before the interment

 Tomorrow, Saturday, is the interment of The Excellent In-Laws, so, weather or no (and there is a threat of weather), I'm not gonna get a ride in. So today, I went out for the club Team Social Security ride out of Etra Park.

 Wait - that's Pat B! Was she rockin' excellent socks again? She sure was!

 I hung out in the back, and got to talk a bit to Andy A and Bobbi B, and Gen B. We brought it in just outside of B+ range.

Mike P led the group, at Al P's unavoidable suggestion, and did a good job for a first time outing. He led us to Stonebridge Bagels.

(Why is it that I have such a hard time getting a good picture of Terry? This was the least-worst of three attempts!)

It was a good ride; I'm glad I did it. I need to do the weekday rides more regularly; I don't know why I haven't done!

ernie lee b'day rides

 So the most important thing you have to know about today's Team Social Security rides, is that it's Ernie Lee's 80-somethingth birthday. Immediately after signing up, I got a text from number unknown (that later turned out to be Al P) saying that I should come half-an-hour early because there was gonna be a gathering before the ride for Ernie.

 Here he is getting surprised at the start (note the surreptitious tupperware full of goodies under Al P's arm in the foreground):

(I love that one of Lynne, above. It's not her most attractive picture, but that welcoming offer is Lynne right down to the bone.)

Ernie was apparently surprised and delighted, which is kind of the point, right?

A few more pics before the start:

Above, it's a shame Pat is so inhibited, right?

 It felt like the parking lot just emptied when Christine took the C riders out... but Al wound up leading 17 of us. He called for a left turn out of the lot; I immediately turned right, and didn't realize my mistake until I got to the cross street, and had to sprint to catch up to the tail of the group.

It's a good thing I'm good-lookin'...

The group separated a bit. I got to riding with Ron S. I stopped for a picture...

...and got to talking about the double-layer of tape he keeps on his bars for comfort (I kinda like the look)...

... and then we had to hustle a bit to catch up. 

We stopped in Columbus.

 I got a picture of Pat's most excellent socks:

(If you follow this link, you can see a number of my posts that mostly have to do with other stuff, but also have pictures of bike socks that I think are neat.)

On the way back, I got  going with the fast folks, and kept up with 'em for a few miles, until I graciously thanked 'em for letting me make believe I could hang with them, and fell back to put my lungs back in. Dave M subtly fell back and said he was relaxing a bit, because he didn't want to ruin the rest of his day, but I suspect he said that because he's much to cool to have to say that he was keeping an eye on me. I'm grateful for his attention.

Ride page.

One more of Ernie:

Ernie, you're not just an inspiration (although you are that), you're also an easy person to speak to and a good guy to know. I'm glad I do know you.

after storm ida

 

Above, just one of the effects of Storm Ida. Give me no more bs. about global warming.

The storm affected both rides I did this weekend. Laura OLPH posted a ride with no reliable indication of route or distance, because from what we could see of the damage locally, we presumed that the Sourlands would also be affected, and we might not be able to get through places we usually go. We didn't even consider Lambertville, on the river; we decided to try for Sergeantsville. 

Before the ride, Tom invoked some magic. The video is too big to upload, but the Holy Kickstand was involved.

Off we went. After the experience in the first picture, we tried to get across Covered Bridge Road.

We were turned away by a resident whose property was damaged by the flood, and who was obviously at the end of her rope (you can see one of the turnbacks on the ride page).

We stopped at that bagel place that's near, but not at, the Sergeantsville general store. I mostly got bike pics.

Above, Ming and Tom show similar taste in bike socks.

We decided to visit the covered bridge by another direction.

The Sergeantsville bridge has the wooden covered structure placed on a concrete and metal bridge, so the damage can be rebuilt (and probably will be). But it's such a landmark on our rides! I found the condition sobering.

In case you didn't get it above, another link to the ride page.

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I had waited to post a ride for today, and then, when I did, I didn't post a route because I wanted to wait to see what roads would be open. Reports were inconsistent and unreliable, so I made a point, on the way home from yesterday's ride, to drive River Road below Rocky Hill and Canal Road (cones were up, but I figured I'd say I came down Old Georgetown if I were stopped, which I wasn't). River Road showed no damage, and Canal Road appeared generally clear, albeit with mud and some abandoned vehicles.

So I decided on a route down to Kingston, then up through Montgomery to Amwell Road and then to Schoolhouse, then down Blackwells Mills to Canal (not going over the causeway) and back to the Claremont School. The damage on the lower part of Canal Road was visible, but should not have stopped traffic, although we did go through the "Road Closed" signs. The route back up into Montgomery was uneventful; we stopped at the arboretum to enjoy the porta potty.

I did a real-estate tour through Montgomery up to Millstone, and then led the group up Mettlers Lane by Colonial Park, where there was more damage (there is a waterway there, but I'd forgotten about it). We went across Schoolhouse Road and came back down, and rolled down Blackwells Mills to take the left on Canal Road...

...much of which was still mud-covered, with trees jutting out into the roadway. In many places, the road was reduced to a single lane. There was an unusually large amount of traffic in both directions; we later saw that the traffic on Middlebush was being detoured to Canal Road.

Wait... How come the lower part of Canal Road was closed, but passable, when this part was open, but had such interference? And why wasn't the Middlebush traffic directed to Route 27? I'd like a word with the Franklin town council.

Ride page.