Gige Darey 8/11/16, told by Patty Spector
Gige Darey was one of the original Josh paddlers back in September 1977. I met with him to talk about that first day. He remembers it as being a sunny day, but two days before that were not so nice and windy. He remembers because he had to put the buoys out on the lake […]
Carla Hardy Dowd
Patty ….sorry, don’t have a picture….don’t know the year but it was WAY back. My Dad, Richard Hardy, has been gone several years and this is back when i still lived in Lenox with my folks on Walker St. near Kimball Stables….. So….36+ years ago. He smoked a pipe in the era when people […]
Kathy Manizza
I have two Josh stories — my favorite, however, is about my late brother-in-law and one of my best friends, Jim Henry. Jim lost an arm when he was 22 years old, in a factory accident. He became a great cyclist, even though he hadn’t been a biker before his accident. He won a silver […]
For Tim Darbe by Larry Bravo
For Tim – Tim Darbe loved the Josh Billings and looked forward to it each year. The third annual was his first Josh and he competed in about 36. In the early Josh days, we spent more time thinking up team names than we did training. One year was the Esoteric Midnight Philosophers, another […]
A Josh Tale – Bob Benner, 8/27/16
As a 40th birthday gift, my wife Susan got me a set of custom wheels, lovingly crafted by Tom Martin at Ordinary Cycles. Bladed titanium spokes, aero rims–fast and beautiful. They were sturdy enough for daily use, but fast and light enough for racing. I spent the summer putting miles on those wheels and paddling […]
Bill Terbush, 8/22/16
It was the fall of 1988, and as had become a tradition, it was time to register for the Josh. I was the team captain and I reached out to our group from the year before and confirmed that they were eager to compete again. This would be my 8th year and I was looking forward […]
Marge Cohan 8/2/16
In 1979 I came to the Berkshire to watch Roger Pumphrey race in the Josh Billing Race. I saw all these wonderful athletes competing in the beautiful Berkshires. I decided this was better than running behind a bus in NYC and immediately decided to move here. Fortunately, I landed a job (starting Meridian […]
Alison Pardee 7/19/2016
This is a happy story. It is a sad story. It is a story about the Josh. Most importantly, it’s a story about Tim Darbe. The first time I ever saw Tim Darbe he was strapping 3 canoes on top of his big old white van at the Charles River Canoe and Kayak […]
Matt Bourque 4/8/2016
This will by my sixth year competing in the Billings…. it is because of this race that I have dedicated all of my fitness energy to cycling. I am part of the Wagon Wheel Express team and we have done fairly well the past few years, winning the Recreational Division, and placing top 5 in […]
Teresa Warner Maiuri
My first Josh was the runner for a team in 2005, but since then it’s Ironwoman Kayak. I finally placed 1st in 2014 after three 2nd place finishes. I had to miss last year, but I’ll be back next month for my 11th Josh. Thanks for organizing such an aweseome race! Teresa […]
