not as advertised

Isn't that  great picture of Ricky?

I didn't know until late Friday whether I was going to be able to post a ride for Sunday or not, given the weather predictions... but finally the predictions appeared to clear enough to go for it. I put in for this 35-mile route, thinking folks might not want to come out for anything shorter.

And then there was all that snow yesterday. It was to rain and warm up overnight, but I was still a bit concerned about the condition of the roads, especially that long stretch of East Mountain. Much of it is shaded, and it's either in the Sourlands, or close enough that I'd have to worry about whether the combination o hills and altitude might mean that the snow didn't clear, or there might be black ice on the road.

Laura let me know that she was going to bring Gonzo, a bike that spends most of its life mounted on a trainer, in order to keep wintry gook off the pretty bikes. I decided that was a good enough reason to bring the cross bike, the heavy Krakow Monster. I had thought its weight was part of the reason for my poor performance just before Christmas, and maybe this would be a good way to find out if that really was the problem.

So with the bike and gear in the car, I took a long way to the start, going over Old Vliet Road, a shaded and little-trafficked road on the way to the canal. I saw that there was still snow on that, and it would be poorly passable on a bike.

With that, I made the executive decision to change the route to the one we did. This one was only about 31 miles, but the roads are more open and better -traveled, and less likely to be snow- and ice-covered.

I told my ride partners, Ricky, Ralph (who knew he'd come all this way for a ride?), and Laura OLPH,that I was changing the route. There was not the hint of a grumble from anyone.

And off we went.

Laura's bike has a fussy rear wheel; if it isn't mounted perfectly it complains until you give it attention. We stopped a couple of times while she got it set up.

The rear wheel on the Krakow Monster, the bike I was riding, is like that; I've had the same problem sometimes. After two tries, it was right, and we continued.

We rode mostly into the wind on the way out. I decided to try my favorite bikeway on the way to Veteran's Park, thinking that I'd turn back if it was snowy... but Laura got there first and was already across before I had to make a decision. After we got across, it looked like this:

Even though we got through I'm not sure I'd try it again, and I planned to avoid any more possibly-dumb stuff on this ride.

We passed the creek at Hollow Road and Camp Meeting Ave where there were folks in the creek a couple of weeks ago, but there were none today. What there was, though, was the emu that Laura has seen at the farm at Hollow Road near 518, that I'd never seen... but I finally did today.

How can you not love New Jersey?

On to Thomas Sweet, with the wind at our back for a long stretch of 518. Ralph has his winter bike set up: he's got these handlebar mittens up front:

... and this splash-fender mounted to the downtube:

I think they're both good ideas.

We got back with about 31 miles. Nobody complained about the short distance: Laura likes this route because it avoids the most annoying hills, and Ricky was saying that, in this weather, thirty miles or so is just about a good distance. So maybe I need to rethink that long-enough-to-come-out-for thing.

A disappointment: when I got the bike out of the car at home, I found that one of the brake bosses had broken on the front fork:

I'm not sure whether I'm relieved that it wasn't worse, or not. It means replacing the fork (I could probably have it welded back, but it's a fussy weld, and I don't know who I would get to do it). Replacing the fork is a lot cheaper than replacing the whole frame... but if I'd had to replace the whole frame, I'd have an excuse to get one of those pretty frames I've been so ambivalent about.

In any case, the replacement parts add up to about $200, and I've already ordered them. I'll post progress when the parts come in. (I've also done a whole rehabilitation of the Krakow Monster; there will probably be two, or maybe even three posts upcoming about it.)

Oh, and as for the weight of the Krakow Monster being part of my problem with it? Well, it doesn't seem to have been a problem today. I was probably just hungry and weak on that day before Christmas when I had all the trouble.

So watch for future posts. Or don't; I'm not your boss.

Edit: Before we departed, Laura, who's roundly sick of hearing me count off that I have two years, four months, and eight days until I plan to retire, gave me this card:

It's one of a series of greeting cards made from the dust jackets of old books. I'm going to make it the background on my work computer.