Missing Friends

I have met a lot of people while biking who I would call friends. I don't see them much out outside of riding with them because we all have our separate lives but when you ride with someone 4 or 5 hours week after week you get to know them pretty well. The social aspect of biking can be as beneficial as the physical part. I enjoy the people I bike with because they don't take life too seriously and when we ride together it is more about having fun than sitting in a paceline and averaging a certain speed.

That is why I look forward to the weekends when we usually get together. I usually ride on Saturday but this Saturday was a rain out so I headed to Cranbury on Sunday to ride with Winter Larry. I figured it would be a good ride because I had not seen Larry in a while and I knew a few other of my friends would be there. I was wrong of course.

The weather wasn't the best. It was in the mid 40s and the wind was blowing 20+ with gusts in the 30s but it was rideable. I suspected Larry might bail as he tends to do this when the weather is at the edge of riding. I'm not calling him a wimp but this is not the first time I showed up for a Larry ride and he wasn't there and it won't be the last.

There were 4 other people there waiting for Larry. Marc, Barry and a couple of other people I didn't really know. Since they were looking for a ride leader and I was looking for some bodies to block the wind I lead them on a loop up through Dayton, Helmetta and back through Jamesburg. It was about a 30 mile loop. There were a few spots where we almost came to a stand still because of the gusts of wind but it was manageable (I averaged 15mph). Since I rode into the ride I ended up with 43 not bad for a crappy November day.

Although I knew there would be a chance Larry would not be there today. I did expect Laura or Jim or Ed or a few of the other regulars as they rarely miss a change for a ride. No matter I will catch up with them on the next ride. And can talk about last weeks Columbia trail ride where I convinced them to head up one of the steepest hills we've ever been down. Laura looks like she is about to fall over. And I thought she looked slow going downhill!

And the stupid picture we took where they put the wall in front of the trail. It more slowed us down then stopped us. 

Of course this week we got the news that our friend George passed away. He was a great person and always livened up the ride. He was proof that riding can keep you young at heart. He was part of our riding family and he will be missed.