My Trusty Baja

It takes more than just a bike to enjoy cycling. There are also all the other equipment like shoes, shorts, gloves, helmets, etc that helps you ride in a safe and comfortable way. Then of course there is the car that get you to and from all your rides. Twenty years ago I needed a new car after the transmission on my 16 year old Ford Ranger blew up. At the time I was doing a lot of home improvement on my house so wanted a replacement that could haul stuff but still be fun and economical to drive. 

The Subaru Baja was exactly what I needed. It is a mini pickup with just enough room to haul the stuff I need but still small enough to get decent gas mileage and handle well. It has some unique features that make it very flexible. One of the best ones is that the rear seat folds down AND there is a door that opens up from the rear seat to the pickup bed. This allows me to fix long pieces of wood in the car without a problem. The car has more hauling room than it looks. I once got an entire disassembled 6x8 shed in the car. 

I have haul a lot of things with the car from 15 yards of mulch to all kinds of furniture and the most importantly my bikes. I built a rack for the back and that along with the tailgate extender allows me to carry from 1 to 3 bikes easily. If I got a roof rack I could carry even more. 

The car is very comfortable to drive and fits me well. After 20 years I still enjoy driving it. Almost every bike trip I have taken, the Baja has gotten me, my bikes and all my luggage there. The car has been very reliable like all Subaru's are. I did need some engine work a couple of months ago after a spark plug flew out the side of the engine but it was easily repaired. 

The car does not look 20 years old and is still in good shape. I have no yearning for a new car yet so I hope the Baja keeps going because I can't think of another car that fits my need better than my Baja.

Tri-State Trip

I have been thinking of doing a bike trip for a little while and finally came up with a trip and date that worked for everybody. We ended up spending two days riding in and around Delaware. Now Delaware is a small state so if you ride there you can easily end up drifting over the state lines into Pennsylvania or Maryland which is what the rides did. 

On the first day we drove down to the top of Delaware near Winterthur and did a hilly ride in and around the Brandywine river. We had made a day trip to this area about four years ago and I wanted to explore it some more. The route we did was a lot different than last time as I wanted to explore so other parts of the area. 

I know most people think Delaware is very flat but I was able to find the hillier parts and between the long drive and cold air I was struggling on the first few hills. Once I warmed up I felt better. A lot of the roads we were on are beautiful winding roads along rivers. There are no shoulders but that wasn't a problem because there wasn't much traffic and when there were cars they were extremely courteous and didn't seem to mind waiting to pass us. 

I wasn't sure if we would find a rest stop out here but managed to find an Delicious Orchard like farm market called, Northbrook, that had a deli and bakery that gave us plenty of choices to refuel. Once back on the road we headed through some farmland and small towns as we worked our way back to the start. 

There were of course some hills along the way. There were a few screaming downhills but also a few climbs and some of the hardest were close to the end of the ride. It was one of the hillier rides I have done this year but came in at a good pace. I'm glad I kept it at 40 miles.

After the ride we headed to a Comfort Inn which looked like it was recently refurbished. We ended up getting a snack at a local pub in the parking lot then heading over to a dinner across the street for supper. I was happy not to have to get in the car and drive any where. 

The next day I had planned a flatter ride in and around the C&D Canal. We had done a day trip here in 2017 where we had rode on the roads south of the canal and then tried to come back on the canal path, which is on the north side, but had trouble getting over the canal in Chesapeake city as documented in my post and Laura's post.  

This time I decided to stay north of the canal so we won't have to cross it to get to the path. We did this route which was mostly on roads I hadn't been before. We made a stop in Lum's Pond where we did the requisite gravel road after going around a closed gate. This let us get to the Pond and take a look. This must be a popular place in the summer because there were a lot of large parking lots around the lake and park. 

After the pond we headed out through some farmland and eventually got into Maryland and the Elk river which leads into the Chesapeake Bay. Then it was on to Chesapeake City where the canal path starts. 

 

We couldn't find any place to get food so we hung out by the canal eating what we had brought with us. 

We then headed back to the start on the canal path which is fully paved. We had a good tail wind so made good time on the 15 miles of the path. 

Most of boats on the canal were small personal boats but we did see a commercial barge towards the end. When we got back to the starting point I was hoping that Crabby Dicks would be open for ice cream like the last time we did the ride. The sign said it was open but you had to go into the restaurant next store and ask them to come down and serve you so it didn't seem worth the effort. 

It was a good weekend in Delaware and we had some good rides and a lot of fun. It was a quick and easy get away so we may do this again in the future. 

Going to the Beach

 

Riding to the beach is something I do at least a few times a year. It's actually a little easier to head to the beach as I live a little closer now. So when the I saw that someone in the PFW had listed a ride to Belmar starting at the Manasquan reservoir I had to go as I could ride in to the ride from my house. The ride listed was the half Sprague ride which was doing 50 miles of the annual Sprague century. 

It was a C+ ride with a lot of people I haven't ridden with before but it was a good group and we maintained a good pace to the usual rest stop in Belmar. The ride was timed to be in Belmar about the same time the century ride was suppose to get there. About 15 mins after we got there the century riders came in and we took a group picture on the board walk.

 

After the break I headed back on my own as I needed to get back early. I ended up trying some new roads on the way back so now have a way to see more of the shore area next time I'm down there. I ended up with 65 miles and felt pretty good after the long ride. The weather has sunny and cool without much wind so it was a good day for a long ride.

Last Saturday I listed my annual ride to Sandy Hook. I like to do this ride after Labor Day to avoid crowds at the beach. Instead of starting from Monmouth Battlefield park I started on the other side of Freehold as going through Freehold at the beginning and end of the ride has gotten more painful. The last few years the traffic has gotten a little worst and the roads are a little beat up. Starting on the other side of Freehold also makes the ride about 6 mile shorter. This lets us ride further into Sandy Hook if we want to. We did this route which is my northern route the Sandy Hook. For the first time I actually forgot to upload the route to my GPS so I had to rely on my memory and other people who had loaded the route into their GPS to guide us along. 

It was a sunny but cold day so I had a jacket on for the first time since the spring. We hit a little traffic as we headed past the old Bell Labs area. I also forgot how hilly part of this route are especially the part going through the Atlantic Highlands. 

After our usual stop at the Wawa on Rt 36 when headed downhill along the bay to Sandy Hook. We took the part of the Henry Hudson trail goes along the bay to get a good look at Sandy Hook before we crossed the bridge to get there. 

It was a sunny and the wind wasn't too bad so we decided to ride all the way up Sandy Hook. There were a few people on the ride who hadn't done the ride before so I wanted to show them all there was to see. 

After leaving Sandy Hook we took the normal way back with a quick stop at the pizzeria in Little Silver. We ended up just short of a metric but nobody went out to get the extra mile. I have no plans for any more beach rides in the near future but I'm sure I will have another ride or two to the beach before the end of the year.