disappointment, headwinds, and chickens.

All alone outside the Pig.

Several of the Insane Bike Posse, or the Hill Slugs, or maybe it was the Usual Suspects were planning to get together before riding our separate ways at the parking lot on Griggstown-Rocky Hill Road this morning. I haven't seen much of these folks (well, of course), so I got our the Yellow Maserati and left the house in plenty of time to get there.

Alas, I was about two miles along when I discovered the slow flat in the rear tire. I didn't want to fuss with it, so as fast as I dared, I rode back home, and set up the Krakow Monster... then as fast as I could (bucking the 15-mph-or-so headwind), I headed to the gathering place. 

By the time I got there, though, the only evidence that any of my friends had been there was Tom's car.

It was not to be the only disappointment of the day.

Earlier, I had checked out the website for Sourland Coffee, my favorite stop, and got this:

What? Timed out? I did a quick "whois" search, and found that their domain had expired on the first of the month. Well, that boded not well for their reopening. I decided to ride down there to see what the shape of the shop would be.

So, continuing to fight the headwind, I rode down through Princeton. On Rosedale Road, near Province Line, I saw three chickens feeding hear the gutter.

It's Princeton. Anything might happen.

I continued down Carter & Cold Soil to Federal City Road. I've passed Old Mill a few times, and wanted to see where it went, so I went over that and the end of Federal City, to see which I like better (and now I think there may never be a route where I'd have to make the decision!).

From there to the Pig, Sourland Coffee. On the door was a note with a number for UPS to call about redirection of packages. I didn't know if that was a good sign or not, so I took down the number to let that person know about the domain expiration. I got some pictures of the outside and through the windows...

Well, it's not empty. But the t-shirt I remember hanging on the wall is gone.

Oh, damn; I hope they come back.

I decided to see about some other stops. I took a pretty direct route up to Hopewell to the Boro Bean (and changing direction gave me a welcome tailwind, and a substantial increase to my average speed):

Open. And someone on the porch, deo gratias.

The Brick Market was hosting a farmers market...

...but the store itself was definitely closed. Nonetheless, it seems they might reopen after this isolation is lifted.

I whipped along 518, relishing the tailwind, seeing speeds I haven't seen in years. When I got to 206, I checked out Bagel Barn, famous for good bagels and wretched service:

So they're open. My Thomas Sweet in Montgomery, however...

The notice does leave hope for reopening. I'm clinging to that.

From there, the shortest route home is the wicked climb up 518 to Route 27 (no, thank you!), or my usual route up Canal Road, which is the way I went. I wound up with an exhausting 46.8 miles for this ride. It was more and harder than I should have gone; I'm still beat.

Since then, I've texted the number that was on the door of the Pig, and gotten a reply that there was a glitch with the domain. I'm hoping this means they have plans to reopen.

Oh, please.