cold day in april

How is it that we get freezing temperatures and a threat of snow in Central Jersey on April 9?

Well, it was enough that Tom H moved his ride from yesterday to today. And since he gave it a later start, it wasn't even so early that I got to the Muschal school in Bordentown. Shortly thereafter, Jack, Tom H, and Laura appeared.

So we were four.

(Bike pics at the start: mine...

...Tom's. I like titanium frames.)

Tom had either a 40-something or a 50-something route in mind; we'd have to decide at about the 20-mile mark. It was a gorgeous day, clear, and despite the headwinds in every direction, we opted for the longer route.

There wasn't much conversation, but I do remember Jack, who said he's about my age, asking what age category I put myself in. "Old", I said. He wasn't happy with that.

(The Wawa we stopped at doesn't have toilets, so we found a porta-potty at a park before we stopped there.)

After the stop, Tom wanted to take us up a stretch of Birmingham Road that he likes, but road crews had other plans at Rancocas Creek.

But Tom checked a map, and found a nearby bike path that would get us close to the route. It was worth a try... and it turned out to be packed enough for us to ride.

The path comes out at the old train station in Pemberton, right next to the big Wawa that Team Social Security stops at frequently.

And from there, we went up to Arney's Mount. I can't decide which of these pictures I like better.

53 miles (almost), 16 mph. Almost 1300 feet of climb (no mean feat in Burlington County!)

So what did youse-all do today?

pretty much anything

Yeah, pretty much. Apparently originally from Fowl Language (which I need to check out); I got it from today's Oddman.

powerpuff yourself

Spent most of the weekend doing chores, screwing up a bike project for Laura, and feelin' sorry for myself, but I came across this site where you can make a PowerPuff Girl character for yourself (is there a new movie comin' out, maybe?). Herewith:

Didn't quite get the glasses right. Below, horrifyingly animated:

My life is complete.

You can get your own here.

the great night

My Polish relatives refer to Easter as Wielkanoc, which translates to "The Great Night". It's a name that's much more evocative to my Christian wife than the pagan-translated "Easter".

She's taught me to greet the relatives with "Chrystus Pan zmartwychwstał!" (To which the response is, of course, "Prawdziwie zmartwychwstał!" After all these years, I've managed to get my Anglo tongue around the pronunciation to my wife's satisfaction. My mother-in-law, of course, is delighted that I even make the effort.)

The excellent wife has hope for life after death, but also thinks that part of the Easter message is about second chances. I can get behind that.

We're just back from visiting, and have a fridge full of eggs (some blessed) and ham products. It's gonna be a fat week.

Hope you're well, and you got through Easter OK. It's not ALL about chocolate bunnies, you know.

late march 60-miler

One of the advantages of riding regularly with people who like you (and whom you like, of course) is that you get invited on pick-up rides when somebody's got an idea for a new route or destination. Laura OLPH had heard from Paul I about a new coffee place in Flemington; she went to try it out recently, but wanted to bring The Usual Suspects (when we ride with Laura, we're the Hill Slugs; when we ride with Tom H, we're the Insane Bike Posse). So after the obligatory flurry of emails, we gathered at one of Tom's common starts: a parking lot on Laurel below 518. In addition to Tom, Laura, and me, we had Snakehead Ed, Peter, Chris C, Winter Larry, and Mighty Mike M.

Laura has retired the Chocolate Bunny ride, in both name and route... but apparently a good idea is a good idea, so for today's ride she brought chocolate eggs for all the finishers.

Off we went and turned onto 518 in Rocky Hill...

... and picked up John K, who'd misread the directions to the start. So we were 9.

My ride page includes my rides to and from home; we went about the flattest, safest route possible into Flemington. Do you think I remember where I got these? (I'll give you a hint - I don't.)

I DO remember coming into Neshanic after going down Zion, and stopping to tighten one of my bottle cages, which had loosened and was giving the most annoying rattle - almost as annoying as the fact that the 3mm wrench on my multi-tool was just that little bit too short to tighten it correctly. I also remember turning onto the bridge there and coming face-to-face with a HUGE SUV that I hadn't expected to be there. Surprise!

