Naked Legs

This past Saturday I went on a ride with the Philadelphia Bike Club (PBC). The ride was out of Lambertville so it was close by. I had planned to be on this ride a couple of months ago when Linda, president of PBC, asked me to help her with a route in the area.

Of course I didn't know what the weather would be a couple of months ago but it turned out to be a warmish day. At the start it was 55 and sunny so I debated for a few minutes whether to wear the tights or not. Most people were still bundling up in jackets and tights but I hate carrying discarded cloths so I ditched the jacket and tights.

As we headed up Alexauken Creek Rd I felt almost naked compared to the bike cloths I have been wearing for the past few months. I was also a little chilly but by the time I got to the top of the hill I was warming up.

Linda had a good crowd there were 11 of us including Joe and Dave who I persuaded to join the ride. The goal of the ride was to explore Hunterton County so we zig-zaged our way through the Sourlands towards Flemington and onwards towards Round Valley although we didn't go to the reservoir itself.

I was concerned with the hills since I have not done many this year but I actually didn't feel bad. The real problem was the wind which was gusting to over 20 mph. By the time we got to the stop in Flemington Dave and Joe decided to drop from the ride and take off on their own and make a shorter ride. The rest of us continued on and although the wind didn't stop we got into a rhythm and keep cranking the miles away.

Although I don't know a lot of people in PBC there were a couple on the ride that I knew so it was a good social ride. Jim had some deep thoughts on bike friends in his last blog post. The question is are the people we ride with week in and week out real friends or just people we like to bike with. The answer is they are real friends and in fact they feel like a family to me. When Jim had his accident last week we all responded like a family would and did what we could to help give him some emotional support.

This is partly because we all like Jim and partly because we are bikers and when anything happens to any biker we all feel the pain. Being an avid biker means entering into a larger community of shared experiences that all bikers have. I have met many bikers on the road who are total strangers but after a few minutes of exchanging stories we quickly build a connection.

The fact that I don't see my bike friends much outside of biking has more to do with everybody having our own busy family life which doesn't leave much free time for other social events. Still I spend 4 to 5 hours a week with riding and talking to my bike friends so I think I know more about them then most of the other people in my life. I'm sure like most friendships some will fade and disappear overtime and some may grow stronger as life and circumstances evolve. Although they say you can choose your friends the truth is you find some of them as you are riding along a road.

So even though I don't see Linda or some of the other people from PFW or PBC that often I still consider them to be friends and will always enjoy the social aspect of biking when our paths cross.