Missed One, Caught the Other

photo shamelessly swiped from Jim's blog

12 July 2015

With a body full of too many dinners out and a bottle full of coffee, I left home on Kermit shortly after 7:00 this morning fully expecting to get my ass kicked by the Major Taylor Bicycle Club of Central New Jersey.

I rolled into Main Street Cafe in Kingston with about ten minutes to spare.  Nobody from MTBCCNJ was there, but Jim was.  We waited around until about 8:10, and then I texted Vern that we'd somehow missed him and were heading to the Freewheeler ride in Cranbury.

As we left, I said, "I'm kinda relieved."  Jim wasn't surprised.  We had time enough for me to refill my water bottle at Bagel Street.  I went through a lot of water today; I had a lot of Nomad's arugula and pear pizza last night.

I was glad to see Gordon in the parking lot at Cranbury.  It's been a long time since we've ridden together.

As people got ready, I checked my phone for a text from Vern.  He had written back, asking what time the Cranbury ride started and suggesting we swing by the CVS in Plainsboro.  It was too late for us to do that. Maybe it was my fault. We'd had a long email exchange, during which I balked at the speed and Vern encouraged me.  I didn't tell him I'd definitely be there, but I did write "I'm definitely bringing my big ring."  Jim hadn't committed either. Perhaps if we had, we'd have known about the new starting point.

The Cranbury group was small today, which is a refreshing change from the usual midsummer mayhem.

Jeff H is a new leader. He's only been riding with the club since the beginning of the year, so it's brave of him to take on Winter Larry's position for the summer.  Hmm.  Maybe we should call him Summer Jeff.

Summer Jeff was good at keeping the group together, even when we got into Macho Mile territory on the way home.  He and Gordon fixed Gordon's flat in record time.  (Jim: "How many FreeWheelers does it take to change a flat?" Me:  "How many you got?")

Jim's safe route escort back to South Brunswick never turned into the Cranbury parking lot, so I decided that I'd ride back to Main Street with him.  I didn't mind the extra five miles, and I didn't want Jim to get lost. Perhaps the Major Taylor guys would be there.  I was thirsty and hungry as well.

Uncharacteristically, there were no bikes parked in front of the cafe when we arrived.  Two riders were just leaving, but they weren't our erstwhile friends.

I finished the day with 80 miles, which is penance for sitting on my butt at a meeting all day yesterday while Tom's Insane Bike Posse had, by most accounts, a sucky ride.