Ride to Rova Farms

Fall is at its peak around here so I wanted to do a ride to see the colors before the leaves fall off the trees. The colors seem bright this year but I think because of the dry fall we are having a lot of the leaves are already falling off. I planned a long but easy ride down towards Rova Farms. Back in the 1930s this was a cooperative farm and resort for Russians escaping from the Russian civil war. Not much is left of the farm or resort. The main reminder of the Russian past is St Vladimir's church which is of typical Russian design with some beautiful mosaics on the outside.

I sent an email out to the posse and posted a note on my blog. We all met at Mercer Park. Laura and Jim road in as did Marc and myself. Barry also showed up. I thought I might get a few others but I think the cold may have kept some people at home. It was low to mid 40s at the start and didn't get above the mid 50s by the end of the ride.

Although it was a little cold at the start it didn't take long to warm up. It was a good ride on some of our well known and favorite roads. I made our way up and over Rue road before heading south to Rova. It was definitely a good day to see the fall colors as there were a lot of bright yellows and deep reds along the way. Before the ride Laura had suggested we take the bike path back over the river as there was a good view of a tree that was highlighted by the sun. That is the picture you see at the top of this post. I saw Laura posted this picture on her blog post but it looks over exposed. I think my camera (the new Coolpix S33) did a better job getting the lighting as it actually was.

For the break we stopped at an antique/shit shop/grill. The have a lot of interesting but useless knick-nacks.  The food selection isn't great but the deli across the way isn't much better. I may try the other deli or doughnut shop up the road next time.

We had a slight tail wind on our way back from Rova. There were more fall colors and we kept a good pace. I finished the ride at a 16 mph average for 62 miles. Not bad for this time of year.

This was a much better ride than the last stressful ride I lead up north. I think this will keep the posse following me for some of my future rides. I'm hoping the fall colors stay around another week or so as we will be down by Cape May next weekend and some color may make the ride a little more interesting.

Morris, Passaic, Bergen Triple Highpoint

Some ideas should not be fully explored. That's how I felt about Sunday's triple highpoint ride. As you know by now I have been trying to ride to the highest road in each county in NJ and get as close as I can to the highpoints. I did this to try and explore some new areas and find some new routes. Some of the ride have been fun, some very challenging others just a little stupid.

Sunday's ride was a 60 mile 4000 ft of climbing marathon that followed close to this route. This is an area I have not ridden in much because it is far away and it is a very crowded area with not a lot of good roads. However with NJBikeMap and Google maps I tried to put together a route that would be rideable and explore some places I haven't been before.

We started in Pompton Lakes. We met at a school there. I didn't see a bathroom so Marc, Laura and I took a quick drive to the center of down and found a car show in the middle of town and a diner with a bathroom. Back at the school we picked up Jim, John, Ed (with new bike) and Jack and started the ride.

I was concerned with traffic in this area so I cut through some back neighborhood roads which turned out to be really steep. We almost lost John when he dropped a chain and fell but no damage to him or the bike so we continued on west as we climbed through some mountains that were a little steeper than the map had said. I heard the usual complaints.

After navigating a jug handle and traffic as we crossed Rt 23 we headed into Oak Ridge and towards our first highpoint in Morris County. The highpoint is actually at the boarder of Morris and Sussex county on Sparta mountain. It was a crappy road so the 300 ft 1.5 mile climb to the county border was slow. I took the required picture then we headed back the way we came back to Oak Ridge for a break at a local deli which was adequate.

We were 30 miles into the ride so half way done with two more highpoints to find. We headed back across Rt 23 and slowly up towards Greenwood Lake. It was 2-4% grade pass some pretty lakes and reservoirs the only problem was that there was more traffic than I was expecting.

