Camera Tricks

This falls has been disappointing from a photographic point of view. The weather has been rainier and colder than normal which resulted in less then spectacular foliage. I went out to the hills of the Sourlands this pass weekend for a ride but the only thing I took pictures of was a few cows. Laura had on these funky tights that have a weird sequence pattern on them that kind of look like tiny fireworks going. While taking a picture of the cows I snapped a picture of the tights but to accentuate there brightness I made changed some setting on the camera to make the tights look brighter then they really are.

Over this year I have been experimenting with all the setting on my camera and now have a good understanding of what you can do with aperture, shutter speed, ISO and all the other settings on my camera. I don't know if this has help me take better pictures or not but I do have fun experimenting. One thing I tried the other day was some long exposure shots which you can see here. With my camera I can take up to a 15 second exposure. Using a tripod you can get some interesting shots.

For Halloween we had a flashing light that we put inside the pumpkin. The light flashes in different colors and if you swing it around it creates a rainbow effect. I took this light into a dark room then set up my camera on a tripod then moved the light around in front of the camera a different speeds. As you can see this produced some interesting pictures and made up for the fact that the fall colors weren't that good this year.

Halloween

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This time of year is one of my favorite times to ride. Its usually not too hot or too cold and with the leaves turning its a lot of fun just to cruise around and enjoy the view. This year the weather hasn't been too good. We have had a very wet fall so far so it's been hard find dry days to get out. We have also had a lot of wind which means the leaves have been coming off the trees faster than normal. All this has lead to a somewhat disappointing fall season.

So far the best ride I have had was last week with Chris. We did a 45 mile loop from Bordentown. It was a little cold but sunny and the leaves were close to peak. We stopped at Smithville and took a hard packed dirt path about half a mile to the lake where we got a nice view of the lake and the surrounding trees. We ended up riding back through Mt Holly and saw some of the Halloween decorations the town put up. If you look at the pictures I took you can see the witch hat lights they had on one of the side streets.

From Mt Holly we ended up making a lot of twists and turns to get through town and back to quieter roads. On the way back I through Bordentown. Bordentown has a Halloween parade and also gives out prizes for the best decorated house. It was the day of the parade so I expected to see a lot of Halloween decorations but didn't see many. It was disappointing.

I was hoping to get to the Sourlands this weekend since this is probably the last weekend the trees will look good but the weather again has been windy and rainy. Hopefully I can get out later so I can burn off some of the Halloween candy I ate last night.

Mayhem in Middle Valley

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I try lead well planned and organized ride but sometimes events conspire to cause the ride to become a bit chaotic. Ken and I had a ride in the book, this past Sunday in Califon. We got lost up that way a little over a month ago and found some new roads that I wanted to explore further while I was still in good enough shape for some tough hills. I have posted the route here if you want to see the planned route

Sunday turned out to be a slightly cool but very clear day. Although the leaves aren't at peak yet they are starting to turn so I was looking forward to some nice views. We had a good group of the usual people including Ken, Laura, Chris, Lynne and Michael. Bruce and John also decided to join us. I was a little cold as we started out from Raritan Valley College but I knew I would warm up as soon as we started climbing.

Unfortunately we didn't get to far before we had our first incident. Just before the turn on to Rock Rd Lynne hit a rut in the road and went down. She got up pretty quick and didn't appear to be too hurt. She had hit her elbow and had some scraps there and on her leg. Her bike also got a little banged up. We moved to the side of the road. After a few minutes she said she didn't feel in too much pain but to be safe it would probably be better if she didn't continue on with us.

We were only a few miles from the college so Ken rode back to the starting point and got his car so he could bring Lynne and her bike back to the college. All this took about a half hour during which Chris realized that he had both his tires had slow leaks so he had to change them. After Ken drove Lynne back to the college he road back and we started the ride again.

It took a few miles to warm up again but eventually we were starting climbing. We took Rockaway Rd to Bissell. I hadn't climbed Bissell before but Ken said it wasn't too bad even though on the map its a 550 ft climb. It's not a continuous climb but is a step climb with 3 main bumps up. None of it was tough but is was long and the group got spread out.

