back onna bike

The Excellent Wife (TEW) and I are just back from a trip to London (I'm sure most of the readers of this blog are better travelers than I - it would be hard NOT to be - so I'll spare you the travelogue unless there is a specific request). We got back Friday night at about 9pm NJ time, but it was 2am to me, and those who know me well know that's not my time of day. I was a bit farshimmelt yesterday, so I did this ride in the wind. I caught an email exchange about a ride for today and agreed to go; Peter G decided to lead from a place near out Pennington start (it has PORTA-POTTIES! We need to petition to make this a starting point!).

I wasn't sure I could find it, so, at her invitation, I started from Laura OLPH's with her guiding me there. We met Peter, along with Snakehead and Ken G (whom I now hear is called the Mayor, because he knows everybody, and he really does).

Peter's route was moderately hilly, and included a wrong turn or two, but we weren't a demanding group and didn't complain about that (we saved our complaining for other stuff).

EVERYBODY was out today. We stopped at the convenience store in Hopewell (eschewing both the Boro Bean and the Brick Farm Market)...

... and saw this crew at the Brick:

(anybody know who they were?) And when they rolled out, another group rolled in.

A little later in the hills, we came across a group that included Peter H, Cristina M, John W, and a number of others I'm not fast enough to ride with anymore. And while we were sharing the road with them, we came up on Kiyomi and Brad at the side of the road, as well as meeting (or getting passed by) any number of riders we didn't recognize.

Shortly before the end, one of our number had a flat in the rear, and a few yards later, had another. With remarkable forbearance, we mostly allowed the rider to change the tire alone, but we slowed our pace a bit. The route ended up like this (I'm claiming 50 miles, including the extra with Laura, because I forgot to engage the GPS for a few miles in the beginning).

When I'm in shape and able to keep up, I really love riding with folks I know and like. I was in shape today, and it was a great ride for me. I'm looking forward to more of them.