big group, windy day, pleasant surprise

Early morning brought an email (in response to mine the night before) that the threatening weather was supposed to hold off until after we expected to be back, so Ira's ride was on for today. It's only late March, so few rides are planned; the weather prediction suggests tomorrow will NOT be good to ride; and Cranbury is a popular start, so we had 22 in the group. There was an eastish-northeastish wind that could not be ignored, and there was rain in the forecast for later today, so Ira kept us reasonably close to the start, with a stop in Clarksburg.

I did a few extra miles: I stop at Bagel Street on Plainsboro Road in Plainsboro, treat myself to a bagel-and-a-bathroom, and then ride in the four miles to Cranbury (that's the tail at the upper left of today's route). The group did 35 miles; I did 43 (and with a tailwind, I was cookin' at about 25-26 mph on the way back from the park to the car!).

I had a pleasant surprise: Ken L, who had been in an accident last Mother's Day, and whom I'd only seen on a bicycle once since, came out with us today. I am glad he's riding with the group again. He talked about leading rides, which would be great, but I'm just glad to see him. (If you look at the map, you'll see that little jog near Hightstown - that was a pleasant jaunt through a condo that got us out of both the wind and the traffic for a mile or so; it was Ken's idea.)

With a group that big, abilities and experience levels were all over the place: we had one rider who said this was her first group ride (and she looked like she had a good time and might come back), and others who have been riding with the club for decades. I swept. The cast of characters in the back changed often enough to be interesting, but not so often that I couldn't see that one or two seemed to be struggling to keep up. Our pace on this fairly flat group ride was about 14.6, below the 15-16 average for "B" rides. It's early in the season; perhaps we will get stronger as people ride more (although I might have close to 1000 miles by the end of next weekend). On the way back, we got split up (not unprecedented with such a crowd), so not everybody may have done the same route.

A good day. Tomorrow to Quaker Meeting with the excellent wife (she insists, reasonably, on spending some time with her husband; I'm flattered!).