autumn ride

I haven't been able to do my Sunday rides for the last two weeks. I was thinking of scheduling one for today... but yesterday was predicted to be rainy, and Laura OLPH wanted to get an autumn leaves ride in, and could she schedule it for Sunday, instead? Laura's a good friend and has claims on my loyalty about scheduling rides, so, with no reluctance, I agreed.

Sorry, Blackwells Mills riders. I promise to schedule one soon.

(The only reason I plugged that picture in, above, is that Facebook posts the first picture in their link, and I wanted that one to show up. No apology; that's the kind of writer I am.)

Laura asked if I was planning to start at her house for a few extra miles. When I got there, Len was waiting, and Ricky pulled up shortly thereafter.

We rode to the Twin Pines rec area, and picked up the rest of the crew: Jack A, Robert N, Joe M, Pete R, and Peter G.

Even from the parking lot, the leaves were a sight.

There was a LOT of photography.

We took a reasonably demanding route up to Factory Fuel in Flemington. It's in the old Stangl dinnerware factory. It's usually staffed by a selection of the floridly-tattooed and multiply-pierced young people of the area, but today the piercings, tattoos, and brightly-colored hear dyes were not in evidence, so I was able to get in on my own recognizance and did not need to be vouched for by someone cooler than I.

Bike pics, including parking in the hang-by-your-saddle rack:

There's a tiny library out front, guarded by this motorcyclist scarecrow beneath. He's pretty effective; I saw NO crows.

On the way back, we had to go around this tow truck that was blocking the road. It was such a great day that I didn't even complain about it.

A couple more pics:

I like that last one more than I have any right to.

It was a demanding ride for me (see the ride page). Over the past few rides, some days I've been strong, and other days I've been wiped out; today was one of the latter.  It may be because I've only gotten fifty rides in this year, and only about 2000 miles. I'm starting to wonder if I can keep up on B rides, and I'm hoping that, if I'm able to get more miles in next season, I'll be able to catch up. But over the winter, I expect that rides I do will be mostly short, flat, and slow.