Cory's Ride

Yesterday was another scorcher - temps in the 90s and hardly a cloud in the sky. But thanks to a series of unlikely coincidences it turned into one of the best ride days of this young season.
Cory's ride is sponsored by Anchor House and is commemorative ride for Cory Golis, a young man (16) who was killed on an Anchor House ride 15 years ago. I still remember the shock I experienced picking up the paper on the morning after the accident. A scholarship fund was established in his memory and the Cory's ride has been a local event ever since. I have not done the ride since my own accident but saw a reminder on facebook on Friday morning. Coincidentally I got a call from my friend and former AH roomie and riding partner Mark Grasman looking to set up a ride for Saturday. Mark is a terrific rider but has been sidelined for a couple of years with heart issues and only recently got the medical OK to get back onto the bike. So after a series of back and forth phone messages we made arrangements to meet at 7:30 (very early for me!) and do the 50 mile course: perfect for Mark because (as I assured him) the area was mostly flat and for both of us we would be back before the worst of the heat and could relax with the picnic lunch and cold River Horse (beer). As it turned out nothing is ever that simple...For reasons we don't need to go into we got a late start and the sun was out and beating down on us almost immediately. We were among the last folks in the SAG at the 25 mile mark...although that did mean we had no competition for the ice and water. And my prediction of a flat ride was just a bit exaggerated. Somehow they found all the rollers they could build into the course and we ended up doing just shy of 2500 feet of climbing in a 49 mile ride - and given the mid-90s on the thermometer both of us were pretty much out of water the last couple of miles.
But it was truly one of the fun rides of the year...all the beautiful farm country of Millstone and Allentown/Crosswicks, lots of familiar folks from the Anchor House rides that I did for five years before the XC, and more than anything else a great reunion ride with Mark - and as we rolled into the picnic area at just about noon thank God the beer cooler was still full - a River Horse never tasted so good.