weekend rides

After Laura OLPH's recent rant about impatient riders, I knew what I was getting into when she called for Saturday's Hill Slugs Ad-Hoc Ride:

Saturday's ride will be a hilly metric century with two rest stops.  Ridewithgps puts the elevation gain above 5000 feet, so bring your climbing gears and be prepared for a long, but scenic, day.

First we'll go to Cocoluxe in Peapack, because chocolate mice.

Then we'll go to Round Valley Reservoir, because Round Valley Reservoir.

Five of us showed up, including a newbie to the Slugs. We left from Raritan Valley College, and headed for Cocoluxe (and found a road on which the paving was obscured by several inches of dirt; was it Homestead?). Cocoluxe was all it was built up to be: biker-friendly (there were dozens stopping in), with excellent chocolates and pastries, and Gatorade (so I didn't feel COMPLETELY ashamed of myself).

One of the bikes out front was a vintage DeRosa with lugs, old Campagnolo Record gruppo, and toe clips, ridden by a sweet young thing (probably of the trust-fund set) who, I'm sure, didn't know what she had; it was probably her daddy's old bike. I wept to see it go... partly because she rode off with the toe-clip pedals upside down. That bike deserves more love and respect. I thought of offering her $50 to take it off her hands... but then how would I have gotten it home?

Then off to a long slow uphill up Pottersville Road (it probably wasn't as bad as I remember), and then a right onto Hollow Brook Road. Hollow Brook is a long, demanding climb, steep (my front wheel didn't bounce on that road, but only just, in some places) and unrelenting. It was a great hill, and I would gladly do it again, especially after a stop at Cocoluxe (gotta work off that junk, doncha know!). Our newbie made it up, but it was apparent that he was beginning to tire.

We adjusted the route so that, while we would still see the reservoir, we wouldn't circle it, and we'd cut a few miles that way. The reservoir is a beautiful sight; Laura thinks it makes the climb worthwhile (there are some who would disagree). We rode through Whitehouse Station, and back to the college (and up the hill to the parking lot from which we'd left; after all those hills, that last one just seemed gratuitous!). Our newbie made it all the way, although he may have been swearing us to the inferno all his way home.

So it was a little shorter than advertised, but the climb was, if anything, under-reported. I, for one, got over 6000 feet of climb.

Today was my Purple Cow ride. Laura came along, as did The Excellent Wife (TEW) and two others, Andrew and Lou. I'd advertised it as the lowest pressure ride in the book, and that was what they got: about 17 miles at 8.6 mph (I made sure we brought it in within the D pace of 8-9mph - but it was a real trial not to chase the riders who passed us!). We went up the towpath from the parking area at 518, and, at Blackwell's Mills, decided we'd go a mile further and turn around (one of the newbies was a doctor on-call, and didn't want to be away all day; it happened he had to take a call during the ride).

I haven't done a towpath ride, and I was surprised to see the traffic: riders, walkers, runners, some with dogs, families with kids riding together. It was neat! Early in the day, we saw logs with four and five turtles sunning themselves. Laura took pictures, and I'll steal or link when I can.

After we got back, Laura, TEW, and I went to the Main St Café in Kingston, where we met a contingent from the Major Taylors, who are not only wickedly fast, but were welcoming and friendly and asked us to sit with them. We talked about the upcoming Princeton Bicycle Event. They were kind enough to ask if we would ride with them, but, luckily, I'll be volunteering at a stop. I'd hate to hear that clunking sound that means they were dropping me!