ride 4/9

A late addition to the Princeton Freewheelers April list was emailed out last week, and it seemed like the best offering; when there was a question of heavy weather I emailed the leader, and she said she'd go, but might push the time back. It turned out the weather cooperated; it also turned out that there were only three of us on the ride, The leader thought this might have been because a popular leader also had a ride scheduled for today; she doesn't usually like to conflict with this other, popular leader... but there was more than one goof on this schedule, so who knows?

When the ride is this small, there's discussion about how long and how challenging of a ride to do. I'm blessed with some strength and little experience of the roads, so I'm able to stay out of these discussions, other than to say encouraging stuff like, "Whatever you want to do is fine with me." While I don't like to be so indecisive, there's a certain amount of relief in not having to make these decisions.

About 40 miles today; hard to tell, because I finally got fed up with the aging, inaccurate, no-longer-available Sigma BC1600 computer I had on the bike and installed the Nashbar Tempo 8 I had bought to fill out a "buy enough items and get 20% off" deal (and I found out it takes me about a half-hour to install a computer when I don't know what I'm doing). Every computer requires a slightly different calibration, and I think I under-factored this one, but there was no good data to compare with (one rider doesn't use a computer, and the leader lost her set point somewhere along the route). This evening, I tried actually running a tape measure around the wheel to get the measurement (harder than it sounds with a metal tape; try it) and my factor (2141) was higher than the one in the book (2133), so my measured mileage of 40.2 may actually have been 40.4.

Good ride, though. Lots of roads I've never been on, a few roads I had, a trip by the last covered bridge in NJ. The leader lady is a trainer, and as we were loadin' up the cars at the end, she cautioned me to do my stretching. When I said I didn't know what to do, she gave me about ten minutes of lessons. I'm grateful; that would have cost me money at a gym. She's pleasant to ride with, and careful to warn of upcoming challenges; I'd happily ride with her again.

Two more things on the computer:

1. This new one only keeps two mileages: one daily, and the total odometer reading. The BC1600 kept two daily mileages, and I find I like that: one for the day's trip, and one to keep track of, say, the amount of miles since a particular date or service interval. The replacement for the BC1600, the BC1609, will do that... but it got iffy reviews. Cateye makes a few computers that will do two daily mileages, and one, the Enduro 8, got some good reviews, and is cheap. I may get one of those (although my weight's been creeping up, and I've made a promise not to buy any more bike toys until I have my weight under control).
   
2. The folks on the ride were chatting about knowing the roads and leading rides, and the subject of the GPS came up (probably because I mentioned it myself, although I don't remember now). It was the sense of the elders of the meeting that the GPS would not replace actual knowledge of the roads, because if a planned route were unavailable, for example due to construction or closure (or being a dirt road), the leader would have to know an alternative route, and the GPS might not provide that. So it seems that my recent decision to forgo the GPS was a good one.