saturday with kim's

The rides from Kim's Bike Shop (also on Facebook) on Saturdays now suit me so well that those are my default Saturday rides unless there's something else in particular going on (well, they are awful welcoming!). I've got a routine now: I stop in at the Wawa for an apple fritter* (they're huge, and have no redeeming social value, appealing solely to the prurient interest), which sometimes excites comment from the staff or other patrons - I'm in full bike regalia, and I carry the front wheel into the store to make the bike that little bit harder to steal. Then I ride up Jersey Avenue looking for an empty building, so I can go behind it to find a place to urinate without distraction. I usually get to the shop a bit early.

For today, though, Snakehead, who's newly back from The Land Down Under, was looking for a ride companion, so we agreed to do the Kim's ride, then maybe break off at the top of Coppermine to repair to Kingston, at which point we would philosophize and opine over coffee and carbohydrates.

When I got to Kim's today, there was a first-timer there who asked I not post his pic initially (he later relented, but the first pic didn't come out anyway). Shortly thereafter, some of the usual gang began to appear.

Those two above are father-and-son, I think.

Above, Snakehead; first time on a bike in weeks.

Above, Vincencio told us that Francisco was already out doing some hills and would meet us on the road. The fellow below (I didn't get his name) is too fast for me!

We left to do the usual route. There had been rumor that Dave Kim was coming along, but he wasn't at the start; I figured his brand-new son was keeping him occupied. But at the Olde-Towne Lot in Johnson Park, where our number about doubled when we picked up the Rutgers riders, Dave was there. Later, I asked him about the family. "I miss sleeping," he said. We also caught up to Francisco along this stretch.

We zipped through South Bound Brook and Colonial Park at a pretty good clip. I got a few more pics at the bottom of the park:

Then down through Millstone and down Canal Road. Some didn't want to stop at Six Mile/Blackwells Mills, but I did; I needed to put my lungs back in.

Above, Francisco had 31 miles and 3000' of climb by the time we caught up to him. He's getting much stronger, and is racing again, I think.

Then up Coppermine, where I did better than I'd thought. At the top, we assembled for a bit.

When the rest of the gang went back up 27, Ed and I headed down Old Georgetown to the Main St Cafe for sustenance and conversation; on the way, we saw The Excellent Wife (TEW) pedaling back; she'd been out for a ride and had had a similar plan.

Ed is smitten with Australia and hopes to return (I'm a terrible traveler; he can have it). He's got back-to-work issues around funding and management/staffing changes, and he's trying to decide if he should keep the carbon bike now that he's got the steel one (he was riding the carbon bike today after a minor mishap with a driver that cost the use of the front derailleur on his Love Child).

The correct answer is, of course, that he should certainly keep the carbon bike. After all: Rule 12.

Oh, and here's my ride page with all the extra meandering.