Major Detour

I finally got some good weather on my Wednesday off. It was warm and sunny to the point that I didn't need long sleeves or tights. I was not going to let this day go to waste so I decided to head to Yardley and do a hilly ride on the PA and NJ side. The plan was to do this route  to see how well my legs worked in the hills. I have been feeling good riding lately so wanted to push myself a little. There were no super steep or long climbs on the route but enough up and downs to see how well I can climb. I got a few other people to join me.

The temperature was perfect when we started out of the Yardley park and ride and straight up the first hill. I felt okay as we continue up he hills to 413 where we hit some of the nicer roads in the area and went through the Van Sant covered bridge. A couple of hills later we dove down into New Hope for our rest stop. 

The big climb of the ride was after the rest stop on the NJ side as we climbed up Rocktown. I made it up without a problem and felt good. I might be climbing a little slower at the moment but hope to get back to normal after a little more training. After getting to the top we turned on Mount Airy where Martin stopped to get a picture of the Dinosaur Rock. Then we ran into a road closed sign. Normally I would have just pushed through and try to make it around it however there was a couple of construction worker guys in a truck that were headed back down the road so we asked them if we could get around the closure and they said it was impassable. Instead of following the detour sign that said to make a left Rock Road East Jack said it might be better to go on right on Rock Road West. I didn't have my maps with me and figured Jack knew the roads well enough to get it back so why not trust him. 

WELL the small detour I thought Jack was going to make turned out to be almost a completely different way back to our starting point. It actually wasn't a bad way back. In fact I liked some of the roads better than what I had planned. Here is the route we actually did

We actually went down Goat Hill which I don't know if I have ever done. The only drawback to the way we went is that it added another 400 feet of climbing, not that there were any major climbs just a few more gradual up hills than planned. Because we knew the detour added some miles we took the straighter way back. It was another heavy pollen day as I saw what I thought was some light fog but realized as I went through it that it was just a lot of pollen blowing around

The ride ended up being only 3 miles longer than planned. But even with the extra climbing and mile I still felt good and the pace of the ride was normal, for a hilly ride, so I am happy with the way I rode. It was a little hot when we got back but I'll take that over the cold and rain we had over the last few weeks.

CME

This weekend much was made about the CME (Coronal Mass Ejection). This is when  a large amount of plasma is ejected from the sun. There was some concern that the amount of plasma ejected from the sun this time was large enough to cause disruptions to satellites, radio waves and the electric grid. 

There was some reports of problems with radio stations coming in but no major disruptions that I heard of. If you were lucky enough to have clear skies you might have been able to see some of the aurora that the CME caused but it was too cloudy here to see it. 

On Saturday morning I did get out before my ride to get a picture of the remnants of the CME on the sun. The large black spots at the bottom of the sun in the picture above is the sunspot where the CME came from. It's 6 or 7 time bigger than an normal sunspot. 

Luckily the CME did not affect the GPS network and I was able to lead one of my Pineland cruises. It was one of the few sunny days we have had in the last few weeks with temperatures in the low 60s making it a good day for a ride. 

It was a mostly uneventful ride at a vigorous pace. We did have a bridge out but it wasn't hard to get over it. We made our usually stop at the Wawa in Vincentown before heading back. We had to detour around a town fair in Vincentown but otherwise it was a quick trip back to the start of the ride. 

We are at peak pollen season

 

 

 

As you can see by the front of my GPS. I wonder how much I inhaled of that during the ride. Luckily it doesn't see to affect me. Although the weather has been colder and wetter than normal After doing 50 miles at a good pace I feel ready for warmer weather and longer rides.

Bad Weather

Yesterday I did a ride on my own. It was May 2nd and I still had to wear tights and a jacket. It was cloudy and raw. Usually by this time of the year when I ride I may be in long sleeves but can usually ride in shorts. Although this past Monday and Tuesday where warm and mostly sunny days we seem to have had a lot more of cold and cloudy days this year. That is backed up by my ride log which says over 50% of the rides I have done this year were in cold and cloudy conditions. 

Of course as long as it is not raining I will ride but it would be a lot more enjoyable if I could feel the warmth of the sun on my skin.