A memorable Memorial Day.

"The new Indiana Jones movie opened this weekend. Indy's not much of a treasure hunter anymore. In the new movie, he goes out to his mailbox to look for his stimulus check."
- David Letterman

I know you’re dying to know, so the official mileage count from Monday’s bike ride was 76 miles. To put it in perspective (if that’s possible) it’s roughly the distance between Columbus and Dayton, Ohio or from Baltimore, Maryland to Wilmington, Delaware. Of course, that means I’d be stuck in Dayton or Wilmington, which would make the return trip both agonizing and necessary.

I know you already think I’m a little nutty, so I don’t feel the need to explain. I suppose misery loves company, as do bike riders. We had a 5-man group pushing and pulling each other along. It was a nice ride through some of southern New Jersey’s farmland, most of which is downwind from the nuclear plant. It was my longest ride of the season, and the first in some warm weather. The temperature got into the low 80s and even with a liberal dousing of sunscreen, I still wound up with some patchy sunburn which I can’t be sure is from the sun or the radiation.

We don’t ride continuously, as though that makes any more sense to you. We work in a few little stops along the way to discuss the route and make plans, with one lengthy stop in the little town of Quinton (near Salem) to re-load the water bottles and allow our joints to stiffen. We left at 8:45am and arrived back at the starting point a little after 1:00pm. By my clock, the average speed was 18.6mph. Not bad for a bunch of old guys (minus 1) riding around in a circle.

Needless to say, I’m not riding today. I’m still standing, so I have that going for me, which is nice.