Some Times You Gotta Go Around

I have a reputation for ignoring "Bridge Out"  and "Road Closed"signs and tend to use some cyclocross moves to get around the construction. Usually there is a walkway the workmen use so it is usually not dangerous or hard. Other times like a couple of weeks ago the bridge was totally out, on Sweet Hollow, with no walkway so we forded a stream. It was a little extreme but doable and nobody objected. It beat climbing all the way back up the hill.

This week Blake, Ron and I did a Covered Bridge ride out of Bulls Island. This involves crossing the Delaware climbing up the PA side then coming back the NJ side. The first climb is a half mile into the ride so I tend to take the easiest way up which is Fleecy Dale. In the email exchange before the ride I heard that FleecyDale was closed so I planned an alternate route. Laura teased me that I was wimping out because I usually laugh at "Road Closed" signs but the truth is if I know about a road closure before a ride I usually plan to avoid it.

I did some research about the construction on Fleecy Dale and found out they were replacing the retaining wall by Fritz Mill so I thought the road would be passable because I assumed the retaining wall was to keep the dirt from the hillside from sliding on to the road. But to be safe I decided on taking the alternate route up Green Lane. Curiosity got the best of us thought because we decided to try Fleecy Dale any way. The worst case we would just turn around and come back down hill.

So up Fleecy Dale we went and went past one construction zone and thought we were home free until we got near Fritz Mill then the road disappeared. It turns out the retaining wall they are building is to keep the next road they build from sliding into the river.  If you click on the picture above you can see there full scope of the construction. The first shovel tractor you see is actually at the bottom of Fritz Mill and the road was missing as far as we could see. There was no way we were going any further so we went down hill and back up Green Lane to continue the ride.

The roads were wet but not sloppy. The clouds looked threatening and we went through some mist but never got rained on. We went through two more construction zones one by the Loux Mill bridge which was just some shoulder work and the bridge out on Bridgeton Rd which has a temporary pedestrian bridge to use. So no problem there.

The NJ side was much dryer. We took the easy way up to the ridge (Javis to Rummel) and wound our way back to Bulls Island finishing with a nice fast stretch down Federal Twist.

One of the covered bridges we went through today Loux Mill was built in 1874 after a young man name Reed Meyers drown while trying to cross the stream. Although I do have a tendency to push the limits when getting around road construction I won't take any big risks or do anything unsafe. So some times you gotta go around.