I probably should have known better than to add the extra miles onto Laura OLPH's ride yesterday. I probably should have realized that 54 hilly miles, this early in the season, given the way I've been riding (and the illness over the winter, and the back pain) should have been enough; I didn't need 20 more.
I'm an idiot.
Ricky G came out to Laura's for the extra miles, as well, and we rode the ten-or-so miles to the start at the Hopewell school.
So we were eight: Jack A, Tom H, Peter G, Robert N, and Andrew A made up the rest of the group.
Laura gave the usual speech, and warned us of two hills: one on the way into Frenchtown, and one on the way out. the one on the way in was where 579 becomes Croton Rd, just above Sergeantsville Rd.
It's not long, but I had a hard time keeping my front wheel down, and the hill was, shall we say, challenging, in the way that a ninth-grader can be challenging. We can not do that again soon.
On we went to the Bridge Cafe in Frenchtown, were we saw this unprecedented display of canine cooperation:
It was a pleasant interlude in these contentious times.
It was a great day, and lots of folks were out.
On teh way back, we went over Horseshoe Bend Road. We can not do that one again soon, too. Check the ride page.
I did fine on the way back until we dropped the rest of the folks off at the Hopewell school. But about two miles after that, I hit a wall; the last eight miles or so pretty much consisted of my falling behind Laura and Ricky, their politely waiting for me to catch up, my pedaling past so as not to lose momentum, their passing me as I started to flag again; repeat ad libitum.
Hot date with my wife
So today, when I heard that The Excellent Wife (TEW) was planning on a ride this morning, I figured I could keep up with her, and this would be my recovery ride. I usually ride faster and longer than she, so I thought trailing along on her 35-mile route would make a good recovery ride. SHE thought I'd be raring to go, champing at the bit, and bored wth her slow pace. I assure you, that wasn't the case either.
We got to the start at Blackwells Mills to see that the mountain bike contingent was out in force.
TEW's route includes some hills and some flats; she does a loop to get some distance; she heads down to Kingston for some refreshment, then usually up to Millstone and back. We went down Butler Road a couple times, and she was sure I was holding back so that I wouldn't be too far ahead of her. Honesty and humility demand that I indicate here that that was not the case.
WE headed down to Kingston the the PJ's that took over the site of the old Main St Cafe (de mortuis...), and saw, as we had seen on the road, that lots of people were out today.
Despite refreshment at PJ's, we decided we'd had enough, and did NOT return to Amwell Road to add miles on the last bit, but stopped at the car, as you can see on the ride page. We DID return to PJ's for more sustenance later in the day. It's not the old Main Street Cafe, but it was good enough.
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