352 11^th Street South

                                                                                    Brigantine, NJ  08203

                                                                                    September 12, 2008

Dear

Well I survived this year’s Battle Against Hunger ride—barely!  Friday was fine—101 miles from Pennington, NJ to Lancaster, PA in sunny, pleasant conditions.  Having known the route from past years, I felt ready for the nastiest of the hills.  There were several last year where I was forced to stop in the middle of the rise to catch my breath.  Somehow those challenging climbs didn't seem quite as long or as steep this year.  Saturday was a different story.  With the remnants of Hurricane Hanna lurking nearby, we tried to out-flank her hoping to be far enough West that she wouldn’t have the chance to attack us.  Needless to say we weren't successful.  By mid-morning the rain started in earnest.  I had ridden in rain before—torrential in one century ride on the Delmarva Peninsula but that didn't prepare me for rain AND hills.  Soon my glasses got really fogged up and I rode without them for a while even if I couldn't see very well beyond 10 feet or so.  Later I had them back on and at that point the more constant rain seemed to keep them clearer.  So I had no excuses when I found myself surprised by this steep downhill that had no discernable bottom.  By the time I caught on to that fact and grabbed for some brakes, there was no response from my bike!  I grabbed the brake levers even harder and still there was no grip on the wheels.  So here I was coming down this blind hill accelerating faster and faster, barely negotiating one curve and  then another and then having to dodge our support vehicles passing them on this narrow shoulder on their right.  My heart was in my throat and I was planning how I could best fall to avoid major injuries when I came to a flat, negotiated a narrow bridge just missing the guard rail, and FINALLY then up a gentle rise to get back under control.  Argh, later when I had a chance to check my maximum speed, it was up near 40 mph on that wet, slippery descent!  I almost "gave it up" from the nausea of that adrenaline rush.  At our lunch stop having completed 42 miles of the planned 80 or more, the rain became drenching and wiser heads than mine declared the riding done for the day.  As we drove in warm cars to Gettysburg, I was happy to be in an SUV as water lapped several inches up the vehicle's wheels.  What a stress test!

Although this year our group of 21 riders didn’t have the opportunity to do our ceremonial finale of circling the Gettysburg Square on bikes, I still consider the ride a brilliant success.  With your help, I raised more than $2500 for the cause of supporting the victims of homelessness, poverty, and hunger through the programs of the Atlantic City Rescue Mission.  Thank you for all your support of me and my campaign for this worthy cause!

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                        Harry Chaikin