My Christmas Card

I don't send out Christmas Cards but if I did I would send out one with this picture. I was off this past Tuesday and it was too cold to be on the road so I road the path from Allaire down to the beach in Manasquan. It's my go to ride when I just want quick a 15-20 mile ride in cold weather. The best part of the ride is riding the paved path along the beach as there is always something to see. This time I saw a Christmas tree in the sand on the beach. According to the locals Santa comes during the week before Christmas and puts the tree up then all the local add decorations to it and painted sea shell underneath it. 

When my wife goes to the beach she takes a picture of her bare feet looking out over the sand towards the water and then sends it to her friends to let them know she is on the beach. So when I saw the Christmas tree on the beach I knew I wanted to take a similar picture and send it to her. 

Of course it was 30 degrees so my feet are covered by my booties but you get the general idea. Sitting on the beach when its 30 degrees looking at a Christmas tree is wrong in a lot of ways which is what makes it a good picture. 

I hope to get a couple of more rides before the end of the year as I'm off of work. And if I'm lucky hopefully see some more interesting sights. This will be my last post before Christmas so I wanted to wish everybody a happy holiday season and hope to see you on you on a ride soon. 

New Paths

Since my move last year I have been looking at all the possible places to ride in my area. I already knew most of the roads in the area but have not explored all the possible rail trails and parks. This past Wednesday since I was off from work and it was a little too cold to ride on the road I decided to check out the Barnegat Branch Trail. This is a rail trail along one of the old Central Jersey Railroad lines that was abandon a long time ago and was finally converted to a trail.

This current top of the trail is just over 25 mins from my house. This trail will eventually be 15 miles in total but only 11 miles have been completed. The last part from Tom's River toBayville t has yet to be completed. I let a few of the posse know that I was doing this trail. I didn't think anyone would join me as they all live at 30-40mins west of me but Jim decided to take the trek. It was good to have him along. 

The trail itself has a very well packed crushed stone service and was easy to ride. There are some parks and river crossings along the way that are somewhat scenic but there isn't really a lot to see along the way as you are just riding through the woods and fields next to Rt 9. We did manage to cross both forks of  Forked River though.

When we got to the southern end of the trail instead of turning around we headed east to Barnegat Bay to take a look at the shore. At this time of year there isn't a lot of people around so we road along the shore without having to deal with much traffic.

What we had to deal with was a strong north wind which slowed our progress back. We ended up riding on the roads for about 5 miles before getting back on the trail for the ride back. We rejoined the trail about 3 miles from the southern end and retraced our way back to the start stopping at a couple places to take pictures. 

We ended up with 25 miles by the time we got back. Even though the ride was very flat it felt like a hard ride. That was probably because of the wind and because its been a while since I have ridden my mountain bike which takes more effort to ride. 

There was nothing spectacular about the Barnegat Branch trail. I may do it again if I'm looking for some miles on a cold day but there are a few other place I want to check out first to see if I can find some other option to ride when I want to do some trail riding.

Winter is Coming

It's Thanksgiving and it is getting colder. I have already had to break out the cold weather gear for riding. We were lucky so far this fall with warmer than usual weather. A couple of Saturdays ago I actually was able to ride in short sleeves to the beach but last weekend I had to put most of my winter gear on to lead a ride out of Allentown where it barely touched 40 degrees by the end of the ride. Soon I'm sure there will be a few weekends ahead when I will have to take my mountain bike and ride on the paths instead of the road. Still as long as I can get some kind of ride in each weekend I will be happy.

 In the winter I do shorter rides but still try to keep them interesting. This Saturday I did my Trolley Line ride which is a stupid sort of ride as it uses a few trails and short cuts along the way that breaks up the ride and makes it a little different. One of the trails we use on the ride is the Trolley Line Trail. This trail is on bed of an electric trolley that use to connect Trenton with New Brunswick. Its a nice paved trail that is easy to ride and this time I actually didn't get lost in West Windsor Community Park. 

