I just rediscovered this ride report from my friend Barry Reich. Several of us went on the 1994 Pennsylvania Dutch MS150 together. Barry recounts the fun and the misery with brevity and wit.
We still have the tandem and we just attended the wedding of the guy who had eight flats. I can confirm that he still exists. Several of the actors were in attendance as well. I've copied the whole entry for posterity, but it's nice in the original form too: 1994 Pennsylvania Dutch MS150 - Ride Report.
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1994 Pennsylvania Dutch MS150 - Ride Report
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*** Actors:
Car 1: Barry Reich, Anthony Kosky, Robbie Mandelbaum, Andrew Hsu
Car 2: Francis Vanek, Roger Quon, Jack Vinson, Marci Cohen, John
Jack and Marci are on their tandem. Everyone else on singles.
*** Stats:
2 days, 160 miles
6800 foot vertical climb
15 hours on the road, 10.75 hours riding
Average riding speed 15 mph
*** Day 1:
4:30 am: Got up
5:15 am: Loaded the car
Car #1: 4 people, 1 bike disassembled in the trunk, 3 on a rack in the rear,
luggage, 2 tents, sleeping bags, and Robbie's 15 cubic foot duffel
bag are packed into an economy-sized rental car. I'm still not sure
how it all fit.
5:55 am: Departed for Trexlertown
7:00 am: Arrived
8:05 am: Began the ride
0.00: Departure - cloudy and cool
0.99: Anthony has a flat (15 minute delay)
Jack and Marci pass us - "Go on, we'll catch up"
1.00: Anthony has a flat (15 minute delay)
4.51: Robbie's reflector falls off (Minor delay)
12.00: First real hill
14.00: Rest stop #1
The rain begins - it's cold
Anthony stops to put on his jacket
Robbie and I pass - "He'll catch up"
Heavy rain - wet and foggy glasses - it's dark in the woods
no visibility - steep downhill - very twisty - major
potholes - warnings everywhere
Robbie and I make it out alive - where's Anthony?
Heavy rain
A car is passing - Robbie pulls in behind me for a couple of seconds
I look back to see a stripe of mud down the middle of him
At least we hope it's mud - there are cow and/or horse cakes
everywhere - ok, no drafting
31.00: Rest stop #2 - no sign of Anthony
2.5 mile uphill - Robbie and I pass 20 riders - 10-11 mph
36.70: Lunch stop (#3) - Anthony shows up eventually, bleeding
He got lost for 5.2 miles and fell - His detour involved an
extra climb of one of the nastiest hills on the ride
Jack and Marci catch up with Roger who flew away after a few miles
Roger quickly disappears again as we leave the lunch stop
39.00: Strong headwind
43.00: Heavy rain
49.00: Rain stopped
52.80: Heavy rain lasts until the end
53.00: Rest stop #4 - We're miserable, it's very cold and rainy and
we can't see - we have to keep moving to stay warm
Actually, no one can see as the rain has coated everyone's
glasses or turned them foggy. Marci can't see because Jack's
rain coat is billowing out in her face (she's the stoker on
the tandem). Jack follows the white line on the side of
the road because it is easy to see.
I ride ahead because I'm freezing and I have to go as fast as possible
just to stay warm - I catch Andrew
69.00: Rest stop #5 - Anthony and Robbie get in 10 minutes after us
Andrew and I go ahead again - I'm too cold to wait
70.00: My leg muscles are no more and the last 10 miles are very hilly
Andrew and I go slow - I curse a lot
I consider it an accomplishment that at no time during this
part of the ride did I cry
80.00: Millersville University - 4:00 pm - Anthony and Robbie show up half
an hour later - Anthony had a flat and broke his pump
Anthony tries to get Robbie to shoot him
Jack, Marci and Roger wonder several times out loud where everyone
else is, and boy isn't that rain really coming down? They had arrived
around 2:30 or so, with Roger 15-30 minutes ahead. Gymnasium... Jack
counts three other tandems and chats with the 8 year-old stoker of the
red Cannondale. Later, it appears there were a total of six tandems
on the ride, including one with a six year-old stoker.
Anthony and Robbie, repairing Anthony's 4th flat of the day in the
pelting rain, only 5 miles from the end, try to keep their spirits up
by thinking of the hot shower and dry clothes awaiting them at the end.
The clothes we're wearing are soaked and muddy. They left our luggage
in the rain. Most of what we brought is wet or damp. The showers are
not hot, but not too cold. We setup our tents outside since the gym
is too hot. Anthony discovers a slow leak in his front tire.
In the morning everything is still wet. I have to wring out my
gloves.
*** Day 2:
5:15 am: Got up, packed, ate, left around 7:15
About 5 miles, up the first hill Anthony has a flat (15 minute delay).
After pumping it up, Robbie breaks the stem (15 more minutes delay).
Robbie and Anthony very nearly strangled each other at that point.
After the second rest stop Anthony falls behind just a little. Robbie
and I thought he was talking to someone. We go on at a good pace.
The weather is nice, the countryside beautiful. We're finally
enjoying the ride. Someone passes us and informs us that our friend
turned around in front of her. By this point most of the riders know
about Anthony. There's nothing we can do, so we go ahead. Anthony
finally shows up at the lunch stop. He stopped to take a picture.
Then he had a flat. He had to wait for a pump.
We leave the lunch stop looking forward to the 2.5 mile downhill.
Anthony has a flat. Yes, really. People pass us in amazement. We
begin fixing it and a cycle shop van stops to help us. "Not you
again! Let's donate this dude a tire." They replace his tire and he
has no more tire problems until the end.
Robbie goes ahead.
At 61.00 I have no strength. Anthony and I stop at a water stop and
they tell us that there is a 2.5 mile climb coming up. Now I have no
will to live. We go. The climb is horrible, but I survive without
having to walk the hill.
Jack and Marci spin away on this last big climb through a veritable
rain forest. She's convinced she is going to die and Jack is running
low on encouraging words. Half-way up Marci notices a peacock in a
pen! Amazing what you notice when you go slow enough to see
everything. This was yesterday's pothole-filled decent. The other
side of this hill was a nice long decent where Jack and Marci hit
their max speed for the weekend of 43 mph. I hit 40 mph here. I rode
my brakes to avoid breaking my recently set air speed record just
after hitting 46 mph on a training ride.
Robbie and Anthony have a water fight at 68.00. Robbie squirts a
young girl (maybe 6?) then feels guilty since she can't reach her
water bottle. He spends several minutes trying to hand her the bottle
and then stays within her range so she can squirt him.
At 70.00 Anthony and Robbie go ahead. I'm too tired to keep up. I
finally get back to Trexlertown at 3:15. There's Robbie. I ask about
Anthony, and Robbie says he hasn't come in yet (but I didn't pass
him!). He rolls in a couple of minutes later. He was never far ahead
of me (he could see me) then he missed the turn into the Velodrome
because he was following someone.
On the way back to Philadelphia Anthony's front tire was spinning in
the wind. We wondered how much mileage he would gain. Somehow he
lost about 450 miles. I wasn't surprised.
I slept for 11 hours.
PS. Anthony Kosky really exists!