Winter Has Arrived

This December has reminded me how cold and stormy winter can be. I have only been able to get out a few times this month because of the weather. I am more than willing to push the limits of riding in the wind and cold but if it is below freezing or there is snow on the ground I'm not riding on the road. Last Saturday I had a ride in the book that got cancel because of a snow storm that dropped 12 inches of snow on the ground. The picture below shows what my back yard looked like after the storm.

After the storm I thought it would take a couple of weeks for the snow to melt enough for the roads to be safe to ride again but because of a couple of warm days and a massive amount of rain the snow was gone a week later. I was amazed at how fast the snow melted. The next picture shows my back yard a week after the snow storm with no snow left.

The warm temperatures this past weekend let me do a comfortable 40 mile ride but the weather for the next week looks cold with a chance of more snow. If this is going to be one of those cold and snowy winters I may have to try mountain biking because that my be the only way I will be able to ride through out the winter.

I don't any rides in the book for Jeb-uary (Jan-Feb) but will post here when I plan a group ride.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving marks the start of winter riding for me. Most of my rides from now until March will be close to home. Although there is always to the possibility of a warm 60 degree day, most of the weather from here until spring will be in the 30s 40s and 50s with usually some type of wind.

This weekend for example I ended up going out on Saturday. At 45 degrees it wasn't too cold but the 25 mph wind was a little tough at times. Luckily I found 3 other people crazy enough to ride in the wind and take turns in front.

Although staying close to home means doing a lot of the same old roads I have been doing for years its still fun. For example I went to Cranbury last Saturday to try and catch up with some people I haven't seen in a while. I did end up seeing Ira and Marilyn but most of the other people I really didn't know. I ended up leading the ride, because Ira is not feeling well, and chose to do the standard Rue's Road route that Don taught me years ago. I hadn't been that way in about 6 months and forgot how much I enjoy that route.

A couple weeks ago I went on Ken's ride and ended up going to Delicious Orchards which I had never been to on a bike. It was a nice ride and I see a couple of other people are heading there also so I may go back again over the winter. Here is a route to Delicious Orchards that I came up with.

So even though I am staying close to hope in the winter it doesn't mean that riding is boring just a little colder and windier

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.

Errata

I have been on vacation for the last two weeks and have had a lot of fun but did not get a chance to do any biking. Now that I'm back I'm looking forward to riding again. This past Saturday was the PFW cycling event and it couldn't have been a nicer day. Usually I work the registration desk in the morning then do 50 or 60 miles while taking pictures of all the bikers.

This year I didn't get a chance to ride because I was doing a book signing with Barnes & Noble. They usually don't do many external book signings but the PFW event was the perfect place to sell the book to bikers so they agreed to come out.

I did sell some books which is good but I also got a chance to talk to some people who had already bought it and were using it. The feedback was very positive which made me feel good since I put a lot of work into the book to make sure it was accurate and useful. Even though I did my best to make the book error free there is always the possibility that I missed something or that some of the roads, or rest stops have changed. This is why I have added an Errata section to the website for the book I have also added an email link so people can more easily contact me and report any errors that they find.

Oshkosh B'Gosh

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Although most people associate Oshkosh with the famous denim overalls, it is also the site of one of the world’s biggest airshows. I’m not a pilot or have any real desire to become one but I am an aviation enthusiast and enjoy the beauty and technology behind manned flight. I usually try to go to one airshow a year just to satisfy my desire to see some cool aerobatics. This year I planned our vacation to Chicago to end the day before the start of the Oshkosh airshow then put my wife on a plane home and headed north to Oshkosh.

The Oshkosh airshow is put on by the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association). This show started out as a bunch of pilots gathering to discuss and show off the best home built planes in the country. The show has been held every year for over 50 years and has grown in leaps and bounds. This year the attendance total will probably top over 700,000 people. This show is not only about home built planes but has become a world class airshow where you can come and see almost any plane that has ever been made. At the show I saw everything from Wright Model B to WWII Mustang to the Whiteknight II from Burt Rutan. If you love airplanes you owe it to yourself to get you ass to Oshkosh at least once in your life to experience airplane nirvana.

There are a lot of different aspects to the Oshkosh airshow. There are talks given on any aviation topic imaginable by the experts in the field, There are 10s of thousands of planes on display that you can look at and of course there is the daily airshow that show cases the best aerobatic pilots on earth. The scope and size of the show is overwhelming. It easily takes a few days to really see everything.

