more than i should have done

When I met the rest of the group at the top of Mount Rose, about 11 miles into my ride and 7 for the folks who had started at Twin Pines, the two who had fallen off the back of the group weren't with me. Laura OLPH asked what had happened to them. "They couldn't keep up, so I ate 'em," I responded.

It's a sweep's duty to take care of the people in the back.

Aside from the eleven-or-so regular readers I have, people might not know that I was stricken with bronchitis in January that laid me low for weeks. None of you probably know that on Tuesday last, I was surprised by tremor, chills, and a fever of 100.6. So agreeing, not only to go on Laura's just-under-50-miler today, but to add miles to and from her house, might not have been the better part of valor, especially in view of the high winds expected. Still, when I got to Laura's, there were Ricky G and Linda.

We rolled over to Twin Pines to pick up the rest of the crew.

After I'd Donner-Partied the laggards, we were eight.

Laura figured we'd have a headwind the whole way in and we could hope for a tailwind on the way back. We got both, but the tailwind didn't help the poor showing I put in, my average for this ride was 13.2 on the GPS, and 13.5 on the RideWithGPS page, and I suspect the reason it's higher at RideWithGPS is that I'm a paying member there; making me feel like I'm faster than I am may be one of the perquisites of the paid subscription.

At Wertsville, Laura wanted pictures of the barn, so I got pictures of her and the rest of the gang. (I'm lost all the time; the only reason I know where we were is that I could read the road sign in the picture when I blew it up.)

Laura had described the ride, not as hilly, but as "rollers," rolling hills where the momentum gained on the downhill helps one over the subsequent uphill.  I don't think the hills on Hopewell-Wertsville into Rileyville, or Saddle Shop/Orchard/Snydertown, count as rollers. Laura blamed our difficulty on the headwind. Piffle. I think she was channelling Tom H of the "Lying Bastard Ride." She says otherwise. (If you DO consider these these hills "rollers", please let me know what rides you go on, so I can avoid delaying you and embarrassing myself.)

We stopped at Factory Fuel in Flemington. It was mildly disappointing. The coffee and food were as good as they always are... but this time there were none of the florid tattoos, ear gauges, nose rings, and other body art I have come to associate with the place. The staff today would not have been out of place in a library.

It really is a delightful place, but the routes in and out are traffic-y; we have to pick the times we go there.

Bike pics:

An unexpected benefit: a social worker with whom I had worked in the 90's had a card up in Factory Fuel; he sets himself out as, of all things, a medium:

I was tired when we got on the bikes to come back, and got more tired, despite the tailwind, as we proceeded. I should not have added the miles from Laura's, and I was glad (and mildly surprised) that I made it back to the car in as good form as I did. One of the other riders asked how I was, and when I told him I was tired, I think he was glad that he was not the only one.

Still: I'm glad I got out; I'm glad to see as many of my bike-y friends as I did; I'm glad I finished. On a different day, with less wind and better legs, this would have been a sweet ride. Now it's time for recuperation.

Hope to see youse soon.