So for yesterday, Saturday, June 5, Tom H (who's still not ready to list club rides due to the coronavirus) invited a few of us to do a ride in the hills of Bucks County, starting at the Yardley Park-and-Ride. Due to real-life plans and other conflicts, only Bob N and I accompanied.
There may be a flat section of road in Bucks County other than at the river, but we didn't find it.
We investigated at the Carverville store... but it's apparently gone, gone, gone.
There's an old inn or hotel across the way that's suffering from building blight, too.
We headed for a stop at the Wawa in New Hope (Tom calls it "The Wawa in New Hope" and "The Wawa in Lambertville" interchangeably, as that's apparently a mishmash of touristy river-stuff to him, but going to Lambertville requires crossing the bridge...)
Afterwards, going up a pretty severe hill on Sugan, we had a minor mishap and had to stop. The map shows a grade of about 7%, but I'm sure that's an average; my GPS was showing up to 30% grade in spots. I couldn't get going again, and had to roll down to the bottom... so I got to do it twice.
After, we saw this nifty thing; I think it was an old mill that's being repurposed into a modern residence (another of those places I can't afford to retire). It was the best part of a wrong turn.
It was a demanding ride. When I got back and got out of the car, my legs cramped so bad I could barely hobble into the garage, and it was several minutes before the cramp passed enough to unload. You'll never persuade me that the cramp wasn't the universe taking revenge for our doing a Tom ride with no closed roads or bridges out.
I'd already posted my listing for today, Sunday, and I knew it was going to have to be a recovery ride for me. But I had ten come out, with abilities all over the place. The first part of the ride went from the Claremont school down to Kingston, and I told people to take it at their own pace, and wait at route 27, which they did.
I gave the same instruction along River Road back to Rocky Hill, and while some took me up on it, others seemed less eager to ride off in the heat. By the time we took a potty stop at the Montgomery Arboretum, we were mostly riding together.
From there, we went up Canal Road, where we met Al L (whom I haven't seen in a long time). He said he was slowed down because of changing a tire (he still uses tubulars), and then he hung on wheels until atop the hill in Millstone. I didn't see him at the deli where we stopped.
We went on, up to Schoolhouse and then back to Amwell and Blackwells Mills. Some of our number were suffering with the heat (one had the "failure to clip out" go-over that is less damaging to the body than it is to the pride), and we brought the last part of the ride in slowly.
At the end of the ride, Albert P, with whom I'd done some mechanical work the week before, slipped me a package and told me not to open it there. I had visions of cocaine, or worse, and waited until I was halfway home and out of sight of onlookers before I opened it, to see these guys:
No, they're NOT just Phillips screwdrivers, although that's what I thought, too, for about three seconds. No, what they are instead is JIS-standard cross-bladed screwdrivers. If you've tried to adjust those derailleur limit screws with a US-standard Phillips screwdriver (which is what it sure LOOKS LIKE it oughta take), you know that it doesn't fit, and you rummage around until you find a straight-bladed driver that you can make fit for the adjustment.
I know that, because until today, I had to do that, too. Mr P, well-chosen. Difficult mechanical day or no, I am in your debt.
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