The highlight of the show was the arrival and demonstration flight of the Whiteknight 2 aircraft that was built by Scaled Composites for Virgin Galactic to carry SpaceShip 2 to 50,000 feet and air launch it into a ballistic trajectory to space. In the next 5 years this should allow a few hundred to a thousand people to fly into space and experience weightlessness for around 10 mins. This will be the beginning of the commercial space market and should start to allow the common man to experience space travel.

The other main highlight of the show was the arrival and demo flight of the new Airbus 380 the biggest plane in the world. The plane is huge but as the demonstration flight showed it is very maneuverable. The pilot did some very short turns and had the angle of attack at plus and minus 15 degrees. Nothing you would want to experience during a normal commercial flight but it was amazing how the nimble the big plane really was.

The amazing part of the show was the organization. Even with over 10’s of thousands of plane and 100s of thousands of people everything ran flawlessly. This was one of the cleanest places I have every seen and although it was crowded the wait for food or any other service was never very long. Also the service of every one of the staff from the bus drivers to the food service personnel was always friendly and professional. In fact they would go out of their way to do anything to make the event run more efficiently. For example when the air show let out the buses back to the camp ground (Where I was staying) were really packed as everybody was trying to get back to where they were staying.

Normally this would mean long lines and waiting times for buses but this was not the case. First they had a lot of buses which help but they also learn to run them more efficiently. After every one got on the bus they announced the stops they planned to make and asked who was getting off at each stop. If there were stops that no one needed they changed the route to eliminate that stop and get to the other ones quicker. All the bus drivers communicated to each other so that all the stops were always covered and they never missed picking any one up. It was a great system that was worked well and the most amazing thing was that it was an all volunteer system.

As I mentioned above I stayed in the camp ground. As you can imaged the small Wisconson town of Oshkosh is totally overwhelm by the hordes of people that attend the airshow. It is really hard to get a hotel room. However there is a huge field next to the airport where the airshow is held turns into a extremely large campground. My parents have a 5th wheel camper and were in the area so I meet them and stayed with them for the three days that I was there. The campground is a cross between a refugee camp and an army base. There were over 30,000 trailers, motor homes and tents here. It was an unbelievable site. The makeshift roads had a constant flow of traffic including, buses, bikes, scoters and people walking. It was chaotic, crowded and well organized all at the same time. Again the volunteers kept the camp really clean and their passion to help people was infectious because all the campers were really friendly and helpful. It was like living in a big commune and although I missed having my own private bathroom and shower it wasn’t a bad way to live for a few days.

This airshow attracts some of the best, brightest and even famous people. I attended talks by Sir Richard Branson, Harrison Ford (besides being an actor he is also a helicopter pilot), Miles O’Brien and Burt Rutan just to name a few. The best talk I went to was with Richard Branson and Burt Rutan where they explained how within a few years they plan to be flying people on sub orbital flights to space. I believe they will not only be able to do it but actually make money at it.

The Oshkosh airshow was one of those rare events which I had high expectations which were exceeded by the actual experience. I saw a lot of cool planes and learned a lot about the future advances of aviation.

The only thing that damped my high from attending the airshow was the flight home.. My 225 pm flight from O’Hare ended up leaving over 2 hours late because of bad weather at Newark. So although the future of aviation is bright they need to work a little harder to find a way to make the airlines run on time when it rains.

The Perfect Game

I haven't posted for a couple of weeks mostly because I am currently on vacation in Chicago. Chicago is a great city and we are having a lot of fun here. You can see my Chicago pictures HERE. These pictures also include some from the town of Milwaukee which we also visited

While my wife and I travel we like to take in a baseball game when we can. Visiting the stadiums is fun since they are all different and have there own unique character. I usually don't remember much about the actual games themselves. For this vacation we visited the White Soxs, Cubs, and Brewers Stadium. Click on the links if you want some pictures of the stadiums

Yesterday however was a game that I will always remember. We went to an afternoon game at the White Soxs and saw a perfect game. There have only been 18 perfect games pitched in the history of baseball so the chances of seeing one is astronomical.

The game was relatively boring until the bottom of the 7th when everybody starting thinking this could be a no hitter. By the middle of the 8th the crowd was hanging on every pitch. Then in the 9th when DeWayne Wise made a heroic catch that robbed the Rays of a home run everybody in the stadium knew this was a historic moment.