It is always harder to ride as a group in hilly terrain because everybody climbs at a different pace. This usually means to keep the group together we stop at the top of the tough hills. I also try to let people know where the next turn is so if they loose contact with the group they know where we will be waiting.

We wound our way up some more hills. My goal was to get to Hoffman Corner Rd which is just above Califon. There is a really nice scenic view of the valley from the road and since it was such a clear day I wanted to get some pictures. The view was great and there is also a nice down hill that brings us into Califon along the Raritan river. The ride along the river into Califon was nice and the only flat part of the ride.

From Califon we started climbing again up Sliker. Its about a mile and a half of mostly up hill that get a little steeper just before the turn on to Pleasant Grove. We are close the top of Schooley's Mountain on the western side. At the turn I wave the others on and waited for Bruce and John. I didn't want them to miss the turn. After 10 min I realized that they must be lost. They were right behind us when we turned on the Sliker so I don't understand why they are not here now. I pull out the cell phone and get Laura to call John. Some phone tag ensues. I hear from Laura that John missed a turn but that doesn't make sense since there was no turn. I try to call John but don't get through.

Eventually I go back down the hill looking for them then climb back up and meet up with Laura and the rest of the group. I know John knows the roads and will be able to find his way back. Just as we are about to give up on finding them I get a call from John. They are now on Pleasant Grove about a half mile away. It turns out they saw some bikers turning off Sliker and assumed it was us and followed them. If wasn't us of course but another group of bikers.

We are finally all back together but we wasted another 40 minutes waiting around. Between John and Bruce getting lost and Lynne's fall at the beginning, the ride is running really long. At this point everybody wants to shorten the ride so we don't get back too late. I take a quick look at the map and find the quickest way off Schooley's. We go down Zeller which is turned out to be a nice road. This leads us to Middle Valley road which has a really steep downhill hair pin turn. There is very little traffic on the road so although its a tough turn it's relatively safe if you are careful and can actually be fun. Although as Bruce mentioned your hands do hurt a little from have to keep on the brakes most of the way down.

At the bottom of the hill Michael (who's idea of fun is climbing steep hills) turns to me and said "That would probably be a fun hill to climb". Which is what I expected him to say. Of course the climb would be a 20 degree up hill grade for a least a half mile with some short parts even steeper. It doesn't sound like fun but if I get really strong next year I may do it just to prove that I can. I realize that even thinking of climbing a hill that steep means that I have been hanging around Michael too long.

After coming down from Schooley's Mountain we had one more tough climb over Beacon Hill. I had originally planned a more scenic route back but everybody was tired and just wanted to get home. So we took the quickest way back which meant riding down Rt 517 Old Turnpike Rd. This is a busy road but it does have a small shoulder most of the way so if you stay to the right it's rideable especially on a Sunday. It also has a killer downhill right before Tweaksbury.

We stopped at the general store in the middle of Tweaksbury. It was a quick stop since everybody wanted to get home. We got back to the college just before 2pm with just over 40 miles. We didn't end up doing the ride I had planned or see some of the scenery that I wanted to but that just means I will have to come back again some other day.

I got some email from Lynne. It turns out that the fall was worst it appeared. She got home ok but her arm starting swelling up so she ended up going to the emergency room and found out that she actually has a broken bone. I hope it's not too bad and she will recover quickly.

Its been a bad week for some of my friends. I heard Henry got hit by a car. Mary fell and broke her collar bone and hip and now Lynne broke her arm. Luckly all are on the mend will be riding again soon.

Sandy Hook Adventure

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The best time to ride to the shore is usually in the early fall just after Labor Day. This is when the weather is still nice but most of the crowds are gone. Normally I head to Belmar but this year I decided to head back to Sandy Hook since I haven't been there in a couple of year.

