just the four of us

Early grey weather must have scared off all the others, because at ride time this morning, Winter Larry only had Mark, Laura OLPH, and your correspondent. Larry had a couple of routes, but we went with the flatter of the two. We went down to see the Russian Churches, as we had done earlier in the season. On the way down, we passed the most picturesque horse (not a grey, but a blonde, shall we say?). Laura took a number of pictures on this ride; when she posts 'em, I'll link (but she's not as obsessive as I, at least about this stuff).

What a lovely day, and a great time I had! The bike was running great; my legs were in good shape, all four of us are strong riders; there were stretches where we could just open up and rip. Magnolias and cherry-blossom trees were in bloom (and winter hasn't ended!).

On the way back, Larry decided to change things up, and include a trip on part of Aggress Rd (possibly the only real hill in that area; it's the hill after the dip at about mile 33). I resisted the urge (but barely) to make puns about getting Aggress-ive and working our Aggress-ions out (I'm even sorry to bring that up here, but sometimes a bit of catharsis is necessary...)

So 45 miles. It means I have 100 for the weekend. On the way home from the ride, I bought a new water filter (I like going in to normal stores in my tights and bike kit, and having people try to act cool around me while I'm in that outlandish outfit), and now there's a whites load in the laundry. Her excellency, my wife, will be home soon; she went to a Polish-language tour at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and then it's time for dinner, and girding our loins against the onslaughts of the work week.

Addendum

Laura's got her pics up, so I'm pirating a few. That horse:

One of the Russian churches:

(I love the bright gold, contrasted with the oxidized copper of the bells in that one.)

...and a picturesquely-tumbledown remains-of-a-house we passed today:

Go check out Laura's post.