This celebration after the game felt like the team just won a championship and went on for a while. Both my wife and I were pumped up from the experience and were high fiving strangers. It was a great feeling. Most baseball fans have two dream when they go to a game. They want to catch a foul ball (Did that at a Phillys/Met game 10 years ago) and see a perfect game. I know that I am one of the lucky few that was able to have both happen to me

Schooley's Mountain

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Schooley's Mtn is one of those places that I have been wanting to ride to for years. I first though about it when I read about the rides featured at the the Ramapo Rally ride that's out of Bergen County. The toughest ride that they have is a 125 mile hilly ride from Mahwah to Schooley's Mtn and back. I though about doing it a couple of times but 125 miles and hills is a little more than I really consider a fun ride.

When I was researching the book and trying to decide which rides to include I though again about doing a ride to Schooley's Mtn but limted space prevented me from including it. Finally this past weekend I finally made it to Schooley's Mtn.

This ended up being a great ride that I'm sorry that I didn't do it sooner. We had the perfect day to do the ride it was in the mid 70s with low humidity. Although we had rain the previous night it was mostly clear when we started. Since this was going to be a very hilly ride I expected 4 or 5 people but ended up with 9. It was a good group with a good hilly climbing attitude.

The first 31 miles where mostly up hill but it was a beautiful climb. I ended up starting the ride from Raritan Community College because of a road closure that would have made it too long if I started from the usual place in Pluckemin. This ended up being a good place to start.

After about 7 miles we were on Rockaway Rd which is one of the nicest roads in the area. It's a nice slow climb that takes you up about 200 feet in 4 miles. The grade is so gradual that you don't even realize you going up hill. There is a river that runs along side of the road which makes it a beautiful ride. The rain the previous night caused the water to run fast which made a strange rushing sound as we climbed our way up. The next road was Guinea Hollow which required some more climbing but also had a beautiful river next to it.

We continued to wind our way up the hills as we headed for the town of Long Valley. We had started at about 100 ft and when we got to Long Valley we were almost at 800 feet with a lot of ups and downs. None of the climbs were too bad and the scenery was nice so it was a real enjoyable ride.

After a nice downhill into Long Valley we headed towards Schooley's Mtn. This was where the toughest climb of the ride would be. There are a couple of ways up to the top of the mountain all of them require climbing around 450 feet in a couple of miles. I decided to go up Naughright because it looked like one of the better ways up. The climb started with a 15 % grade so its a tough start but after less than a half mile the grade deceases a little. There were also a couple of flatter section that let you catch your breath. So although it was a tough climb every body was able to grid there way up. The only problem with this way up the mountain was that there was a little more traffic than I was expecting. I had warned everybody to stay to the right so there were no problem with the cars going by it just meant that you had to concentrate on the traffic as well as the climbing.

Once on the top we regrouped and explored the top of the mountain. The mountain is covered with trees so unfortunately there were no clearings where we could see the view of the valley below. We did have a nice stop at the general store/post office. It was like something from the 50's. We also got to see a large carved eagle which is marked on Dustin's NJ Bike map. It's not something you see everyday.

From here is was mostly down hill or so I though from the maps but it turned out that there were always some climb getting in the way of a lot of the down hills. This didn't really matter as the roads where mostly traffic free and the views were nice. The worst part was on the upper part of Black River Rd which is strewn with pot holes. I hope they repave this road soon.

I was tired when I got back to the college but very satified with the ride. I had been looking forward to this ride for a couple of months and had done a lot of hill training to make sure I would be in shape for the ride. I also spend a lot of time planning the route. Although I had ridden about half the roads on this ride before there were quite a few that I had never ridden.

Both my training and planning paid off. I felt good during the ride and the route ended up being really nice. I also got lucky with the weather and had a good group of people for the ride. I may tweak a few of the roads but this is route I will do again.

For those interested here is the elevation profile for the ride. Click on the image to get a bigger view. The text on the profile are the names of the roads on that part of the ride. This is a pretty hilly ride for NJ but isn't extreme. If you have the right gears and do some hill training you should be able to do this ride. You can find the ride sheet for the ride here







Here is the elevation profile for Naughright Rd which was the toughest climb of the ride. The percent grade is indicated on the left click on the picture to get a larger view. The profile makes the hill look worst than it is. It was a tough climb but the hill had steps in it so it was possible to recover from some of the steeper parts of the hill.

