laura blows off her own ride

Laura OLPH had a ride scheduled for today, but she begged off to do some glass-blowing (I'm sure she'll have a post about it; go check her blog in a few days). She got Tom H to cover for her.

Tom figured, "Hill Slug ride. Gotta be hills, right?", or words to that effect, and planned 50 hilly miles out of Lambertville. I got up today, and 1) COMPLETELY underestimated the time from home to Lambertville, and then compounded the error by 2) beginning to drive to Frenchtown, instead. I texted Tom that I'd be late, and he, Jack, Ricky, and Rob N were kind enough, not only to wait, but to allow me time to use the toilet in the CVS before we left.

(Also, the temps were below 50F  when we departed, and headin' for 80F when we returned. How do you dress for a range like that?)

Now, I'm glad that's not the only story about this ride. The better one is this: Tom took this picture of us flipping off Laura for blowing off leading the ride:

We did a ridiculous amount of climbing so we could do a long downhill with some gorgeous views; I didn't stop for pics because I'd already held the group up enough.

We stopped at the Bridge St Cafe in Frenchtown, and while we were there, another club came in. The five of us debated getting another pic of us flipping the bird, when one of us mentioned that it was a shame we couldn't get all those folks to do it.

Well, why not? We're all in bike gear, and that was enough of an introduction. I explained how Laura, our regular leader, had blown us off, derelicting her duty by turfing this ride off on the hapless Tom, who was doing his level (or hilly) best, but they all agreed that it was a SHAME! that Laura had run away from her commitment, and they all shared their finger-extended feelings:

They took it in good humor, as, from her responses on Facebook to having received the pictures (Tom texted them to her), did Laura. (Both pics from Tom H.)

Ride page.

(On the way into Frenchtown, we were passed by a ride that included Paul I, if I recognized his voice correctly. The days of my riding at his pace are gone, alas...)

On the way back, Tom led us down Federal Twist (we could have just glided back  along 29, but where's the glory in that?). Jack had had a crash there some time ago, and I hope the exposure today had the effect of lessening any anxiety about the location.

As for tomorrow, I'm working. Oh, well...