deconstructed christmas harmonies

 In previous years, I've posted links to videos of Dodie doing Christmas songs in a minor key. I love them. But it appears she's moved on to other stuff.

But, as if solely to assuage my grief, the internet has come to my rescue. In my thoughtless internet ramblings, I've come across Mary Ann Muglia, a singer and arranger. She arranges Christmas songs, and songs from the Great American Songbook, in wonderful close harmonies of a type that's somewhat out-of-style. They're wonderful, nonetheless.

But better than that: she also posts "harmony breakdowns", where she sings the accompaniment parts first, allowing you to guess where the actual key is going to be. I can't usually get it on the first part, but I can usually get it by halfway through the second. 

I'm pretty sure I'm not making any sense. Here are a couple of examples:

I love them. You will, too.

dfl. better than dnf, I guess

 

Above: Free Wheelers point out one of the "Four Ft Clearance" signs posted at a location suggested by the club. Pic by Martin G.

Laura OLPH listed a ride that was gonna be 35 miles for yesterday, which is about the mileage I want to do these days. I haven't been riding with her and the Hill Slugs, because I haven't been able to keep up with them for the full distance (and they generally go longer than I want to). But because of the shorter distance, even with the hills she likes to do*, I figured I'd tag along for this one.

*I used to be pretty good on a hill, too.

I didn't connect that she was shortening the ride because of the low temps. Holy bananas; it was 28°F (about -2°C) when I left the house, and not much warmer when I parked and started unpacking the car. Peter G has a "Shackleton Index", named for the polar explorer who saved his crew after his ship sank. The Shackleton Index compares how much clothing you have to put on, and how much preparation for the cold weather you have to do, with how long you're going to be able to ride and what you'll get out of it, to derive a value for whether it's actually worth going out for a ride on a cold day. (No, it's not exact, and there's not an actual formula, and yes, individuals will have varying values. Use you imagination, for heavens sake.)

We were nine. Some of us at the start:

 You can see the route on the ride page. Laura thought that the only hill worth mentioning was what she called "the slog on Woodsville Road". There were definitely more hills than that (going up Snydertown, for example). I did pretty well on the hills in the beginning.

As noted at top, we found one of the 4-foot clearance signs at a location suggested by the club. Martin G took the picture at top, and the one below:

Despite the shortness of the ride, we decided to do a quick stop (or what passes for a quick stop in this crew) at Boro Bean:

After the stop, though, I started to wear out. The hills got to me (even the long, slow climb - the kind I usually like - at 518 in Hopewell to Crusher Road), and there was a wind on which I had not counted. I fell back further and further, along with one of the other riders. Laura is always good about having the group wait for stragglers... but nobody likes to be the one holding up the group.

So, dfl. Better than dnf, I guess... And I did get out and do the ride. But I think I'm goin' for shorter, flatter stuff for now. Maybe I'll be in better shape for next summer.

weekend off-road rides

 Above: the author, looking better than I ought. Thanks to Martin G for the photo.

 I have not posted often about rides this fall, mostly because I haven't gone on group rides, and my solo rides don't generally include anything interesting (even to me). 

When it gets this cold, we generally stay off the roads, and ride paths and trails to avoid the wind. (Sometimes, the wind-avoidance is successful.) I got invited on two such rides this Thanksgiving weekend. The first was a ride around the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail, led by Tom H. 

 That's not all of the folks who came; we were ten or eleven. The LHT is one of our regular winter rides, although we tend to do it only once per season (or maybe that's just the frequency that I go along). Our path wends through paved trail, clay-surface trail, along local streets, through parking lots and parks, and even through a private school. 

This crew had riders at a range of abilities. Some went off at their own pace; others slowed to ensure that nobody rode alone (partly because the LHT is not ideally marked, and it's easy to get lost). We swapped off on the riding-in-the-back duties.

We left from the Maidenhead Meadows lot (which was PACKED! Evidently, a number of folks had the idea of hiking or running part of the trail on this Thanksgiving Friday). Early in our route, we came upon a boardwalk, of considerable length (and apparently, newly-finished), over some wetlands along the route:

 The surface makes for a pleasant ride, and it protects the fragile surface below. There are other wooden bridges at other points along the route, but nothing as long as this.

 You can see our route on the ride page.

 

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While we were on that ride (apparently), Laura OLPH apparently got the idea to do a D&R canal towpath ride from Washington's Crossing up to Lumberville and back. She sent out feelers later in the day to gauge interest, and there was enough to run the ride (we had five).

At the start:

 This is a simpler out-and-back route (although we did vary a couple of short sections on the way back, as you can see from the ride page). It felt much colder to me than the previous day (but I also find that, after about six or seven miles, I begin to acclimate to the temperatures). 

Some of our number stopped at the Prallsville Mills.

 I'd misread the planned length of the trip, and was grateful when we got to the store at Lumberton.

