beautiful day

I thought Laura OLPH was going to be blowing glass on Saturdays, so I was delighted to see her list a ride from Hillsborough up to Oldwick for today. I checked in with her about distance, and was told about 50-55 miles. Right up my alley.

Starting in January, I started at Weight Watchers; I've hit goal and become a lifetime member, and I still go to the meetings (and track my food, weight, and activity, because that's what worked for me). The topic this week (last week?) was about maintaining motivation, and with my group's coach, the estimable Amy H, it led to a discussion of how our motivations (our "why's", in the WW parlance) can change over time.

Well, one of my "why's" is so I  can do rides like this one. I get to hang out with some extremely cool people, and push my bike around with 'em on some demanding roads, on one of the most beautiful ride days ever.

Tom H, Ricky G, Bob N, and Blake joined.

We started at the park in Hillsborough, and headed just about straight north. Laura made clear that there would be stops for pictures, and when she did, I did:

Well, you can't get that close to Solberg Airport without droppin' in, now can you?

We pass this farm on this ride, and I can never remember where it is... but I loved the twisted sycamore framed by the straighter, darker trees. I got a bunch of these; this was the best of the lot:

Where we turn onto Rockaway Road, there's this nifty ruin...

...and a bit further along, this nifty cottage compound. It's usually obscured by foliage; this was a rare sight of the grounds.

Shortly thereafter, there was this WHIPPIN' downhill on Fox Hill Road... but with a vista like this about halfway down, wouldn't you stop, too? The pictures don't do it justice.

And then to the Oldwick General Store, where I ate about my whole quota of calories and food points for the whole day. But I know I'll burn it off on a day like this.

Bob had some tire trouble on the way back.

My club is the Princeton Freewheelers, and my joke is, Q.: "How many Freewheelers does it take to change a tire?" A.: "How many do you have?"

I have no idea where this was:

By the time we got back, we had a smidge over 51 miles, 2200' of climb. I might have kept up on this ride a year ago, but I would have been miserable. This year, I'm glad I was in shape to do it. And it was a beautiful day.