You Know You're in South Jersey When?

If you want a flat, scenic, traffic free ride there are few places better than southern Jersey. There are a lot of scenic farmland and quiet back roads that are fun to explore. South Jersey is a little different than the rest of the state especially when you head to the more rural areas. In these areas the music tends to be country, the pickup trucks all have gun racks and there are too many guys still sporting mullets.

Although you will not see any signs telling you've entered South Jersey you can usually tell by the surroundings. With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy here are a few tips that you entered South Jersey.

You know you're in South Jersey when?:

• You see a gun club every couple of miles
• Every front yard contain either a rotted couch, rusted car, or a Jesus Saves sign
• The only stores you see are Wawas
• You see bumper stickers for Piney Power
• The only trees you see are pine trees
• All the vehicles are pickup trucks with tires taller than you
• The few cars you see have strange accessories (like the beer can hub cap above)

The strangeness of South Jersey may scary some people but for me it is just part of the fun of riding down there.

Me and My Shadow

I had a very strange experience the other night during a ride. As I was riding along I noticed silhouette of some one on a bike riding next to me. The strange thing is that it mirrored my exact moves. What's even more strange is the sky was a weird color. It wasn't it's normal grey but a bright blue. There was also this yellow orb above the horizon that hurt my eyes when I looked at it.

I think this was all because we finally had a sunny day. Its hard to tell because I haven't seen the sun or a clear sky since the end of May. We have been getting two to three inches of rain a week in June. A good day in June has meant that it only rains for half the day. It has also been relatively cold where the average high is in the low 70s.

All this has made finding time to ride really hard. I hope this weather pattern changes soon. If not then I am just going to have to learn to ride in the rain.

It's Never Sunny in Round Valley

I end up riding by Round Valley reservoir at least 2 or 3 times a year. In the past 5 years I think I have only had one ride past the reservoir where the weather was actually nice. Most of the time it's either hazy, hot and humid or overcast and cloudy. The weather this Saturday was no better for this years ride around Round Valley.

The temperature was in the mid 70s which was good but it was overcast with the humidity of at least 110%. I didn't expect a lot of people on the ride since it was in the book as a long hilly ride but I actually ended up with 11 people. Except for Chris, Hilda, and Cheryl I didn't know any of them so I was a little nervous about leading this many people around hilly terrain.

As the ride got going it was clear that we had a few pace pushers who kept wanting to go ahead but for the most part they were pretty well behaved. The route I took was mostly the same route I have in book only backward. This way is a little less climbing and we get a really cool downhill after the reservoir.

We quickly made our way through Bellemeade and Hillsborough and crossed 202 in South Branch on Old York Rd. From here we headed past Solberg airport and made our way into Whitehouse Station. We were 21 miles into the ride so I decided to stop here since there were no other places to stop along the route for a least another 20 miles since the Stanton General Store is now closed. I had never stopped in Whitehouse Station for a rest stop so I didn't know what I would find. We found a pizza place which was closed but there was a nice deli that was open that made a good stop.

After the stop we headed towards the reservoir and started to do some climbing. The group started to spread out a little as some of the faster rides started to push ahead up the hills. I stayed back with the slower group to make sure nobody got left behind or felt like they had to push it up the hills. When I lead hilly rides like this it becomes hard to keep the group together when you have a mix of fast hill climbers and the rest of us who take a little time to make it up the hill. I tried to keep the group up front aware of the next few turns so they knew where we were going because although I have no problem dropping people if they don't behavior I prefer to try to keep the group together if possible.

As we got to the real hills around Round Valley and started a couple of long climbs I was very happy with the way everybody made it up the hill even though a few of them said they hadn't really done much climbing. Nobody really had a problem with the climb although we spread out a little. The humid weather and overcast sky made it not worth taking any pictures around the reservoir. For what the reservoir looks like on a good day see these pictures.

The downhill after the reservoir is one of the best downhills in the state. I hit 40mph and I'm sure the tandem hit 50mph. After the downhill we passed the abandon Stanton General Store and took Dreahook to Springtown. We ended up dropping a few people off the front when we made the turn onto Springtown and when we headed down Barley Sheaf I had somebody cramp up so we had to stop for a few minutes until he could ride again. We slowed down the pace so the guy who cramped up could keep up but he kept falling back so I stayed back with him and told Cheryl Chris and the other so go ahead since they knew where we were now and they could find their way to Peacocks.

