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.