father's day ride with john k

It was tough to choose a ride this weekend: friend Paul was trying out a route, and Snakehead Ed C had one in the book... but I was taken with the invite from John K for a Father's Day ride (not a listed Freewheeler ride, but i got the invitation through the Freewheeler's Facebook page). He was going to lead the local JDRF metric Century route, which passed near his home.

I got an email from Laura OLPH saying that it was only eight miles from her place to his; would I ride along for company? That would make almost 80 miles for the day, which sounded good to me! So I got to her place early, and rode to John's - and THAT was when I remembered to turn on the GPS, so the route data doesn't give me credit for the first eight miles. Oh, well.

When we got there, we saw some fast-lookin' boys were already there, and some others we knew showed up: Blake, Ed & Jen Post, two guys I hadn't previously met: Randy and Jose (see Jose's excellent all-Bianchi kit below). But Cheryl came, too, and John promised we wouldn't drop anybody. Cheryl had some maple-sugar jellybeans for me; they're too sweet for her, and they're almost a test for me, but I assure you I can rise to their challenge.

Off we went, ten of us. Bear Tavern is under construction, and we weren't sure we could get through, but we did (and had some help for the traffic guards helping us with the turns). We were quickly onto the ADA route, and the red arrows helped us with navigation (with such a range of speeds, we didn't always stay together).

We took a roundabout route to Sergeantsville. As we were getting in, Cheryl had some trouble with her rear hub; it would not engage reliably. We had a chat about the possible causes.

This was the first time I've been to the Sergeantsville store with the new owners, an Indian family, who have so far kept the quirky flavor of the place. There are still spring rolls, and some baked stuff, and it's still pretty chaotic. I like that stop. There's a more upscale coffee place across the street, but I hope we continue stopping at the general store. (There were quite a number of other riders there, too; was today an Anchor House training day?)

While we were there, Blake decided he wanted to head back early, and Cheryl went with him. Laura later got a call from Cheryl; that rear hub had given up completely, and she was waiting for a ride to come pick her up.

We continued the rest of the distance. We were eight, and then we were five, as the three fastest disappeared off the front. I dropped a chain, and, in my temporary adjustments, un-adjusted the rear derailleur, so that there were only a few gears that worked reliably; I was fiddling with it, on and off, all the way back.

We got back to John's, where he had drinks and tomato pies waiting for us (nice touch, John! And a tomato pie is such a Jersey thing...). Also waiting for us were two of the three fast boys; they'd been there long enough that one had already changed his clothes!

After a quick snack, Laura and I headed back to her place (so at least I got that part in the ride data), and I came home, for the obligatory shower, laundry, and blog post. Which is now almost done...

...except for lots of pictures! By John's house:

On the road:

Near Mt Airy:

Trouble in the hub?

At Sergeanstville:

Diagnosing the hub:

I had to get a picture of Jose's all-Bianchi kit. It's excellent: