it wasn't raining, but there were hills

One of Laura OLPH's recent blog posts is titled, "They Weren't Hills. It Wasn't Raining." Well, it wasn't raining today... but it had only recently stopped, as you can tell by the puddles in my pictures at the start...

... and there was definitely mist to the point that we were a bit soggy, although my glasses stayed clear enough to see through. The weather was cool enough to start that we all wound up with too much gear on, and there was an early stop for a wardrobe adjustment.

Only three of us -Ricky, Andrew A, and I - were stupid intrepid enough to come out for this ride, what with the weather, the promised distance of 55 miles, and the probable climbs to Califon. Laura's ride description included the phrase, "... with a few big ascents 'cause we have to earn our muffins", and she made sure we did.

I was smitten by the stainless steel in the sunlight at the dairy...

...as well as the first few glimpses of autumn (and isn't it near the end of October? Where IS autumn, anyway?)

Laura led us up Deer Hill Road, which she warned us about, and Bissel, which she didn't. Bissel is shorter, but worse because of the false crests: get to what you think is the top, turn, and keep climbing.

Laura was impressed that we didn't cuss her out. In my case, it was only because I didn't have breath to do so.

We stopped at the Califon General Store, which is a great stop, almost worth what you have to go through to get there.

Then back. We had to climb out of Califon, but then a great descent down Guinea Hollow and the Rockaway.

By then the sky had cleared quite a bit and some of the roads were dry... so it wasn't raining. but there were hills; go check out the ride page to see the 3600' of climb that I got, and those wicked hills in the middle. I'm done for the day.

No Sunday rides tomorrow or next week: real life beckons, in terms of friends and family commitments. After that, we'll see what the weather does. I've listed 16 rides this year, and only been able to run eleven of 'em because weather interfered with the others. If I can list rides, I hope to see you out there.