gotta get out ride

Even though it was expected to be colder than I like, I decided to go out on Laura OLPH's ride for today (I think The Excellent Wife [TEW] was glad for me to go out; my mood's been a bit cranky recently), especially given the description:

Saturday's forecast is for cloudy skies and temperatures hovering around freezing.  Screw it. Let's try to get out on the road anyway... We'll stick to the flatlands, where the roads are wider and sunnier than up on our mountain. We'll aim for something in the 40-mile neighborhood at a slow B pace.

Y'know what? Seven others, besides Laura and I, also thought it was too good to miss. We did this route (Laura had emailed me the link the night before, but it confused Mr. Garmin; I may need to get him seen to).

It was a good ride; not fast, but social (which is a lot of the reason I ride with Laura and the people who come out with her). This early in the season, some of us were out of shape, and if we ride tomorrow, some of us may be complaining (even moreso than usual!).

Riders included Barry, Chris C, Dave C, John K, Marco, Ed C, and Ron S, whom I haven't seen since I can't remember when; it was especially good to see him. Here's hoping we see more of him. Below: he rode in from home.

Below: it was cold enough that Barry decided to wait in the car!

More at the start:

We stopped at the Stonebridge Bagels in Allentown, one of my favorite stops (they treat us like folks, and the kids behind the counter show me a deference I definitely don't deserve):

Below: Ed was riding that wonderful old steel Trek, with a real freewheel. He has his eye on a cross bike with disk brakes, but this one catches my eye every time.

(...but my poor bike SO needs a cleaning, to get the salt and road grit off. I need a warm weekend to give it a good overhaul!)

In other news, the parts came in to build the wheels for the Surly bike. Expect more pics early next month.