NJ 300K

Last Saturday I rode in the NJ 300K, a ride that I had not participated in for a few years. The weather was great, nice cool temperatures for the majority of the day, which really helped during the climbing in Warren County. As usual, the brevet was not without new experiences for me. We had a very small group of 21 riders, and when we set out at 4:00, I quickly followed 2 lead riders, not realizing that one was Joe Kratovil, who I know is a very strong & fast rider. I rode a good portion of last year's NJ 600K with Joe throughout the Catskills, with the difference being that Joe was on a Fixed Gear bike, which is still hard for me to comprehend given that very challenging route. As we rode into the 1st control at mile 30,I knew that I would not be able to keep up with Joe & the other rider, and they quickly left the control, making the decision an easy one for me. One of the things that I have not done yet on a brevet was to ride on my own for any real period of time & has always been a bit of a fear for me. I ended up riding the rest of the brevet on my own, and I really enjoyed the experience, and gained some confidence. I even survived leaving the overhead lights in in my car all day, which I learned about from Steve at the 1st control, no call to AAA needed, the joys of a hybrid battery. The NJ 300k is a beautiful route, which was exceptionally well supported by many volunteers. The NJ 400 will be my final brevet before leaving for Ireland, much more training to be done.