Wind or Hills?

Spring is here is so is some crazy weather. Thunder storms this past Friday lead to 25 mph winds with gusts close to 50 mph on Saturday. I put my dog out on Saturday morning and even with four legs to steady her she was having problems standing in the wind. I have ridden in some pretty windy conditions but I didn't think it would be safe to ride on Saturday.

Luckily Sunday was a little better it was still windy but it was down to a 20 mph which although not fun is ridable. Laura had a ride out of Mercer park that I considered doing but she was headed south toward some of the more open and flat land which would have made dealing with the wind a little harder. I decide instead to head to the Sourlands and start doing some hill training. I hoped the hills would block most of the wind and even if they didn't the way the wind was blowing meant that it would be in my face on the way out not on the way home.

We started at Rocky Hill by the canal and went west towards the Sourlands. The wind was in our face all the way to the base of the Sourlands which made it slow ride but once we got to the mountains the wind wasn't a problem. I took the easy way up and over Sourlands, Hollow to Zion, then stayed on the ridge a little while before heading down to the Valley. The climbing was a slow steady grind but was a nice respite from the wind.

We did a little more climbing and worked our way towards Neshanic Station crossing the Raritan river a few times. The weather was cool but sunny and we had some nice views as we kept riding along. I took a few pictures along the way. My route took us along and over the Raritan river a few more times. The wind was there but wasn't too annoying although the direction kept changing. I think I made the right choice heading for the hills.

On the way back to the canal we got some nice tail winds on a few stretches and were easily pedaling over 20mph with out any effort. We can around the north end of the Sourlands on the way home so there were no major climbs on the way back. By the time we go back to the start we had done 45 miles. It was a good ride with some nice views. We did some climbing but nothing really hard. I think this was a lot better than trying to fight the wind.