unreliable meteorology, uncooperative weather, two-thirds of 100, and overdoing it: weekend rides.

Laura OLPH likes to get centuries (100-mile rides), although it may be she likes having 'em done more than the actual riding of them. Once a year or so, she schedules a pick-your-distance ride to Belmar: 100 miles round-trip from her house, or 82-or-so from Mercer Park, or 68-or-so from Etra Park.

Now, Tom H, in a not-uncommon-for-him moment of wisdom, said to me a few years ago about riding centuries (and why he doesn't), "I've never gotten 80 miles into a ride and said to myself, 'You know what I could really go for now? Another 20 miles!' ". That made so much sense to me that I gave up doing longer rides than I really want to do on the spot .The most I like is about 70 miles.

But when I looked at the registrants for the pick-your-distance-to-Belmar ride Laura had scheduled for June 26, I saw that nobody else was registered for any less than 100 miles. And, further, weather threatened: rain and thunderstorms. By the day before, I had decided to register for the 68 miles, but I emailed Laura about the threatening predictions; she emailed back that both Accuweather and NOAA were saying no rain. However, all of the weather sources I use disputed that. 

With more hope than sense, I showed up at Etra for the start of the 68-mile loop; shortly thereafter, Tom H was there. And only a little later than predicted the rest of the group rolled in.

There was a stop, early for Tom and me, but appropriate for the long-distance riders.

We rolled to Belmar with little drama, barring a flat to be changed and a chain drop.

Belmar. Yes, we were really there.

And back. We were about forty minutes out of Belmar when the rain started. The rain was dense; visibility was limited, braking was unpredictable. 

We got separated, but the rain passed, and the sun came out, and we got mostly dried off... until the rain returned.

It makes a good story, but the only part I remember as not being miserable was that the temperature was warm enough that I didn't have to worry about shivering.

Still, I'm glad I went, and got to see my bike-y friends, and have the experience with them. You can see my route and experience here.

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Now, Bob N, who was on that century, had recommended that the latest incarnation of the shop in Blawenburg, at the corner of Great Road and 518, was not to be despised and might make a good stop, so I set up a route and scheduled a ride for today, June 27. Albert P and Laura had both signed up, but both were making noises like riding again today after such a demand yesterday might be too much. I was not surprised when Laura begged off.

I was floored, though, when a few minutes before the start, with a dozen others ready to go, Albert P rolled in and started setting up!

At the start:

I run a B ride that consistently comes in at a B pace; I let faster folks go ahead if they want to (and wait), and allow the other riders to keep up (or catch up). There seems to be a demand for this kind of ride.

Luis C refers to my rides as "70/30 rides", although the criterion changes: sometimes, there seems to be a headwind 70% of the time; other times (as today), we get through 70% of the ride before the stop.

At Blawenburg, getting back on the road again:

On the way back, climbing up Butler Road, I caught a rider out of the corner of my eye... it was Albert. I mentioned with some heat that he was supposed to be tired. He just kept pedaling.

Ah, to be young again.

Ride page.

father's day ride

 I'm not a father, so I didn't know who I'd get on a ride for Father's Day... but a number of my Usual Suspects came out, as did a couple I've not seen much of. I had Luis C, Ricky G, Dave H, Laura OLPH, Mindy N, and new-to-me Marc P and Mingshun L (she had been on Tom's ride yesterday), and non-member David F. Wait, a non-member? You can bet I was RELENTLESS about promoting the club to him. He was polite, but his eyes may still be rolling over the surfeit of a sales job to which I subjected him.

Luis had an issue come up and had to head home, promising to meet us along the route, and Laura already had that plan, so the rest of us headed out from the start. Laura met us at Butler Road and Canal, and we headed down to 518; I gave the go-ahead for folks to take off if they wanted, but almost nobody did. Perhaps it was the heat and humidity, or an excess of politeness... but in any case, it wore off, and we kept breaking into a fast group and a slow group.

We DID meet Luis in Princeton near Library & Hodge, and then headed up to Pretty Brook, where the hills separated us again. We caught up where Pretty Brook crosses Provinceline.

At the end of Bayberry, I think:

From there to the Boro Bean, which was unusually busy: it's pretty clear people are glad to be able to get out and do normal-feeling stuff. Dave H went over to the convenience store, which is a sensible alternative (and not too far away). 

After the Boro Bean, Laura went home (she's now riding an aluminum seatpost, replacing the one that's been giving her trouble). The rest of us headed back. I had planned a longer route initially, but forgot, and called for us to cross at Griggstown. There was some confusion as our GPS's pointed the other way. I put it to a vote: go straight back, or add the extra miles, and humidity and tiredness won out over ambition (but not by much: there were two votes for straight back, and nobody else said anything).

Luis turned off at Canal Road, and the rest of us went back via Suydam and Claremont. At the last turn onto Suydam, One of the riders decided to hang back, and I was grateful for the chance to slow down - after the ride yesterday and this one today, I was ready for an easy pedal.

I got some last pictures as folks were packing up.

We ended up with 40-ish miles, 1600' of climb. My average might have been a bit slower than most.

tom leads a club ride

Tom H hasn't led a club ride since the beginning of the pandemic, so when he listed one for today, I was disappointed when rain threatened. But the weather seems to have gotten all of the upset out of its system around 3am (yes, I was awake), and, while the roads were wet at start time, the skies were not concerning. 

Tom's start was only about seven miles from the homestead here (more on that later) so I rolled in from home. Laura OLPH had texted that she might be a bit late (she wasn't), and others were already at the start near the quarry.

We rolled out into Rocky Hill and beyond, and came up on Ming, who said she had registered, but couldn't find the start... but she apparently recognized some of us, and joined us for the rest of the ride.

Shortly thereafter Jack H had a tire disturbance. Initially he went it alone, but after a while, the usual team of Freewheeler advice-offerers and judges were in evidence.

On we went, climbing first Grandview, then Hollow and Long Hill. Tom likes the uphills for the subsequent downhills, but I find them frightening, so I made sure nobody got left behind on the way down by bringing up the rear.

 Along the way (one of these might wind up being the website background for a while):

We stopped at the Carousel in Ringoes.

While there, Laura, who had been complaining of back trouble, discovered that her seatpost had worked loose again. We got it tightened back up, but Laura didn't trust it, and left us when we got to the top of Saddle Shop and Rileyville; she went on home, while the rest of us continued to the end at the quarry.

I later got a text that Laura had brought the bike to Hart's. They pronounced the seatpost "shot" and replaced it with an aluminum one for now; the quest for the carbon replacement begins in this time of bike-part shortages.

At the quarry, I had a choice: I could keep the ride home to about seven miles... but that would require climbing the Coppermine hill; 522, Old Georgetown, and Coppermine all climb the same hill in that neighborhood. Or I could go around, which I opted to do: I went up Canal Road to Bunker Hill to try that. The surface is better than Butler, and the route is shorter than going to Suydam and Claremont, but I had to ride a distance on Route 27. That's no problem when I'm alone, but I'm unlikely to lead a club ride on it.

Ride page for Tom's ride.

In addition to Ming, two other comparative strangers rode along, both of whom had been on at least one of my rides: Ira N and Chris K (whom, embarassingly, I did not recognize at first). Here's hoping we see some of the strangers again.