We were on Cider Mill at this time and when we cross Amwell the guy who was cramping and his friend decided to head back around the north end of the Sourlands instead of climbing over the Sourland like I planned. They said they knew where they were and could get back so I left them and went to catch up with the rest of the group.

It was strange riding by myself after leading a ride but I took the opportunity to take a could of pictures. I eventually made it to Peacocks where I not only meet up with the rest of the group but also with the people I had dropped so in the space of a half hour I had lost almost all of the group and then found them again.

By the time we got to Peacocks we were pretty tired mostly because it was so humid. After the rest stop some of the pace pusher crowd decided to go back on their own. The rest of us climbed Linburg and headed back to the canal. I ended up coming down Dutchtown Zion just to get in one last down hill in. We got back to the canal around 1:30 pm just about the same time that the guys with the cramps got there so I was happy to see they made it back.

Even though the weather wasn't great and I had some problems with the group it didn't diminish from the ride. I may never see Round Valley on a good day but it doesn't mean that it's not a fun ride.

Roebling River Ride

I am always on the look out for new places to ride in the area so a couple weeks ago when big Joe asked if any one wanted to join him for a his river ride I decided to join him. This rides starts in Mercer County park and heads south to the Roebling and Florence where you ride by the Delaware for a few miles. I had actually never ridden through Florence so this ride gave me a chance to explore a few new roads.

Even though Joe has done this route a number of times he still had to check the map a few times since little Joe wasn't there to guide him. We also had to shorten the ride a little since Herb had to get home by noon.

This all resulted in trying to find a few short cuts to get home on time. Some of our short cuts caused us to have to ride on Rt 130 and 206 a couple of times. We ended up getting back almost on time and including riding into the park I ended up with 70 miles.

Except for having to ride on Rt 130 and 206 for a couple of miles it actually ended up being a nice ride and not as urban as I thought it would be. After I got back from the ride I mapped out where we went and came up with a new route that I rode this past weekend. It is similar to Joe's ride without riding on any major highways and returns through the farmlands of Columbus.

Although this has a few urban spots its actually a pretty nice ride and a route that I will definitely do it again. It's always a nice surprise when you go exploring and actually find a new route. I have posted the ridesheet here for those interested in trying the ride.

Mapping My Rides

It's been a couple of weeks since I made a post mostly because I was on vacation for a week in Bermuda. I didn't doing any biking there but did get some nice time on the beaches which are absolutely beautiful. You can see my vacation pictures here.

I also have been speeding some time getting familiar with a new piece of software for mapping out my rides. For the past 10 years I have been using the different versions of Street Atlas USA. Its a pretty good program that allowed me to map out routes and create ride sheets but recently I upgraded to Topo USA, another mapping product from Delorme. Topo USA is very similar Street Atlas USA but adds topographical information to the normal detailed street maps. This is a nice addition especially when I plan rides in the hillier areas of the state and want to decide which hills to take.

For example I am planning a ride to Schooley's Mountain in July. The first thing I do when planning a ride is take a look a NJBikeMap to get a quick look at the best roads to take. I then start mapping out the ride in Topo USA. This involves setting the start and stop location of the ride as well as adding way points to get the route to follow the road that I want to ride on. As I do this I get a good idea of how long the ride is going to be and can easily adjust to route to get the miles I want.

Once I get the route the way I want it I can export the directions to a text file which I can turn into a ride sheet. With Street Atlas USA this was all I could do which was fine but with Topo USA not only can I generate a ride sheet I can also get an elevation profile which tells me how much climbing I am going to do and the grade of each climb. You can see a sample below.





What's even cooler is that I can overlay the street maps with satellite images and get a really good idea of what I will see along the way. I use to use google maps to see the satellite data which was ok but it required me to switch between Street Atlas USA and google maps which made it a little cumbersome. Having the satellite view inside the mapping program makes it easier to get the complete picture.



Of course maps and satellite images are no substitute for doing the actual ride but doing the planning up front gives you a better idea of what to expect once you are on the road.

Some people don't want to bother to do a lot of planning before a ride and prefer to just improvise along the way. I respect that approach but for me I actually enjoy doing the planning and with tools like Topo USA planning a ride is a lot easier.

Rain Rain Go Away...

My planned ride this weekend got rained out. I did managed to get out for a few hours Saturday afternoon as there was a small window where the rain stopped so it wasn't a total loss. Since then the rain has been almost non stop with no sign of letting up.

