Avoiding the Chaos

Assunpink Creek at the East Picnic Area, Mercer County Park 

4 July 2019

I missed the Spring Fling and the Memorial Day All-Paces rides. As a Freewheeler in good standing, I ought to have gone to the Fourth of July All-Paces. I didn't, mostly.

Tom convinced me that the day was going to be too hot to start as late as 9:00 a.m., and besides, we'd get back in time for me to swing by the ice rink parking lot and catch people as they came back. This made some kind of sense to me, even though hanging around waiting for the crowds would have me in an asphalt parking lot at high noon.

So I got Kermit ready and left the house at 7:20 a.m.

It was already humid; it was almost hot. I took the bike path through the park to the picnic area, stopping for pictures of the Assunpink Creek from the wooden bridge.

I'd been relatively dry until I stopped. I pulled into the pavilion dripping with sweat. Tom and Ricky were sitting in the shade there, waiting for me and for Bob, who drove in a few minutes later.

Tom had a 50-mile route planned. We'd go down to Cassville. Knowing it was a holiday, he had four places in mind where we could stop. If all of those failed, we'd make our way to a Wawa.

His first choice was the antique store on Route 528. There was no way that place would be open, I told him. I was right. He figured that the bar across the street might be open, or the little doughnut shop on the other side of the defunct general store. Nope.

There was a tiny strip mall up the road, with a little deli in it. That was Tom's fourth choice. It was open. We got there as the shift was changing. A friendly woman rang us up; a friendly man took our trash and led us to the bathroom in the back. The place is called Mr. T's Family Deli. It's on Cassville Road. From our perch on the sidewalk by the parking lot, we could see the golden steeple of Saint Vladimir church above the trees a quarter mile to the north.

We went northeast from there, and for a handful of miles I had no idea where we were, although I'm sure I must have been there a bunch of times before. Tom assured me I'd recognize things in a minute, and when we got to Eltone Road near Eli Harmony my memory clicked back in.

In Cream Ridge, Bob had a flat. We waited in the shade, across from the vineyards of Working Dog Winery.

Tom got us back to Windsor Road and left us there. I turned towards the main entrance of the park as Ricky and Bob went straight towards the East Picnic Area. When I got close enough to see the skating rink parking lot I saw a bobble of helmets, to I turned in. It had just gone noon.

The faster rides had already returned and dispersed. Plain Jim, who led a C+ ride, was still there with TEW. I got to see Statler and Waldorf, which is always a pleasure, and I chatted with George D about rowing and his upcoming Anchor House ride that starts in the Finger Lakes. I saw Ira and Sue, which was great, because I haven't seen them since glassblowing swallowed me whole and I quit the Board of Trustees. Ken G had ridden in too, but his route home was in the opposite direction.

I was soaked and nearly out of water when I got home, with 64 miles under my belt.