet up for a beer.

[Peter H]

Really looking forward to the ride and festivities! Would be fun to have a little Riv list-post ride meet up!

-Peter

[Broccoli Cog]

I'll be there to ride the 100K. I'm riding alone so would love to meet other 100K riders st the start so I don't have to suffer alone. Looking to ride and enjoy the challenge without it being a race to the finish. PM me if you want to meet up!

[Mark in Beacon]

Hello, D2R2ers.  I'm heading up to Deerfield Friday afternoon, and will be camping Friday and Saturday with two riding buddies and my 7-year-old son Mack. He will do the family ride with my friend's wife and their two daughters (Riv content: Youngest daughter's name is Clementine!)

I will be riding my blue, cream, and chrome 1970s Takara with light green Newbaum's and either a brown x-small sack or a tan baggins, depending on the weather. Further I.D.: Bringing my helmet, Lazer and bright yellow. Merrill sandals that match my bike, accidentally. May try to find my Beacon Historical Society t-shirt that says Beacon on it. Lending my 1994 dark dark green RB-T to a friend, other buddy will be on a Soma Doublecross. Please say hi if you spot me!




We signed up for the 115k, but one of my cohorts is getting nervous about the amount of elevation in that ride, 10,000ft vs 7,500 for the 100k, so we may switch, we'll see.

The emails from the organizers say showers possible, and they expect decent road conditions, hardpack clay mostly, might be slickened from rainfall. I currently have Compass Barlows at 38mm. Also have a set of Soma Supple Vitesse 42mm, but don't see that would make much difference, other than tan vs. black and slightly puffier. I plan to bring a set of BG Rock and Road in case the showers turn into more. Anybody with previous experience have any tire advice?

Looking forward to a great weekend, and I hope to meet a couple of Rivers and Bobbers!

[Broccoli Cog]

Great Mark! I'll keep an eye out for you. I'm on a light blue 2TT Sam. Albatross bars, Wald 137 w/Swift bag and a tan X-Small saddlesack

[Mark in Beacon]

Awesome. When I spot you, should I yell "Broccoli!" "Cog!" or just "Brock!"?;^)

[Peter Jackson Hussey]

Looking forward to meeting you all! Decided against the 100k since it's my first time doing the D2R2, I'll be riding the Green River Tour with a buddy of mine.

Say hello if you see me, I'll be on my green Sam with drops.

Safe travels out there, and have fun tomorrow!

-Peter

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Peter

Peter Jackson Hussey
Structure 
p/ 207.347.0983 

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[Bob Ehrenbeck]

I'll be doing the GRR also, riding my Rawland rSogn. Hope to meet some of you fine folks!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BX1arxrF5CS/

Bob

[Broccoli Cog]

Had such a great time at the D2R2 although I was bummed I didn't get a chance to meet up with too many people. I met up with John who I can't remember his user name on the group but he had a really nice Sam with 650b wheels. I did see one blue Appaloosa on the ride at the lunch stop but never did see the owner. First time I saw one in the wild and it was a really great looking bike. I had so many complements on my Sam during the ride. I was a little surprised as to how much attention it got. I mostly suffered alone and at times I was ready to be done but I am proud to say that I rode everything without walking some of steeper climbs.  Let's just say I was thankful to have a triple! All in all it was a great event. Next time I am going to make it a point to find more fellow Riv owners. 

On Monday, April 24, 2017 at 10:50:59 PM UTC-4, Peter H wrote:

[Wally Estrella]

Congratulations!  Nice job on finishing!  So many nice pics up on Instagram to drool over.  It's on my calendar for next year.

