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?