We struggled into the wind to the canal and looped around to Thomas Sweets for our break before making our way back. It was a good ride but we have entered the winter riding season where the weather will dictate when and how long a ride we can do. As always I will ride as much as I can during the winter as I would rather be a little cold outside than sit inside and be mad that I didn't get out for a ride.

I will use the cold weather of this winter to explore some new places. I have yet to try out all the roads and trails by where I live now. Last year I road the trail out of Allaire state park to Manasquan since it is a close ride along a path that I can get a good 20 miles in on my mountain bike. There are a few more like the Barnegat Branch Trail and Double Trouble that are close to me now and worth checking out. So even if the winter curtails my riding a bit I will still find ways to get out and have some fun.

The Sun and Moon

For those of you who normally read my blog you know that besides writing about my bike rides I also share some of my attempts at seeing some astronomical events. This past Tuesday morning was a total lunar eclipse. The eclipse started around 4am and would be visible until moonset at 6:41am. To try and get the best view of the eclipse I went to Manasquan by the canal which is on the bay side and had an unobstructed view of the western horizon which would give me a good chance of seeing the eclipse all the way until it set. 

I arrived at the canal at 3:30am (as eclipses seem happen in the middle of the night). When I got there I saw there were already a couple of SUVs there so I guess I wasn't the only one to think this was good spot to see the eclipse. As I set up my telescope I thought the people in the SUVs would come out but I noticed that I couldn't actually see anybody in either SUV even though one was running with its parking lights on which was strange but more on that later. 

After I had everything set up I took a few pictures of the full moon before the eclipse started. 

It was 50 degrees and windy so I hung out in my car between shots. I got out every 10 minutes to take pictures as the eclipse progressed. A few other people eventually showed up. Some just stopped to take a quick picture of the eclipse with their phone but there was one man who came by with a DLSR and telephoto lens. The two of us keep taking picture until the moon was fully eclipsed.

About 15mins before the full eclipse a man and woman got out of the back of the SUV that had been running since I got there. The woman was leaning into the back of the SUV tossing around some pillows and a blanket. The man said a few words to her then got in his SUV and left. Then a few minutes later the women left. Neither took a look at the eclipse. I'm not going to make any moral judgements on what they were doing in the back of the SUV but they probably should have picked a more remote spot.

Each lunar eclipse is different in color and intensity. This eclipse was the dimmest one I have seen. Even with a 15 second exposure it was hard to get a good picture of the red moon. I also had to resort to manual focus in order to get the camera to not blur the moon. The wind made the air very turbulent so these weren't the best condition for pictures.

The full eclipse started around 5:15am and was going to last to just about 6am. The moon got dimmer and was hard to see as twilight approached. By about 6:10am it was almost impossible to see even through the wide aperture of my telescope. 

With the eclipse over I packed up the telescope but kept the camera and tripod out. Sunrise was at 6:30am so while I was at the beach this early I might as well try to get some sunrise pictures. 

The sky was clear with just enough clouds to be under lite by the sun.

 

There was a trawler steaming towards the canal which produced a good silhouette.

And managed to be right next to the sun when it rose. It's almost like the trawler tried to catch the sun

When the sun came up it looked like a nuclear explosion 

This is because the water was warmer than the air and this causes a mirage like reflection off the water. 

So I did have to get up early and spend a few hours in the cold but I got some good sun and moon pictures to add to my collection. Also the next lunar eclipse won't be until March 2025 so I'm glad I got to see this one. 

This is the second time I got to the beach to take a picture of a sunrise and think I may do this more often as its different every time and although I got some good pictures I know I can do better. 

 

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.

Flow State

 

Riding your mountain bike along a single track trail with perfect technique requires a union of mind and body called a flow state. This is where see the trail ahead of you with it's twist, turns and obstacles and know how to adjust your hands, feet and body to flow smoothly along the trail. I will never achieve this state of mind on a mountain bike because I have neither the skills or experience to be one with the trail. However I do occasionally like the challenge of trying to do so. 

