Autumn Ride to Cassville

Assunpink Creek at Mercer County Park's East Picnic Area 

24 October 2015

Tom redeemed himself today by taking us on a mellow ride in the flatlands. Even with the extra miles that Jim and I added by starting from my house, Tom didn't break anybody, and none of our bikes broke down either*.

The best scenery appeared before the official start of the ride, on the bike path through Mercer County Park to the East Picnic Area. Tom and I went back to the bridge right away for pictures.

Tom had ridden in from home, as had Marc.  Barry was the only one with a car.  The temperature was in the high 40s.  This is the time of year when I'm always wearing too many layers and not enough pockets. As it turned out, the day did get warmer but he clouds rolled in. We never needed to shed much.

The fall colors are probably peaking now.  Already, some trees are bare and others seem to be going from green to brown.

Our rest stop was in Cassville, at a gas station turned antiques and sandwich shop. We ate inside, among old board games, glass, toys, and unidentifiable metal objects.  The parking lot looked like a yard sale.

We took a few minutes to look at Saint Vladimir Russian Orthodox Church:

After that, we rolled home with a tiny tailwind.



(*Speaking of broken bikes, Cannondale is replacing Miss Piggy's frame with a 2015 or 2016 Synapse. I don't know yet what the new one will look like, but there's a chance the frame will still have some of that frightening green in it.  Of all the well-known Muppets, Miss Piggy is the only one who changes outfits; therefore, the new frame shall retain the Miss Piggy name.)