Well it turns out that a dozen of us came out to a ride led by Tom H out of Mercer Park.
(Yeah, it was a bit cold... but remember, we're not as crazy as those canoeists who came out on a similar day last month.)
Yes, a dozen. Twelve.
Above: John, not a frequent Insane Bike Posse-ist, but he appears to have the makin's.
Tom promised a route with headwinds, at least one trail, not too many hills, and two crossings of Route 1, with a stop at the bagel place I usually stop at on my rides out of Blackwells Mills.
We took off out of Mercer Park, and, about three-and-a-half miles in, got onto the "Trolley Trail", which is decently paved and a pleasant alternative to the local roads. We headed on a straight course to West Windsor Community Park... and then toured about every road, path, and byway in the park, looking for the path out. Look for the knot at about mile six on the ride page.
We finally found the way out (Hrmph! Even I can lead a ride if THAT's the navigation strategy!)
I had gotten to the ride start a bit late (I was fuzzy on planning this morning), and so Tom decided that I was to be held to blame for everything that went wrong. I accepted without complaint responsibility for the puddles and the headwinds, but I'm not sure how losing the path was my problem. If you come up with a solution, please let me know.
At an unscheduled porta-potty break:
We climbed up New Road over what passes for a hill in Middlesex County, and started to head down to Canal Road. I remembered a ride a few weeks ago where the river and canal had flooded at Griggstown (you didn't get to read about it). At that time, there was a puddle on Canal Road from the flood; I figured, "This is several feet higher than the Griggstown Causeway; how deep could it be?" Well, it was deeper than my bottom bracket, and that and my shoes and socks got soaked (which is part of the reason you didn't read about it; it's taken until now for me to admit my folly).
With that in mind, I asked Tom if we were crossing the Griggstown Causeway, which I had read was flooded again. He said no; we would just continue down Canal to 518. I was partly reassured... but i didn't REALLY feel better until I saw the clear road surface at Griggstown Causeway. (I guess I have a little dose of Post-Griggstown-Causeway-Flood-Disorder.)
On to 518. Some of us stopped at the corner to allow others to catch up.
And then to the stop.
It was raw cold when we got back onto the bikes, and we fought a headwind (which didn't make things more comfortable) as we headed to Cherry Hill Road, and the major climb of the day. One of our number had a gear seize-up, and went home alone by the flat route instead.
We took a few turns through Princeton, and then it became clear that we were going to cross Route 1 at Harrison Street.
On bikes.
Let me say that again: We crossed Route 1 at Harrison Street in Princeton, on bikes.
I chanted both the salve regina and the pater noster. We all got across. I'm not saying there is a cause-and-effect relationship. But there is a 100% correlation between my doing a Latin chant, and safe road crossings. So until there is a compelling reason to do otherwise, I'm gonna keep it up.
Once across Route 1; we went through the Sarnoff-SRI property.
Of course the gate was closed. This is a Tom H ride, remember?
Tom said that it was a hazardous wasted cleanup site, but as long as we got out in less than an hour, we should be fine. I expect the symptoms will pass in a day or so.
And back through Princeton Junction, where for the second time, I took my bike (along with the others) through the tunnel under the tracks. There are some tight switchbacks there; some may be able to take that on the bicycle at speed, but I am not among them (at least not today).
So I'm home, with the laundry in the washer. I expect a nap is in my future once I post this article.
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