Most of my mountain biking is along rail trails but a couple of times a year I will try something a little more difficult. The local parks around me have some single track trails of medium difficulty that are fun in small doses. When I got my first mountain bike it opened up some new possibilities of riding and I looked around the area for the most popular trails to ride. One of the most highly rated trails with in a day trip is White Clay Creek State Park. This park has over 30 miles of trails in the woods and suppose to be one of the best places to ride single track. I have always wanted to go there so this past Tuesday I took a day off with Bob to give it a try.

White Clay Creek is at the top of Delaware so it's an easy drive down 295 and cross the Delaware Memorial Bridge to get there. I had studied the map of all the trails before the trip and had a couple of routes mapped out to try. I tried to stay to the easier parts but it's hard to know the difficulty of the trails from the maps and videos that I looked at. The trails are mostly narrow packed dirt in the woods. There main obstacles are the tree roots. Because the trails are ridden a lot the trail and the roots are smoothed out a bit so it doesn't take a lot of skill to go over them. There were occasionally some bigger roots I had to jump over and I was able to get over most of them without a problem. Some just looked too big to me so I did occasionally stop to walk over a few.  

The constant twist and turns of the trail as well as the changes in terrain requires you to stay very focused to stay on the trail. Its a tough workout but once I got into mountain bike mode I was enjoying the challenge.

White Clay Creek has some interesting features. One of these is a pump track which is a series of humps that if ridden properly requires no petaling. If you push or "pump" your bike at the right point in the hump you can generate momentum to get you over the next hump (kinda like pumping a swing). 

Although I understood the concept it was harder to do in practice and I had to petal at a few spots in the track. Still it was fun riding the humps and speeding around the banked turns.

 

We ended up with just under 5 miles on our first loop around the White Clay Creek. After a bit of a rest we headed to another section along a creek. I felt more confident on the second loop and took some more risks. There were even a few points especially on the down hill sections where I actual go into a flow but it would only last a few moments before I had to concentrate on making a quick turn or figure out how to pop over a root. 

This type of mountain bike riding is mentally exhausting. There are hundreds of little decisions you have to make as you negotiate the course. You are constantly leaning left, right, backward and forward to keep upright and on the course as well as feathering the brakes to get you around the tight curves. We didn't have any falls but I did scrape a few trees with the bike and my arm. 

At the end of the second loop we had done close to another 5 miles and were done for the day more because we were mentally tired than physically exhausted. It was a good work out and a lot of fun. There were a couple of trails I wanted to try that had some man made obstacles like narrow logs and bridges but I didn't have the energy for another loop. 

 

We probably saw about a quarter of White Clay Creek so I would like to come back again to explore some more the next time I'm looking to challenge my mountain biking skills.

Scenes from Cape Cod

It has been over 2 years since my wife and I have had a real vacation. Between the pandemic and last years move there just wasn't time or desire to take a vacation. So now that things have settled down we decided to take an extended weekend trip to one of our favorite place to go and relax, Cape Cod.

My wife and I have been coming to Cape Cod for 30 years so we know our way around and have a set of favorite places to go. My wife loves the beach so we spend most of our days here just relaxing on the beach. 

I'm not much of a beach person but do enjoy it from time to time as a way to de stress and take in the sounds and sights of the ocean which can be calming.

There are a lot of scenic views on the Cape and I managed to capture a few good sunset pictures.

The actual sunset and full moon rise occurred at the same time so right after the sunset I got some cool moon rise pictures. There was some upper level smoke from the California wild fires so the moon was blood red.

This may be the best full moon picture I have gotten so far.

I did manage to get manage to get a bike ride in. We did a 57 mile ride up to Provincetown. Part of the ride was on the Cape Cod rail trail but a lot of it was on roads along the ocean and bay so we got some good views of the ocean and dunes and stopped at a few lighthouses along the way. 

There was of course a bridge out along the way because no matter where I ride I can always find one. 

I have been to Cape Cod a lot over the years and it was a good place to come to recover from the hectic pace and stress of life. I'm glad we finally got to go on vacation and hope we can do more of these trips in the future.

Nineteen Years with Frisket