motley crew

I was up at the ailing father-in-law's house yesterday scoring up good family karma, so I didn't go out with the folks on Ed C's towpath ride. But Laura OLPH sent out an email about a late-start hilly ride and that sounded just the thing, so I showed up with the steel, 30-lb. Krakow Monster for the usual extra miles, and rode with her and Peter G to Pennington, the "official" start of this unofficial ride.

When we got there, we found the rest who comprised the motley crew of the post title: Paul I, newly back to riding after a knee injury; Steve G T, one of the faster riders of the Cranbury crew and the weekday Alter Kockers; occasional slug John K; and Jerry F of the Bike-Walk coalitions.

We took the 40-mile round-trip route to Lambertville (which you can do one-way in about sixteen miles, but the direct route is never the Hill Slug way). Along the way, we went up Snydertown, where I got another picture of Mechanic's Haven:

... and through Mt Airy, where we got pictures of the farm and the girls:

(Ooof! Thumb in picture!)

And then to Lambertville, where we ran into at least two other groups of riders, and where six pictures didn't come out. (Drat!) But these at Rojo's did:

After Rojo's, Paul went home, and Peter led us over a route that Laura had never done. It included an exhilarating downhill, that Laura, with the glint of evil in her eye, said would make a demanding climb ("demanding" was not her word). Overall, it was this route (that includes some extra miles).

A couple of other pics:

I got through this one in good shape; I feel like I've either had bad luck or have managed myslef poorly on recent rides, but perhaps that streak has passed. In any case, with weather like today's (60°F in February?), it's probably time to clean up the titanium Yellow Maserati and get some real riding in for the season.