second birthday ride

 

Above, Tony G makes obeisance to the god of the Dead Tree Run Bridge for sparing him from injury this time. He has not always been so lucky.

So yesterday was my actual birthday, and I went on a ride that Tom H led. That was my first birthday ride (for 2023, at any rate).

But I've been leading rides on Sundays for years, and I wanted to have this one be a birthday ride, because the route would be only a few kilometers short of the ride-your-age-in-kilometers custom that a number of cyclists follow, and because I'm the one leading this ride. So today's was my second birthday ride.

I limited the number to fifteen, and the ride got filled, and then I got a call from a particular friend, and I heard his complaint and raised the limit to sixteen. And I registered him myself, to reduce the risk of someone sneaking in between my raising the limit and his registration.

At the start:

I'd adjusted one of my usual routes, one on which we'd stopped at Thomas Sweet in Montgomery (now closing or closed for coffee) to go to the Sweet Gourmet in Rocky Hill. We had great weather, and, while I'm tired as I write this, I was strong again today. Some of that, I think, can be ascribed to less wind; some more to a better breakfast for a cycling day.

As is common on my rides, we got riders of various abilities; some rode ahead and waited, while the rest of us maintained a sensible pace. Hrmph.

Wt the Sweet Gourmet, I pulled on the door, to find it locked. Closed on Sunday? But I'd dropped in during the week to be sure they were open!

No, you idiot; that's the tailor shop next door. Sweet Gourmet is definitely open on Sundays.

Above, Tony G's French bike. Tony on a French bike? Not Italian? Yeah, well, he'd tried to improve things with Vittoria Tire stickers, but I don't think it worked.

On the way back, we came across the bridge at Dead Tree Run, where Tony had had a crash last July; the picture at top shows him being humble in the face of power, or something.

At the end, Jen and Mark gave me a plant for my birthday. I'd hoped to carry it, pot and all, in the bar bag of my bike...

... but on the way home, an SUV and I had a dispute about which part of the road I was to be on, and in the roughness, the plant jumped out, ruining the pot. I got the plant home anyway, and transplanted it into an old coffee mug. Jen, it's at home and happy now, and thanks.

I don't generally post pictures of myself in cycling gear on these blogs, but other people take 'em sometimes. I got this from Martin G today:

Not bad-lookin', for such an old guy.