old guys ride, with ride-to-the-ride

Today was one of my Wednesdays off, so I got to go out with the Old Guys. I've referred to these rides before, but perhaps a more complete explanation is in order (or perhaps not, but I'm doin' one anyway). A subgroup of the Princeton Freewheelers, a group of mostly retired men (although there are several women who show up more than just occasionally) ride three times per week (weather permitting) from local parks. The leader for all the rides is the same guy, although recently (perhaps because of the cold weather) I see that another rider is taking some of the leads. On Wednesdays, they leave from Byron Johnson Park in Allentown, NJ. Well, that's about ten miles away from Etra Park (the park they leave from on Mondays and Fridays), and, in order to get some extra miles in, there is a small group that rides from Etra Park to Byron Johnson Park, then does the ride with the bigger group, then rides back to Etra Park (if you look at the ride route, you'll see that string pointing northeast: at the top is Etra Park, and Byron Johnson Park as at the top of the middle loop).

So I went along today. About 54 miles total. They sometimes get as many as 25 or 30 riders, but just ten today; there was early-morning fog(and drizzle, in some places, but not on us), and the clouds never broke. But it was a warm day, the first day of spring (although with the cherry blossoms and magnolias in full bloom, you'd think spring had unpacked her bags and was doin' dishes and makin' the coffee already). I met a rider I didn't know, and another I didn't know well who said he'd been reading this blog (hey, Bob - am I doin' OK?), and I got to flog both this and the "Charity Rides - Central NJ" blog (and I might get out a couple more linkbacks and some more traffic - on the other hand, now that people are looking at this, I've gotta clean up my mistakes, and be a bit less incendiary!).

A great ride, both the ride-to-the-ride and the bigger group ride. I managed not to run away with anybody this time (I've developed a bad habit of chasing fast riders). Many nice roads I don't think I've seen before, and a stop I don't think I've ever been to. It's pleasant to have such good places to ride so close to home. On the way back, Al L, my fellow-traveler for the idiotic back-and-forth windy-day ride, had a cut in one of his tubular tires, and gave us a lesson in how to change tubulars (racing tires that are lighter than the more standard "clinchers" that most of us use), and what I mostly think he did was succeed in making us secure in our resolve not to try tubular tires - yes, they're lighter and faster, but what a PITA!

Now the sheets and towels are in the washer (along with the bike gear), and the bed's made up with fresh sheets. tomorrow, back to work. Weather for the weekend looks wet, so I'm glad I got this one in today!