Last night was the 5th edition of our annual No Sleep Til Brooklyn Century, held every year in Prospect Park on the Summer Solstice. Due to the nice weather, our increased popularity, and looser regulations at mental hospitals, last night was the biggest ride yet. We had 19 starters for the 30 fun-filled laps.There was a mixture of grizzled NSTB veterans including Leanne Elisha (the only other 5x finisher), Ari Maisonave, Tom Buffolano, Michael Borden, Scott Towle, plus some new blood - NSQ, Jene Shaw, Helene Roth and Andy, Agnes Zbylut, Kevin (Brickwell) and Kenny Schmitt, Pete Kocher (Ride Brooklyn), Charles Olson, Raul Martinez Jr., Francis Laros, Dan Gallagher, plus Robert Watson who was a couple of minutes late and chased us for 2+ hours. We were also joined by half of Brooklyn's helmetless cyclists at some point in the evening, though they scattered as the evening progressed. Apparently immune to social cues such as "this is a team ride" and "if you're here you'd better plan to ride 100 miles", they stuck to us like gum on the bottom of our shoes, happily along for the free ride that our engines provided. Though the organ donors were less than welcome, some visitors were welcome. Our friends Danny Artiga, Mordecai Zibkoff and Kevin McNeill each jump in briefly.
Total time was 5:13:27 for the 102 miles. That's an average speed of 19.52 mph, and average lap time of 10:26.9. Our fastest lap was 9:41 (when the group smelled the finish) and the slowest was 11:08 (when the group tasted their food). We also took a food stop that took 8:25. Despite the size of the group, the interlopers, and the masses in the park, the group stayed pretty much in tact throughout. Some wanted to go faster, some wanted to go slower, but overall we found the happy medium.
Special thanks to Green Light and Killary for delivering our supplies during the ride.
