weekend rides

Not much doin' this weekend. There was going to be rain most of Saturday, so I got up early did this one. Unrepentant brag: not my best speed, but done on no breakfast and no coffee; started at 6:38 am and uploaded by 8:10.

I had hoped to lead a no-drop ride for the New Brunswick Bike Exchange on Sunday, but the weather continued bad through the morning, so I cancelled. I was in the foulest of moods; with work going bad, I had hoped for the ride to be able to be competent and do something nice for someone, and when that didn't work out, depression and preoccupation moved in. (I'm used to anxiety, which is miserable, of course, but depression is new for me, at least to this depth.) Late in the day, I got an email from Snakehead Ed, back from Korea, and The Excellent Wife (TEW) decided I needed a ride and almost threw me out of the house to go meet him... and then was concerned when I was so preoccupied; she thought I might be dangerous on the bike (I nearly was).

I went to Blackwells Mills to meet Ed. The recent rains have the canal very high:

But there was no flooding on the road. Ed showed up early (I'm chronically early, so I was waiting):

We did this route (that link includes my rides to and from home). I didn't want to risk the unpaved section of Dutchtown-Zion in the wet, so we did Grandview instead. I like that much better! Across Ridge Road, we decided to go straight down (more or less) into Hopewell, and then we investigated a back road to see if there was a bike path (there wasn't). Ed told me about the bike vending machine at Sourlands Cycles:

What a great idea! You can use your debit card, and there are tools, cables, chains and links, tubes... Why don't all the shops have these? (Well, except maybe Kim's. The machine would never survive in that neighborhood.)

While there, I saw this nifty frame:

The Medici brand didn't last long; these guys studied under Masi, but had a falling out after making only a few frames. But how neat! The metalwork cable guide, the lugs at the head tube - and nicely built, with leather bar wrap. (I'd be afraid to take it out and ride it!)

Then on to Boro Bean.

Kitchen was closed, but they had muffins, and a few fresh-squeezed OJ's left.

Then home. I parted company with Snakehead at Butler Road, and came home to do the grilling and the evening chores. The ride did help me get a new perspective.

Back to work tomorrow. Won't THAT be fun.

By the way, TEW and I went to see "Inside Out" this weekend. It's hardly a complete, or even consistent, description of personality, but it's a good movie.