When you put a ride in the PFW book a month in advance you never know what the weather is going to be. I was lucky because the weather this past Sunday was great. It started out a little cold around 50 but is was sunny with almost no wind with temperatures heading towards the mid 70s. There was much discussion on how to dress for this weather. (i.e. Should I wear a jacket and/or tights or just go with the arm warmers). I always try to travel light so since it was sunny and I knew it would warm up quick. I decided to go with just the arm warmers because I knew if I took a jacket I would just be taking it off in an hour and have to carry it for the rest of the ride.

I had a good crowd of some of the regulars along with a few new people. We started from Monmouth Battlefield Park and headed out through Freehold. The roads from the park through Freehold aren't really nice but early in the morning there wasn't much traffic so it wasn't too bad.

I wasn't paying attention on the way out of Freehold and made a wrong turn. I tried to get back on track by going though a side street but ended up hitting a dead end. Needless to say I got the usually ribbing from the group (i.e. Joe) for making a wrong turn.

After a half mile back track we were back on course. When I ride to Sandy Hook I try to stay on low traffic back roads but there are a few spots where we have no choice to go on roads with moderate traffic. This is no big deal it just means there are times when we have to ride single file and be on the look out for traffic. Everybody was riding at the same pace so it was easy to keep the group together. Until we hit Navisink Rd.

Navisink Rd is a set of rolling hills that aren't really steep or hard but it did spread out the group. The rollers stretch out for about 3 miles so at the end I decided to stop at a turn to gather the group. This ended up having the opposite effect. I stopped at an intersection and wasn't exactly sure if we wanted to go straight or turn right. As I was deciding which way to go some people ended up going straight others went right. After a few minutes I determined that we wanted to make the next right not this one. I thought that everybody that made the right had come back but when I got to the next corner I realized we were missing a couple of people. I also did not see the people that went ahead.

I ended up going back to get the people behind us and Joe made a call to the people ahead to tell them to come back. Eventually we all got back together but then in the next mile somebody dropped a chain and somebody else stopped to take a leak. So for about 10 mins the ride was a little chaotic but at least I didn't loose anybody. Another couple of miles we were at the Quick Check on Rt 36 for our first stop.

Right before we left a tire spontaneously blew on Marks bike while it was just sitting there which was kind of strange but it was a front tire so it was a quick fix.

We then headed down to Sandy Hook. There is a bridge you have cross to get to Sandy Hook which doesn't have a shoulder so you just have to watch the traffic as you cross the bridge and take the exit to into the park. I have done it a bunch of times and knew what to expect. Or at least I thought I did. It turns out they are putting up a new bridge into Sandy Hook so the traffic pattern has changed. Half of the old bridge is now gone to make way for the new bridge and there is only one lane in each direction with no exit into Sandy Hook. To get to Sandy Hook you just go over the bridge and make a left at a T at the end of the bridge. The exit ramp has been removed to make way for the new bridge.



The made it a little messy getting into Sandy Hook but there were only a few cars on the road so nobody seemed to mind when we had to block the lane to get over the bridge and into Sandy Hook.

Two years ago I took a good picture on the way into Sandy Hook when you're on a little hill heading into the park. From here you get a view of the beach with New York in the background. I was going to try and take this picture again but new bridge now blocks the view and this shot is no longer possible.


Once we go into the park we stopped at the first parking lot to use the bathroom and get a view of the beach and New York. We were ready to ride again when we realized Mary was still in the bathroom which was strange. Five minute later Mary comes out and says she actually go stuck in the stall because the door would not unlock so she had craw out underneath. Pretty funny.


Since the park wasn't crowed I decided to take the Multiuse path to start our tour of Sandy Hook. This is a more leisurely way to view the park and a nice change of pace. The weather at this point was perfect. It was warm enough that you didn't need a jacket and very clear. The last time I came to Sandy Hook I didn't get a chance to take pictures of some the interesting things in the park so this time I stopped to take pictures of the Nike missiles as well as the light house and and old cannon. At the Nike missles we got off the Multiuse path and just rode around the roads of Fort Handcock.


While riding along the roads I found that they extended the Multiuse path through Fort Handcock all the way to the end by the Coast Guard Station. So if you wanted to you could just use the Multiuse path to see all the sights.


