... and all I got ...

A delegation of three riders from the Hill Slugs did the Staten Island Bicycling Association Pumpkin Patch Pedal century (100-mile) ride today, despite threatening weather, cool temps, and the wimping out of a number of strong riders. We turned in a not-shabby-for-us time of a smidge over six hours, at an average speed of 16.4 mph.

They do a good job for a ride of this type: good markings on the roads; good rest stops with food, drink, and toilets (the importance of this last is not diminishing as I age, I assure you); cheerful volunteers (who, I'm sure, would rather be riding). The ride leaves from Thompson Park in Jamesburg, NJ, almost in my back yard (and not at all in the SIBA's territory). And I always have a good time among the Hill Slugs, even with their shifting "membership" and attendance.

Two complaints. The first is minor, although, since I can get lost on my bike in a large dining room, it's an issue for me: at one point, the cue sheet did not match the roads (perhaps to be expected when a bike club sets a ride on roads so far from their home), and, after that, the cue sheet was .4 of a mile short: two of us did a circuit of the park to be sure our odometers showed the full 100 miles.

The second is somewhat larger. The Pumpkin Patch Pedal is known for two, non-ride-related items: pie at the last rest stop, and the long-sleeved t-shirt given to participants who pre-pay. The pie was in place, and good, as I expected (although with 80 miles under my belt at the time of the third rest stop, I might not have been the most discerning of judges). The t-shirt, though...

I heard it described as a rider giving birth to a pumpkin, and I suppose that's one interpretation. I must admit that my thought was that it was a depiction of an activity engaged in earlier in the reproductive process. In either case, the careful eye will note that there are no spokes in the way on the lower part of the wheel which might interfere with access between the cyclist on one side of the wheel, and the pumpkin on the other:

Photo credit: Our Lady of Perpetual Headwinds.

Edit 10/24/11: It's only now that I realized that I left out an important part of the day. Part of the reason our time was so good was that we got to chasing some riders who dropped a smaller group of us, and, as a result, we dropped two riders, for one of whom the day probably had special meaning. That sucked. I'm not doing that again. Edit 10/25: No, that was the McBride Ride. See the "Out of the Loop" post from 9/14.