[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Two smell are evident when I walk into the Meridian Lunch rest stop for Bike4Chai: popcorn and suntan lotion.

It makes sense. Every rest stop is an event at Bike4Chai. This one has a full lunch spread out (at mile 65 it is just a little more than half way through the route). A DJ is playing the latest Jewish rock and a phalanx of purple-shirted rest stop personnel are giving out water and filling riders’ water bottles with sport beverages. A coffee barista is making espresso shots and a popcorn machine is pumping out fresh popcorn.

Riders are feasting on everything from peanut butter sandwiches, egg and tuna salad wraps, and pickles. Pickles?! Sure…the salt is necessary for maintaining hydration, and the cucumbers count as vegetables, don’t they?

The average cyclist burns 650 calories per hour, and these men have been on the rod for five hours, since 7:00 AM. There are 8 rest stops on today’s ride, and another 6 tomorrow. Each one features energy bars and drinks, fruit, cookies and muffins, and special treats. Bike4Chai director Yoli Margolese has arranged for a soft-serve ice cream truck at one and another type of ice cream at another. One has giant blow-up games for guys who want to play as they rest. But given the amount and variety of goodies here, Bike4Chai earns its reputation as the bike tour where you can easily gain weight.

Perhaps the most amazing part of this scene is that none of the cyclists look tired. They are relaxed, eating leisurely, talking animatedly, and lining up at the photo booth for (one more!) photo. But they are ready to take on the next 65 miles, and the 70 miles to Camp Simcha tomorrow.
At Tuesday’s Finish Line

When I left the lunch rest stop, I was lucky enough to follow the Bike4Chai route for approximately 8 miles. Lucky that I was in my car, that is. The eight miles were pretty much a straight uphill. Remember that old adage that “What goes up must come down?” That might not be true in the Bear Mountain/Greenwood Lake area.

Margolese and his team have made the going a bit easier for the cyclists. No mechanical assists (unless requested), but Bike4Chai planted over 200 signs on today’s route. Some are directions (stay straight, turn left), but others are humorous or inspirational. Next to a photo of a winsome camper, the sign asks, “You think this is hard?” On a particularly difficult hill, a yellow sign says, “Maybe you ate too much at lunch.”

When the first cyclists ride into Minerals, our home for the evening, it’s hard to believe they’ve been cycling at an average rate of almost 20 miles per hour. They don’t even look winded. No one flops on chairs. Instead, they hold their bikes over their heads in triumph before gently setting them down and entering the Food and Beer Garden. Yes, there’s more food, this time, pizza and fries, pasta made to order, fruit, cookies and smoothies. The Bike4Chai team has thought of everything: caricaturists are drawing portraits on Bike4Chai branded sketchpads. If the memories aren’t enough, the pictures can be framed together with the medals every rider will receive tomorrow.

(YWN Sullivan County Newsroom)