On the way back, crossing the bridge, we saw a huge flag. Martin G thought to stop for pictures, and I decided he had a good idea.

 Also on the way back, we found this abandoned railroad car, apparently a favorite stop for the local taggers.

 Martin G got this one, with my back in the foreground:

 And to end, one more from Martin G. I don't post pictures of myself in this blog, but when Martin gets these shots, I make a point of including them.

 Thanks, Martin.

another option ride

 It's been a while since I posted about a ride. It's been a while since I did a group ride.

 As I've posted, I haven't either the strength nor the stamina I once did, and while I might be able to get back to that, I'm not sure I'm willing to put in the single-minded focus to get back to that level - I feel like I might have to give up other things that have become important to me. So while my usual crew were planning forty-plus miles with 2300' of climb* at a pace where I was sure I'd be dragging back the group (if I could keep up at all), I found there was another ride with the club that was going a little less distance, with less climb. And folks I like were going along. 

*I used to be a good climber. I still am, sometimes. But I don't love the hills the way I once did. (And I'm not good at descents.) 

So at stupid:30 this morning, I registered, and showed up at the start. It's close enough that I could have ridden from home, but I over-exerted on a project in the garage yesterday, and decided to allow myself a break. I drove in, stopping for a couple of bagels (carbs for the ride, doncha know).

And I had a great time with these folks. You can see the route and my performance on the ride page. It happens that much of this ride went on roads through the neighborhood we moved to a couple of years ago, so these roads are now on my regular solo training routes (this is a new experience for me; I've been riding in the Sourlands for years, and I'm still lost up there most of the time). 

We had riders at a range of experience. For much of the way, I chose to stay in the back with the slower folks, and helped to make sure the group didn't split up too badly. Except for two who chose to go off the front, we kept together at turns, and when there were the occasional requested stops, we went only when everybody was ready. 

Jeff P showed off his new wooden bike:

 It's laminated cherry, with a ZIPP wheelset, a one-by drivetrain, and the Wheeltop electronic shifters. He put on cable caliper brakes, making the sensible argument that he's been riding bikes with caliper brakes for decades and there's no reason to change now. (Of course, I would find this sensible; my road bike, the Yellow Maserati, sports caliper brakes, and bar-end friction shifters.)

At about 25 miles, we turned west on Federal Road, and started about six miles of straight-into-the-wind, which had picked up out of nowhere; it had not been windy previously. We traded pulls, and at one of the stops, a rider pointed out that the tops of the trees didn't seem to be moving... it was as if the headwind were ginned up only on the road surface itself, solely for our consternation. 

It goes that way sometimes.

 

yes, it's classist...

 I know classical music is classist... but I have loved it for years, and I'm not giving it up.

born to run 50th anniversary ride

Above, PFW members in front of the house where Bruce Springsteen spent his pre-teen years.

Every now and then, the club does a specialty ride of some kind. There's a regular repeat of a century to the shore and back, in memory of the late Don Sprague, who led that route for years. We had a ride that included stops and lectures of historical sites in Mercer County, including the Pole Farm and sites on Washington's march to Trenton. (I've been hinting for a member who has special knowledge of Trenton and the D&R canal in that area to lead a ride-with-talks, but the hint has so far not been taken up.)

Club President Mike V has led rides before that have included passing sites significant to Bruce Springsteen. This year, the fiftieth anniversary of the release of the "Born To Run" album, he listed a ride passing by the sites of three houses where Springsteen spent his boyhood. ("Three houses" implies more grandeur than is appropriate; in each case, Springsteen's family occupied half of the house, or less, and one of the houses was condemned and razed, and the land is now part of a parking lot.)

 We had nineteen registered, seventeen of whom showed up at the start (the Excellent Wife [TEW] met us along the route; another did not appear at all, doubtless due to the demands of real life). Despite the range of abilities, we stayed together well for the first part of the ride, up to the sites in question (all in Freehold). 

At the first house:

 

Below: Mike talking in the site of the second house, now the parking lot of St Rose of Lima church. We had to disperse quickly when mass let out.

 Free Wheelers blocking traffic outside the third house:

 Then it was time to get some miles in. We made a stop at the Freehold location of Broad Street Dough Co, a source for designer doughnuts. Riders were VERY impressed; so much so, that as I now live in a location where I might conveniently lead a ride to that stop, that strong hints were dropped that I might lead a ride with that as the stop, as I do to that Italian bakery in Raritan (although one rider opined that I might start the ride there, allowing a pre-ride doughnut, and end it there, allowing for him to bring home a supply),

I don't know. If he had them in the car, and had, say, a forty-minute ride home, how many would you suppose would survive the car trip?

In any case, I'm beginning to plot a route. 

It was a delightful day; the weather, the occasion, and the company all cooperated. I ope to have a similar experience again. Do any members have any good ideas?