[Mark in Beacon]

Hey, yeah, would have liked to bump into more Riv folks. I did spot some Riv bikes sans owners--a pale blue Appa, a light mustard Legolas, a sage Hillborne. Apologies for the cross post from I-Bob, , but the ride was a snapshot of wide tire roadish bicycles today, so I thought it would be of interest here, too:

I've been wanting to do this ride for a number of years, but just have not had the time to put in the kind of preparation rides you need to make it an enjoyable day. I also had to convince myself that I don't need to do the full 180 to make it worthwhile. Anyway, the stars aligned, I got in some riding, and I signed up for the 115K with two buddies, one of whom took the whole family, so my son was able to come and do the family ride while dad hit the hills. A few random observations, thoughts, experiences, along with a link to photos:

The ride was everything I expected from hearing about it, and more. Well-organized, great volunteers and staff, fantastic vibe from other riders. The roads were amazing. These are some of the oldest in the country, and they sure seem to know how to engineer dirt roads up here--many had better surfaces than the asphalt in my neighborhood. The scenery was spectacular and the great majority of the roads had essentially no traffic. One of the more serendipitous aspects of the day was meeting up with my son at the lunch stop. He was doing the family ride with the wife of one of my riding partners and their two daughters. They were having an equally fun day, and we all got to hang out for an hour by an old covered bridge and a waterfall, eating lots of good food.

Of course I was glad to have gotten in some decent mileage in preparation, and the Hudson Valley were I live has plenty of hills, some even on dirt. But a couple of the hills featured in the 115k were real doozies, including Pennel Hill Road. I had a 46/30 VO 50.4 cranket in front, and a seven speed 12-28 freewheel in the back, and it might have been nice to have a 30 or 32, but I made it up everything with the exception of a small section of jeep track in the woods, where my Compass Barlows spun out on a root on a slippery 20 percent grade. The downhills were amazing, and very very fast. My left eye is not so good, and because they are so different I have trouble focusing, especially at speed, so I tried to follow the line of others ahead to avoid potholes. But with my zoomy Compass, I often overtook, so I relied on kind of guessing where a pothole might be lurking. I only banged one while off-guard, this was in the last 10 miles, hard enough to move my bars a bit.

I had four potential bicycles in the running to do this ride: My Trekendell, a converted Trek 750 Multitrack from the early 90s sporting Rat Traps; a Bruce Gordon Hikari
; a 1994 RB-T; and an 1970s Takara. I procrastinated on getting new brake shoes for the Trek, I did not have time to build the Hikari, and one of my riding buddies needed a bike at the last minute, so I lent him the RB-T (I did briefly consider my Clementine, but among other things, need to swap out a rim). Yes, it looked like I took a wrong turn heading to L'eroica and ended up at D2R2. Except for a Fuji spotted at the family stop, I had the oldest bicycle by far that I could see. And aside from brazed-on versions, I also did not run across any centerpulls (again excepting the Fuji). I expected more folks to be going with the sandal-sneaker/platform pedal technology, but perhaps the steep hills made them nervous--most of the riders I saw had clipless pedals and full lycra. My Merrells did the job with little if any lack of performance overall. Plus, that sexy strap tan!

I was into the ride as an experience, so I did not take many photos while under way. But I did take probably close to 100 shots of the bicycles, and I think it's an interesting look at the state of, for lack of a better overall term that everyone agrees on, "gravel grinder" bicycles today. All City'  bikes were well represented, as were regional makers Seven Cycles and Independent Fabrications. Lots of Specialized and Treks, but not many Giant bikes. There are tons of photos, but a few Bobish bikes include an orange L'Avecaise with RH cranks and Compass brakes, a Legolas, a rando-ed MB2 and similarly transfigured Specialized Stumpy, a Tom Matchak, a Rawland Stag, a common Trek 830 with an uncommon paint job, and of course my RB-T on loan, lying unassumingly in the grass in one shot.


Link to PHOTOS of D2R2 2017

[alford]

Broccoli Cog - so good to hear you had a great time. Would have liked to have met up with more Riv owners as well. Never enough time. Thinking about camping next year, if only to get some more time to catch up with folks. I did the 'short' Mystery ride. It was a blast, but some of the hills, especially after lunch were tough.

Saw a lot of beautiful bikes but not many Rivs. Hope you were happy with your Sam. Nice build.

John

[Peter Jackson Hussey]

Sounds like you all had a great ride!

I had a great time too, nice folks, lots of beautiful views, so many
swimming holes! The route on Green River Rd is definitely something
I'll be planning to go back and do this fall.

Marc in Beacon-Thanks for sharing the pictures, must have just missed
you! that was my green Sam on the hill by the lunch spot.

Peter