The bike just kept calling my name

I got my car taken care of during the morning. I dropped the car off at the tow company and I got it back by noon. In the end it was a pretty simple job even though it looked pretty bad when the driver hooked up and I saw the bumper move. I have had the car for 8 years and I have 94,000 miles on it so it has some wear and tear. So a couple extra scratches is not going to matter.

So far my vacation has been spent riding the Langster and Thursday was no different even though I was planning on taking a day off from riding and go to the gym. The bike just kept calling my name and I kept watching the weather to see if there might be an opportunity to get out. Around 4 PM I took a chance and I started getting everything together.

Since I knew a big storm was on the way (it just hit Holmdel just as I started to write this) I decided I would stay in the area. I also decided I would try out some of the roads in the two nearby towns of Marlboro and Colts Neck. As I was riding down the Holmdel Road hill I noticed another rider making a turn to go over to Marlboro so I made the same turn and I caught up with him at the Rt 34 light. The rider told me he was part of the group that I noticed at Holmdel Park on Tuesday. It is an informal group that meets every Tuesday and Thursday in Holmdel Park at 6 PM.

We road together for a little bit and then the rider turned around to head back to Holmdel. I decided to continue on and head down into Colts Neck. As the name suggests Colts Neck is horse country. It should be a great place to ride since the roads are long and wind past large horse farms and houses on large pieces of property.

I did not get far into Colts Neck on this ride since I was planning on swinging by Holmdel Park to see what the group was like. I rode along the Marlboro Hospital property and then crossed over Newman Springs Road (RT 520) into Colts Neck. I made a left hand turn onto a road that runs parallel to RT 520 and started to head east back to Holmdel.

As I was riding I noticed two deer on the front lawn of a home. One was a doe and the other was a young fawn. I decided I was going to take a picture. Usually it is hard to get a shot of the deer since they usually run as soon as they see me. Even though I fumbled with the camera I was still able to get a shot. The two deer did not even make an attempt to run and I noticed that the doe had a badly mangled left front leg. Even though we have a large deer population it still made me feel bad. Probably because there was not much that I could do. As I was taking the picture the deer moved from the lawn to the wooded area behind the house. I watched them both for a few more minutes. Since there was nothing I could do so I continued on my way.

I got to Holmdel Park just before 6 PM and there were two more riders taking to the gentleman that I had met earlier. I was introduced to everyone but I am not very good with names. Since the weather was now worse than it had been when I left at 4 PM the group decided to go over the Lucent property and run laps. Since I had already rode further than I had planned on I was going to go home. However, I decided I would at least head over and take some pictures.

The plan was ride the loop and then sprint for a 1/4 mile on each lap. We took a couple of laps and then broke up into two groups. However, just as we were making the final warm up lap it started to rain and I decided to peel off and head home. I got back to the house just before it started to turn from a light spinkle to a moderate rain.

Either I am getting old or cycling uses up a lot of energy. I started to do some laundry and I was laying on the couch watching TV around 8 PM. I fell asleep before the end of My Name is Earl and the next thing I know Jay Leno is coming on (after a delay for Wimbleton highlights).

I decided that I need to get as many rides in as I can since next week I will be back working (and commuting) and I will be lucky if I get two or three 1 hour rides in during the week. I may even have to settle for just taking long rides on Saturday and Sundays. I am thinking of riding with the Jersey Shore Touring Society on Sunday morning. I am not sure I am cut out for group rides but I am going to give it a try.