Crazy Season Begins

25 May

We skipped the All-Paces Memorial Day ride in favor of going with the Joes from Mercer County Park to Belmar. Mike and I started from our homes to turn the trip into a century.

The ride was in stages: a handful of us left Mercer County Park and picked up the rest at Etra Park in Hightstown.

As much as the Joes love Belmar, I still think there's nothing redeeming about the place save for the fact that we can get to it in a reasonable distance.

Here's the boardwalk:



And the main drag where all the cyclists and half-naked teens hang out:



More of Belmar's natural beauty:



A few hovels along the waterfront:



An inlet:



The nicer part of town:



We stopped for another break just south of Turkey Swamp. That's where the Joes decided to leave me, Mike, Cheryl, and George to take Cheryl back to Etra on our own. They were in some kind of hurry. We were a bite away from finishing our sandwiches; that would take too long for them, so off they went.

Suspecting the Joes might ditch me I'd carried an old cue sheet and maps, but we didn't need them because George graciously led us back.

George was singing:

"Every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven."

I said, "You're listening to Radio Foradori." He liked that.

Cheryl got a flat two miles away from Etra Park. We stopped under a tree to change the tube. George and Mike went to it. I always have my rubber allergy excuse. What followed was the most comically obscene exchange since the time Richie used my mini-pump (which too much resembled a dildo and fortunately broke a few years ago). The conversation involved extra testicles, and that's all I'm saying about that.

So I'll just report the middle of it:

George (singing): "Be sure that your umbrella is upside down."

Me: "Shouldn't it be dimes or quarters from heaven instead of pennies? You know, inflation?"

The first replacement tube had a short stem, which made getting the carbon dioxide cartridge onto it a bit of a challenge. I'm the one who does the cartridge. As George once said to me a few years ago when I had a flat, "Carina, those things scare me!" I mentioned that again. "They do!" he said.

The tube had a hole in it, so I offered up one of my long-stem tubes and a cartridge.

George (singing): "Every time it rains, it rains--"

Me: "Bailouts from heaven."

The second tube worked.

George: "So it's true, women like long stems."

Me: "I only ride long stems."

Mike: "Oh, man!"

Cheryl: "Sheez!"

We dropped Cheryl off at the park and George went on home. Mike and I took the long way back so that we'd have a hundred miles.

By the time I got home my sunblock had been wiped and sweated off, leaving me with a faint, lovely, striped, helmet-patterned sunburn on my forehead.