by Mike Faehnle

Saturday started out to be fairly a fairly modest pace with our group of blue jerseys passing everyone on the road. Then, the next thing you know, there was a group of riders from Canada called The Maple Leaf Team, who stepped it up a notch between the first snack break and the lunch stop. As a matter of fact our really fast guys left early from lunch so they wouldn't get caught up in the agonizing fast pace the Maple Leaf Riders were setting. So that left the next group of us to contend with those young studs from up north. We actually hung pretty well with them right up to the time they went straight and missed the turn. Needless to say we didn't summon them back; we later found out they rode about 120 miles (oh well). The rest of the day was awesome, with a fast pace and great riders working together. The group included Rick Oberle, the vintage Wheelman from the early seventies, and young Anton Tupa, who learned how it felt to ride an endurance event with some seasoned veterans (aged maybe 48).

Sunday was another beautiful chilly morning as we meandered down the highway towards the climb out of Marietta. For the most part the group stayed together throughout the day. The second day of CFC is truly what separates the men from the boys.

I'm certain there wasn't a group or individual rider that passed our snaking peloton of blue jerseys. We rode some with the Maple Leaf Club but I couldn't help but notice how tired they looked and the long breaks they took; they were youngsters, not crusty old timers in the 40+ range. So I have to mention who the stud was that kept up the pace for the whole two days, it's none other than critter man Mark Reiter. Mark undoubtedly gets the stud award. No other riders I saw on the whole ride could match Critter’s endurance for climbing, and if they came close he made them suffer like they never suffered before. As Phil Leggett would say "he is a pure climber".

Anton Tupa, for never climbing anything steeper than the river road, put on an awesome performance, along with the usual suspects Mark Armstrong, Karen Mckee, Tony Gwin, Jonathan Brinkman and the other Wheelmen who rode great on a very tough ride.

The fourth quarter of the day seemed just as hard as the first, second and third. Karen and Mark finally dropped me with about 8 miles to go, but I will be forever grateful for them coming back to get me close to Lancaster; Mark said "nobody likes to finish a hard ride like CFC by themselves.