ride on a windy day

 I posted a C+ ride for today; I plan to get back to the practice of slower rides on the last Sunday of the month. I think it's a good idea; I get to see some folks that haven't been coming out, and some of my Usual Suspects came out even though it was a slower-paced ride.

We did a 30-ish mile route that included a stop at the Blawenburg Bistro, a coffee spot that's become a favorite for me and The Excellent Wife (TEW). We two don't have a great record with coffee spots; both of our last two favorites have closed... one transmogrified into a PJ's Pancakes location, and the other one disappeared, to be reborn as a fitness place. So I'm grateful to all the riders who spent money at the Bistro.

On the way there, though, we had a spot of wind. We fought a headwind all the way out, and I found it especially noticeable on the bit of Skillman Road before we took the turn onto Hollow (one of the riders said that it wasn't as bad as he had expected, but I think he was being either polite or disingenuous). Another rider complimented me for setting a route that had us going into the wind on the first part of the ride, to enjoy a tailwind on the way back. I'm not always too bright, but I knew enough to keep my mouth shut when I figured out he was complimenting me and giving me credit for what was actually a dumb-luck decision.

At the Bistro:

We met with two other cyclists on the way back, who rode with us for a while; they called out traffic clearance ahead at one point, and we got to chatting a bit. When I called, "Jim's ride: left turn!", one of them asked one of my riders if I was Plain Jim, and on finding that I was, he rolled up to let me know he read this blog and follows me on Facebook.

What? I have a follower? I am SO flattered!

Ride page.

In other news, a number of riders were most encouraging about Ramblin' Wrench, my "bicycle maintenance comes to you" business. I hope so... although none of 'em has gone so far as to make an appointment yet! (Not like I have time right now; I'm finishing up work on about a dozen bikes from leads I got from my first announcement!)

already got that covered

 

Of course it's too small; original here.

So the gal on the right wears my preferred cold-weather gear, the black turtleneck; do you think her sentiment reflects my attitude? (Hint: I'm afraid I do.)

halloween ride

 Yeah, I didn't lead a couple weeks ago because I was on the Fall Foliage Weekend hosted by the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia... and I didn't lead last week because Laura OLPH led her annual "Let's go see the Halloween decorations on Union Street in Lambertville" ride.

Yeah, not a lot of love for Republicans in Lambertville.

What did I say about Republicans?

It started out looking like it was going to be wet.

It turned out not to be a problem; some of it was gorgeous.

After judging the Halloween stuff, we repaired to Union Coffee, which I think I like better than anybody else does (certainly better than Laura does). I can't tell good coffee from bad, and the sweets are better than at Rojo's... also, there's a certain alternate-sexuality vibe here I like. When they find out I'm a cisgender Caucasian boomer, they're never gonna let me back in. (Martin G sent me this next picture.)

Ride page. More climb than you would have thought.

I've got a ride posted for this coming Sunday. It's time to go be responsible again.

farshimmelt ride to a neat new stop

 For me, it started when I got an email from Laura OLPH saying that an office acquaintance had a place in Raritan she rode to, and which she recommended; it was an Italian bakery. I think I did a quick web search, and sure enough, there's an Italian bakery in Raritan that goes by the name "Italian Bakery". I saw it was across the river, and surrounded by some heavily-traveled roads, and despaired of setting a route.

But Laura sent a sample route. It was too short, and came back over some too-busy roads, but with a little tweaking and adjustment, we got to a 42-mile route to try. Much of it was over roads I know, but the last of it tracked Main Street from Somerville to Bound Brook. I decided to try to use side roads to avoid that. (The Excellent Wife [TEW] and I drove the route a few weeks ago.)

Laura was away in Maine for a while, and I planned this as my first ride to lead after my return. Well, I didn't sleep well, and then was a bit disorganized this morning, and then TEW left early to go do the Farmland Ride with some of her friends... and I was alone in the house, so I went to the start a bit early.

About twenty minutes before the start, I noticed that I hadn't put the route in my GPS. Now, I'm directionally challenged at the best of times, and with a new route, I was hopeless. So I jetted home (on the bike) to get the route, and then jetted back to the start, arriving only a minute or two late. I was a bit breathless when I gave the safety speech, and some of my Regular Suspects had to help me out.

Off we went. A few miles in, a rider had a pinch flat; another rider was going through some self-imposed misery for not having called out the hazard in time; we tried to provide reassurance while the tube was going in. A bit farther along, another rider complained of a noise; a wheel was a smidge out of true and was brushing the (extremely tight) brake; a quick adjustment settled it for a while... but if you're gonna have your brakes with so little clearance, your wheels GOTTA be in almost-perfect true. Just sayin'.

A short section of the route called for a ride on 206, but friend Bob N remembered that the cutoff also goes to Hillsborough Road. I promised abuse and degradation if he was wrong... but I shouldn't have; I've followed Bob's suggestions on at least half-a-dozen occasions, and he's always been correct. As he was today. 

We came up through Duke Farms on Roycefield Road and crossed on the River Road bridge. Roycefield is milled, and the River Road Bridge is busy. At the stop, riders pointed out that an alternative to Roycefield might be in order (I think that can be done), and there's an approach to the Nevius bridge that's pedestrian- and bike-friendly.

We really liked the stop.

The sense of the meeting was that we can do this again.

After the stop, we went back along the side roads I'd planned to avoid Main Street... but it was the further sense of the meeting that Main Street wasn't bad enough to avoid (although you wouldn't want to do a whole ride like that).

We crossed the river and canal at Bound Brook, and came down Elizabeth Street at a pace that wore me out. I'm obviously too old for this; by the time we were rolling back on Canal Road in Franklin, I was slowing. Everybody got back, and I'll probably adjust this route and do it again.