The place in Flemington is called Factory Fuel.

I can't tell you about the coffee, but they had great baked stuff, and they laughed politely at my stupid jokes and treated us almost as if we were real people. There's a farm market next door offering chili, as well.

Obligatory bike pics:

Didn't-get-close-enough pics of the alpaca farm we passed on the way back:

At Lindbergh & Ridge Roads:

About two miles from the ride start, I got a flat I needed to change, and after that, I decided not to fight the hill going from the ride start back home, but to take the longer, flatter route up 27. Laura was concerned about the safety of the route... but I ride in New Brunswick; Route 27 in Kingston and Kendall Park was NOT going to be a problem. I came home to my wife singing her way through a cooking marathon.

Life is good. What are youse-all doin'?

acting as if

So I mostly hid out over the weekend because I was in such a foul mood that I didn't want to risk losing the friends I have (and your tenacity may belie your discernment...). I tried to come out of it, and then yesterday at work, something came up that has me returning to the land of the grumpy.

When I was active in my own substance-abuse recovery, one of the slogans the got passed around was "Act as if...", so I'm acting as if I weren't cranky and unfit for human company. I'm not sure it's working.

(Yes, I did a ride over the weekend... and I'm toying with a few pickup rides [maybe this route] if I don't like the offerings from the club. I'll send out emails or something when I'm planning on them, if and of youse have any interest in coming.)

A couple of days ago, Oddman had a post on bike pics. In an effort to rejoin humanity, I'm posting a few below:

I did not build those wheels above... and i can't imagine getting the tensions right.

I think the photographer below is trying to die:

I think the one below is just gorgeous, even without lugs and steel:

And finally, perhaps a solution to the saddle problem.

what stop sign?

First, let's get this out of the way right now. I was wrong, and Laura OLPH was right. I've been saying that weight of a bike isn't important for the kind of recreational riding I do, and also complaining that my speed and endurance is down.

As I noted yesterday, the Krakow Monster (which I've mostly been riding all winter) weighs well over 30 lbs. Today I took out the Yellow Maserati, the titanium bike, which weighs about two-thirds the weight of the Monster. And I could ride faster and longer on the Il Maserati Giallo than I thought possible. So ten lbs. of weight does make a difference. (I'm still not sure that TWO pounds of weight would make a difference, but ten certainly did.)

The occasion for the apology above was Winter Larry's "Back by Lunch" Sunday ride out of Cranbury. Nine of us started on the ride: besides the two of us, were John, Jeff and Steve, Carl and Mike (more-or-less regulars with the three-times-a-week Team Social Security guys), Pete F, and Laura.

We did this route, and had a bit of ongoing silliness: on Ellisdale, Larry told us we could ride at our own speed and gather at the stop sign... but at the other end, there wasn't a stop sign. He told us a couple of other times to meet at stop signs that turned out to be nonexistent, which led to talk of philosophy of stop signs, possible paranormal stop sign activity, and stop signs in parallel universes. (We're Princeton Freewheelers; you know how we get.)

We did a stop at a Dunkin' Donuts in Hornerstown.

The young fellow in the center of the picture above was selling candy for his youth group (his mom was at a corner table with more supplies, should they be needed). He was so earnest that I threw a couple bucks at him even though I couldn't carry the candy. (Yeah, I'm a soft touch and an idiot, but at least he's not supporting Trump or something.) Also on the break, Laura was complaining about the time she's needed to put in as new newsletter editor. I, for one, am hoping for online everything soon.

On the way back, Carl peeled off looking for a shorter way home (as John had done before the break), and we proceeded on our route, looking for more missing stop signs. As we came up to Route 130, we came up behind Carl at the light; he'd hit an uphill with a headwind on York, which threw askew his plans of an early ride end.

When we got to the lot, we had discussions about non-riding physical exercises, on which I expounded, just as if there were anything I actually knew!

So now I'm back home, running the laundry and doing my blog post. Hope you're well. I'm looking forward to getting back to my routine this week.