Outside in January

 

Hollow Road at Long Hill Road

15 January 2023

I wasn't planning on writing a post right now, but I had to do some computer work for my day job, and Mojo has been sacked out on my lap since halfway through that. So here we are, blogging.

Tom invited the Insane Bike Posse and their partners over to his house yesterday to do a 5-ish mile walk along the golf course there. I couldn't convince Jack to join the crowd.

It was cold, windy, and dreary, a good day not to be on our bikes. The course closes in the winter. That's when regular people are permitted to walk on the golf cart path.

I hadn't seen some of these folks since last summer, and one since before the pandemic. The walk was easy, although my legs were tired by the end of it. I was wearing my hiking boots not because I needed them, but because they're the only thing that keeps my feet warm. I think they contributed to my discomfort at the end. This was not at all hiking boot terrain. I'd have felt better in sneakers with toe warmers. 

Blindly following Tom, we looped around and went inside the clubhouse twice. The second time through, we went out onto a balcony, where I took photos of a barren, winter clubhouse landscape.

When I stopped for a photo of the golf course on our second loop, Tom said this is where he stops for photos too.

After the hike, Tom and Lori filled us with salty snacks, pizza, and sugar. It was a fun day. 

Because I hadn't led a bike ride for a month, I listed one for Sunday. It took me three tries to come up with a route that stayed relatively short and scenic, but wouldn't be more hilly than a cold day in January would warrant.

I hadn't counted on the forecast adding 20-mph wind gusts out of the north at the last minute. Into this headwind I went with Miss Piggy, leaving home much earlier than usual, figuring it would take me forever to get up to Pennington in this weather. I really didn't want to leave the house. It was barely above freezing. On my way up, I considered ditching the planned route for a shorter one.

The six hearty souls who showed up -- Pete G, Racer Pete, Martin, Blob, Heddy, and Glenn -- were a good group to climb into the wind with. We stayed together so well that there was very little waiting at intersections. 

Our biggest climb was up Hollow Road from Route 518. We stopped to collect ourselves at the top. The bridge on Long Hill is still out. From where we were, we couldn't tell if any more work has been done since the fall. I took a picture of the sky, which was that perfect, deep blue we only get on crisp, dry days. 

Then we moved on, climbing up the rest of Long Hill.

We meandered towards Hopewell, stopping at Boro Bean. Fortunately, it was empty enough that we found tables inside. Also, it was cold enough that I hadn't sweated enough to get chilly during the rest stop. 

On our way back to Pennington, we finally had some tailwinds. We got pushed up Carter Road, which was nice, but then I was a bitch and led the group back down Crusher. Then we had a crosswind on Moores Mill Mount Rose, and a tailwind down Pennington-Rocky Hill. 

After the ride, Martin, Racer Pete, and I rode back down towards Lawrenceville together. We had a tailwind here too.

I'd listed the ride as a B ride, but in the description made it clear that we'd be going at a C+ pace in the hills. The ride only pushed into B territory towards the end. Every other flat spot we'd had was into the wind. Everyone was a good sport about it, though. I think the sun being out had something to do with that. If today had been cloudy, it would have truly sucked.

Well, Mojo has gone off to do more interesting things. There are no more emergency work tasks to be done. I'm signing off.