Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo.

TigerBlog was riding his bike yesterday afternoon when he came across an intersection where he had the right of way and a pickup truck was coming to a stop sign at a T in the road.

There were no cars coming in either direction, and TB could tell the pickup truck was ready to pull out. The only thing he couldn't tell was whether or not the driver of the truck saw that TB was pedaling towards him.

And yes, as he said, TB had the right of way. He also had a bicycle, and the pickup truck, to quote the legendary Red Foxx, would "go over the bicycle one time, with nothing left over."

This gave TB two choices: stop, or keep going and hope that the driver saw him. Then TB saw a third option.

The driver side window was down, so TigerBlog had a chance to get the driver's attention. And what did he say?

"Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo."

The driver smiled and said he saw TB and waved him on. Whether he actually saw him or not before he called out to him, TB will never know.

A few moments later, back to his peaceful ride, TB was unsure why, in a potentially life-threatening situation where he needed to get someone's attention quickly, he turned to an imitation of Pete Carril.

Maybe it's because he's seen the Hall-of-Fame former Princeton basketball coach stop conversations, yelling, disagreements, loud drills in practice - pretty much anything - by saying firmly "yo, yo, yo, yo."

But what is ingrained in TB that led him to channel Carril at that moment?

Interesting.

This was a good weekend to get out and ride, or walk, or do something outdoors. As is tradition around here, April has become one of the coldest months of the year, and it sometimes lingers into May. Then, all of the sudden, it goes from 50 degrees, windy, rainy and raw to summer, as it did Saturday, when temperatures vaulted into the mid-80s. They reached the 70s yesterday.

Whatever happened to a whole month of spring days where it would be sunny, low humidity and highs in the 60s? 

Anyway, TB's ride yesterday started and ended at the College of New Jersey, which was Trenton State College back when TB was in the newspaper business. Other than Princeton, TB covered more games at TCNJ than he did at any other school.

He met great coaches and administrators there too. He saw some epic games, especially in football and men's basketball, and he never, ever covered a game - about 50 in all he'd guess - where another legend, TCNJ field hockey/lacrosse coach Sharon Pfluger coached and didn't win.

However many times he covered a game Pluger coached, she won. As in "whatever and 0."

There's a 1.8-mile circular road around the college, and TB starts his 11-mile ride on that road and ends it back there. As he rode there yesterday, it took him to his earliest days covering college athletics and how much he learned - especially about gender equity - from covering games on that campus.

His ride Saturday was different. For that one, TB did the 15-mile loop that John McPhee taught him around Princeton.

For that ride, TB started and ended in the parking lot of Jadwin Gym.

When he pulled his car into the parking lot, the first thing that happened was that someone honked at him. When he looked up, he saw his good friend Steve DiGregorio, the former Princeton assistant football coach and longtime New Jersey high school football coach.

Digger, as everyone calls him, is one tough guy. He and his family have battled against a rare disease that has threatened his middle of three sons, Derek, and Digger has had to plow through his own health issues as well.

TB hadn't seen him since before the COVID-19 shutdown, but Digger is looking good, and strong. He has long been a marvel to TigerBlog, as have all the DiGregorios.

After talking with Digger and his youngest son Aaron for a few minutes, it was time to ride. The first part of the ride took him across the campus, one he has been to a million times but one that he hasn't seen much of lately. As he rode, he went back to all of the times he'd been there, all of the things that he'd seen along the way there.

Like Jadwin. And Princeton Stadium. And Baker Rink And Class of 1952 Stadium. Or the Grad College. Or Dillon Gym. All of it. 

After he leaves the campus, the ride takes him past Springdale to the Institute for Advanced Study. Eventually it ends up back on Harrison Street and then back to Jadwin.

As TB made a left down FitzRandolph Road, he went past where his children went to nursery school a long time ago. When he looked to his right, he saw the new softball field and Clarke Field, and beyond that the football stadium.

And then it was back to where his car was, in the same parking lot he's been parking since the 1980s.

Funny, it looked a little different Saturday, and not just because it was empty.

It's because he wasn't really taking it for granted this time.

If anything has come of this surreal Coronavius spring, it's not to take anything for granted. Especially not someplace as beautiful as Princeton University.