10 miles later we were near Greenwood Lake and almost at the Passaic highpoint. I knew the highpoint was close to the Utopia Deli so we asked a local how far away it was. He said it was just down the road and I also asked him about all the traffic we were seeing on the road since there was now a constant stream of cars. I had expected this part to be the quietest part of the ride especially on Sunday. He said there was some major traffic light problems that was jamming up all the roads in the area. We continued on cautiously and found the deli to take the high point shot.

According to Dustin's map the highest road in Passaic county is 1191 feet. I got 1091 at the deli but I know it was higher a mile back but could not stop with all the traffic to take a picture.

After the Deli we had some steep descents which would have been a lot more fun with out the constant threat of the traffic whizzing by.  We did another rest stop at a bar/deli before heading to the last highpoint. We only had another 15 miles before the end of the ride. We were riding by Greenwood and a few other lakes that I might have normally stopped for picture but the lack of a good shoulder and constant traffic made me just keep going.

 I knew there was one more climb once we got on Skyline drive but never really looked into how hard it would be. I was more concerned when I planned the ride of finding the quietest back roads to ride on. I did look at the profile for the climb briefly and thought it was a 300 ft climb. It actually ended up being a 500ft climb in just over a mile. The RidewithGPS had the max grade at 8% but it was actually in the 10-12% range. It was a lot harder than I was expecting and I know most everybody else felt the same way and was cursing me out (but I'm used to that by now)

Just after the top of the hill we crossed into Bergen County and I took the final highpoint picture.

Then it was a steep downhill back to where we started. I remember when researching the highpoints debating whether I should try and ride on Skyline Drive. Google maps street view showed it as a busy road with a small shoulder but Dustin's NJ Bike map showed it as Green which meant it should be rideable. Dustin is not always right with his grading and this one he got wrong. It should have been purple. Yes we were able to safely ride down this road but it was not fun and not something I would do again or recommend any one else do.

Besides getting to the three highpoints there was nothing redeeming about this ride. Looking at maps and information about this area it seems like it might be a decent place to ride with a lot of picturesque lakes and winding roads and large forests but in reality the dense population in the area makes it a bad place to ride. There are just too many people in cars competing for space on the roads.

I am glad that I didn't have to do this ride by myself as it always helps to have a group of people when you are riding in traffic.  I have put the insane bike posse through some tough rides this year and I owe them a good easy peaceful ride for following me on this stressful one. Luckily this was the last hilly ride that I needed to get done to get to the high points. The only one left is the Cape May high point and I have some tested routes down there. Trying to ride to all the highpoints in the state seems like a good idea to change things up but sometimes it leads to rides that suck. At least I know some places that I shouldn't try to ride again. 

Zurich

It has been a very busy couple of weeks since I got back from vacation mostly because I had to catch up on work and get ready for a business trip to Zurich. It was a quick trip flying out on Monday night and back on Friday afternoon. This meant I really only had three days in Zurich most of which was spent in meetings at a research lab I was visiting.

I did manage to walk around town on the afternoon I arrived. Zurich is a medieval town on a lake in the middle of Switzerland. There is a river at the top of the lake where most of the old town is. In the narrow streets and alleys are a variety of restaurants and little shops that you could spend a day exploring. Interspersed around the town and on the lake are large squares that usually had a beer garden or coffee shop with an outdoor sitting area.

It is a nice town to walk around especially on a warm sunny day. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to explore further.  My hotel was a block from the lake next to the Opera house. It was a decent hotel but like most European hotels the rooms are really small. Well designed but small. One of the strange thing about the room was the glass door to the bathroom.

One great things about Switzerland is the bus and rail system. It is easy to understand, very clean and always on time. Each bus or train has multiple screens telling you where you are and how soon you will be at the next 4 stops. The clock on the screen has a second hand just to prove that the train or bus will be on time to the second.

Since this was a trip for work I spent most of my time in meetings and didn't get time to do any real sight seeing. I was hoping to at least get a good view of the Alps but they were too far from town to see.  Zurich seems like a cool place to hang out. If I do make it back here again I may try to stay a few extra days to explore the area a little more.