Well, wouldn't you lead off with that pic if you had it? Especially considering what's about to come next.
My mother died earlier this week.
Now, we didn't have a relationship of the type depicted in Hallmark movies, and, while I'm not going to rub anybody's nose in that, I'm not going to do anything to deny it, either. So it's been a difficult few days, and the upcoming few weeks are also going to be uncomfortable.
The Excellent Wife (TEW) has noticed my condition, and suggested strongly (as a spouse can do) that I go to the Friday "Team Social Security" Princeton Free Wheeler club ride. I don't go often, because of inertia and laziness, because I don't like creating the car exhaust for the comparatively long ride to get there, because of who knows what. But I went today, knowing that the ride, and the company, would be good for me.
At the start:
Leader (and PFW President) Mike V had chosen a route of about 33 miles with 1300' of climb, and a stop at the Wawa in Clarksburg on 537.
And while there was a certain amount of faster riders going off the front and the others falling behind, we stayed together better than I thought we would have.
And riding with people I knew and liked (and some I don't know well) had the expected and desired effect: by the time we got to the stop, my mood had brightened, and my focus was improved.
As we'd started, Mike V told me that his mother was in poor condition, too, and after the stop, he asked me to keep the ride together if he had to go off; he'd apparently got a call from a family member, but didn't know details. He wasn't at the start when the last of us rolled in. My thoughts and good wishes are with him.
I'm grateful to have this club.
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