HUGE good friday ride with the old guys

A bit cold, and windy on the way home, but it was a great clear day for a ride today. I was off for Good Friday, as were about half of the rest of the world, and it was evident: twenty riders came out with the Old Guys today, despite the religious holiday (Pesach starts this evening, as well), among them at least half-a-dozen women. A contingent from the January Birthday Ride, including the eponymous Dave C, came in from Pennsylvania. Dave wanted to see if the Old Guy rides would suit his abilities and his schedule (which is as complicated as the grammar of some Slavic languages), and I think he decided that he'll come back to ride.

I went to breakfast in Plainsboro, then rode in to the ride start (that's the long tail to the west of the figure-of-eight on the ride route; the group ride started at Etra Park, at the lower left of the figure-of-eight thingie). I swept (well, DUH). One of the regulars, a strong rider, stayed back with me in the cheap seats; the large number of riders, with their unpredictable styles, put him off a bit, and he rode off by himself before the end. Another strong rider, Dave H, off for the day, stayed back a few times to get some pictures of the group (I think they're for the inevitable magazine cover shot, when we get famous - doncha think?). A rider who had had a bit of trouble on Wednesday was keeping up in good form today, which I was happy to see; I'm hoping that his tiredness the other day is just a passing thing.

A big group means a bit of traffic, and I'm sure we upset a few drivers today who had a tough time getting by us - but we were remarkably well-behaved, and we got the benefit of a number of other drivers who stopped for us at some troublesome intersections (and the driveway after the break in Helmetta). We came back through Jamesburg, and there was a stretch of almost four miles where I actually knew where I was, but I got over it.

A beautiful day for a ride. I had some wind on the way back to the car, but not so much that it made the last bit of the ride an unpleasant ordeal, and I'm justifying a bit of extra chocolate by the extra calories I burned (ahem!). Now the bike stuff (and the sheets) are in the laundry, and I'm preparing for Laura OLPH's ride for tomorrow: the much-anticipated Chocolate Bunny Ride. Oh, dear: that means more chocolate for tomorrow. Do you think that'll be too much?

Naaaah. Me neither.