Princeton Tour Ramble

Hmm…this has a certain deja vu feel to it, but let’s just get it out of the way, Marty Abschutz is a big fat liar too! There I said it. When he tells you there’s only one climb, don’t believe him. You can see the climb (starting about mile 15), but tell me, what are all those bumps before the climb?

Oh, yes, they’re hills!

Granted, not as big/steep as the ones yesterday but my tired thighs didn’t appreciate it … at first.

Then somewhere, just before that climb on Great and Stuart Road (on Pretty Brook Rd I guess), I got into a zen zone, where I focused on my breathing, trying to force my heart to stay calm and breath only through my nose. Then I let my legs do the work. I could feel the lactic acid build in my quads but I would drop a gear and soft pedal and lo and behold, there I was climbing to the top of the hills, breathing still controlled! It was pretty cool. Almost makes me want to go out again tomorrow to see if I finally found a strategy to help me climb.

That said, it was a great, all paces ride. Marty got the route, Princeton Tour Ramble, from a book we all bought when we were in Cape May, after the MS Coast the Coast ride, Road Biking New Jersey.

It’s a pretty ride that navigates around downtown Princeton with plenty of of places worth stopping for a photo-op. We of course couldn’t resist stopping to take pictures of the cows!