The group spread out a little during the sight seeing but we all gathered up a the entrance again to start the trip home. Normally you just head south out of the park then take the exit to Ocean Ave to head to Shrewsbury. When we tried to do this we ended up going over the bridge that we came in on which is not the way home. After making an illegal left/U turn which brought more derogatory comments from Joe we were on Ocean Ave. I think the only way out of the Sandy Hook on to Ocean Ave is to actually take the Multiuse path into Sea Bright. Which I will do next time if I go back before they finish the new bridge.


The ride back to Freehold was uneventful. There was no head wind so we had a pace line moving at a good clip most of the way back. We made our usually rest stop in Little Silver. When we got back to Freehold the traffic was a little heavier so I took the back way around town with out getting lost which of brought another derogatory comment from Joe.


Wemrock Rd was bumper to bumper traffic because of something happening at the Deli there so it was a little hairy getting by the cars on the right.


We got back around 1:30 pm which was earlier than I expected. It was a good ride. I really enjoyed the ride around the beaches and fort in Sandy Hook especially in the nice weather. I will have to do this ride on a more regular basis.

Lost in Califon

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If you don't mind the hills, the area around Califon NJ is a nice place to ride. Laura introduced me to this area a few years ago. Since then I try to get up this way a few times a year. This past Saturday I joined Ken for a ride in this area.

This was a ride of exploration for Ken so although he had a general idea of where he wanted go he wasn't always sure which way to go at certain turns. This meant we got a little lost at times but this is a fun way to learn new roads.

We ended up taking the usually roads from Raritan Valley College to Rockaway after that we did some climbing eventually ending up by the by the Raitain river in Califon. From there we started climbing and climbing. None of the climbs where real steep but it seemed that it would never end.

Eventually we ended up on Pleasant Grove although I didn't really know where we really were. The only thing that I did know that we were finally on top of some mountain with some nice views. We tooled along the top for a while then Ken made a turn that took us onto a dirt road. It was hard packed dirt with some gravel but it was ridable as long as we kept it slow. This lasted for a mile and a half before the road turned back to asphalt.

Then the road started going downhill at a pretty steep rate. It was a nice downhill that had this wicked hairpin turn that was both dangerous and fun at the same time. I learned after the ride that the angle of the road at the hairpin was 34 degrees. I definitely want to do try this again.

Of course after this great downhill there was more climbing ahead. We had a tandem in the group with us and I felt a little sorry for them because of all the climbing. But even though they were a little slow up the hills they just kept grinding away and didn't seem to mind too much.

We eventually ended up on Old Turnpike and had a nice downhill that took us to our rest stop in Tweaksbury. From there is was a short easy ride back to the start.

This is a great area that I still don't know real well so I plan to come back up this way in October to do some more exploring and find some more fun roads.

Plan B

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This past weekend I had to go to a family party up in Long Valley NJ. It was a late afternoon party so instead of driving up I thought it would be fun to ride up and have my wife meet me there. There are a lot of nice roads up it that area if you don't mind some hills. I planned a nice 55 mile route that would take me on some nice roads. I had ridden in this area in July when I did my ride to Schooleys Mountain and wanted to go back to some of the roads on my own to take some pictures.

Unfortunately the weather was pretty bad on Saturday. I would have done the ride if it was only going to be scattered showers but it was a full out deluge so there was no way to ride. I was disappointed but oh well. I'll do it some other time.

Plan B was to ride with Laura on Sunday but I was tired from the party the night before and didn't get up early enough to get to Lambertville in time. No problem I saw that Ken had a ride out of Princeton going to the Sourlands so I headed out to his ride. The only problem was nobody was there. Although it wasn't raining the roads were a little wet and there was still a chance of some rain so I wasn't completely surprised nobody was there.

At this point I'm on Plan D which meant I was on my own. I really didn't have any route in mind but decided to go to Rocky Hill and start riding towards Round Valley. There were some roads up there that I wanted to explore so that was a good a plan as any at this point.

