later that day

 

 

A few of us Free Wheelers were unable or unwilling to commit to Mike V's 75-mile ride to Easton PA today, and Laura OLPH had a ride from Lambertville planned... but she worried about the weather early this morning (a plight with which I, as a fellow ride leader, am in sympathy) and cancelled. She emailed a few of us that she might lead something out of Pennington at 10.

So Bolong, Rickety, Jack H, Peter G, and I were at the Twin Pines at 10 am. Laura didn't have a route firmed up; we headed towards Lambertville, but Laura told us she'd adjust or turn back if weather loomed.

 

But weather didn't loom. 

Along the way, Bolong's bike began making noises that no bike oughta make. We couldn't agree on the cause, or even the source, but somebody thought there might be something grinding in his disk brake. So we dropped out the rear wheel (a three- or four-handed job on his bike) and made sure there was nothing in the brake that hadn't oughta be there. After replacing the wheel, we had Bolong ride along for a bit to see if the noise returned. He was initially riding hesitantly,  but as the noise didn't come back, he regained his confidence, and proceeded to leave the rest of us in the dust, except when politeness or the desire for company took over. (Bolong rides a gravel bike with flat pedals. We older folks are pretty much agreed that if he gets narrower, harder tires, and clipless pedals, we're never gonna see him again; he'll be a blur on the horizon.)

As we got close to Lambertville, Laura decided to try Alexsauken Creek Road, one of her favorites (and one of mine; I think of it as fifteen minutes of vacation), even though it's still closed (she's taking a leaf from Tom H, in his absence). So we headed up through Mt Airy to visit the cows.

But the girls weren't out today. Off we went to Alexsauken Creek Road. 

Whoa. That bridge is part of what was taken out in the hurricane last fall, the same one that destroyed the bridge at Bayberry Road. You can see the roadway broken off the bridge to the right.

Where the creek runs under Alexsauken Creek Road, the roadway is still washed away... but there was a path to the side, passable when the creek is dry, as it was today.

Above, the actual streambed.

Passable. Barely.

Laura remarked that it did not appear that any improvements were being made, and wondered if the intention was to leave the road this way. I would hate that; this is my favorite approach to Lambertville (but I guess I have little say in the decisions about road maintenance in a county in which I do not reside).

On we went to the stop, the Lambertville Bakehouse.

Good junk there, although not much for cold drinks other than coffee. They DID have a cookie they called the Bikini Buster, a cookie-and-candy-bar in one. I had to try it, and I can attest that I have not been in a bikini since eating it.

Ride page.

Tell Bolong he needs to clean up that damn bike, willya?