Back in the Hills

My wife is making slow but steady progress in gaining strength in her leg to walk normal again. There is still a few more weeks before she will be fully recovered but she has enough mobility that I can travel further from home to do some riding. This means I can get back to the hills. Last Saturday I went on Laura's ride to Pittstown to check out a new coffee shop. It was a warm sunny day and I felt pretty good on the way up the hills. We zigged and zagged our way to Pittstown. The only tough hill Laura took us over on the way out was Leffler which made me realize that I still have some work to do to get into hill shape. The new Brew 362 coffee shop is still under construction but the owner was nice and friendly and I'm told the coffee was good. I'm sure we will be back again to check the progress.

After the rest stop Jim and I headed back on our own as we didn't think we wanted to do the full 54 mile ride. Although there were a few hills on the way back it was a relatively easy ride. We got back with 46 miles and a little over 2000 ft of climbing. I probably could had done a few more miles but am glad I didn't have to.

This Saturday, summer turned the heat up. I wanted to continued to do some tougher hills but decided against it because of the 90+ temperatures. Instead we did off the books ride on this route along the Raritan river. I went for scenic over hilly but still managed to get about 2000 ft of climbing in. Although it didn't feel too warm when I put the dog out in the morning once we started rolling I could feel the heat and humidity building.

I put most of the hills at the beginning of the ride to reduce the pain at the end when it would be really hot. Part of the plan for the ride was to keep near a river and under shade as much as possible. Laura, Jim, Jack, Ricky, Bob, and Pete joined me for the ride. Pete, Laura, Jim and Bob had road in. Pete broke off at the top of Hollow Rd, Bob left us after the rest stop at the Wawa on 202.

The way back from the rest stop was mostly rolling with a couple of annoying hills. We tried a quick water stop at the pizzeria on East Mountain but it was closed and we ended up stopping at gas station on Rt 206.

It was over 90 by the time we rode down the canal and I was glad that I had started the ride at 8am so that we were done by noon. I didn't cramp which is a sign that I'm in better shape but I still need a few more rides in the hills before I'm fully back.

I have a few days off this coming week after the 4th. I hope to rapidly build up some more miles. so keep an eye on the blog for some spur of the moment rides.