almost missed it

Tom H posted the listing for this ride on Tuesday, and sent an email around to his regulars in the Insane Bike Posse, but I put it off... and by the time I got my act together to sign up on Thursday evening, the ten allotted spots were full. I sent an email to Tom asking if I could register, and the next morning there was a reply offering his permission, so I went into the listing and did the web magic that would allow me to register for the ride. So there we were, with eleven registered for his limited-to-ten ride. Thanks, Tom, for your indulgence; I feel lucky and in your debt.

Getting ready at Etra Park:

Below: That's not the worst picture ever of Bob L (that's later in the post) but it's pretty bad.

 Tom had a route that rider Bob W recognized as one that Dennis W used to run with the Team Social Security riders that used to go out of Etra on Mondays and Fridays (and if it wasn't exactly that route, it was close; I recognized a number of the roads [and I'm lost all the time]). You can see the route on the ride page.

The first bit was easy going: it was flattish (except for a dip on Hoffman Station Road), and, despite our different preferred paces, we mostly stayed together. I rode mostly in the back, chatting with riders and listening to others spout off facts and opinions, except for occasionally taking a turn in the wind... which was beginning to pick up as we turned south and west.

We stopped at a Wawa on 33 near Manalapan, where I got an even worse picture of Bob L...

(I swear he's better-looking than that), as well as other pictures of other riders that were even worse, and weren't worth posting. (Bob is likely to say that the one just above also wasn't worth posting.)

We got started again, and the wind had found its style by this time. Tom mentioned that all of the climb on this ride was after the break, but the climb alone was not the issue; the climb plus the headwind made the ride back memorable. Twice, a rider who is registered for a ride I'm planning to lead tomorrow reminded me to call off the headwind for my ride, and I guiltily remembered that I hadn't ticked that box when I'd put in the weather order. Oh, well...

The group got separated a few times on the way back. I got ahead with the fast group at one point, and looked around for Tom and didn't see him, so waited for the main group to catch up; for the rest of the ride, I made sure to keep an eye on Tom (less out of any concern for him, and more because I've noticed that if you stick with the ride leader, your chances of making it back to the start location are above the 90th percentile. The strategy worked again).

So, unlike most Tom rides, no closed roads or bridges to cross on this one. I guess the headwind will have to do.