The End: GEAR at Williamsburg and Driving Home

June 13, 1997

An easy ride to and from Yorktown, seafood buffet gorging.

We agreed on a 28 mile ride, out to the Yorktown Battlefield and back, as appropriate for our tired bottoms and our wive's cycling desires. We averaged a whopping 9 mph on the way out and split up on the way back. June got all excited over the "precious" flute and drum corps parading about the battlefield.

June has always had a thing for men in uniforms.

Mike got caught up in patriotic feelings and tried his luck aiming a revolutionary war cannon. Fortunately no 18th century British warships (or even day-sailors) were anchored in the James River.

Mike in his "Manchurian Candidate" mode.

The group split up: Mike and Chris took the $2 tour and caught up to the main pack with about 3 or four miles left. John cranked back at 16 mph and drove back in the Explorer to see if anyone wanted sag service. Rick lead the spousal units for a leisurely ride back.

The rest of the day cycling was kept to a bare minimum, much shopping was done, and we gorged ourselves at the seafood buffet at Captain George's. We went to see a forgettable movie with Seinfeld's Kramer in it and called it a night.

The next day John (the Man) did a 19 mile GEAR loop while everyone else slept in their bunks, and the cycling adventure was over. Well....almost!

For years I had to keep saying "Remember, bikes on top; bikes on top"

Final Stats

We did have Lotus 123 back in the day...

We did about 330 miles of cycling over 6 days. We had no flats, no broken spokes, no falls, no problems with annoying drivers, and never really got lost. We had maybe 5 minutes of riding in rain and the many dogs we encountered always stopped short of nibbling. If you believe in regression to the mean, you would predict that our next tour would be a disaster...

(Spoiler alert: the next Old Men's Bike Tour was around Lake Champlain and we stayed mostly in the bubble again.)

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 304 miles (489 km)

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Bob DistelbergIt sounds like it was a great adventure. Coincidentally, I too thought 40 was old in 1997.
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4 years ago

John PescatoreTo Bob DistelbergTwo of my favorite philosophers had good quotes about age:

"Forty for you, sixty for me. And equal partners we will be." - Joan Rivers

"At age 40, we don't care what they think of us. At 60, we discover they haven't been thinking of us at all." - Ann Landers
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4 years ago