Weekend Legs

Cider Mill Road

11 May 2025

Now that I have my Sundays back, I'm determined to make up for lost time on my bike. I've been getting to as may Wednesday evening rides as I can, and when I'm not loaded down with work, I've been managing some Friday evenings too. I don't bring my camera to those rides. There's no time. Our Jeff packs in as many miles as daylight will allow.

We've had our share of rainy Saturdays. When it's been dry, it's been very windy. 

One Wednesday had us pedaling so hard into a gusty headwind up River Road that, when I looked at our average speed, I told Our Jeff, "At this pace, we'll never make it home by sunset." He shortened the ride.

Last Saturday, Tom led a flat ride from Allentown to New Egypt. Heddy and I had gone on Our Jeff's Friday night ride the day before. I'd biked in from home for that, giving myself about 14 hours to recover from 38 hilly miles. Insufficient sleep did not help. I was lagging and my back hurt. Now that I have Sundays free, I'm not likely to pull that nonsense again.

Our Jeff and Heddy and Martin and 30-some-odd other Free Wheelers have jetted off to Italy for a week to get yelled at by some size zero to "die," which, apparently, translates to "ride faster." When Dave S invited me last fall, I said "no" before he was finished asking the question. They're having fun over there. That's all that matters.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the quiet headspace that comes with the end of glassblowing season. Not having to rush my work day to finish in time to scurry over to weekday evening rides for a couple of weeks helps too. 

Yesterday, I joined Tom, Rickety, and Pete for a no-stress ride from Kingston toward Three Bridges. I was a little draggy, having stayed up late to provide a novel-length answer to a work email. We had a steady headwind with 30 mph gusts all the way up to the Wawa on Route 202. Our trip back seemed to take ten minutes. 

This time, I had my camera, and I used it. The first time was on Cider Mill Road as we headed north.

The second time was on Higginsville on our way back.

The grass was bending in the wind, which is impossible to discern from this photo.

Update: Rickety sent me a video of the wind in the grass! Thanks, Rickety!

Not thrilled with the ride options for Sunday, at 7:00 p.m. I listed a recovery ride. I chose one of Our Jeff's Friday routes, one that I had missed, but that, a week later, in Jeff's absence, Martin led. I named the ride, "Laura's Martin's Jeffless Friday on Sunday." Pete said he was in, but, due to yet another Club Express software glitch, he had trouble registering. I had no other takers.

He rode from his house to mine. We went back up to Twin Pines Federal City in case there were others who couldn't sign in. The parking lot was empty.

Today was warmer, with a light breeze. My legs started off tired but got better as the ride went on. Still, I told him that I might ditch the New Road climb.

Pete rides these roads a lot by himself on weekdays. He knew that the sheepdogs guarding the flock on Baybeerry would scamper to the fence the minute they saw us. I was hoping for a shot of them sitting on the mound of dirt above the sheep, but they saw us before we even slowed down. They ran over to bark, tails wagging.

The dirt mound is that brown blob in the top center of the photo. The sheep are hidden in the grass in front of the mound.

On Stony Brook, we came across another Free Wheeler on a solo ride. He joined us for the climb, then went straight when we turned onto Snydertown. There were a lot of solo riders on the mountain this morning.

We did do the New Road climb. Pete waited for me at the top. "That's what Tom calls a 'rude hill,'" I said as I rolled up. "It gets incrimentally steeper." I've been up it enough recently to remember that when I see the sign that reads, "Lower Back Acres," I'm near the end of the climb.

I hadn't planned a rest stop for such a short ride, but when Pete suggested Terra Momo, I was all in. He went home from there. I let the cortado caffeine push me the final 6 miles.