Cold Weather

The snow of last week melted but the cold weather has stayed with us which has made it hard to get out for a ride. As long as it is above 20 degrees and there is not too much snow on the ground I can usually get out for some kind of ride. This weekend was at the edge of my limits. I initially was going to join Laura and a few others and ride the canal by Washington Crossing but the temperature was going to be below my limit and then there was the wind. The main reason I wanted to go was because I haven't been over the Scudder's Falls bridge bike lane yet but I can do that when it gets a little warmer. 

Instead I chose to ride the part of Capital to Coast trail (the Edgar Felix part) that goes from Allaire State park to Manasquan. It's a paved trail of about 7 miles. The trail ends in the middle of Manasquan and it's only a few miles to the beach.  Between the trail and the ride to and from the beach you can get put together a 15 to 20 mile ride. This included a ride on the boardwalk along the beach(which is actually not a board walk but a paved path). I stopped at the Manasquan inlet but only for a few seconds because of the wind. I didn't see any boats heading through the inlet. 

The weather by the shore was about 5-8 degrees warmer than at Washington Crossing as it was 24 degrees when I started and almost 30 when I finished. It is not the most scenic ride except by the beach but the trail is close to where I live now and gave me a way to get some miles in. I suspect this will be one of my go to spots when I want to get some miles in on a cold day. There are some spurs to this trail so I will probably explore those next time while waiting for warmer weather.