Last week it was warm enough for a road ride and I chose to do a run to New Egypt. This week was just on the edge of being too cold to ride on the road especially taking into account the stiff wind. However because of the Union Transportation Trail there is now another way to get to New Egypt.
The Union Transportation Trail was built on the former roadbed of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Pemberton & Hightstown line,which was a railroad that provided dairies and farms access to larger railroads at rail junctions in Pemberton and Hightstown, New Jersey. Traffic gradually dried up and the line was abandoned starting in the 1950s. Currently the trail runs from Herbert Rd just south of the Assumpink down to Millstream Rd in New Egypt. Eventually the trail will go all the way into Hightstown. They are already working on completing it. The trail already has been extended north to Old York Rd and if you want to go around or over a few fences you can ride even further north.
This was an official PFW ride that Laura posted. When I showed up at the Herbert Rd I was surprised to find 5 people already there. Laura and a few other people pulled in moments later and when we started the ride we had 10 total which is bigger than some of the normal Hill Slugs ride in the summer.
We headed north for a few miles around one fence before finding another we didn't want to jump over so we turned around and headed south to New Egypt. The first couple of miles down the trail the gravel is a little loose and bumpy. This is because the land itself is a bit wet and mushy and it seems that a lot of horses used this part of the trail so they leave a lot of hoof prints in the trail.
The looses part is just before crossing Rt 524 after that the trail gets a little harder and easier to ride. The trail is almost dead straight and as level as you would expect an old railroad bed to be. The first real turn was just before Cream Ridge where there was a problem securing the right of way through one of the farmlands so the trail has to hug the road past the golf course until it reaches Davis Station Rd.
The part from Davis Station to New Egypt is the oldest part of the trail and is very packed down and solid. We made quick work of the last few miles. At the end we talked about actually heading into the town of New Egypt but decided not to. As we stood around I was getting a little cold so I started heading back about a minute before the others started. As I was heading north I saw Tru going south. I guess we didn't notice he had dropped off the back.
I kept going and saw the others behind me stop but I kept going as I wanted to keep warm and knew they would eventually catch up. Its not like you can get lost on this type of ride. This trail isn't very scenic so I didn't stop to take any pictures. By the time I got back the others were a couple of minutes behind me.
It was still overcast with some intermittent flurries when we got back so I'm glad we decided to do a trail instead of a road ride. It also gave me a chance to test out the new fender I got that should keep some of the mud off me. I was also happy my shifter worked for the entire ride as I found a cracked ferrule and frayed cable when I cleaned up the bike last night. I put a little tape and zip tie on it as a temporary fix until I get the parts to fix it in a couple of days.
The UTT is an OK trail. Its not very interesting but it is close and a good way to get 20 miles in on a cold winter day.
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