I'm not a lying bastard. I may sometimes accidentally misrepresent reality, forget to mention an important fact or slide by on a technicality. For the most part though I think I am a very honest person. Still this year, for some reason, people seem to doubt my integrity. For those not on the ride this week let me explain why I need to defend myself.
This past Sunday, after a day's rain delay, I lead a ride to Lake Nockamixon from Peace Valley in Doylestown. It was a cool some what cloudy day but a nice day for a ride. There was a little confusion on which parking lot to meet in but eventually we all found each other and had five people for the ride Laura, Blake, Jim, Dave C and Jack. As I do before most rides I gave a general overview of the ride and gave mileage, number of stops and mentioned that it would won't be too hilly. There would be some ups and downs but no really long tough climbs.
Of course the part about not being too hilly was correct but what I forgot to emphasize was that to get out of Peace Valley we would have to climb up a small hill. So about a mile into the ride we had to climb 250 feel in a about a half mile the first part of which was a 10% grade. It was a little rude to start the ride this way and I heard some grumbling in the ranks but I wanted to get the worst hill out of the way early.
From there we had some rollers until we crossed South Perkasie Road and were faced with another hill. It was a short but steep hill. In a little over 400 feet the road rises about 60 feet and has parts that are close to 20% grade. For me the problem climbing this hill is not strength since it is so short but actually keeping my front wheel on the ground. I did this by myself last year and had to walk up the top part. This time I was ready and put as much weight as I could towards my front wheel but as I got about three quarters of the way up the hill my front wheel kept bouncing off the ground and I slowly headed to the right off the road with no way steer. I eventually had to get off the bike and walk the last 50 feet up the hill.
When I got to the top the others were there breathing heavy and Dave C looked over at me and said "Are you often called a lying bastard". Which was the best line of the day. I know that I said that this would not be too hilly of a ride but in the first 7 miles we had got up a 10% and 20% grade hill. Now if I'm being picky the 20% grade was not a real climb since, according to NJBikeMap, nothing less than 100 ft is consider a climb but you won't win that argument with somebody who went up a 20% grade no matter how short.
After this we headed through the town of Perkasie who's street laid out and names are the same as center city Philadelphia which is a little strange. Although there were a few more small steep climbs to get out of town by the the time we started the loop around Lake Nockamixion it was more rolling.
The roads around the lake are really nice and quiet. Its a quiet forested area with houses scattered about. There are some ups and downs but nothing too hard. We made our way into Lake Nockamixon Park and stopped for a quick break by the marina. Its a really unbelievably large marina with a lot of boats. We ran into an English women who gave us a quick history lesson about the lake which was man made in the 1980s. She and Dave C, who is also English traded some stories about the old country.
From the marina we continued around the lake with a brief stop by the dam which is a little unusual then continue to wind our way back home. When I planned the route I saw that there were a couple of points of interest from NJBikeMap close by so I extended to route to stop by number 148 which is a small waterfall. These were all new roads to me but they were very nice. I will have to come back this way some other time to explore some more.
Eventually we made it back to Peace Valley. I decided to take a loop around the Lake Galena partly on the bike path which was a good way to cool down. We ended up with just under 60 miles and according to my GPS had about 3600 feet of climbing which isn't a lot so I stand by my statement that this wasn't a very hilly ride although I can see how some people would disagree with that after the first few miles.
I like this route and am glad I decided to revisit Lake Nockamixon If you are interested in doing this ride you can find the ride sheet HERE
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