The Explore or Exploit Decision

I have been reading Algorithms to Live By over the last month. It a great book about how real world problems relate to some standard computer algorithms. The book talks about some interesting issues. One of them is the Explore vs Exploit decision. This is the decision all of us have to make when we need to decide if we want try something new or go with what we know to be good. Like should I try the new restaurant or go to my old favorite. Going to a new one may be disappointing but it also could be become a new favorite. In most cases you should explore as it expands your choices and increases you knowledge of the world. This is something I agree with and try to follow especially when planning out bike routes.

Today's ride was an exploration of some roads in Warren county. This was similar to a ride I did last year. I wanted to change it up some more but was away this week in Dublin for work so didn't have a lot of time to work on the route. Being in Dublin was also not conducive to getting ready for one of my hillier rides this year. Besides the travel and working long days it didn't help that I was in the city where Guinness is made so I had to have a few and then a few more. For the record Guinness does taste much better in Dublin.

I got back from my trip late Friday night so I wasn't looking forward to the ride as I was travel weary. When I woke up Saturday it was already on its way to a hot and humid day. I brought some gator aid with me on the ride to try and stay hydrated. When I got to Frenchtown Jack and Jim was already there then Blake showed up a few minutes later followed not long after by Laura.

We followed this route which I made less hilly and a little longer than last years route. The main goal was to visit the Blue Army Shrine and ride along the Delaware as it is both flat and scenic.

As we headed up hill towards Clinton I felt the fatigue of my week of travel and tried to conserve what energy I had by using lower gears and spinning more than normal. I managed to make it over the hill and into Clinton with out too much of a problem. My main concern was the hill after Spruce Run which was the steepest climb of the ride. Going up it I shifted to my granny gear at the bottom of the hill and climbed it as slow as I could. It one of those hills that get steeper as you climb it so at the top I was at my max heart rate but I made it and actually felt better than I expected.

The road after the climb, Black Brook is a shaded rolling hill and very scenic. Then we made our way through Glen Manor and Hampton on our way to the Blue Army Shrine. On the way however we hit two problems with the route. The first was Dutch Hill Rd which is a steep winding downhill on a beat up road. This was the hill last year where Laura's rim got so hot from braking that it caused a bulge in the tire. This time there were no issues with tires an every body made it down safe but this is one of the hills we will never do again.

The other problem was getting across Rt 31 on Rymon Rd. I don't remember this being a problem last year but there was constant traffic and we had to take more risk than I wanted in order to cross the road. So this intersection is off the list of places to ride. Part of exploring is learning where not to go

After getting across Rt 31 we were on to our main attraction the Blue Army Shrine. The shrine is neither blue or has anything to do with an military army. It is a catholic shire dedicated to the Lady of Fatima who is credited with seeing a vision from the virgin Mary. You can find more details about her story here. The mission of the people who built the shire which was to fight against the atheistic policies of the Soviet Union and their Red Army. The member wore blue ribbons, hence the name blue army. If you want to read the whole story check this out. 

The Blue Army shire is an odd place with some strange statues on the lawn and a tall chapel at the top of the hill which was one of the steepest hills we climbed. After checking out the site we headed to Asbury for a break. There is a new coffee shop there. The place is a little expensive and the baked goods are just OK but there aren't may other choice to stop around here. At the stop we ended up running into Mike H and his ride.

From Asbury the ride is much flatter although there were a few rollers we had to get over. When we got to Bloomsbury I decided to make a slight detour to the planned route and check out the center of town and see what happen to the general store we used to stop at (its not a pizza joint).  When I signaled a left turn both Laura and Jim told me I was wrong but I yelled trust me. So when I made the left, Jack followed me but Laura Jim and Blake went right. Its nice to know after 10-15 years of leading these people on rides all around this state that they have so little trust in my navigation skills. I will admit to occasionally getting lost but that is part of the fun of these rides and since getting lost was in the actual description of the ride I think they should have trusted me. To be fair I should have made it clear that I was just taking a small detour through town and not making a major change it the route.

After splitting up and going through town we did meet up soon after where I busted them for their lack of trust in the ride leader. Like the Belmar PBC ride publishing the route in advance so everybody can have it on their GPS can sometimes cause a fractured ride.

After Bloomsbury we made it to the Delaware and the nicest part of the ride. As Jim reminded everybody this is one of his favorite roads in the state. It was getting hot at this point. I had been drinking as much as I could and even taken a gu pack to not cramp. I was actually feeling better than expected. I was slowing down, however, and took a little longer to get up some of the rollers on the way back but knew I could make it. I did feel on the verge of cramping but I think the gu does help.

