When Laura set an invitation to a hilly ride out of Somerset county I reluctantly accepted. She and a few others had plan to do the Morris Area Freewheelers Revolutionary Ramble a couple of weeks ago but decided not to do it because of rainy weather. Now that we actually had a non rainy Saturday she wanted to do the route.
After a few edits from the original Revolutionary Ramble route we ended up with a 46 mile 3000 ft ride. Most of the hills on the route I had done before except for a couple south of Gladstone. I have been riding pretty well this spring so was confident that I could do the hills my only concern was has fast I could be and if the amount of climbing would cause cramps.
We started out of Raritan Valley College. It was in the upper 70s when we started and sunny going up close to 90 by mid afternoon. The first hill was Rockaway Rd which was 5 miles into the ride. This is a long but gradual hill. This was followed by Sawmill which is a little steeper. The pay off for this climbing was bombing down Fox Hill Rd. I have done this downhill enough to be able to go down at full speed.
Then it was our first rest stop at the Oldwick General store. Laura had planned two stops because of the amount of climbing. Then it was more hills. The short but annoying Vliettown Rd then longer grind up Potterville Rd that brought us downhill into Gladstone. We then took a loop around Gladstone up Mendham Rd which was a gentle climb and down Mosle and Branch back into town. Of course no road around here is a straight up or down there are always little bumps and dips that strain the legs.
After the loop around Gladstone we ended up in Coco-luxe for our second break. It was getting hot so was glad to have to break to re hydrate before our final climbs.
The final 15 miles of the ride were on more main roads that would have a little more traffic so it was less about scenery and more about getting back to the starting point. There were still a couple of climbs on the way back. The first one was just after we crossed 206. It was another long but gradual climb up Liberty Corner. Not sure where we were but the road we climbed had a large drop off to the right into a forest.
The last real climb of the day was on Somerville Rd to get over Rt 78. This is one of those climbs that gets steeper towards the top. It was the hardest climb of the day and I almost switch to the granny gear as my heart rate hit 170. We gathered at the top and then headed down a windy and steep downhill. About three quarter of the way down the hill I heard some one yell something but kept going.
At the bottom of the hill I gathered up with Laura who said she heard someone yell "FLAT". I eventually got a text that somebody had fallen. They had some road rash but where okay. The person had hit some water and fell. They tried to fix the flat tires and bike but couldn't get it back to a rideable state.
Someone stayed with the downed rider while the rest of us went back. We were about 7 miles from the starting point and it was mostly flat on the way back. The only hill left was the small one to get back into the college. I cramped about half way up the hill but just pushed through it.
We then went and retrieved the fallen rider and headed home. I'm sure the bike and fallen rider will be back riding in a few days.
This was the hilliest ride I have done in a few years. My legs were sore and I had a few cramps after the ride but I climbed better than I thought so will probably do some hillier rides going forward since I know I can handle them.
No comments:
Post a Comment