Saturday, October 21, 2017

Laura Blows Us Off


First let me explain the title. Laura had a ride scheduled for this Saturday but then had a chance to take a glassblowing class so asked me to lead her ride. Laura has covered for me a couple of times so I don't mind returning the favor and I know that the glassblowing class she wanted to take isn't offered that often. So although I don't blame her for blowing off the ride it doesn't mean we can't give her a little shit for doing it. As far as the picture at the top of the post that is going to take a few paragraphs to explain.

Laura didn't have a route picked out for the ride so I decided to do a ride out of Lambertville. If I was going to lead a hill slug ride it has to be hilly. We ended up doing this route. The main goal of the route was to get to Rick Rd so that we could have 4 and a half miles of uninterrupted downhill and open views of the Delaware Valley. Joining me on the ride was Jack, Jim, Ricky and Bob who is back on the bike after dealing with some back issues.

Before starting out on the ride I decided to take a photo of the group giving Laura the finger. The way we show our affection for each other, in this group, is through gibes and insults so the picture seemed appropriate. I texted her the photo and we went on our way. 



The first 10 miles of the route was mostly uphill there was nothing steep but it was a bit of a grind. Although it was a sunny and clear day it was a little cold at the start (47) so the climbing helped get me warm.

To get to Rick Rd we had to spend 3.5 miles on Rt 579 and climb about 400 feet. The climb wasn't bad as there were no really steep parts and there were a few flat spots along the way. However there was more traffic on the road than I expected. It was more annoying than dangerous but I will probably find a better way to Rick Rd.

Once we were on Rick Rd and started down hill I didn't pedal for 10 mins and was cruising above 20 mph. It was a clear day so the views were great. I didn't stop for any picture, well because that's what Laura would have done.

Six miles and 750 feet of vertical drop later we were at the Bridge Street Cafe in Frenchtown. I got a reply from my text to Laura that said the picture made her feel jealous and loved at the same time.

The cafe was really crowded with other cyclist there had to be over 30 of them there. Based on the Laura's reply Jim thought we should send her another picture. I was going to take a picture of Jim, Bob, Jack and Ricky giving the finger again but Jim went and talked to all the other cyclist sitting at the tables and ask them if they won't mind helping us with a picture. They were surprising enthusiastic about giving somebody the finger. I think in all 15 people flipped off Laura. I texted her the new picture saying "More love from the rest stop". I thought it was pretty funny.

On the way back we started out on 29 for 4 flat miles before climbing up Warsaw and making our way to Federal Twist where Jack made it down the top half safely before we turned on Raven's Rock to head back to Lambertville. By the time we got back we had done 50 miles with 3000 feet of climbing. It was nice to do a long hilly ride before the colder weather sets in.

Although we did bust Laura a little today for missing the ride we did miss her and hope to insult her in person next week.


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