Bike Fairies

You never know what you are going to find on a bike ride. I have seen a lot of weird NJ and strange stuff in other surrounding states but this past Saturday we encountered some bike fairies. Now we were in Lahaska so this is can be a strange and artsy place but these people definitely stood out. 

Unfortunately these fairies didn't have any magical powers to grant us a wish they were just having a final ride before one of their friends moved away. They never did explain why they chose to wear tutus for this celebration but it made for a fun encounter. The only problem was there were 15 of them and they got to the cupcake shop right before us so we had to wait in line with them for a while before we got our food. 

It didn't really matter as it was a nice sunny day and we were in no real hurry. We taken the easy way from Yardley to Lahaska and didn't mind the long break. The return ride was just as nice although I need to find a better road than Stoopville on the way back as it had more traffic than I like. 

Saturday's ride was a good end to the week as we had a few days of summer weather and I was able to get out a couple of time. I even managed to get a few people to join me on a ride from Manasquan to Belmar and back.

 

One of the good things about being retired is that I can get out whenever the weather is good and can usually get a few of the other retired folks to join me. It's still early in the season so the beach wasn't too crowded. At our usual rest stop the Dunkin Donuts is closed for renovation and only the pizza place was open so there wasn't a lot of choice for food but it was enough. 

The brief break of summer weather was great but it is still April so the weather is running hot and cold. We had a freeze warning this week with some rain in the forecast but the weather is warming so there should be some fun and weird rides ahead.

 

 

 

Back to NJ Roads

I have been back in NJ for almost two weeks and have gotten back to riding my normal roads. Since it is spring now the weather is getting warmer. Although I have one rides in tights and a jacket the others have been tights free as we had a few days in the 70s. 

One of the benefits of being retired is that I can do more riding during the week. This means this past Tuesday I could join the Pete Bagel ride out of Pennington which was an 30ish ride with a couple of easy hills followed by lunch at the Bagel place. Doing this ride officially made me part of the retired bikers. 

This past Saturday I went on Laura's ride to Flemington. This was my second ride from Pennington this week. The weather was in the 60s at the start so it was another warm spring day. Normally I would be reluctant to do a ride this hilly at the beginning of the season but I have a lot more miles and hills in so far this year so I didn't think it would be a problem. 

Laura had a full ride which meant most of the usual crowd was there and I was able to catch up with some people I hadn't seen since I got back. We made our way up and over the Sourlands on the way to Flemington. There was some traffic and congestion getting across 202 and 31 to get into Flemington which was a little annoying but part of what you have to deal with when you ride in NJ.

We stopped Bread and Culture Artisan Bakery which is was crowded. Some of pastries looked good but they didn't have anything to drink but coffee so I decided not to get anything as I had enough stuff with me.

After our stop we made our way out of Flemington and back to more quieter roads. The main climb of the day was up Lindbergh. It's not a hard climb but it is a bit long and gets a little steeper at the end. It's a climb I never feel comfortable on or enjoy. I'm not sure why climbing Lindbergh annoys me but I usually avoid it when I can.

After getting up and over the Sourlands I actually felt pretty good and went ahead of the group to the end of the ride. At 46 miles it was the longest ride I have done this year. The riding and climbing I did in Tucson definitely help me build a good base for riding this year so as the weather continues to get better I look forward to doing some more and long rides in NJ.