"Official" BIYF 2016-2017 thread

1/24 History Ride
2:01 https://www.strava.com/activities/843424947

My area is one of the oldest in Edison, with settlers first cutting gnarly singletrack here around 1666. As they croaked they were planted nearby in this burial ground which dates to 1693 or older. St. James Church was founded in 1704, built on the site in 1724, and destroyed by tornado 111 years later. They reclaimed what materials they could and rebuilt it (1835) and it really is impressive, especially inside where the oldness oozes from every corner.

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So in keeping with the Revolutionary theme, in May 1777 a group of disgruntled MTBers attacked the British here as they were using the church as a barracks and hospital. Citing a blurry ordinance from the 1600's, apparently the British felt that horses and hikers only should use the Post Road (now Woodbridge Ave.) running directly in front. A fierce battle ensued, where the rebels drove the British to Metuchen, in what would be another victory for MUT and a part of the British retreat from NJ, completed several months later.

John Morris and Gershom Martin fought against the hoity toity bike-haters and are remembered onsite of the end of that battle, 4 miles away, on the site of the old Metuchen Meeting House (and cemetery.)

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God Bless the Bonus, God Bless my Bike, and God Bless America!
 
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w_b said:
1/24 History Ride
2:01 https://www.strava.com/activities/843424947

My area is one of the oldest in Edison, with settlers first cutting gnarly singletrack here around 1666. As they croaked they were planted nearby in this burial ground which dates to 1693 or older. St. James Church was founded in 1704, built on the site in 1724, and destroyed by tornado 111 years later. They reclaimed what materials they could and rebuilt it (1835) and it really is impressive, especially inside where the oldness oozes from every corner.

God Bless the Bonus, God Bless my Bike, and God Bless America!
Click to expand...

All true, Warren. I was there.

Btw, the girl, who I took to the HS junior prom, cleaned up the cemetery adjacent to St. James as some sort of project in HS.
 
1/25 - AAAAaaaannnd we're back

Took 4 days off. 2 expected, 2 unexpected due to a stomach bug that made its rounds through our house. Good Times. On a positive note, the laundry is smelling fresh, the house is spic and span and my hands are dry AF.

Now its time to get back to it...

Morning ride: 1:00:56
I took a little spin before work today. Kinda stoked about my new to me compact crankset. Wanted to see how they felt. Verdict - the felt like cranks.

Lunch ride: 1:07:13
Headed for some climby roads today to see if my compact crank dreams would come true. Last week Kev and I were chat'n about Pleasant Valley Rd and he mentioned it's a pretty solid climb in that area heading east. So with a 10mph wind out of the west, I decided to give it a go. Ran my route past Kev and he gave me a few pointers and alternate routes to hide from the wind on the way out to the PV climb.

I'm loving my new work location right now. I warm up with Poor Farm rd, Bomb Woodens to the bottom of Pleasant Valley, climb then bomb and then make my way over to Woosamonsa climb to wrap up the ride. This area make for some quality lunch rides.
 
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1/25

Beautiful day to get a really long ride in, wifey was out with a friend hiking all day, and I had to wait around for a guy to repair our front stairs, railing and some other exterior odd jobs. He wasn't done until 3:30 - so back to the pre-retirement days of riding during rush hour. Lots of traffic getting to the sourlands but I was rewarded with a spectacular flock of black birds on the south side of Lindbergh. They were everywhere - got a pic as they were taking off en masse:

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2:16

https://www.strava.com/activities/844365636

Looks like I'll finally get back on the mountain bike and get to new parks tomorrow
 
1/25/2017: Rode the road today. Went hunting for history. Found some things. I learned that an apartment complex in my town was once upon a time the High School. I didn't take a picture of that. I only took a couple pics of historical stuff from neighboring Mahwah, NJ. The Brake Shoe Foundary isn't very picture worthy itself, I think it was Self-Storage and warehouses now. I'll try to do better to solidify this BONUS this week. Pics and links to information below if you care.

Moving time: 1:35:07

Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/843995336

Pics:
http://mahwahmuseum.org/the-old-station-museum/
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http://mahwahmuseum.org/tag/american-brake-shoe-company/
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