chefisaac

I normally turn off my TV when I type these things because if I don’t, I end up with weird stuff that has been typed that, if I later remember, it was said by the TV…. Not stuff I was thinking!

But I couldn’t help watching the news and all the crazy interviews that are done about Black Friday. Apparently, a lady hit another lady with a cast iron pot. Someone else at Target pushed a police officer to get to the sale on the TV. Wow. And the people they interviewed that said “traffic was terrible” and “people were so rude to me and my kids” and “the long lines, I had to wait five hours” and “A lady in front of me pushed my daughter” and someone, which was funny, said “I hate Black Friday” as a tear came down her eyes.

I wouldn’t know what the hell they were talking about. When you decide to ride your bike… everything seems to disappear. I didn’t notice the traffic (we were on side roads), I didn’t notice the long lines (for what? A drink of water at a fountain?), and for goodness sake, no one hit us with a cast iron pan! Thank goodness for that!

The shopping I don’t care about (except at the bike shop thank you very much) so it was a perfect day to ride. Met Jim in Middletown and off to do the “Black Friday Beach Rides”. Thank goodness for that too! I need to work on my tan!

As we were heading out of town, we HAD to stop at Helens and get a sausage sandwich. Can’t tell ya what’s on it or how they prepare it because… well… it’s not the healthiest thing in the world. But Helens is an iconic hole in the wall in Delaware and if it’s true, I had to try it (yes again… if you recall I did go last week but they were out of the sausage sandwich so I needed a dueover!). Thanks for getting me one Jim!

We drove the somewhat long (and scenic and relaxed) ride to our first destination which was Cape Henlopen State Park. This park is amazing with all of its roads, bike paths, piers, and, to be frank, its secludedness (not sure if that’s a word and yes, I probably misspelled it) from everyone (ya… those people fighting the traffic and the long lines).

See, today’s ride is a two part ride. Two different beaches… two different sceneries. This will be great.

Anyway… back to Cape Henlopen. We parked at a fishing pier and I decided to roll onto it and take a look. Met a neat fisherman that had a bucket of Stone Crabs that he uses to for fishing bait and I also got to snap some pictures of a light house. I was thinking how cool it would be to do a ride that was tailored around looking at tons of light houses.

We rode into the town and marina of Lewis and saw an old museum. We also got to take a look at the ferry docking area and watch a fairy come in. The day was so clear that you could see NJ from across the water. Wow. We also got to see Fort Miles which was amazing. They had old guns on showcase. We also got to see the bunkers they used and the area where they kept all their weapons. So rich in history.

After about 20 miles, it was time to head back to the starting point so we did.
It was getting so hot outside. When we met in Middletown it was about 45 degrees or so and I was going to start off with the underarmer pants and shirt but I shed the pants before we left. Was going to be too hot. A good rule of thumb to winter riding is that when you leave your house to go outside, you should feel the cold and it should chill you. They say you need to resist the urge to put more layers on. This is a good rule of thumb. It sucks getting hot on a bike. After we loaded up at the first part of the ride, it was time to take my underarmer shirt layer off too. Wow. Now it was what I was wearing when it was summer…. Helmet, gloves, bibs and cycling jersey. I love summer like weather (minus the humidity).

Next up… Rehobeth Beach! We parked behind Jim’s friends house which was out of the way of all the traffic. Jim took me down to the Rehobeth Boardwalk and we bobbed and weaved around the people (not too many really) and looked around. This reminded me of the Oregon Coast but the water at Rehobeth was much more blue and I bet (I heard at least) it’s much warmer then the Oregon Coast as well. They shops were neat to look at and I felt my head was spinning. One second I was looking left at the shops… the next second my head was to the right looking at the beach. Amazing sites.

We rode around to look at more sites and then on the way back, we ducked into a private neighborhood to look at the houses. These were big houses…. Many windows, many stories….must cost a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

On the way back, we crossed a highway that had a mall on the street. Yikes… it DID look busy. Glad I was on my bike!

This ride was great because it took a busy day, Black Friday, and made it a calm relaxing day. Thank goodness no one hit us with a cast iron pan!

(fyi: when we ended out ride, it was 70 degrees out….and its NOVEMBER).