my slower ride was filled to capacity

 For the last Sunday of the month, I like to list a slower, C+ rated ride, for the folks who can't or don't want to try to keep up with my usual B rides. With the coronavirus, I've been capping my rides at ten riders plus myself, and it's never been an issue.

But it was today; my ride was full.

(Yeah, so I didn't get pictures of everybody at the start.)

I had a number of riders at various levels of ability. I gave the faster kids "permission" to sprint on a couple of long sections, while I stayed back with the more deliberate (ahem!) pedalers. 

We stopped at Colonial Park so that I could use the plumbing.

And from there, we went to the Sunset Deli in Millstone, where Ken G and an associate rolled up.

After, we rolled over some of my usual roads in Hillsborough and Montgomery, and back to Claremont School. I showed off a couple of the paved paths in the area.

I was glad to have friends out, and some I didn't know well, on such a cold day (I could have started a bit later...). Jen O came out partly because she was just a few miles short of a personal goal (one of those annual goals with a couple of zeros in the last digits). Albert P came back, and Eric H, who signed up for a couple rides but then couldn't come out, was able to come today.

And a couple of riders we met heard about the club (one at Colonial Park asked about it, and one who trailed us for the last several miles had to put up with my sales talk). Perhaps their names will swell the membership rolls!

Ride page. See, we really did bring it in at a C+ pace! (I needed it, after yesterday!)

quick b

 

As I noted last month, Cranbury is probably the most popular ride start for Freewheeler rides, and when I can't decide where I want to ride on a weekend day, there's probably one I can hitch along with from there. I signed up late to Dave H's B ride.

Along with a few other folks.

Ralph, shown above rolling in, complained that he was tired, or something, but we figured he was going to show us all up anyway.

It was a quick ride for a B ride. It is not only because of my sweeping tendencies that I hung out at the back, and not everybody was up to the pace. Like me, for instance. Hrmph.

With a remarkable amount of foresight, Dave's route had us going into the wind on the way out, so we could take advantage of tailwinds on the way back. 

We headed over to the D&R canal and the Sunset Deli for the stop.

On the way back, a couple of riders fell off the back of the peloton, and I was grateful for the excuse to ease up, so that I could accompany them.

On the ride page, you can see my average was just barely at the top of the B range.

I'll have an easier time today; I'm doing one of my end-of-the-month C+ rides. It will be a welcome relief!

thanksgiving friday ride

 The Excellent Wife (TEW) was agitating for days to ride with Team Social Security, the group of mostly retired Princeton Freewheeler members who ride together several times each week, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, so we agreed to make a date of it; she would ride with the slower group and I with the faster.

The rides are labeled as "C" and "C+", but these seem to be suggestions more than rules, as TEW came back with a pace higher than the posted range (although she did not have any problem keeping up). Experience has proven that the groups get spread out, and nobody gets dropped.

Thanksgiving Friday is a day off for many of us, and the day was predicted warmer than usual. I thought the number of riders in the lot at the start was large.

I went out with Eddie L's group, and we had 17 to start. (He broke it into two groups; Bill B led the second.)

 

Terry there, is gonna be the background of the PFW web page for a while.

We planned to go to Battlefield Orchard, but as I was rolling up with the folks from the back, the faster folks were rolling back indicating it was closed. Instead, we visited the nearby Wemrock Orchard store, where one of our number bought cinnamon doughnuts for all. (The last thing I need on the day after Thanksgiving is a cinnamon doughnut. Do you think that stopped me?)

Leaving the Wemrock Orchard is challenging: you have your choice of an exit that's easy for a bike to roll out of, but that dumps you into the busy, turning traffic... or you can go out the back way, where there is a sandy, steep driveway that better sense tells you to walk up. We did the latter.

On the way back, some of our number were off the front and missed a turn, so we got separated. A bit later, one of them, Rama K, got separated from them, and found us again. He and I had some fun doing a paceline back to the start at Etra Park.

Ride page.

TEW enjoyed her ride, too. She likes the folks who come for these rides, and wishes for more opportunities to ride with 'em. (I do, too... and I hope to have such opportunities in less than a year, when I expect to be joining the ranks of the retired.) 

I hope to get another ride or two in this weekend; I'm gonna have to work off these leftovers.