Countdown to Marysville...

Nature reclaiming what was left at the side of the road.

After thinking about it off and on for four years I'm only a few days from resuming and finally completing the cross country ride that was so rudely interrupted in 2009. The weather here has been a little crazy recently but today was gorgeous and perfect for a (probably) last ride before heading to Ohio on Saturday. I have done three different rides in the low eighties (miles, that is) the last couple of weeks but was still a little uncertain of my readiness for some of the climbing and long days. So today I headed out to the hills of Hunterdon and then decided I would extend it a bit and see how I would do with distance as well. So I lit out for Frenchtown, a pretty little town on the Delaware. To make things a little more fun there was a steady wind out the north that was in my face for the entire trip. But blue skies and low humidity made it a perfect cycling day and even with the breeze in my face cruising up highway 29 was sheer joy. My average speed at the halfway point was not too good but I found a little sandwich shop right on the water, had my sandwich and soda and contemplated the return trip with a tail wind. Long story short: I did 95 miles (I know Mark - it's not an official C), about 4300 feet of climbing and brought my average speed up to a respectable 15 mph by the time I wheeled into the driveway. I was hoping for one more day tomorrow but they are predicting another round of thunder-storms the next couple of days so I think today may be the conclusion of the training - next ride will be for real.
And the photo above? I took it a few days ago simply because I was intrigued by the idea of the natural world taking over this symbol of the machine age....It will be interesting to see when the car finally disappears into all the greenery.

And finally...We've all been there, right? Maybe in a car, certainly on a bike and for me more than once over the years. Not too often though is there an actual sign to tell you what you might only have suspected and really didn't want to admit.