Stupid is as Stupid Does

We did some stupid rides this year and it seems like we haven't gotten rid of the stupid yet. Today I decided to do Laura's ride out of Pennington. I knew it would be in the Sourlands and knew there would be hills but with the winter approaching I know that there won't be many more days I would be able to do these types or rides. I also wanted see the gang again.

It was a cold day in the high 40s but sunny. At Pennington to my surprise both Mike and Larry showed up for the ride. I haddn't seen bike since he bought a sail boat in the early spring. A few others joined us before Jim and Laura rode up. Once we found Mike a helmet we were on our way. Laura wanted to do something different from her normal ride to Lambertville so she had some surprises for us.

The first surprise is that we made a left out of the school instead of going right. We never do that. I had a few more "we never do that" moments as we made our towards the Sourlands. The worst surprise for me is that we were going up Province Fucking Line Rd. I had decided to ride my Feather today because I thought Laura would take it easy on us since it is late in the season and we are no longer in peak shape. I guess this is payback for some of the hills I made her climb this year.

I really don't have a problem doing Province Line on my Feather on a nice day in the middle of the season. Except for Dutchtown Zion Province Line is probably one of the harder ways up the Sourlands. Its actually not one continuous climb but a series of hills over a few of miles so it is long grind. Today wasn't a good day for me as I struggled up the hill and almost went aerobic and had one of my annoying stomach cramps. But once I got over it I got a second wind and was fine.

The only saving grace of going up Province Line was that I got the usual shot at the bottom of the last hill. Its not as pretty as it would had been a month ago when the leaves were at peak but it is always a good view.

From the ridge we made our way to Lamberville with a couple of more "we never do that" turns to our usual stop at RoJo's. Then out of Lamberville we made the ultimate "we never do that" turn up Rt 179. There is no shoulder on this four lane road for the first mile or so but there was light traffic so it wasn't too bad. It also turned out to be one of the easier ways to climb back up to the ridge of the Sourlands.

I was feeling better after the break so the climbs didn't bother me although some of group was feeling a little tired so we got a spread out. Our way back to Pennington was different than the normal route and the ride ended up being 49 ish (longer than I was expecting) but it was good to get out for hill ride this long late in the year.

The sub theme to the high point ride theme for the year was doing stupid things and even though we are done with the high point rides I think stupid is here to stay for a while.