Happy 4th of July

This past weekend was the July 4 holiday. As usually it was filled with a couple of rides and a family barbecue. This year was a little unusual as the holiday was on Friday instead of Monday. The plan was to ride Friday the 4th, go to the family barbecue on the 5th and ride again on the 6th. My plans changed when a passing hurricane came through on Friday. The hurricane when further out to sea than expected and we didn't get much rain but there was the imminent threat for most of the day.

I still wanted to get 2 rides. So on Saturday I decided to ride up to the family barbecue in Long Valley from my house. It would 58 miles and only hilly in the last 14 miles. I figured if I took my time I could do the ride and still feel good enough to lead a hilly ride on Sunday. The ride to Long Valley was nice except for the constant head wind which I had for the entire ride. It wasn't a very strong head wind but it was something I felt through the entire ride and definitely slowed me down.

After I crossed Rt 22 I started getting into some real hills. I was riding my Feather because most of the ride was flat and there were no real steep hills that I couldn't power my way over in the Feather. The weather had heated up since it was mid afternoon but as I approached the hills I felt the cool air rolling off the hills. I climbed up Rockaway the Guinea Hollow and I think the temperature actually dropped a few degrees.

Having the hills at the end of the ride was tough. I usually don't have a problem keeping hydrated but the wind and the length of the ride were getting to me. At the intersection of Frogtown and Valley Brook there as a short steep hill I had to stand up on. After standing for one pedal stroke both legs cramped up. I had to click out quickly to avoid falling. Both legs were cramped and I couldn't real bend them for a few minutes. Luckily I was only 5 miles from the finish but there were still a few hills a head. I managed to make it but I came close to cramping again at each little hill.

I spent the family barbecue trying to re hydrate so I could survive my Sunday ride.


On Sunday morning I felt sore but good enough to do the ride. I had 7 people on the ride besides me. It was the usually group with a couple of new people. This route was a route that Blake came up with a few years ago while I was breaking in my Synapse. Its also the ride I fell on with the Synapse on its 3rd ride. It is a good route so I wanted to do it again. This time with out the fall! (You can read about the ride and fall here)

This rides goes up the to the ridge on the NJ side and then down through Milford before crossing the Delaware and climbing some hills on the PA side. Its a really pretty ride if you don't mind the hills. I tweak the route this time to include Hickory Corner Rd. This is a great downhill the only problem is that you have to get to it which involves a long semi steep climb. It was worth it but I was glad I had the Synapse and the granny gear.

We had a nice stop in Black Eddy before going up Bridgeton Hill which is a 12-15% grade and a tough way to start after a stop. We had some more ups and downs before heading up the long shallow climb that is Dark Hollow on our way to Stover Park and the site of my previous fall.

Laura stopped to take a picture right before we took the road into the park. I thought she was close behind but when I took the road into the park (which has a "No Outlet" sign on it because only walkers and bikers can get through on the road) she and Jim went other way down a dirt road. I was concentrating on not falling and didn't notice them missing until we got to the other side of the park. I waited but they didn't show up and eventually they called me telling me they took a wrong turn. I gave then an alternate way back since it would have taken them a while to back track.

I do feel a little bad that they missed the turn as I try to make sure I don't loose any body on the rides. However the truth is I don't really like them much any way so I wasn't that concerned that I lost them. I mean look at the picture of Jim below striking a pose. He's got a face you just want to slap. And every time he is on the ride I have this constant ringing in my ears.

Besides they ended up having a cooler downhill than we did in the way back so I think loosing them made the ride better for all of us.

Of course I'm only kidding about being happy loosing Jim an Laura because I'm not the type of bastard that would post such derogatory things on a public blog. At least most people don't think so.