Hill Slugs Halloween Ride

 

One of the many fabulous sculptures by Dolores Dragan in Lambertville, NJ

5 November 2021

If it's Halloween, it must be Lambertville. This year's ride was at fall leaf color peak. 

I didn't choose my usual roads because I like to keep the riders guessing. The route wasn't any easier than usual; I ended up substituting one annoying hill for another, zigging and zagging up and over the Sourland Mountain.

Mountain Road, at the top of the mountain, was a good place to stop for pictures.

I usually take Rocktown Road to Mount Airy-Harbourton Road. This time, we went down Gulick, up 179, and doubled back on Frontage Road. The clouds and light were perfect.

And then on to the main attraction on Union Street, the black and white statues awash in blue light, the creation of Dolores Dragan, a retired art teacher.

I called John K over. "Look! It's Charlie!" Charlie is a chihuahua. Charlie rules the world. One doesn't cross Charlie.

"Nah," John said, "That's one of his associates. He had a deal go bad out west, and now he's getting what he deserves."

Say their names. Each candle holds the name of an innocent Black person murdered by cops and racists. Say their names.

I stop for spiders too.

We settled onto the sidewalk outside of Union Coffee. There's barely room for anyone, but they do have a bike rack, the food and drink are good, and the bathroom is clean. 

I took a more direct route back, and, unlike the last ride I led*, we all stayed together. 

The mid-day sun, through a layer of clouds, made for perfect light on the trees next to the athletic fields.

I ended up hanging around with Martin and John K, who, it turned out, knew someone in common up in Boston, and as soon as they figured out who the other one was on PFW Facebook, a bromance was born.

When I got home, I had to go out again to buy Halloween candy. We'd forgotten. The closest place to me was CVS, and it was full of people just like me who were in a mad scramble to accumulate wrapped sugar. Fortunately, the good folks at CVS had planned for our lack of planning, and we all came away with our arms full. In the evening, we dispensed half of it, and the rest went with me to work, where any free food doesn't last more than a day.

(*I didn't blog about that one. It would have been me whining about pace-pushers, which nobody wants to hear.)