September 12-A Good Day to Ride
Finally the heat lifted and it was my kind of day in the Northeast: Cloudy with a threat of rain and temps in the high 60′s. How I love this weather. I pushed off from my front door and opened myself to whatever might come my way. As I was crossing the George Washington Bridge I caught up to a guy with an interesting rig: MB frame, drop handlebars with bar end shifters, water bottle holder on the front fork, front and rear disk brakes , and big knobby tires. As I came by his side when traffic permitted, I chatted a bit. I asked him if he set it up himself. He said it was a off the shelf Salsa Fargo. Just before we hit 9W and parted ways he added as a footnote: “you know, an adventure bike.” That’s just what I had in mind today, an adventure on the roads of Northern New Jersey and Rockland Co. Lots of bikers out today. I was looking to ride to the the top of State Line hill and then jam it back to the bridge. I was feeling good and riding a nice pace of 22-24mph, when I was passed by a rider in full Ceverlo Time Trial Kit. I shouted: “way to go!” as he passed me and jumped on his wheel. He had huge calves and pressed on over a few risers. I lost contact until he hit a light and had to slow. We had a brief chance to chat. He was a down to business Brit, who really just wanted to ride. I left him alone with my silly chatter and slotted in behind him until the bridge. As I pulled up to my house, it was just another episode of bicycle time travel where I could not recall how quickly the time passed.
