jack's ride

Or maybe it was Tom's ride. The email went out to a few of Tom's Insane Bike Posse and a few other hangers-on that Jack and Dorothy wanted to have us over for a swim in the pool and some food from the grill after a ride. Tom would pick the route with Jack's suggestions, so it would have demanding climbs; at least one dirt road or bridge out (possibly both; possibly more than one of either); and ample opportunity for cracking jokes, complaints, slander, and gratuitous profanity.

I was certainly up for the ride, and The Excellent Wife (TEW) was up for the food thereafter.

We left from Jack's house and went through a map's worth of suburbia to get to Tyler Park and some hills.

Lots of folks were out at the park, many with their dogs. I had forgotten about the nifty bridge/dam situation:

That fellow above doesn't look happy that I'm taking that same picture with my point-and-shoot, does he?

We all (except for Tom) had GPS weirdness after the park; mine actually shut down and wouldn't find satellites again for miles. I had to do some computer magic to get the ride page to show.

After the park, we found about every hill in the area, including Jericho Mountain (via Eagle Road), which is a grave disappointment; after a demanding climb, you crest the top and immediately start a descent without any decent view. It's solely a hill for braggarts.

Atop another hill was a house that Jack had owned in the past. It was neat!

Shortly before the stop at the Wawa outside New Hope, we came upon this ruin that's obviously been having work done on it recently; there was a new course of brick in an arch closed by fresh plywood, for example. But the chiaroscuro of the bright light and the shadows was arresting, and my pictures don't capture it enough:

And after the stop? Of COURSE there was a bridge out on Street Road, and the workers, apparently seconds away from a concrete pour, waved us away. We turned onto the euphoniously-monnikered Pidcock Creek Road to make a detour. (Earlier, we had turned at the corner of Pidcock Creek and Windy Bush. I can hardly refrain from the pubescent humor that those names elicit...)

And back to Jack's, where we swam, ate, and made impressed noises about the work he's done on the house (it IS impressive). I hope your day went nearly as well.

Edit: As proof of the pool, witness these pictures Tom H took of Laura (in her bike gear) and me diving: