Should I Really Ride in this Weather?

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As fall turns to winter and the days get shorter and colder we bikers are always looking for weather good enough to ride in. We each have some predefined temperatures and conditions that need to be meet before we ride. But as weeks go by and the weather doesn't let us ride we tend to relax our conditions take any chance we get to ride.

December has been colder and windier than normal and I have only been able to get out a couple of times. I don't go out if the temperature is below 35 degrees especially if it is windy. This pass weekend right after Christmas we had a couple of days with record warmth so it was a no brainer to go out this past Sunday when the temperature was 65. Yes the roads were wet and there was a steady 15mph wind gusting to 25 but you don't get many 65 degree days in the winter so deal with the wet and the wind and enjoy a warm ride.

This pass Tuesday was a much harder decision. I was off from work and it was 40 degrees and sunny this usually means I'm going for a ride. The problem was the wind. The long range forecast had the winds between 10 and 15mph but on Tuesday the winds turn out being forecast to be 20 to 25 mph with gust to 40mph. The people that were going to join me on the ride starting dropping out and questioning if going for a ride was really a good idea. They were right of course riding in this kind of wind is stupid but I went any way mostly because I would rather ride in this wind than sit at home on a sunny day and regret not riding.

Luckily Mike B was stupid enough to join me. Chris and Mike M bailed and did some wet mountain biking instead. So as Mike said there were three of us on the ride (Me, Mike and the WIND). We ended up going to the canal and back. The wind was bad but manageable. Our speed was slow but it ended up being a steady wind and the gusts weren't too bad. The worst part was just getting the boat house. Even on a good day riding into the park from Old Trenton Road requires going through that bizarre wind vortex on park road heading to the boat house. Today the vortex almost blew me off the road a few times.

I ended up with just over 50 miles and was really tired at the end. We got some tail winds at the end of the ride but it really didn't feel that good. I don't regret going out in these conditions but I accept the fact that it really wasn't the smartest decision that I have made. This had made me realized, again, that I am addicted to biking and will go against logic and reason in order to get my fix of riding.

Tucker's Island Lighthouse

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New Jersey Bike Map lists 15 different lighthouses in New Jersey. I have visited at least 10 of them during my bike rides but there are still a few I haven't seen.

On Saturday, during a trip with my wife, I visited one I haven't been to yet, The Tucker's Island Lighthouse. It's on Route 9 in Tuckerton which is about 30 miles north of Atlantic City. Click here for a picture of the lighthouse.

The actual lighthouse is more house than light. If somebody hadn't told me is was a lighthouse I won't have known it. It also seem to be a strange place for a lighthouse because its at least two miles from the ocean. The truth is that the Tucker's Island Lighthouse that is on Route 9 is a recreation of the original one which was actually located 6 miles east of the current one. The original one was destroyed, in 1927, by erosion as the sea slowly took the island back piece by piece.

Tucker's Island no longer exists today and the area that is now Tuckerton is mainly low lying wetlands bordering the ocean. There is a lot of marinas around here and its suppose to be a good place for fishing, clamming and crabbing.

After the visit to the lighthouse we took a ride to the ocean just to look around. There wasn't much to see especially since it's the off season but the dock where we parked had a nice view of the ocean and there were a lot of seagulls. Seagulls are basically pigeons that live by the ocean and aren't the prettiest of birds but if you get them in the right setting it makes a good picture. I had my camera with me so I took a lot of pictures and ended up with a few good ones.

On our way back home we stopped at Smithville which is about 10 miles south of Tuckerton. I rode past Smithville last year as part of my Basto River Cruise. This time I got a chance to walk around Smithville and had a really good lunch at the Smithville inn. There is a small lake that the village surrounds. It the summer the lake is filled with people in paddle boats but in the winter it was empty except for a few very strange ducks. These ducks move there necks as they paddle in a really strange way. There is no way to describe it so take a look at the video here.

Pushing Through the Cold Weather

The weather this time of year makes it harder to enjoy a bike ride. I use to be mostly a fair weather rider and not bother going out if the temperature was below 50 degrees. Last year was a warm winter and I ended up riding most of the winter. This involved riding in colder weather than I usually ride it. It was not always fun and some times I'm not sure I really enjoyed it but I learned how to ride in the cold with out getting too cold. I still won't ride when the weather gets below 35 especially if it is windy but I am hoping for enough warm days to get a few rides a month during this winter.

This past weekend was Thanksgiving weekend. I ended up riding on Friday which was in the low 40s. I put together an adhoc ride with Herb, Bruce, and Mary. We made did a Mendokas run which ended up being around 45 miles. At Mendokas I got something I hadn't seen before called ButterCrunch which was a crumb cake wrapped in a danish baked in deliciousness. It was the best thing I ever had there.

It was a little cold at the start of the ride but it warmed up towards the end. The worst part was heading back into Cranbury where we hit a nasty head wind. It was a tough 5 miles but after that the it wasn't too bad. I plan to continue to push my limits as the weather gets cooler. For those interested in riding with me just keep watching the blog and I will try to post the time and place where the ride will start. We usually start somewhere around East Windsor or Cranbury. During the winter we usually start around 11 am and do between 30 and 40 miles. It's usually not as fun as the summer rides but its a lot better than not riding.

Sourland Scenic Ramble

This past weekend I actually had a couple of good rides. I was off on Friday so I ended up on Dennis's ride out of Etra park. Even though the roads where wet he had a good crowd, 9 people. It was relatively warm but the roads were very wet and it misted a little while riding so it was a little messy. It was fun riding with Dennis, George, and a few of the others I haven't seen in a while. I felt a little younger on this ride since the average age was probably in the mid 60s. Even though these guys are a little past their prime they can still move along at a good pace.

We ended up going to Freehold and back. Herb and I split off from the group at the rest stop to put in a few more miles. We ended up going through Turkey Swamp and by the time we got home we had almost 55 miles in. It was a good ride but the wet roads really made a messy of the bike so I ended up spending a good 2o mins cleaning it up after I got home.


Saturday's rain made it too messy to do my Sourlands ride so I ended up doing it on Sunday 11/9. I ended up doing the ride with just Herb and Mike M. It was a little cold with a stiff west wind but it was sunny so riding was pretty comfortable. We headed over the Sourlands the easy way up Hollow Rd then down Lindberg. From there I zig zaged around some of the farms and rivers in the area. Although the we are past the peak foliage there were still some nice colors to see.

We eventually made it to Stanton and enjoyed a chocolate cheese cake muffin. From there we headed back around the top of the Sourlands so there was no real climbing involved. We also had a tail wind some of the time which made the ride back a little easier then the ride out. It was a good ride I just wish a few more people had shown up. I probably won't be doing rides out this way until the spring since I usually tend to say closer to home during the winter months. I did not put any rides in the book for December but instead will use email and the blog to organize rides when the weather is warm enough.

It's Getting Cold Outside

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It's that time of year when the riding season is winding down. Even though we haven't changed the clock yet it's already too dark to ride at night. It's also starting to get cold.

I don't have a hard limit of what type of cold weather that I will ride in but once it gets down around 35 or 40 degrees I have second thoughts about going for a ride.

We have been relatively lucky so far on the weekends. A couple of weeks ago I had a ride out of Etra Park. It was about 45 at the start and didn't get much about 55 but the Sun made it feel a little warmer than it was. We did the coffee run to New Egypt which ended up being a nice ride except for the wind on the way back.

I was very busy this past weekend and didn't have time to organize or join one of the club rides so I ended up just going out on my own for a quick 50 miles on Sunday. Although it gets a little lonely after about 30 miles I do enjoy the occasional long ride by myself. I don't have to worry about dropping people or looking like I know where I'm going. I'm free to get lost at my own pace and just enjoy some solitude on the bike. Sunday started out a little cold with wet road from the night before but as the morning when on the roads dried out and it ended up close to 60.

The foliage is close to peak now so I took the opportunity to take some pictures to capture the colors. No picture can really do justice to the scenery but I keep trying any way.

Even though I was riding by myself I almost always run into other riders. I ran into a couple groups of people and road with them for 5 and 6 miles each. It's fun trading stories with strangers and sharing the road for a few miles.

Although we are closing in on winter I will continue to try to get out on weekends when I can. I have a couple of rides in the book for November as long as the weather is good. After I will just do ad hoc rides when the weather is warm enough.

Fall Foliage

Sunday was one of those days when things just come together to create a great ride. Laura had a ride in the book around hills of Pluckemin to try and catch some fall colors but it is always hard to tell a month ahead of time how things are going to be on that day. The last time I did this ride, in the spring, the weather was cool, damp and cloudy so climbing the hills were just all work without the scenic vistas.

This time the weather a little cool but sunny and the leaves were just starting to turn. The views were great and I didn't mind the climbs as much this time. The ride would have been perfect if I had actually remembered to put fresh batteries in my camera. The first time I went to take a shot nothing happen and I realized that there would be no photos for this ride. I did take a few shots with my cell phone but the quality isn't great. Laura managed to get some good photos with her phone and Glen actually had a real camera with him that worked. You can see all their photos here and here.

I actually didn't mind that much that my camera wasn't working. It let me just relax and enjoy the views. Laura lead us on a nice route. I haven't been in this area much but there are some nice roads around here and I definitely need to come back and do some more exploring.

Belleplain Century

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Last year while working on the book I tried to do a lot of different bike events all over the state to find the best roads in each area. One of the events that I was unable to do was the Belleplain Fall Century because it was cancel last year.

So this year when October rolled around I was happy to see that the ride was going to be run this year. I managed to convince Laura, Mike, and Cheryl to join me. Since the start of the ride was over 2 hours away we decided to go down the night before to a hotel close to the start.

Friday night we got a late start because nobody could get off work early. We meet in Allentown and ate at a decent Italian restaurant in the middle of town. From there we just headed down 539 to the parkway and straight to the hotel. It was almost 10pm before we got there so after checking in we headed to our rooms and went to bed.

The next morning got up early because we want to be at the ride at 7:30am. Last night in normal cloths I wasn't sure I actually knew these people but this morning with everybody is dressed to ride they are looking a lot more familiar. I tell them "Now I know who the hell you people are".

It's a quick 20 minute ride to Belleplain State park where the ride begins. There is a little confusion to where the ride actually starts since the park is big and there are no signs to where the event is. We end up following some other cars and find the starting point. Its colder than I thought it would be but the sun it out so I know it will warm up.

We end up starting around 8am and go past a Lake Nummy. There is some a mist going across the lake so I stop to take a couple of pictures. We get a little confused with the directions out of the park. The arrows are hand painted and look more like the markings the gas company puts on the road before they are about to dig it up. The arrows have the number 12 after them which after some discussion we determine means loop 1 & 2 for the two different loops for the morning ride.

The Belleplain Fall Century is a little different than other clubs rides. Instead of having a full 100 mile course they have 2 50 mile loops. They also have a 35 and 28 mile loop. This reduces the number of rest stops and the support they need on the course. For the morning there are 2 loops a 50 mile and 35 mile loop.

The first 50 mile loop goes out to the the East Point Lighthouse on the Delaware Bay. It's one of the few distinguishing features in this part of NJ. The ride out to the lighthouse is nice. The roads are flat and there is no real traffic. This area is mostly pine lands, a little marshland and some scattered farms including some horse farms.

To conserve energy we road in a loose pace line. Laura keep track of lead time and yelled out when it was time for the leader to peel off. This really helped keep us moving along at a good pace with out getting tired.

The lighthouse is on a road that dead ends into the Delaware Bay. There are some houses here probably for people who like to fish. They look like part time vacation homes. We spend some time looking around and take a detour down a packed sand road to see the actual lighthouse. For here we just head on back out along the course.

At mile 37 we stop at a Wawa for a break. Unlike most club events this ride does not provide any support along the course. They also don't include any notes on the queue sheet about where would be a good place to stop. Luckily I know the area a little and with my Wawa radar on I managed to find a Wawa that was just about a 1/4 mile off the course.

After the break it was 18 miles back through some of the pine lands of the Belleplain State Forrest. There wasn't much to see but pines for many miles. This area is flat, level, no change of elevation, horizontal, smooth, devoid of hills, can see a stop light 2 miles ahead FLAT. After 8 miles on the same road with no change of scenery and no elevation change Mike made the comment that "The only thing that changed in the last 8 miles was my odometer". The other thing that make this area a little monotonous to ride is the roads are straight in fact they usually have rumble strips at the end of a road to wake up or warn drivers that the road is about to end.

After 50 miles we were back at the stop. We shed some of our warm cloths. Chowed down on some of the available food and then headed back out. I was feeling more tired than I should at 50 miles which was strange since this is an easy ride. The one plus was that I was drinking correctly. I sometimes have a problem getting enough water into my system during long rides so for today's ride I brought along a bottle of pure Gatoraide along with my camelback which is filled with water. Drinking the Gatoraide as I was riding seem really help me keep hydrated correctly.

The second 50 miles ended up going east of the Belleplain State forest. I don't know this area really well but the arrows seemed to be well marked so it was easy to follow. There wasn't much to see on this loop except more pine lands and flat roads. At 75 miles we found another Wawa to stop at and took an extended break because Laura and Cheryl were getting tired. Cheryl was planning on just doing the first loop but after 10 miles on the second 50 miles loop she realized that she forgot to stop.

After the extended rest everybody was feeling better in fact it has hard to keep up with Laura for the first few miles. We stopped one more time at an actual rest stop that the club had set up which was just a bunch of cars by the side of the road. The second 50 mile loop was a little boring and I was glad when we finally pulled in to the park. I think we ended up going 107 miles at 16.3 which was a good sensible pace. I actually felt pretty good at the end and think I actually got stronger in the last 20 miles.

After the ride we cleaned up a little (There was actually a shower in the bathrooms at the park which we made use of) and headed out for dinner. We ended up in Cape May. By the time we got there it was around sunset so we headed to Sunset beach. I got a couple of good pictures of the sunset. Once the sun set we found a little restaurant on the way out of town and had a good meal.

By the time we finished dinner it was about 8pm and so I didn't get home until around 10pm. It was a long day but it was a lot of fun. If I did it again I would like to make it a long weekend and spend 3 or 4 days in the area.

Looking for the Perfect Photo

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Since I started taking pictures on rides as part of writing Road Biking New Jersey I have learned how hard it is to take good pictures and have a greater appreciation for the work it takes to use a camera to capture a moment in time.



Over the past 2 years the I have taken almost 3000 pictures and actual got a few ones worth keeping. Most of my better photographs happen by luck so by taking a lot of pictures I increase my chances of getting a good photograph.

Taking photographs on a regular basis has given me the desire to become better photographer. I have definitely gotten better over the last two years but I still don't understand the real aspect of composition, lighting and a lot of other factor that can make a snapshot become a photograph that you want look at more than once.

Over this summer I had two really good photographic days while not on a bike. The first was at Thunder over the Boardwalk which is an airshow in Atlantic City. It was a bright sunny cloudless day and I got a lot of good photographic. Check them out. With the sun so bright the shutter speed was fast so I was able to capture the action with good clarity.

The second great photographic day was on my recent vacation to Cape Cod and Block Island. It was again another good weather day and I managed to get some great sunrise and sunset photos as well as some great scenic shots of Block Island. You can see the full set of photos here

This past weekend I went along on Mike's ride out of Rocky Hill. We road through the Sourlands with is always picturesque. I managed to take some photos. I got a couple of nice one of the canal early in the morning but else nothing really great. It was a nice ride. We took the northern route around the top of the Sourlands and then through Neshanic Station and ended up on Rainbow Road. Except for a small steep hill this is a nice road. I know Laura hates this road so I know as she reads this she will be glad that she wasn't on this ride. One the way back to Rocky Hill we passed by some farmland where the grass was florescent green. I joked it was probably a new food source Solent Green (Yes, I know Solent Green is people)

When we got back to the parking lot I kept going and put on another 8 miles because I wanted to do a few more miles and do a little climbing.

Taking photos is now part of going for a bike ride. I am hoping for a colorful fall so I can get some good pictures of the fall foliage

Belmar and Back

This week was another ride to Belmar and back. I lead this ride the third weekend of Sept every year. This is when the weather is still warm but most of the crowds have left the beach so there is less traffic. Since this ride is late in the season I take the longer route to Belmar and the ride usually ends up being around 80 miles. This is always a fun ride and I always look forward to doing it.

Although the roads were wet at the start and the weather had a 30% chance of rain I still had good group of 7 people. The ride started from Cranbury so we headed out toward Federal Rd. We had to make a detour because the bridge on Federal Rd was under constructions and impassable. Luckily there are a lot of different ways to Belmar. With George leading and pushing the pace we make it quickly to Farmingdale. On the way we went around the Manasquan reservoir because there are some nice scenic views along the way.

George headed home after a stop in Farmingdale and the rest of us continued on the long way to Belmar pass Allaire state park and through Sea Girt before ending up on the beach in Belmar. The weather had gotten better as the day progressed so by the time we got to the beach the sun was out and it was getting humid.

The rest stop in Belmar by 16th street is always inviting with outdoor tables, a lot of places to get food, and plenty of activity to watch it is easily a place you can be temped to spend the rest of the afternoon.

The wind was lite so the ride back from Belmar wasn't too bad and we maintain a good pace. We had a couple of flat tires right out of Belmar but that is just par for the course on a long ride.

It was getting a little hot and humid by the end of the ride so but still wasn't too bad. We ended up with 82 miles even with the detour at the beginning and got back around 2:30pm. Joe ended up doing another 18 miles, with Mary, so he could say he did a century.

Although I have been to Belmar 3 times this year I still enjoyed the ride and may do another shorter one next month if the weather holds out.

Messy, Hilly but Fun

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The area around Frenchtown is a nice place to ride as long as you don't mind a few hills. After accidently leading the Bloomsbury Boogie a couple of months ago I wanted to lead another ride in this area and try to improve the route a little.

Although the weather had been perfect most of the week we had some rain late Friday and overcast skys on Saturday so riding was a little messy. Only 3 other people showed up at the starting point so it was a small group. I found out later that I actually missed a few other people who were in the other parking lot. They eventually caught up and passed us.

We headed up along the Delaware for about 15 miles. Mike ended up getting a flat. After changing the tube and putting some air in the tire using my pump he tried to finish pressuizing the tube with a cartaridge. KA-POW!!!! went the tire about a second before I was about the say "I think you got enough air the tire." My ears were ringing for a few minutes while Mike changed the tube again. This time we just used the pump to put air in the tire.

After leaving the Delaware we starting to do some climbing. There were a number of 100+ foot hills we climbed as we headed for Stewardsville. After we got through Stewardsville I tried out some new roads on the way to Bloomsbury. These turned out to be some nice roads with good views of the surrounding mountains. It was still cloudy so the pictures didn't come out too good.

This is a very rural area of the state and once you get on the back roads you have them mostly to yourselves. This would be a great place to dump a body... err I mean you want to make sure you always ride with a group around here because it could days for somebody to find you if you fell and got hurt.

After 37 miles we made it to Bloomsbury for a break at the General Store then it was time for one big more hill as we headed back towards Frenchtown. Getting out of Bloomsbury to Tunnel Rd is a little ugly because you have to go on Rt 173 for a couple of miles. Its right off of 78 so it's your usual gas station, truck stop mess.

Climbing Tunnel Rd was easier this time around because the weather was a little cooler. It was another fun ride down Sweet Hollow then we rode along to ridge back to Frenchtown. Although the ridge is flatter than the surrounding hills there are still a number of 50 to 100 + foot rollers that make you realize how tired you are. We ended up on Stamets and Kappus with some nice down hills.

It ended up being a nice 55 mile ride which was enough According to Howie, with his GPS, we did about 3000 feet of climbing and my legs agreed that is was a hilly ride.

Round Valley and Great Weather

It has been a couple of weeks since I posted a message, even though I have had a couple of spectacular bike rides. Besides riding, my weekends have been filled with working on some map updates for my book. Eight months after submitting the final manuscript I finally got assigned an editor at Falcon press and the book is moving forward again. I spent about 35 hours total getting the maps in the right format. The book is now getting copy edited. I also got a firm date of when the book will be published (April 14 2009). It's even listed on amazon now. Check it out

Although working on the book is eating up most of my spare time I have not cut back on my riding especially with the perfect weather that we have been having.

On Aug 16th I tagged alone on the first part of a hilly ride in and around Round Valley. We started in Kingston by the canal and headed to Round Valley. I left the group after going through the reservoir. I thought they were going to do some real hills but they ended up taking it easy. The weather was perfect. Mid 70s low humidity and clear. The last few times I have been past Round Valley I could barely see the other side of the reservoir. This time I could see for miles. I ended up with a some good pictures. Even though I left the group to keep the ride short on the way back I keep adding a few miles here and there so I could keep enjoying the good weather and nice views. I ended up with almost 70 miles and still felt great at the end. It was one of the more enjoyable rides of the year.

On Aug 23 it was another picture perfect day. I didn't have any ride planned but sent out some email and put together an ad hoc ride out of Bordentown. After the hills last week I wanted a mostly flat ride so we headed down to the Pine Barrens and back. I combine parts of my Medford Lakes, Pine Barren and Basic Training ride from the book to come up with a nice 68 mile ride. The weather was great, the roads were quiet and I had a good group of people. It was as close to a perfect ride as you can get. We also stopped again at the bakery just south of Smithville which is a great stop. This stop made up for our first stop at a Wawa where the clientele were a mix of long hair pony tail monster truck guys and fat tattoo ladies.

The perfect weather of the past couple of week can't last much longer I know that it will be only a matter of time before the sky starts rain frogs or I end up having to ride through some thunder snow storms(again) but I will continue to enjoy the good weather while it lasts.

Belmar, Rain and the Spoke Wrench

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If you are looking for a flat fun ride Belmar and back is hard to beat. Although I was trying to orgainize a ride to Schooley's Mountain things didn't work out and I ended up joining the Joe's on an adhoc ride to Belmar from Etra Park on Sunday. Etra Park is only 5 miles from my house so I rode to the start.

Even though it is the beginning of August it was 58 when I left the house and I actually considered a jacket. It was a cold ride over to the park but once I got there I was fully warmed up. The Joe's had a good crowd. Laura and Mike actually rode over from Lawrence because they wanted to do yet another century.

After and couple of anouncements from Joe and an FU from Laura we started the ride. There is no one best way to get to Belmar and back so each ride we do is a little different depending on who is leading and how many miles you want to do.

Once it warmed up it was really a beautiful day. We cruised quickly through the usually roads past Farmingdale and made it to Belmar in under 2 hours. We stopped at the usual spot in Belmar just across from the beach. This is a great place for a break especially on a nice summer day. I usually do my Belmar ride after Labor day so it was nice to see be here during the summer.

After the break we headed back. Although the weather was still nice we could see some clouds approching. Approching Rt 35 Linda broke a spoke. We stopped on the other side to access the damage. We couldn't get the broken spoke off so we tapped it to the one next to it. Because of the broken spoke the wheel was out of true and rubbing the brake. I used a spoke wrench to true it up. It took some trial and error to figure out which way to turn it the spokes but after a few tries I got the wheel true enough to stop it from rubbing. I highly recommend everybody carry a spoken wrench because if you can't true a wheel after breaking a spoke the only way you are going to get home is to have somebody pick you up.

After the repair we continue our way back going pass Allaire state park and on to Freehold. We stopped in Freehold for a quick stop. By this time the skies were really dark and it started to rain. I called my wife to get a weather update. We were hoping it would be a quick storm that would pass but my wife said the radar showed a large area of rain would probably last for hours.

We pressed one into the rain and headed back the quickest way we could. We had a little over 10 miles to go. We ended up spliting up a little as everybody did their best speed to get back. I stayed back a little to make sure we everybody made it back.

It rained off and on as we made our way back and it really wasn't too bad. After we got back to Etra Park I continued on with Laura and Mike back home. The rain got a little worst and there were a couple of claps of thunder and lighting. I asked Laura and Mike if they wanted a ride home but they seemed set to complete their century no matter the weather.

Although the ride ended in bad weather I don't regret going on the ride. It was a good 78 mile ride for me but the rain ended my luck with the weather and put a dent in my rain karma.

The Scenic Sourland Cruise

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With quiet roads and scenic vistas the Sourlands is one of the nicest place to ride a bike, as long as you don't mind a few hills. Although there are a couple of tough hills in the Sourlands most are in the 100 to 200 ft range and not too bad if you have done a little hill training.

My ride this week started by the canal in Rocky Hill and went to Sergeantsville and back. At this point in the season most people are in good shape so I decided to put some of the tougher hills on the route.

I had a good crowd (9 people). Henry and Irene were there which I was happy to see. They are a lot of fund to ride with. They had just gotten back from Anchor House ride so it was good to catch up with them.

From the canal we zig zaged north west for about 7 miles before starting the climb over the Sourlands. The first hill was Dutchtown Zion which is one of the hardest hills in the area. Its a 380 ft climb that gets steeper at the end so its was a rude way to start the ride. I try to do this hill once or twice a year just to see how I'm climbing. Although the hills last week to Merrill Creek were tougher I was riding my Miyata with a triple then. This week I was riding my Feather which is a lighter much better bike but doesn't have the low gears my Miyata does.

I learned two things climbing Dutchtown Zion this year. First my max heart rate is 190. Second I am in pretty good climbing shape this year. Although I maxed my heart rate out it recovered quickly and I felt pretty good when I got to the top.

A couple of years ago I did this hill and went Anaerobic (meaning I pushed to hard for too long). When you go anaerobic you are basically using more energy than your body can produce. You can only do this for so long before your body shuts down and you have to stop. It's good to go Anaerobic for short periods to help improve performance and strength. This is the idea behind interval training. But if you stay Anaerobic for too long you are going pay for it. When I went Anaerobic on Dutchtown Zion a few years ago, I made it to the top but had to rest for about 10 mins before I could continue. Since then I have learn how to train better so this doesn't happen again.

From Dutchtown Zion we made our way to Hollow then grinded our way up the Sourlands. Once we got to top will followed the ridge west toward Mt Airy. The weather was nice so I stopped to take a few pictures along the way.

After going through Mt Airy I took the long way up the the next hill towards Sergeantsville to explore a few new roads. This ended up being a little hillier than I thought but it wasn't too bad. Instead of going directly to Sergentville for a rest here I decided to take a detour down to the Covered Bridge because I hadn't been there this year yet and it was only a few mile detour.

After 31 miles we made it to Sergeantsville for a much deserved rest stop. This is one of the nicest places to stop for a break. They are very friendly to bikers and have good food (including dumplings and spring rolls). I opted for a Blueberry muffin because I don't think dumplings would sit well for the next 20 miles.

From Sergeantsville we made our way to Dunkard Church which is a pretty relatively flat road. Henry and Irene decided to drop off the ride in order to go at a more relaxed pace. I gave them the queue sheet so they won't get lost. When we turned off Wertzville Artie and Marty decided to take the shorter way back so we were down to five.

As we continued along we meet up with a biker traveling from Georgia to Connecticut. He asked about a couple of roads so I gave him the NJ bike maps I had with me. The last big climb of the ride was Lindberg which is never fun. After that it was some well deserved downhills and then some mostly flat miles to get back to the start. We ended up with about 55 miles.

Merrill Creek 2008

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Merrill Creek is a reservoir in north western Warren County. This area is a beautiful place to ride as long as you don't mind climbing some hills. When I say hills I'm not talking about little 100 or 200 ft climbs I'm talking 400, 500 and 600 ft climbs. Michael showed me this route last year and really enjoyed it which is why it made the book. This is a challenging ride that starts off deceptivly easy.

We start off from Frenchtown and headed to Milford. From there we rode along the river up to Rieglesville. Along the way we saw the Anchor house riders coming the other way on the last day of their trip. We managed to pick out a lot of people we knew including Henry, Irene, Bob, Barbara, and a few others.

We left the river by Creek Rd and started a little climbing. We had a little accident at the corner of 519 and Municipal when one of the riders fell while trying to turn around after missing the turn. Other than a little road rash he was non the worst for were. Luckly the owner of the house on the corner drove by just after the fall and helped put a bandage on his elbow to cover the wound.

We continue on toward Stewardville and took a good look at the top of the hill where Merrill Creek is. After passing through Stewardville we finally reached the first serious climb Montana Rd. The route seems deceptively easy at the start because we start along the river which is relatively flat and even when we start heading into the hills they are mostly short 100 ft climbs. When you get to Montana Rd which is the road that takes you up to Merrill Creek you realize that this is going to be a challenge.

The climb up Montana is really not too bad its just long. The road climbs 620 in just under two miles. The grade is mostly constant except for a few little bumps. When I climbed this hill last year I had to stop for a few minutes about halfway up because my heart rate was maxed out and I needed a rest. This and a couple of other tough hills I did last year made me realize that I could use a little more aerobic training. I have started doing interval training during the week this year and I am happy to report that I felt much better on the climb up Montana even though the weather was hotter. I did stop about half way up again but this was to take pictures not because I needed too. A number of other people stopped along the climb also which is the smart thing to do. Long times are tough even if they aren't really steep. Even if you are in a comfortable gear climbing a hill your heart rate is going to creep up and eventually max out (Unless you are a highly train professional rider). The smart thing to do is to stop for a few minutes and let it recover because if you push too hard you just going to end up feeling sick and maybe puking you guts out. I know this from expericence.

Once we go to the top we regrouped and rode over to the Merrill Creek Reservior. Last year when I did the ride we didn't stop at the reservoir so I wanted to go back this year to get some pictures.

The reservoir has a good visitors center with a good view of the Merrill Creek. We stopped for about 15mins. I took a few pictures and took a look around the visitor center. Its small but has some nice exhibits on the animals in the area. The best thing about the visitors center is that it is air conditoned which felt really good after climbing the hill in the heat.

After our brief stop at the visitors center we headed back out along the ridge and eventually down the moutain. I got a couple of good pictures along the ridge and then had a really good time going down the mountain. It's 640ft of downhill. It's intense but fun. Of course half a mile ahead was another 350ft + climb that surprised me last year. This year I was knew what to expect so it wasn't as bad.

We then started heading to Bloomsbury over some "Rollers". Michael has a slighly optimistic definition of rollers because some of them required me to use the small chain ring of my triple to get up them. The views are nice in this area and I manage to take some more nice pictures.

In Bloomsbury we made a stop a the usual general store. It was a much needed rest since it was really starting to get hot. I really needed some gatoraid because I knew there was one more major climb coming and I didn't want to cramp.

There are many ways out of Bloomsbury most of them up hill. We chose to go up Tunnel Rd. Although its a 500 ft climb its probably the easiest 500 ft climb you can do since it is 2.5 miles long. It is still a tough climb mentally and physiclly because it just never seems to end. I was really glad when I got to the top because I was starting to get overheated and needed break. At this point between the heat and climbing most of us were pretty beat.

The payoff for climbing Tunnel is that you get to go down Sweet Hollow one of the best downhills in NJ. Its a three miles of shaded scenic costing that made up for some of the climbing.

Although the ride had not reached Death March status yet it was still pretty hot and we all wanted to take the shortest way back at this point. This lead to our decision to take Javes Rd even though it said the bridge was out. I had been on Javes about a month ago and the bridge was closed but still passable. This time when we got to the bridge it was in the middle of being demolished and not passable. Because nobody wanted to climb back up Javes we decided to ford the river which is pretty shallow. It wasn't too hard and the cool water felt good on the feet.

Javes got us to the town of Milford and then it was an easy 5 mile ride along the river back to Frenchtown. The ride ended up being around 59 miles. Its a tough ride but a really good route so I'm glad I did it. I will be doing a similar ride at the end of August because I enjoy this area. I just hope the weather is a little cooler.

Burlington County Cruise

On 7/12 I had a ride in the book for a 50 - 60 mile ride through Burlington County. I ended up with a pretty big group, 12 people, despite the fact that Laura, Mike, and Cheryl weren't there because they were doing the MS ride the next day.

Leading a group of more than 5 or 6 people can be a little challenging but I'm lucky because I have a good core group of people that ride with me. They are all experienced riders with good road manner. They make leading easy and fun because they help me keep the group in line.

Riding well in a group means having good communication. It's important that each member in the group call out hazards and cars up and back. This insures that there are no surprises.

The other part of riding well in a group is paying attention and not doing anything stupid. Although most bikers worry about getting hit by a car, the truth is are that most bike accidents are caused by other bikers or hazards on the road.

For the first time in the last few weeks weather wasn't a problem. There wasn't any chance of rain and it wasn't going to be opressively hot. We started out from Bordentown and headed east through Crosswicks and on to Walnford and Hill Rd. Hill Road is a series of 7 little hills and after the first one its really not too bad. After a few more little hills we made our way through Cookstown and the backside of Fort Dix and then into Browns Mill.

We had a quickstop at the Wawa at about 22 miles and then continued on through the top of the Pine Barrens and pass some nice farmlands. The roads in the area are nice and flat and the riding is easy. This is a pretty area to ride through although its hard to capture a picture that does it justice.

Our second stop was a an unplaned stop at a bakery that I forgot was on the route. Its on Smithville Rd just north of Woodlane. Its a great stop and we ended up trading some good stories with some other bikers.

From the second stop if was about 18 miles back to the start and with a tailwind it was an easy ride. Lisa and Alex split off at Chesterfield. They had ridden in from Plainsboro so they could make the ride a century.

We ended up with 58 miles at a 17 mph. All is was a big group it ended being a very orgainized and fun ride.

Anti All Pace Ride

Weathermen suck. If they are lucky they get the forecast right 50% of the time which is probably more luck than skill. Don't even get me started on the accuracy of long range forecasts which are a joke. Still when I'm planning a ride I look at the weather forecast anyway just in case it might be right. For this July 4th I decided to put together my own ride instead of doing the clubs All Paces ride because the rides are getting too large and unorganized and I wanted to do some different roads.

I was encouraged by the weather forecasts for the 4th because all of them said that any rain would be in the late afternoon. So I was a little mad at the weathermen when I woke up and saw dark clouds covering the sky. The radar shows approaching rain. In fact it showed rain over my house so I'm thinking I'm going to have to cancel the ride. Then I look out the window and it's not raining and the roads are dry. There's no rain so what do I do.

I get a call from Joe who wants to know whether the ride is on or not. I look at the radar again then look outside. The radar shows rain coming but it looks light and scattered. The roads are dry. I know I'll be pissed if I cancel the ride and then spend the morning looking out the window at dry roads that I could have been riding on. I tell Joe the ride is on. If it starts to rain we might get a little wet but it shouldn't be bad. This was the right decision because there was almost no rain and we ended up having a good ride. The moral of the story is that it is better to take a chance and get a little wet than to cancel a ride and be pissed if it doesn't rain.

I won't ride if it is definitely going to rain but I have become less likely to cancel a ride when there is only a chance of rain.

The ride started out of Etra park and the plan was to do a 50 loop to Farmingdale and back. I ended up with 8 people on the ride. The usual Hill Slug gang along with Herb and the Joes.

I had a nice surprised when Mike M brought out a cake and the group sang "Happy Birthday" to me. I'm not big on birthday celebrations but it was a really nice gesture from a group of people I really enjoy hanging around with.

From Etra we headed east taking the short way to Farmingdale. I wanted to get ahead of any rain coming hoping by the time we headed back it would be more scattered and we could pass through it quickly. The roads were really empty so riding was fun and we set a quick pace. We hit a few drops of rain here and there but it never really rained.

When we got to Farmingdale we tried to stop at the Bagel store but it was closed for the 4th so we ended up at the bakery.

On the way back from Farmingdale I took the scenic route around the Manasquan reservior. After we crossed Rt 9 we took Georgia Rd in to Turkey Swamp and kept cruising along at good pace. For the first time we actually saw two very large Turkeys at the end of Nomoco. I stopped to take a few pictures but none of them came out good.

From Turkey Swamp we headed through Millstone on Back Bone Hill and then back to the start. We ended up coming in at 17.2 mph and did just over 50 miles. Since the ride started at 8AM we were back by 11:30. It felt unusual to be done this early but it was a good way to spend my birthday.

Pine Barrens Metric

After doing mostly hills for the pass few weekends it was a nice change of pace to head south through the Pine Barrens. This was a metric century that I had it the book. It turned out to be a popular ride. I got a number of emails and phone calls before the ride. This was a long ride on a hot day and although I try not to discourage people from coming on my rides I like to make sure the know terrain and speed that I plan to do. You don't want a rider to get in over their head and not be able to complete the ride.

I ended up having 9 people on the ride. It was most of the regular crowd plus a couple of new people, Lisa and Alex. This route was a combination of a Medford Lakes ride and a Pine Barrens ride that I did for the book last year. It started in Columbus just off 206 and headed mostly south towards Medford Lakes. On the way we passed Smithville a town that use to be an industrial village and produced woodworking machinery and high-wheel bicycles in the late 1800s. The land down here is mostly open farmland and is very pleasant to ride. We moved along at a good pace.

After going through the tip of Medford Lakes we headed out 532 which is a long 15 mile stretch that would bring us to Lebanon State forest. We stoppped at a little general store in Tabernacle. This is a popular place to stop for most of the bikers in the area and even though it was empty when we got there with in about 10 minutes a large group of bikers.

From the rest stop we continued on to through Chadworths to Lebanon State forest and got to ride through some real pinelands. Henry ended up having a flat along the way. Lisa wanted to observe to learn how to better change a tire so we gave her a lesson. Stopping to change the tire made me realize how hot it was starting to get.

We continued on and started to head back north from Chadworth. Just before we got to Browns Mill Alex had a flat so we demostarted how to change a flat again. At 50 miles we made our second rest stop in Browns Mill. From here is was mostly straight north back to the starting point. We ended up having to make a slight detour around Fort Dix that I hadden planned on but it really didn't any extra miles to the ride.

The ride ended up being 63 miles. We averaged about 17 mph which was a little better than I was expecting given the heat. This was a good group of people today nobody was pushing the pace and nobody was dragging. It was a good route and I really enjoyed the ride but by the end it was getting really hot and I'm glad it ended when it did.

Bloomsbury Boogie

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This Sunday 6/22 Larry had a ride in the book that he said should not be missed. He even sent out an email reminding people of the ride and how picturesque it would be. So I decide to take the drive and check out this ride. Even though the weather called for possible scattered showers I checked the radar and there was just one small shower just north of Flemington. This would make the roads a little wet but there should be no problem riding.

I got to the starting point and found a few other people there who were looking forward to the ride. There was just one thing missing on this not to be missed ride, the ride leader LARRY!.

We called him and he said that he didn't think the weather was going to be good enough to do the ride so he didn't bother coming. I didn't see anything major on the radar when I looked so I still wanted to do the ride especially now that I was at the starting point. So I asked Larry for the route and he gave me a quick turn by turn description. Luckly I had the NJ Bike Maps with me so I marked off all the turns. I knew about 80% of the roads that we were going on so I figured I could get us to Bloomsbury and back.

The first part of the out of Flemington is a slow climb of 260 feet which lasts about 2 miles. It wasn't steep but was long and a tough way to start the ride. We then rode along the ridges above Frenchtown and down towards Holland. There were no major hills here but just some constant ups and downs. Some of the down hills were pretty fun. The roads were a little wet here and we felt a few drops or rain but it wasn't a problem. We ended up on one of my favorite roads Sweet Hollow. Its a beautiful winding 3 miles of downhills.

Unfortunately Larry's route took us up this road to get to Bloomsbury so It wasn't as much fun. The climb up wasn't bad actually. There was a tough part when we made a left on Mylar and had to climb 340 feet but it wasn't any worst than any of the usual Sourland hills. Once we got to the top I ended up taking a wrong turn and ended up coming down a really steep hair pin turn as part of a 720 foot down hill. There were times when I had my brakes on full and I was still doing 20 miles and hour. That's one hill I'm never going to climb.

We stopped in Bloomsbury for a break in a nice general store. The weather had gotten better and I called my wife for an update. She didn't see any storms on radar so we were good to go.

We headed out of Bloomsbury toward Rieglesville and ended up riding along the Delaware to Milford. We made a quick water stop in Milford then started climbing again. Larry's route had us going across the river and riding along 32 but that would have meant more hill than I think most people wanted to do. I headed up Javes and Rummel a route Laura uses to get back to the ridge above Frenchtown that minimizes tough climbs. Most of the people on the ride were from Larry's Cranbury rides so they aren't use to climbing.

Once we got up to the ridge we ended up on 519 for quite a ways. This road has a lot of ups and downs so I took it slow. Most of the people were tired by the time we got back because they are not use to climbing but the last part of the ride was a 2 mile downhill that we climbed at the start so it was a great way to end the ride.

Larry's route with my slight modifications was a good ride and I can see why he likes to do it. He has a lot of nice road here but I think I can improve on it After all my rides last year for the book I learned a lot of roads in this area. My ride, with Michael, to Merrill Creek especially showed me some better roads that Larry's route could use to get to Bloomsbury. I think I will try to see if I can come up with a good route from Frenchtown that would use a lot of the roads of Larry's route is a slightly order to put together a nice 50 loop.

Flag Day

I had a hilly ride in the book on Flag Day out of Neschanic Station. It was a hot day and I wasn't expected a big turn out but I figured a few of the regulars would show up. I ended up having only have one person show up who I didn't know.

I was a little afraid to do a hilly ride with someone I didn't know but she turned out to be a good rider. The ride when pass Round Valley then up to Oldwick and back on some roads that I haven't done before. The toughest hill was Deer Hill which was a little steep but doable. It wasn't fun after a little more climbing we were treated over 2 miles of nice winding down hills. By the time we were headed back along River Rd it had gotten really hot so the last few miles were a tough. It was a good route and with a few minor changes I won't mind doing it again.

Summer Has Arrived

Although summer is still a couple of weeks a way it felt more like mid August this weekend. Not only was the temperature well over 90 degrees but the humidity was probably over 80%. My home thermometer was so hot it went a little crazy and was reading a little high. It eventually cooled off to 96 degrees!

Laura had a ride in the book that I wanted to do but it was a long ride out of Frenchtown and I had to be back home by early afternoon so I ended up riding on my own. I am leading a hilly ride next week so I wanted do some hill training. I decided to drive over to the Sourlands and do a 45 mile loop. I started in Griggstown and headed Sergentsville and back. This took be over the Sourland hills and back. Since I was by myself I took the opportunity to explore a couple of roads that I haven't been on before. The Sourlands is a really nice place to ride and the ride would have been almost perfect if it hadn't been for the fact that the heat and humidity make it hard to breath at times. That and the fact that I decided to go up Lindberg at the end of the ride.

A Successful Southern Sojourn

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Three weeks after the original scheduled date we were finally able to do the Southern Sojourn ride. Weather and conflicts prevented us from doing the ride in May but we ended up doing it on Sunday June 1st. Although we had rain and tornado warnings on Saturday, Sunday was a warm mostly sunny day. It was actually hot when we started and go more humid as the day went on.

The group ended up being 6 people. Me, Laura, Cheryl, Mike, and new guy Glen. We all commuted from Mercer County park and when we got to Fort Mott we were joined by Howard who was running late and decided to just meet us at the start.

The ride started out from Fort Mott which is just a little south of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The first part of the ride takes us through Salem and is kind of ugly and a little busy but once we got out of town the scenery is a lot nicer. There are a lot of little rivers and fresh water marshes which are nice to ride through. There are also a number of birds in the area, While changing a flat tire on Howard's bike we saw a pair of Egrets in a tree, which I got a distant picture of. We also found a dead gardener snake which we draped over the bike for a humorous picture.

Besides marshland this area is also dominated by farmland. Lots of farmland. It's early in the season so the farmlands aren't full of growth yet but it seems endless in some places. After a quick stop in Alloway we found some of the hillier places in the area. These were more inclines and not really hills but most of the roads are very flat in this area so when the roads have a slight incline and you have to actually change gears you notice it more.

One of the nice parts about riding down south is that there is almost no traffic at all. Once we got on the back roads on the other side of Salem we maybe saw 4 or 5 cars. There is a lot of nothing down here but it's a good type of nothing.

At 34 miles we hit our second stop and rested a little longer. We had mostly traveled south east and were now heading back to Salem. The route took us back north west near some of the rivers off the Delaware. We got a few good views of the Salem Nuclear plant and saw a number of warning signs telling us that if we heard a siren it meant that the area was about to melt down.

With Laura on the ride it was inevitable that the wind would pick up and the last 7 miles or so we were pedalling into a stiff head wind. On the way back in to the starting point we took a few pictures of the ugliest light house in NJ.

The ride ended up being 57 miles and was a good workout. I'm glad I did the route again because last year I ended up doing it myself. Doing it with a group was a lot more fun and gave me a better feeling how other bikers would view the ride.

Memorial Day Weekend

Weather and riding were almost perfect this weekend. I wanted to do some hills so on Saturday I rode with Laura on her ride from Pennington to Stanton and back. She had a big crowd of 15 people. The ride ended up being 55 miles and the weather was great. It started out around 60 and sunny and ended up around 70 by the time we got back.

Stanton is just south of Round Valley Reservoir is and is more or less directly north of Pennington. In between are the Sourlands so it was a hilly ride. There weren't any killer hills but the usually Sourlands ups and downs. The route on the way out went through Cider Mill Rd which is one of the nicer roads in the area with a great view of the surrounding hills. I took the opportunity to take some pictures along the way.

Our rest stop was at Stanton General store home of the some of the largest muffins you will ever see. They have so many types its hard to decide what to get. I ended up getting a smores muffin which sounds a little strange but it was good.

On the way back from Stanton we explored a few different roads and saw some nice views of the Raritan river. The full set of the ride pictures can be found here. All in all it was a good ride and helped me do some hill training.

On Monday I went to the all paces ride. It was crowded as usually. There were already a couple of B rides being organized so they didn't need me to lead. Laura, Herb, Mike and a few others decided to just do something on our own. The only problem with this is that when we started riding out of the parking lot a lot of other peoples started following us. We ended up having a total 17 people and even picked up a couple of C+ riders when the rides crossed.

We had a good ride to New Egypt and back but what was suppose to be a small All Paces Munity ride ended up being the large All Paces ride that we were trying to avoid. I think for the July 4 All Paces I will try to do an adhoc ride from some where other than the park so this doesn't happen next time.

The Southern Soujourn Rescheduled

The forecast of rain caused me to cancel the ride on 5/18. It has been tentatively rescheduled for June 1 assuming this works with everybodies schedule.

This is one of the rides I did for the book last year. I ended up doing the ride by myself. It was a good ride and I wanted to do it again this year with a group.

Directions to starting point:
Take I-295 or NJ Turnpike to exit 1 at Pennsville, Route 49 East to Fort Mott Road. Turn right onto Fort Mott Road and travel 3 miles. Park is located on right.

I mapped out the route on MapMyRide.com. It should be about 57 mile. Click on the button below to see an interactive map of the ride.


Click Here to see some pictures of where we will be going

The 2008 Adventures have Begun

Although the weather has been a little cold and wet this May I have managed to get out and do some fun rides. Besides the usual milk runs to New Egypt and Clarksburg I did a fun ride with Laura up in Pluckamin. It was a hilly ride so I took the Miayta triple with the new 12-32 cassette. It took a while to get used to the new gearing but there were a couple of tough long climbs that made me glad I had the new gearing. Now I have to work on getting my legs in shape so I can follow Michael up some even tougher hills in June.

The weather was kind of cold and cloudy and the roads were wet from a morning rain so it wasn't idea bike weather. Nevertheless Laura had a good crowd. It was the usually slugs plus Larry and Howie.

Despite the weather it was a fun ride in an area that I haven't explored much yet. Laura, as always, found some good roads and some nice rest stops. Although the weather prevented me from getting some good scenery shots I did take a couple of pictures of some of the more interesting things along the way. You can see the pictures here. I have a ride close to this area in June so I plan to go back to try and see the area again when the weather is better

Gearing Up for a New Season

The weather is getting warming so I am itching to get out on the road again and start building up the miles. The weather has been mild this winter so I have been lucky and able to get out a couple of times each month. Although this has keep me riding though the cold months it hasn't allowed me to do some of the rides I really want to do.

Last year I spent the season looking for great rides in NJ for a book I was writing. This allowed me to discover a lot of new roads and have a lot of fun. Even though the book is done and in the publishers hands there are a lot of places I didn't get to explore last year that I want to try and get to this year.

I spent more time in north and western NJ, last year, where the roads are a little hillier. My regular road bike is mainly geared for flats and rolling hills. I can climb most hills in my area with this bike including some of the tougher ones in the Sourlands but this bike is not well suited for some of the tougher hills in north west NJ.

For rides that require some tough hill climbing I break out my old Miayta. It's got a triple that helps me grind my way up most hills. One thing I learn last year is that with the right gearing you can get up almost any hill with out having a heart attack. Although my old Miayta got me up almost every hill I threw at it last year there were a couple that had me wishing I had a lower gear. There was even one hill by Millbrook Village on the Delaware that was so steep that I had to stop a couple of times to get over it.

My adventures last year got me over my fear, that some bikers have, of finding a hill that they can't climb. Some bikers end up avoiding hill because of this fear but if they do that then they will miss a lot of beautiful roads and some good training. In order to be a good biker you have to learn to climb and even enjoy hills.

Although I may not do as much adventuring this year as I did last I still plan to seek out some new hills to conquer. In order to make sure that I don't run out of gears I have upgraded my old Miayta with a new 12-32 cassette. Between this cassette and my triple there should be no hill that I can't climb and even if I do find a hill too steep to climb I just have to walk because I'm not going to let a hill stand in the way of a really good ride.

Lunar Eclipse

For me it has still been too cold to ride but I did stand out in the cold on Wednesday night to view the lunar eclipse. I managed to take a bunch of pictures through my telescope with my Meade LPI imager. Its just a modified webcam but I got a few good pictures you can see here. The moon really turn a nice shade of red when it was in total eclipse.

I was really cold by the end of the eclipse but I'm glad that I stuck it out since the next one won't occur in the US until December 2010.

Road Biking New Jersey

I started this blog to share my experiences biking around the roads in NJ. Last year I spent the season riding all over the state while working on the book "Road Biking New Jersey". I had a lot of fun documenting my journey last year and decided to start this blog to continue to share my adventures. This blog will contain descriptions and pictures of my rides in and around NJ. Here is a link to pictures from some of last years rides. I don't have any new bike pictures this year yet but here is a picture of my dog who is wearing a cone because of an infected foot.