We were all pretty tire by the time we got back. It was a good ride with some good parts and a couple parts that we will never do again. The value of exploring is in the fun of the journey itself and the knowledge you gain as part of it. There are times when I want to do a tried and tested route and don't want the mental strain of exploring but most of the time I will choose to try rides our routes where I can do some exploring.

There is No Such Thing as Too Many Downhills.

Saturday was my hilly ride from Cocoluxe in Gladstone NJ. I have done this ride 4 or 5 times before but continue to tweak the route to find good roads and try and get the perfect mix between scenery, climbing and good downhills.

The starting point for this ride is an hour north from our normal rides so I only got 3 other people to join me (Laura, Bob, and Jack). I know Jim would have been there too if he hadn't been on call. Because of that I took the parking lot photos that he usually takes.

For once there was no threat of rain this Saturday. It was a little humid but otherwise a nice day for a ride.

The climbing starts almost immediately as there is no flat way out of Gladstone. The climbing continued as we made our way towards Tewsbury and Rockaway Rd. The climbs are in the 3-5% range so nothing too difficult but there is also not a lot of flat riding so you are either climbing or coasting down hill. For some reason in years past I would get a stomach cramp 5-6 miles into the ride and have to stop for a few minutes. I'm think doing so many hills at the start of the ride may cause it but didn't have any problems today.

The longest climb of the day was up Rockaway Rd and then up Guinea Hollow. These are gentle climbs next in the woods next to flowing brooks so even though you are climbing for over 5 miles it doesn't feel hard and you aren't continuing wondering if this is ever going to end.

A little more climbing along familiar roads as we made our way into Long Valley and had a flat or slightly down hill break for 5 miles. One of the changes I made to this years route was going down Coleman into Long Valley. I did this road a couple of years ago and remember that is was a fast straight downhill that I wanted to do again. It was a good as I remembered.

From there we climbed back out of the valley to a rest stop at a Quick Check. We meet a tri-athlete  on an aero bike at the rest stop. He left just before us but was still sitting at the light for a few minutes until we joined him and pushed the button so the light would actually turn and let us continue on.

I usually take Pleasant Hill Rd but took a different way up South Rd. This ended up being less or at least easier climbing and a nicer road. At the top of South Rd I took a GU pack since there was some hills coming and I wanted to see if it would prevent cramping.

We had a few killer down hills on the way into Medham. The downhill on Ironia it twisty and steep but I have done it enough times now to be able to take it at almost full speed and enjoy it. It also helped that a lot of the roads in this area seem to have been recently paved. One of the reason I like hills is that it can lead to good scenery and some fun downhills.

Before getting back to Gladstone we had one more tough climb up Bliss Rd. I could have cut this hill out of the route as there are other flatter ways to get back but going up this hill would lead to two more fun down hills. One that has a number of small humps in it that make it feel like a roller coaster ride and if you are daring enough (which I'm not) you might even be able to get some air.

At the bottom of the hill Jack complain about the number of fast downhills. Which I don't understand. I understand when people complain about too much climbing as they are getting tired and hurting (although I have learned to ignore them) but if you don't like going down hill fast just use the brakes.

The last part of the ride was past a lake and was the only road that wasn't nicely paved. We ended up with about 3200 feet of climbing in 45 miles. Besides the climb up Bliss nothing was painful or steep so this was an easy 3200 feet of climbing. It also seems that the GU worked as I didn't cramp during or after the ride.

I have another hilly ride in Warren county in a couple of weeks. I hope it will be as nice as this ride was.

Red White and Blue

The holiday weekend was a little longer than usually since the 4th was on Tuesday and most people either had or took off the 3rd for a 4 day weekend. Since we had a party planned for Sunday I road close to home on Saturday so I could get back early to clean up the house so everything would be ready for the party.

I'm not any more or less patriotic than most people but since I was born on the 4th of July it is required that I wear some red, white and blue during the holiday weekend. It started 5 or 6 years ago with a simple flag hat then a few years ago some one gave me the shirt then last year I got the shorts. I think the only thing left is the shoes.

The party on Sunday went well. It was a little warm and I was manning the grill so I was glad I was able to jump in the pool when I got hot. We have a Brontosaur in our pool this year to swim with. Its a blow up toy but if you put water in it instead of air it is neutrally buoyant and will chase you around the pool.   

On the 4th I went to the All Paces ride to catch up with some people I hadn't seen in a while. I ended up riding with Ira, Herb, Bruce, Larry and a few other people. It was a very relaxed and fun ride and gave me a chance catch up most of them.

In the afternoon I ended up going to a friend for another party so it has been a busy holiday weekend. Luckily I am also taking July 5 off to make it a really long weekend.