gettin' back ride

Regular readers (those who don't only visit when I post a link on the Princeton Freewheeler Facebook page) may remember that I was sick for over a month over the winter, and went out with the excellent Ricky G a couple weeks ago on a 30-mile ride that I felt like I barely finished.

I've been dreading a B ride with my usual compatriots, so when Tom H emailed that he was thinking of Tru's slower-paced, shorter (at 35 miles or so) C+ ride, I figured it was just the ticket. Now, two things:

• Tom had also emailed around separately to the usual crew asking if anybody was going (and several did), but since I didn't check email for almost a full day (unusual for me), I didn't know, and
• Tom also had concerns (not ill-founded) that if I didn't get out of the house for a bit, two things might happen: first, my head would be so far up my posterior for so long that my ears would start to take root in my large intestine, and second, that The Excellent Wife (TEW) would stick the stiletto cleanly between my third and fourth ribs, resulting in a term of incarceration for her and as-yet-undetermined injuries to yours truly.

So Tom's outreach really was a work of mercy.

I got to the start early. Now THERE's a surprise. 

And slowly, people came in: some I'd never met:

...and some old friends:

Above, Tom H, Winter Larry, and Laura OLPH. Below, Dave H.

Prem came out, and had his first flat in, like, ever. 

We tried to change it out, but the fit between his tire and wheel was so tight that we killed the replacement tube; he limped off home to fix it under better circumstances.

A dozen of us, however, went off to Princeton Junction on this ride. And while I'm still not at the level of fitness I had hoped, I'm glad to say that it's comin' back.

I think that some of the riders on this ride will be glad to hear that (not that I'm the one coming back, but that it happens at all). At least one of the riders was complaining about loss of speed and stamina over the winter. It happens to most of us even if we get to ride comparatively frequently over the winter; when illness, weather, and other commitments conspire to keep us off the bike (as they did for me) the results can be disheartening. Keep pedaling; we'll be back to speed in a couple more outings.

I had time to speak to Laura (about the end of the Ride for McBride, and how rumors if its demise may be ill-founded, among other things), and Tom (about work, and home projects), and hung out some with Ricky G as we herded up the stragglers (Hrmph! Two weeks ago, I would have been one of them!). We got a little rain: just enough to make us uncomfortable (and give us Rule 9 bragging rights). But I got 36 miles in that I didn't expect to, and reconnected with some people whom I haven't seen in too long, and, to the best of my knowledge, TEW isn't keeping the stiletto up her sleeve for now. Life is better.

(And this post was written on that revivified computer with the real keyboard. Gott sei dank.)