February was not as cold as usual but it was the 5th wettest February on record so it was a challenge to get any rides in. As Laura pointed out in her blog last week we have been expanding the conditions that we will ride in but that leads to riding in some non ideal situations. Last week with rain threatening we did a ride out of Mercer Park. The radar was clear when we started and when I checked it half way through the ride but a small cell popped up and as we climbed out of Walnford. It started as some light rain. I knew it would get worst so I shorten the ride and headed back towards the park but the rain got heavy as we went through Allentown. Someone mentioned that it was probably foolish to try to ride with the forecast we had to day. But I think it is better to ride and get a little wet than to sit at home and be pissed off you weren't riding when you see it didn't rain. The rain let up to a mild drizzle by the time I broke off for home and it was warm enough that getting wet didn't give me a chill.
This week we had a nor'easter sideways snow storm all day on Friday. It was warm enough that the snow didn't really stick to the roads but it left a coating of ice and snow on the trees and grass. Although this weekends weather was dry there would be high winds. Most of the Saturday rides got canceled. I decided to do a one way ride to Avon and meet my wife there for lunch. I knew the ride was going to suck but even a bad ride is better than siting inside all day.
At 9am the sun was out and the temperature was just over 40. It didn't feel that bad as I started towards the shore. Because of the sun the roads were mostly dry except some puddles and run off from the melting snow. I planned my route to try and keep me on wooded roads when possible to block the wind. It was coming mostly from the north so it would be a cross wind. Keeping in the woods was a good idea and a bad idea at the same time.
The woods did block some of the wind which was roaring at over 20 mph. However the sun was melting the ice and snow from the trees overhead causing it to fall on the road all around me. I'm not talking about small little pieces of ice and snow I'm talking about large chunks of snow which you could actually feel hit the road. On the way up Stillhouse Rd a 1x2 FOOT piece of snow came off a large branch and broke across my front wheel. If I had be just a little faster it would have hit me on the shoulder, head or back and probably left a bruise.
I managed to dodge most of the big chunks although I had little ones hitting my helmet. A few little pieces actually made it through the holes in the helmet so that I had a few ice cubes on my head. This while fighting a crosswind that was trying to push the bike out from under me. The wind was swirling so even when I occasionally had it at my back pushing me it was still hard to keep the bike straight.
When I got to the shore I had a 4 mile ride up Ocean ave directly into a 25 mph wind. I didn't really enjoy the scenery as I rode with my hands in the drops to get as aerodynamic as I could.
Even spinning it a low gear it was painful. I stopped half way at the bottom of Belmar to take a picture of the monster waves crashing on the beach. I was happy when I finally made it to Avon and could get off the bike. It was definitely one of my harder rides to the beach. The pay off was a good lunch and some even better ice cream at Hoffman's which is probably one of the best home made ice cream shops in NJ. Yes the ride sucked but I got some great ice cream so it was as good as I could do for a cold and windy Saturday.
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