back to the italian bakery

 

A few of my riders are partisans of this Italian Bakery in Raritan, called "The Italian Bakery." Laura OLPH told me about it; I think a coworke206, r of hers used to ride there and told her. She and I traded possible routes for a bike ride until I came up with the one I used today. It's never gonna be anybody's favorite route: you have to ride for a bit on Route 206; then there's a mile or so of milled road (not because of upcoming construction, but to manage traction for when the area floods; and after the stop, there's several miles along Main Street in Somerville and Bound Brook.

But the partisans like to go, so I scheduled the ride for today. In the description, I mentioned the busy roads and the milled sections. I still got ten registrants (one had to cancel at the last minute). 

I'm glad they all came, but could it be we need some better B-ride options on Sundays?

At the start, Tony G had another of his lovely bikes.

Above: I wasn't the only one smitten with Tony's bike.

Below: Eric saw the Muppet figurines that Laura carries on each of her (Muppet-eponymous) bikes, and thought it was a good idea to emulate when he saw this Superman in the Lego store.

Below (and at top), here we are after cutting through the Duke estate, just before getting to the bakery.

At the bakery:

Many thanks also to Tony G, who brought me an excellent groupset to build up into something. I didn't have my car, so I sent it home with Rickety, who promised to bring it when I see him again at the Bike Exchange on Thursday. I'm sure I can trust Rickety.

I hope.

Ride page.

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?

july 4 all-paces

 I'll post a few of mine below, but you really want to go to the Photos & Albums page on the FreeWheeler website to see the album for this day. Luis C and Mike V sent along some of their pictures... and they were far better than mine.

I led a C ride on which The Excellent Wife (TEW) rode along (we don't have many rides together, so I look forward to these). We did this route, but the ride was largely memorable to me because the Stonebridge Bagels, where I'd planned to stop, was closed for the holiday. We repaired to the deli nearby for refreshment, and the Byron Johnson park had the toilets open.

(At Memorial Day, we nearly got blocked out in Allentown because of a parade. I wonder if the goddess of Allentown is toying with me?)

But I had a happy group, who stayed together (unusual for a group or fourteen who don't ride together). Thanks to Marty P for sweeping. Below, a few of my favorite pics from the day:

ramblin wrench goes legit

 Many thanks to friend Steve S, who set me up with a domain and webspace for my Ramblin' Wrench venture. I'm now proud co-possessor of RamblinWrench.com, bringing bicycle maintenance to you.

He hooked me up with a couple of videos on how to make the site look good (and work, too!). I spent most of today getting it set up, making mistakes, starting over, processing pictures, and getting the most infuriating web form to work. 

Go check it out. And contact me if you need anything done!