On rainy days like these I like to curl up with a good book. One book I would highly recommend would be my book Road Biking New Jersey. Ok maybe its not this years hot novel but it will help you plan your next bike ride once if stops frigging raining. The book is finally available and is shipping from amazon now. The funny thing is that the new book is priced at $11.51 where as used version of the book (which are at most 3 days old) are going for $32. Its nice to see that that the book only gets better with age :-) So not only is the book a great read it's also a great investment (End of blatant self promotion)

The truth is that the rain has given me some time to get familiar with a new piece of software I recently bought for planning my rides. This software lets me combine street maps topographical and satellite data all on one map. So even though this week is looking like a rain out I should have some new routes mapped out when roads finally dry out.

Trees in Bloom

This pass weekend was the great weekend to see some of the local trees in full bloom. Besides the Magnolias and Cherry trees we also have some nice red and white flowering trees like the ones shown here. These trees are beautiful and great for the environment but unfortunately some of them will be turning in to saw dust soon so that my book may live. That's right I just got word from my editor that the book finally went to the printers.

I got an advance copy today and I think it came out really good. It should be out in stores by May 19th. The book has been a lot of work and I'm glad that the work is now complete. I intend to do some book signing to promote it but that should be fun.

Now that the book is done I can concentrate on riding just for the fun of it. The weather this weekend looks great and I have a ride in the book for Saturday morning out of Bordentown. It will be a nice flat cruise down to the pine barrens and back with a stop at a nice bakery near Smithville. It should be around 55 miles and a fun ride. Come out and enjoy the weather

(Disclaimer Falcon press prints their books on recycled paper, I think, so no actual trees were killed in the printing of my book)

Spring Photo Ride

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Before I had to take pictures for the book I never really bothered to take a camera along on my rides. Although there is always some nice scenery along the way I never had the desire to stop and capture it. But now that I have spent the last two years with a camera with me when I ride I find that taking pictures has become part of my rides. I try not to let the photography interrupt the flow of the ride but there are always opportunities for a few nice shots.

During the winter I read a couple of good books on photography and now better understand how aperture, shutter speed, white balance and a number of other factors affect a photograph. I am still a long way from mastering photography but I when I look at my pictures after a ride I can tell what I did wrong on certain shots and am learning how to take better pictures. This past weekend was Easter Sunday and because of the rain on Saturday and the family gathering at my house on Sunday I wasn't able to get a group ride it. I was lucky enough to be off on Monday with decent weather and decided to take a ride by my self and concentrate on trying to get some good pictures.

I headed for the Sourlands and my goal was to try and get some scenic shots of some of the rivers and farmlands. I thought after all the rain we had last week that the rivers would be flowing full force and would afford some nice photos. Unfortunately the rivers really weren't as high or fast flowing as I expected but there were a few nice photo opportunities. You can click here to see all the pictures that I took.

I started off in Rocky Hill on the other side of 206 and ended up going to Stockon and back. I went over the Sourlands through Sergeantsville pass the Covered Bridge to Bulls Island and back. I tried to hit all the major rivers and stream that I always pass. Being by myself I took a little more time and stopped more than I usually do for pictures. It was fun experimenting with my camera and trying out different combinations of shutter speed, aperture and exposure. I learned a few things about my camera and how different settings affect a picture. Its still early spring so the land is a little barren but I still managed to a get a few good shots. I know the land will look a lot better in another month so I plan to dedicate a ride every now and then to photography. I may never be a great photographer but I have found that biking and photography go good together and it is something that I really enjoy now.

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.

Coffee Run

During the winter months New Egypt is one of the favorite stops for a bike ride. It is a relatively easy ride and there are a couple good places to stop and warm up on a cool winter day. There are also may different ways to get to and from New Egypt from the Hightstown area where we usually start the ride so it is easy to keep varying the route.

This past weekend I lead my first official ride for the club. I ended up with a good crowed and we took a short ride to New Egypt. I have posted the route on my NJ Road Biking site here. This is my standard short route which will give you an template to vary on your own should you want to head to there for a ride. I will post the longer route later in the season so you can see some of my other variations

Indian Summer or Early Spring?

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What do you call it when it's 70 degrees in early March, Indian Summer?..Early Spring? I think Indian Summer only happens in the fall and I won't call Early Spring because there is still some cold weather ahead. In any case this past weekend was a nice reprieve from the cold winter we have been having.

