For weeks, The Excellent Wife (TEW) and I have been chatting about doing the Sourland Spectacular.
On one side, it's just the kind of cycling event I like: LOTS of people come out*; it supports a cause that's both local and credible; it's close to home; it's not too expensive (and while they would be grateful for fundraising, they don't require it).
(*For some of my associates, the fact that lots of people come out is a detractor. They say it's because a huge ride like this, with so many people whose riding styles you can't predict, is dangerous. I don't deny that, but I suspect that a certain amount of "I'd really rather just be with friends" and "too many people overwhelm me" flavors are also in the mélange.)
But then there are all those hills. And there's no guarantee that the weather will cooperate. Last year, the weather did NOT cooperate.
This year, however, predictions were for a good day. A week or so before the event, emails started going around among my usual riding associates; one suggested doing the metric century (100km; the route was 63-plus miles, over the hilly terrain of the Sourlands); another suggested the 42-mile ride, and that was what they agreed on. As the week progressed, I decided to go along with 'em.
During the week, I had lunch with another regular rider of about my age, and the topic came up. He expressed surprise that I had agreed to the 42-mile ride, when a 28-mile alternative was also on offer. "Don't you know you're going up Poor Farm?", he said, mentioning a hill where some strong riders have gotten off and walked the last bit of the climb. "And Goat Hill?", which is a climb not demanding for the steepness, but for the length.
I'd decided to do it, though, and arranged to be at the start to meet the guys. TEW came along, too - she'd do the 28-mile route, which was more demanding that the rides she usually does, but she decided (and I agreed) that she didn't have to impress anybody, and if a hill was too steep, she'd just join the others who were walking.
There were others at the ride from my club, the Princeton Free Wheelers.
I did pretty well, especially for a septuagenarian. The ride page shows I finished with an average of 13.3mph. I mostly kept up with the guys I rode with, and we all had a good time slandering the younger, lighter folks that whipped by us fairly regularly.
I DID have a bit of a scare, though. I'm not a great descender, and somehow, I got out in front of the group going quickly downhill on Covered Bridge Road. That takes a few tight turns just before Lower Creek Road. I was trying to keep my speed up so as not to be in anybody's way, and as I came around one of the turns, I barely missed the grill of a car coming up the other way. No harm, no foul, of course... but I'm not the first of my group to have had (ahem) unpleasant experiences on a fast downhill. I would do better to get out of the way, and regulate my velocity.
Enough of that. Many thanks to the volunteers. You can do these roads on your own, of course, but having the stops and support available makes it a different experience.
One of the volunteers was kind enough to take this one of friend Bob N, me in the middle, and TEW. (Sorry, folks, it's not the best picture of any of us...)
And one of the routes is a shorter one for kids and families. I saw a family where the child on his own bike was between mom and dad (didn't get a picture), and this one of the daughter in the trailer was too good to miss.
Lunch is provided, of course, offering the opportunity for exaggerated complaints and shameless bragging. I thanked my riding companions for not having dropped me at ever opportunity (one admitted he thought I might drag behind when I first signed on, but said I'd done well on the hills).
(The Excellent Wife also completed. There's a certain amount of pride in the air about the house today.)
I keep saying I need to do more of these. Perhaps I will, next season.
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