It was WINDY!!!

The title of the post says it all. It was a windy. It was no too windy to ride on the road but it was a tougher ride because of the wind. I had put a ride on the PFW Calendar from Cranbury. As soon as I saw there would be a stiff wind from the west I decided to head across Rt 1 so we would have a tail wind on the way home. I got Jack, Pete, Ken, Chris and Bob to join me.

From Cranbury we made our way through the back of Plainsboro and across Rt 1 on New Rd. There was a constant wind in our face and a couple strong gusts but it got better as we road up the canal and on Amwell before zig zagging south to our eventual stop at the Bagel Barn. This part of the ride was grueling not only because of the wind but we because there were two flats with in 5 mile (Chris and Pete) and there were problems changing the tube both times.

After Bagel Barn we had mostly a tail wind the last 15 miles back and no more flats. Because I had rode into Cranbury I ended up with 55 miles. It was a tough ride and I felt pretty beat after the ride. I plan to head to the pinelands next week so let's hope for less wind and warmer temperatures since it will finally be spring.

Copper Ladle

After four tries we finally made it to Copper Ladle. The last few times we tried to go it was closed. This place is not open on Sunday and is closed on any holiday weekend.  The more times we tried to stop here and fail the more I wanted to stop there. So this Saturday when I saw it was going to be open I created a meandering route from Etra to finally give it a try.

It was a little warmer today than the last few weeks. I had 12 other people join me. Since the Copper Ladle is only 5 miles from Etra I made a winding route that first headed out to Turkey Swamp before looping back to Millstone. It was 25 miles before we got to the stop.

The Copper Ladle was just okay. The cookies and doughnuts were good but they didn't have a lot to drink and the coffee was not great. We probably won't stop here again but it is always good to try new places because you never know when you are going to find a stop that makes an average ride better.

We did get a little over 40 miles so it was a good day. It is starting to get warmer so we should be able to expand our search for new places stop at. Hopefully we can find one better than Copper Ladle.

Riding the Road in the Cold

I don't have a lot to say about my rides over the past couple weeks. It was just warm enough, for me, to ride on the road last Saturday and this Sunday. Last Saturday I did a one way ride to Avon and met my wife there for lunch. It was a barely 40 degree cloudy day with a light head wind from the east. The head wind made the ride a little harder. Still it was good to be on the road after a few weeks on the mountain bike. The beach was mostly empty so I didn't have to deal with any traffic.

This weekend Laura had a ride scheduled for Saturday out of MCP but the overnight rain/snow left the roads wet with possible icy spots so the ride was moved to Sunday where I actually ended up leading the ride. We had a large crowd for another 40 degree cloudy day. There was no wind on Sunday so it actually felt a little warmer than last week. Once I got a few miles on the road I didn't feel cold at all. I road in from home and met everybody at the park.

I lead a 41 mile loop through Allentown and Cream Ridge to our stop at Roy's. From there it was another 15 miles back to the park. I cut off for home just before the park. Because I road in from home I ended up with 47 miles which isn't bad for a winter ride.

There is just about a month left in winter so I hope I can grind out some more winter road rides until the weather gets warmer and I don't have to worry about being cold anymore.