spellbound ride, jim has some trouble.

 

Look, I know they're not for everybody... but I love the big, organized rides. I love seeing all the riders come out, I love seeing the variety of bikes*, I love overhearing the talk among the groups of riders who know on another (and trying to fill in the blanks about the inside jokes and unknown references they share), I love seeing the helpful volunteers. I love the booths from the bike shops and the other supporters (some are pretty unhinged; dd anybody stop at the investment team that had a booth? They seemed bored and ignored).

*Many of the bikes are very high-end, expensive bikes, with all the latest-and-greatest doodads on 'em. But there were some entry-level and midrange bikes (not everybody who comes out for this is strong, fit, and wealthy), and a few like mine: idiosyncratic bikes that suit the eccentricities of the riders. 

The Excellent Wife (TEW) had friends who were talking about doing rides associated with the Spellbound Century this year (it turned out they did not). She asked if I'd go, and I agreed; I planned to do the 47-mile ride, and she was to do the 25-mile ride.

Now, the day before, one of the garage-door openers quit. I'm an old, retired guy, so I had time... and I got another opener, and spent hours trying to get it mounted and working. It meant hours of up the ladder and down the ladder and up the ladder and down the ladder and up the ladder and down the ladder (partly because there was no conventional instruction manual; instead, there was a phone app with instructions that I found ambiguous and confusing). I woke on the day of the ride with tired legs.

 Still, off we went.

  

Above, TEW, lookin' good!

Different paces start at different times, and it's worthwhile waiting, because the local police manage the traffic for the riders until we're out of the busiest traffic in town (I'm sure drivers don't like it, but the ride supports local causes, and the police support is welcome).

I left with the riders for my distance, and went off at a pretty good clip. Despite the tired legs, I was riding well...

...until about mile fifteen, when I heard the PSHshshshsh of the air escaping my rear tire. I checked the tire, couldn't find the problem, changed the tube... and had it happen again about twenty feet later. I checked again; still couldn't find the problem in the tire. I changed the tube again (I always carry two tubes), turned a corner about 200 feet from the rest stop, and the tire went out again.

Well, between the tire problems and the tired legs, I was done; I called a sag for a ride back to the start. I had a number of offers of tubes, but I was done. 

I texted TEW, and we met after her ride.

 The tire problem I'd missed turned out to be a cut sidewall; if I'd seen it, I could have put a tire boot over it... but I didn't wee it until the next day.

But other than the tire and having sore legs, I liked this ride, and would do it again. It's blessedly flat, the support is great (pickle juice at the stops!), and we had a great day. 

 

marty's double-trolley ride

 

The Excellent Wife (TEW) spent some time leading the group on this one.

Fellow club member Marty A has a route that follows the old Trenton Trolley line in both directions, out to Conover Park and then back in. TEW liked it enough that she suggested I steal it from him, and, as he was leading the route today at a pace that both of us could manage, we decided to go along. TEW has been in such good shape that she suggested we ride from home and back, extending Marty's planned 25-ish-mile route to about 36 miles. So we did.

After some cancellations, we wound up with eleven.

 

We left from Village Park in Cranbury. With my recent health issues, I was a bit worried about the pace and distance, but I needn't have been. I swept, but there wasn't much need of that, either; despite a large range in ages, everybody kept together, and rode with courtesy and predictability.

 

The stop on this route is at the West Windsor Community Park, with a good restroom, but no place to buy drinks or snacks; you have to bring your own (which TEW and I had done).

 On the way back, got a pinch flat on a block of wood, and mystified one of my fellow riders with my tire-changing prowess. (Nothing to it, really, between having a decent technique, a tire that was stretched out from many miles of use... and using a tire brand known to be easy to change, unlike that brand starting with C that some of my fellow riders prefer*.)

When we got back to Cranbury near the park, TEW engaged her feminine wiles to woo me away from the ride, and into the clutches of Gil & Bert's Ice Cream. I am a sucker for her feminine wiles.

 ===

* Yes, they perform well on curves, but other tires do, too... and if they're so tight you can't change them on a ride, and have to call an Uber to get home, I submit they are not the best tires for the amateur rider.

supporting the revolutionary ramble

 The Morris Area Freewheelers have offered the Revolutionary Ramble, a charity ride supporting their EMS services, for decades. But clubs and volunteering are falling on hard times: their membership is down, and there are not volunteers to run the ride the was it has been in the past. They reached out to my club, the Princeton Free Wheelers*, for assistance with the event, and the club agreed, and even sent a director of the event, Emad S. 

*Yes, the Morris Area group thinks that Freewheelers is a single word, and the PFW thinks it's two words. Don't argue with me. 

The Princeton club had an Event for years that we put down a few years ago. I was one of the loudest voices calling for the PFW Event's demise, so I felt something of a responsibility to help out. I agreed to head up one of the rest stops (after all, as tough as it is, it's only a single-day commitment). Most of my crew were other PFW members.

 In an effort to get back to regular posting, I got some pics at the stop.

 

I'm way tired, but it went well. I'll plan to do it again.