For a change of pace this weekend I decide to take a ride to Pennington and do a ride with the Hill Slug gang since I hadn't seen some of them in a while. I also heard that Laura had attracted a bunch of Fixes to her ride and I wanted to see how they could climb some of the hills in the Sourlands with just one gear.

With the warm weather there was quite a crowd, 16 total, and all the regulars showed up. It was so warm some people were in shorts and short sleeves. I left my jacket in the car but still left the tights on.

I spent the first feel miles of the ride just talking to everybody I hadn't seen in a while. We eventually found the hills. Laura's plan was to do some long slow hills today. We ended up going up Province Line. It was a clear sunny day so the view was nice. Half way up the hill I stopped for some pictures. Although it was clear the hills in the distance still had fog rolling through them. This picture will be much nice when the foliage fills in.

About 3/4 of the way up as I was trying to catch up with the group I realized a couple of things. First I was actually "hot" which I hadn't felt while riding a bike for the past 4 months. The second thing I realized was that I'm really not in very good hill climbing shape as this climb was feeling a lot worst than it should. I eventually slugged up the hill with Marilyn who is always good company.

We then cruised along the ridge for quite a while before taking 179 into Lamberville. At the bottom of the hill where 179 comes into Lamberville Mike M took a quick hair pin turn to the right as a short cut to Rojo's. I followed him because I thought he knew where he was going but when ended up loosing the rest of the group as well as making a few wrong turns before we got there.

Rojo's was crowed and we ended up spending a long time there. By a strange coincidence we actually ended up running into Michael H and his wife there.

The climbed out of Lamberville wasn't bad and when we turned onto Harbourton-Mount Airy Road Laura said she was going to stop to get some pictures of Dinosaur Rock, which I had never noticed before. After the picture stop we took Rock Road to 579. We were close to getting home so the group stretched out as people started racing back. I was at the back with Marilyn and in no particular hurry. It is rare when I'm on a ride and not leading so I was relaxing knowing Laura always waits for everybody at the turns.

This was Marilyn's first ride of the season so she was a little tire by this time after all the hills. When she go caught at the light at 518 I waited on the other side until it changed not wanting her to get lost or ride alone. By this time we had lost sight of the group so I just continued on. I didn't know exactly where I was but I had a general idea. As we continued on I didn't see any sign of Laura or the rest of the group. So much for the, and I quote from the ride description here "nobody will be dropped" mantra Laura is so proud of.

At this point I knew we were on our own and that I needed to make a left to get to Pennington so when I saw Woosamonsa I made the left even though I knew it meant a couple of small hills. Although I have done a lot of rides with Laura out of Pennington we normally come back through Stony Brook which I am very familiar with. I have come back through 579 a couple of times with her but I'm not as familiar with the exact route back. If I knew she was going to drop my ass I would have studied the map before I left home.

I knew I could feel my way back to Pennington because I had a general idea of where I was and which direction Pennington was in. I was going to make the right on Burd but Marilyn said that 31 was straight ahead so I figured if we get to 31 I may be able to get by bearing a little better. We ended up on Titus Mill which sounded familiar. When passed the Bristol Myer Squib entrance I knew where I was and realized I was taking the long way back to Pennington.

At that point Marilyn's phone rang. I figured is was Laura who finally learned how to count again and realized we were missing. I told Marilyn to tell Laura that we were dying by the side of the road because I knew this would make Laura be all apologetic and worried.

In another 15 mins we were back in the parking lot and I thanked Laura for "dropping my ass". I wasn't really upset with her. With a group as big as she had it is easy to, unintentionally, drop some one. However I plan to remind her being dropped through out the year just to keep her humble.

Marilyn sent me an email later that said she came up with a great way described being dropped by Laura. The term is "Lynched". I agree with her but would like to take it one step further. Just like the term "Spragued" means dropping riders off the front of a ride I think the term "Lynched" should come to mean dropping people, "unintentionally", off the back of the ride :-)

When Animals Attack!

Ok, I really didn't get attacked by any animals but did have a close run in with a few deer so I couldn't resist the title.

On our way out of Etra Park this weekend we ran into some deer as we cruised along Disbrow Hill Rd. At first we saw a couple of deer running across the road about 20 feet in front of us. Then a couple of more ran across the road. I slowed down and scanned both sides of the road. I saw a couple more deer ready to cross the road so I yelled at them. Although this stop them from crossing the road it made them more nervious. So now the deer were walking parallel to me as I kept creeping along. My yelling also had the unintended side effect of spooking out a few more deer in the woods who ran out a few feet in front of me.

