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......