better part of valor

To die is to be a counterfeit, for he is but the counterfeit of
a man who hath not the life of a man; but to counterfeit dying,
when a man thereby liveth, is to be no counterfeit, but the true
and perfect image of life indeed. The better part of valor is
discretion, in the which better part I have sav'd my life.

...Falstaff, speech in Henry The Fourth, Part 1 Act 5, scene 4, 115–121

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One might have thought that, after sweating a gallon yesterday, I would have known better than to try riding in equivalent heat, especially on a ride that was to be hillier (if slower) than that one was. But Blake had a route in mind, and doesn't lead often, and I haven't seen him in a while, so I agreed to go. Pre-ride emails had some dropping out due to the heat, and the rest of us promised to ride within our limits and shorten (and flatten) the route, if necessary.

We started in Stockton: Jack, Blake, Laura OLPH, and y'r ob'd't:

...crossed the bridge into Pennsylvania...

...started up 32, and within a mile, ran into this:

Well, we've gone through worse... except that the road Blake wanted to go up was a morass of mud. Laura said something that began with, "If this had been a Tom ride..." hinting that we would have tried to go anyway, but we turned around and climbed a different way.

We took an early stop in Carversville (I think), and proceeded. There was a lot of up-and-down, much of it along roads I think I remember from the CBBO Covered Bridges ride (some in the other direction). As Laura and I had done on another Tom ride, we went into Stover Park.

 (Dirt roads, and another road closed sign. If this had been a Tom ride...)

And from there, along roads that seemed to keep turning into Cafferty, then changing name to something else, then becoming Cafferty again, then changing name again, then Cafferty again... until we dropped down at Bridgeton Hill to the stop at Black Eddy.

I got some bike pics. An older gentleman rode in on this excellent Raleigh with flat pedals; he said he's had it about 40 years.

But we were done. Done with hills, and done with distance; our average at that point was 11.7mph; the heat and humidity had done us in. We came back straight down 29, three of us more-or-less in a paceline (Jack was ahead; he had the politeness to have a flat so we could catch up with him). This is a great route, and I hope Blake does it again, on a day when we can stick to it and enjoy it. Today was not that day.

Edit: D'OH! Forgot to link to the ride page!