70% of a century to Manasquan

Yes, we really got to Manasquan.

Laura OLPH listed a ride for today that was gonna be either 100 miles from her house and back, or 70 miles from the Reed Recreation Area in Allentown. Now, I don't do centuries (100-mile rides) anymore, after heeding the advice of the sensible Tom H, who said once, "I never got to the end of an 80-mile ride,  and then said, 'You know what I could really use right now? Another twenty miles.' "

So I waited at Allentown for 'em to roll in. Robert N decided to start there, too, and when we were all assembled, we were seven: Jack H, who'd ridden to Allentown from home (that's gonna be about 100 miles, too), Tom H of the quote, Marty G, Brian (who was out on the last ride I did with Tom), and, of course, Laura and me.

Laura decided to get some glamour pics of Kermit (one of her steel bikes), so I did, too, and then I got a few extra bike pics.

And off we went.

Laura doesn't like sharing her routes in advance, on the sensible concern that people will just ride ahead, and she won't get the social aspect that she likes on her rides, but I can see some of her routes on RideWithGPS, and I knew that the route was pretty much as straight-out-and-back as you can get without going over all the same roads. Since some of the folks had fourteen more miles in than those of use who had started in Allentown, the first stop was at a Wawa about eleven miles into our ride. For me it was a quick water stop, and then we rolled on to the shore. (Edit: Note that Tom H rolled off before we got there, to finish his own ride, that was to have been about 50 miles.)

Laura walked over to get some pictures of the beach while the rest of us hung out near the bikes. When she came back, we headed over to our shore stop... which we missed at first, and had to roll back. As we did, we ran into John K, out with his JDRF ride trainees; he was heading to the now-defunct TJ's. We told him of its demise, and he told us where to find Sunburst Pies.

It replaces the coffee place that used to have coffee from one of the roasteries that Laura likes. I'm a coffee Philistine, but for me, this place was a great substitute. (Oh, come on! PIE, for heaven's sake!).

I'm not ready to ride 70 miles to get there all the time, but just sayin'...

On the way back, Laura's new GPS (which she has named "Good Dog", because it's so much more obedient than her previous) went a bit wonky; Laura called a turn, then repented; Bob and I got caught at a light or something and had to work like crazy to catch up. I rolled up to Laura and told ehr that it was understandable to "Sprague" someone (cut him off the front [and yeah, it's usually a "him" who's off the front]) if he's riding far ahead, but to actually call a turn and then go back just to get rid of somebody seemed a bit too confrontational. Laura then told me about the GPS wonkiness. I don't know; do you believe her?

Ride page.

Anyway, we're back. I've got to work tomorrow, so I'm glad I got this long one in. I'm off next Wednesday; if the weather holds, I'll ride with Team Social Security and learn some more about how to be a successful retired guy.

I could use the help.