At this point the others riding with me had fallen back so I was alone surrounded by about 10 deer on both sides. It felt strange having that many deer watching me. I kept both eyes open as I kept creeping along hoping they won't jump in front of me. After a slow couple of hundred feet they were behind me and we continued along. I have had a couple of other close calls with deer but have never seen this many at one time.

We also had another interesting animal encounter during our ride. As we road through Cream Ridge we passed a farm with a bunch of horses. Most horses I normally see are just grazing in the field. These horses however were all laying down. They looked tired and disheveled. I suggested that these horses looked like they just go beat up by the Budweiser Clydesdales. So we ride along another couple of miles and what do we see... a Clydesdale pulling a couple people in a wagon with a dog sitting in it. It looks like the Budweiser commercial where the Clydesdale is training to become part of the team. It was a pretty funny coincidence.

Left or Right?

Most of my winter rides tend to be close to home. I don't usually take the time to map out these rides since I know these roads so well and can easily make up the routes as I go. A couple of weeks ago I did an afternoon adhoc ride with Herb, Mary and George and decided to head to Englishtown. I had the route all mapped out in my head but was not really paying attention and ended up taking a slightly different route than I was planning. No problem I just recalculated the route in my head and mapped out new route to get me on track. Part of this re routing had me taking a Gravelhill Spotswood road which I hadn't been on in years so I was a little disoriented but knew the general direction I was heading was correct. I eventually found the road I wanted but made a left instead of a right and got totally turned around. What I ended up doing was an unintentional 8 mile circle that got me no closer to Englishtown. It's really embarrassing getting lost so close to home and the others deservedly harassed me the rest of the ride.

At this point George wanted some coffee and Englishtown was too far so I just headed to Roy's in Millstone and then we wandered around back to our starting point. We never did make it to Englishtown but still had a nice ride.

The next week we all went out again and this time I was determined to get to Englishtown so before the ride I actually created a ridesheet just to make sure I won't get turned around this time. Although Herb and George kept doubting my abilities to get them to Englishtown we did eventually make it. This is not a route I would do with a big group because there a couple of spots with a little traffic but it is a nice ride to do for a change of pace with a small group. The ridesheet is now on my NJ Road Biking site in the ridesheet page in case your interested in trying it out.

Winter Projects

Winter is usually the time when I spend more time doing projects around the house. I don't mind doing project around the house because I am pretty handy and can usually get the job done the way I want it in the time I want it done. It also saves me a little money and replaces some of the exercise that I'm not getting because I'm not riding as much.

This winter so far I have put up a shed, insulated the attic, built some cabinets for the basement and probably have some painting in my near future. The other big project this winter has been getting my book ready to publish. I have spent a lot of time proof reading the manuscript, making maps for each ride and number of other little things needed by the publisher to get the book to print. Its almost done and I finally got some of the proof pages of the actual book and I am happy with the way it looks. A few more passes of proof reading and the book should be ready to go. According to the publisher, Falcon Press, it should be available on April 14th.

To provide some detailed information about the book for people looking to buy it I have created a web site NJRoadBiking that explains what's in the book. The site is very simple doesn't contain much more than a description of the book. For those of you who follow the blog and ride with me there will not be much new information here. The one part that you may be interested in is the ride sheet page where I have some ride sheets for some rides that I have done over the last couple of years but didn't make the book. There aren't a lot of ride sheets here yet but I will continue to add more in the weeks and months ahead. I have always wanted to have a way to share my ride sheets with everybody in the club so now that I have the web site set up this will be easy to do.

Beautiful Desolation

In this months Bicycling magazine there was an article about how riding in bad weather can be beautiful. This past weekend was finally warm enough to go out for a ride. I took my camera with me hoping to capture the beauty of the winter landscape.

The truth is that the landscape is pretty desolate in the winter. The farms are all plowed and empty, the trees are leafless, and the roads are filled with salt and sand. There really isn't a lot of beauty out there. I did get a decent pictures of some trees along the Millstone river but this picture and the rest of the landscape would be a lot nicer in the summer. So although I enjoyed getting out on the road this past weekend after a few weeks of being stuck inside. I really didn't see anything I would call beautiful.