The Excellent Wife (TEW) and I received these postcards from the county of Middlesex after they received our mail-in ballots. In these days of partisanship, fake news, and purposely-sown electoral doubt, confirmation of the process is a good use of our taxes.
Some of my riding friends don't ride as fast as others (and some of my usually-faster friends don't mind an opportunity to coast once in a while), so on the last Sunday of the month, I usually offer a C+-paced ride, slower than my usual offerings. It started as an opportunity for me and The Excellent Wife (TEW) to ride together, and she has come out with us (she did last month), but temps today below 50°F made her decide to stay home.
But Lynne W and Bill B (they're a couple, and frequently come out together), Dave H (on whose ride I went yesterday), Mini B, Bob N, and newcomer Carolyn G came out today (although if they'd waited five more minutes, Lynne W admitted she might have rethought her decision to come out in the cold).
We crossed over the canal, and I took 'em on one of my real-estate tours of Hillsborough, with a couple of those bike paths I like to do interspersed.
We stopped at the Bessie Grover park so I could attend to necessity. On the way there, Lynne told me about If These Stones Could Talk, a book about the African-American presence in the area, that mentioned who Bessie Grover was. The plaque in the park doesn't do her justice.
We came back east-ish on 518 into a headwind (when is there ever a headwind in that direction on 518? We must be in for some weird weather), and turned to go through the Skillman Park, which was the old Village for Epileptics. The special olympics had an event today, so we had to ride through on the path.
On the way, Bob pointed out we'd come close to the cemetery there, so we dropped in. It seemed like a good thing to do on a cold, grey, Halloween-y kind of day.
And on to Thomas Sweet. They still don't have the restroom open (but I keep asking).
Dave had noticed that Carolyn's saddle seemed low, so, with her agreement, we raised it (and shifted it aft a smidge); she said it felt better after. (Like I'm ever gonna give up an opportunity to do some roadside mechanical work!)
And back. See the ride page; we bring it in at a comfortable pace.
But I'm not sure there's going to be a market for these rides in the colder weather. I'll see if anybody asks for C+ rides; if not, I'll plan to restart these after the thaw.
Although it's probably the most popular start place for Princeton Freewheeler club rides (both for number of rides that start there, and number of riders... it appears some riders won't start from anywhere else), I can't remember the last time I went on a ride that left from Cranbury Village Park. But I didn't have another offer today, and there are people who ride from there I'd like to see, and I should meet some of the new people in the club.
So I signed up late to do Dave H's ride. I knew from chattin' with him that when his ride gets big, Jackie F takes the fast group off the front. I had a bad experience on one of Jeff Harmon's rides a couple years ago; his B-rated ride took off at a pace that was well out of range, and I just couldn't keep up, so I opted out of the fast group. I didn't want to have to do that today.
Dave had a crowd to start.
Above, Rick W's B+ fast boys. Below, Rick.
I like that one, above, of Eddie H. (We had a discussion about gear, clothing, and shifters on the ride. We're on opposite sides on the topic of the benefits of friction shifting. If you're going to have a disagreement with somebody, that's a good one, because it sure doesn't mean much.)
We rolled out on this route.
At Roy's (which now has toilets available! Yay!):
While we were there, new-member Chris complained that his rear wheel didn't look right... and I should say it didn't; he had two broken spokes, and it was way out of true, to the point he had a fairly substantial brake rub. He had been keeping up with us anyway. When he gets his wheel fixed, he's gonna be a monster.
We got his brake open so the wheel would turn freely, but still, it was clear he was hanging back because he didn't trust it (and I can relate to that; every time I've had to change a tube on a ride, I've been convinced that the new tube would also puncture... even though it hasn't happened to me in almost twenty years, and only rarely to anyone else I've been on a ride with in the intervening decades). The fast folks took off the front, and we lost sight of 'em (one of the frequent complaints about rides that leave from Cranbury Village Park, and part of the reason some members won't ride from there). But we in the back of the ride got to the park in good order.
Thanks for the lead, Dave, and good to see all the folks. I need to show up in Cranbury more frequently.
I've been ambivalent about whether to continue leading the low-B rides out of Franklin on Sundays; some weeks I don't get many takers, and it seems that club members want to ride out of more familiar places, or do flatter routes, or want to go faster than I want to go.
I listed a ride for today, and had only one registrant for most of yesterday, and only two by the time I went to bed (but I'm an early-to-bed kind of guy).
When I got up this morning, though, I had five; another signed up late, and another came without signing up.
Yeah, that's not all of 'em; Rick W met us about 10-15 miles in.
The day started cold; it was well below 40°F when we started. As we rolled along, it warmed up. Some wardrobe adjustment pics:
I took the group along this route. As we went through ETS, Laura OLPH knew where I wanted to go better than I did; I called for a turn that she took, then I thought I was wrong and rolled on... but she was right (and I should have followed her). I think she was sure I was going to get cranky with her for going her own way, but she had followed the turn I initially called. We made peace quickly. I admitted I was wrong. (That's been happening a lot... although perhaps not enough, if you ask for TEW's opinion).
Laura turned for home at Pennington-Rocky Hill Road; the rest of us stopped at the Boro Bean.
After the stop, I allowed my pace to creep up substantially. Andrew A remarked on it, and then amended his remarks after I ducked into the porta-potty at the Bessie Grover Park.
Andrew and Rick turned off at Griggstown Road; the rest of us went on to cros the canal at Blackwells Mills and return to the start.
I talked to some of the riders, and to The Excellent Wife (TEW) about these rides, and it seems that there's a place for these low-B rides. They may not be the most popular, but they seem to have a following. So I'm sticking with 'em for now.