I headed up Hollow road over the Sourlands. The rain we got the previous day made the stream along side of the road run really fast I stopped along the way and got some good pictures. After getting over the Sourlands I headed north crossing the Raritan River a couple of times.

Some people have asked me if it gets boring when I ride for hours by myself. My answer is always no. For me riding by myself is very relaxing. There is usually some interesting things to see along the way, especially if I am exploring a new area or revisiting a place I had not been in a while. When you ride the roads on a bike things seem to slow down a little. You can heard the sounds of the animals running in the bushes along side the road, see the birds in the rivers or trees and just enjoy the scenery as it rolls by.

Riding by myself gives me a lot of time to think. During rides I have worked through some technical problems at work, planned some home improvement projects, and wondered why Jon Steward does better interviews on his fake news show than most of the real news anchors do (I'm not going to even mention the abomination that is Fox news).

My thoughts on this day, as I rode, turned to Howie who passed away this past Thursday. When I first started riding with the club it was him, Dennis, Don and a few others that really welcomed me into the club and made me feel like part of the group. I became a much better biker because of them and really started to enjoy the social aspect of the rides. That's when riding became fun.

I spent a lot of time on the ride thinking about all the conversations we had about biking, skiing, computers and life in general. I really enjoyed riding with Howie and have a lot of good memories. I hate the fact that I won't be able to enjoy his company any more.

When I got some where around Stanton I started to explore some new roads like Cole and Pinebark which were a little hilly but really nice. I ended up going past Solberg Airport and saw the Met life blimp. From there I headed back south along the Raritan again. By this time I was back in familiar territory and had my route all set for the way back.

That was until I went to cross the Griggstown Causeway. Which was totally flooded which meant an extra 4 or 5 miles back to my car. Nothing today worked out how I had expected or planned so this was just the order of the day. Although I love it when a plan comes together some days it can be just as much fun to roll with the punches.

All Roads Lead to Clarksburg

When I first joined the Princeton Free Wheelers I did a lot of rides out of Cranbury. Even though there are many different routes you can do from Cranbury almost all of them end up with at stop at the Clarksburg Deli. The Clarksburg Deli is not the best Deli around but it has a great location that makes it a convenient place to stop.

I lead the HoneyDo ride out of Cranbury for a lot of years and know almost every rideable road in the area. I learn the roads from riding with Don, Norman and a few others. If you want a nice 40-45 mile flat to rolling ride this is a great area to ride in.

I don't lead many rides out of Cranbury any more. This is mainly because I have been adding more variety to my rides and exploring other areas. The size of the rides, out of Cranbury are also larger than I want lead. The B group can be 25 to 30 people which can make the ride very chaotic and hard to control.

I have seen a few emails recently complaining about pace and leadership of some the rides going out of Cranbury. Some of these are the usual argument about how to keep a B ride from becoming a B+ ride and dropping people who can't keep up or just want to do a "real B pace". These arguments are nothing new and part of the normal ebb and flow of a bike club.

Although there are some things a leader can do it can be hard sometimes to make everybody in the ride happy with the pace when you have a large group.

On thing that would help is if there were more ride leaders. This would give riders more options when deciding which leader to go with based on their ability. Of course people are fast to complain but slow to want to lead. Mostly their excuse is that they don't know the roads good enough. To take that argument away. I have just posted 3 of my favorite routes from Cranbury. You can find them on my ride sheet page for my book. These routes show some of the best rides around Cranbury and will give you a good start to understanding the roads in the area.

So if you don't like the size or pace of the rides going out of Cranbury stop complaining and do something about the problem by becoming a ride leader. It is good for the club and a can be a fun experience.

Quick side note:
I had not ridden past the Clarksburg Deli in a few weeks so after writing this post took a quick ride past it not to see the deli but because I heard the Clarksburg Inn burnt down. Here are some pictures of what the fire did. The fire department is next to the building so they got there quick but it must have spread fast because the entire inside is almost completely gutted even though the wall look mostly intact. It was a historic building that has been around for over 200 years so its too bad they will have to tear it down and build a new one.