100 miles...and then some

The Princeton Freewheelers put on an organized bike ride annually that I have been doing for probably 18 of the past 20 years. They lay out routes of varying miles, anywhere from 16 to a century in the country-side around Princeton. I started thinking about the century almost as soon as I could get back on the bike last December and yesterday was the day... I am not typically an early riser but I was up at 5:45 and out of the house by 6:30. I've done enough riding this summer that I felt confident that I could finish but was not at all sure what my time might be and wanted an early start. The ride attracts about 2500 riders from all over the area and I was hoping that I would see some early registrants to ride with but not a soul did I know in the early crowd (I did later run into a couple of Anchor House folks at the SAGs). Much as they start every year at the same site the routes seemed to me to be almost completely re-designed - some familiar roads but lots of different ways to get from here to there and lots of different territory. They took us through all the farmlands of Mercer and Burlington counties, then off into the Pine Barrens, around a beautiful lake, Mirror Lake, that I had never heard of and finally through Turkey Swamp park and back to Point A. I had one flat but otherwise no mishaps - although I did just avoid a guy who went down in front of me (the cue sheet said CAUTION, he took a sharp right turn at 20+mph and hit gravel: lots of road rash). Even though I found nobody I knew to ride with there are many singles and groups and it's the kind of ride where it is easy to hook onto a group for awhile or simply ride a comfortable pace and keep other riders in sight. Wandering through the farms and occasional towns and developments, my memory went back to the cross-country, of course (is there a day even a year later that I don't have at least a brief thought of that adventure?). I kept thinking maybe Tom was just behind me or maybe the little group just ahead of me was Champ and Hank or maybe the Daltons.... Bottom line, it was a great ride. The weather was perfect: mid 80s, lots of white, puffy clouds just like the midwest, just enough of a breeze to keep the humidity down without bringing back reminders of Dalhart. And I did 101 miles in 5 hours/54 minutes and an average speed of 17 mph, much better than I expected. The entire ride was 107 miles and with SAG stops, fixing the flat, and attending to the wounded warrior on the road it took just under 7 hours. Life is good......

Tip to Tip

As it turns out the "official" name for the top to bottom ride in England is Tip to Tip. It starts at Lands End in the south and proceeds north the top of Scotland. The boys (Tom and Peter) will be leaving tomorrow night, flying through the night, and presumably meeting with Harry (and the mysterious but we now know beautiful Carole as well ?) on Thursday. I had expected Tom to be involved in last minute details and was ten miles into a ride when my cell phone went off and it was Tom looking for one last bit of training before crossing the pond. I found him with his bike suitcase packed and ready and he pulled out his backup and we were off again. He, of course, talked of nothing but his packing, how he has organized everything - I even learned of the almost infinite variety of plastic baggies he has found for the trip. I suggested at one point that he seemed to be packing for a trip to the edge of the civilized world with all that he is bringing along. And in between we chose a good mix of rolling hills and flats where he could occasionally shoot out ahead and test his abilities to keep up with a couple of strong riders - it was fun trying to pull him back in (for my own satisfaction) but he is in good shape and the three of them should have a good couple of weeks. For my own part I'm doing a century on Saturday, my first since the accident and my first organized ride since last year. It is sponsored by the Princeton bike club and is an annual event that I have done for years. This year will be a little more special because I'm seeing it as a kind of "I'm back" statement and a test of all the rehab and riding I've done over the past 12 months or so. Plus the event attracts about 2,000 riders for a variety of distances and is just a fun day - the weather forecast is good and I'm looking forward to it.