Well, y'see, Saturday was a group ride organized by the New Brunswick Bike Exchange (Facebook link here), which was fun, and a good first effort, but it was rolling chaos and a little frustrating. Sunday, The Excellent Wife (TEW) suggested we go to the Julius Caesar at St Ann's Warehouse Theater (it was very good, although flawed). So I was ready for a club ride today.
I was up early enough to add miles... but it was dark, and TEW was still abed, and I wanted to put the pedals on with which I can wear the winter shoes, and I didn't get it together in time, so I just headed over to Etra Park from which they were to leave. There were about twenty of us at the time we left; mostly regulars, but a few taking advantage of the day off, including a first-timer (hello, Tru! Hope to see you again!).
We did this route. We split into a faster group and a slower group, but some of the slow guys were... well, slow, and I decided to sweep to make sure we didn't get so separated that the folks in back didn't know which way the main group went. I didn't have to worry about the slow guys being lost; most of them have been riding these roads for decades. I got to see people I haven't seen for a while, including Erich W, Dave C, and others.
We took a long route to a Wawa in Englishtown (better coffee than I would have expected), and I got some pictures of the guys, whereupon Dave C finally had enough and insisted on getting a picture of me; you'll see it below.
From there, we went to Bob W's house (he of the accident back in August). We packed into his main room to say hello. He stall can't keep weight on his leg, but he looks much better than when I saw him last. On the way out, the newbie overheard me talking about TEW (I think I was saying that part of the reason I refer to her that way is that she reads this blog, too), and said, "You must be Plain Jim." It turns out he's been reading this blog. I'm flattered to the point of stupidity. People who know me well will tell you that's not a long trip for me.
And now back. There's a click in the pedals that's making me crazy, that I might try to deal with later. Then back to work tomorrow.
Pictures:
Erich insists on hiding from me. He's behind the post above, and turned away below.
And that guy on the right holding the cup is the author of this blog.
* Aeons ago, I think before I was married the FIRST time, I was working at a hospital substance-abuse program, and we had a clerk from (I think) Trinidad, who (I later figured out) had a "thing" for me (I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier when it comes to that kind of thing). At one point, frustrated by my failure to respond to her attentions, she said, "Jim, you're a real Columbus. You discover everything... late."
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