The Explore or Exploit Decision

I have been reading Algorithms to Live By over the last month. It a great book about how real world problems relate to some standard computer algorithms. The book talks about some interesting issues. One of them is the Explore vs Exploit decision. This is the decision all of us have to make when we need to decide if we want try something new or go with what we know to be good. Like should I try the new restaurant or go to my old favorite. Going to a new one may be disappointing but it also could be become a new favorite. In most cases you should explore as it expands your choices and increases you knowledge of the world. This is something I agree with and try to follow especially when planning out bike routes.

Today's ride was an exploration of some roads in Warren county. This was similar to a ride I did last year. I wanted to change it up some more but was away this week in Dublin for work so didn't have a lot of time to work on the route. Being in Dublin was also not conducive to getting ready for one of my hillier rides this year. Besides the travel and working long days it didn't help that I was in the city where Guinness is made so I had to have a few and then a few more. For the record Guinness does taste much better in Dublin.

I got back from my trip late Friday night so I wasn't looking forward to the ride as I was travel weary. When I woke up Saturday it was already on its way to a hot and humid day. I brought some gator aid with me on the ride to try and stay hydrated. When I got to Frenchtown Jack and Jim was already there then Blake showed up a few minutes later followed not long after by Laura.

We followed this route which I made less hilly and a little longer than last years route. The main goal was to visit the Blue Army Shrine and ride along the Delaware as it is both flat and scenic.

As we headed up hill towards Clinton I felt the fatigue of my week of travel and tried to conserve what energy I had by using lower gears and spinning more than normal. I managed to make it over the hill and into Clinton with out too much of a problem. My main concern was the hill after Spruce Run which was the steepest climb of the ride. Going up it I shifted to my granny gear at the bottom of the hill and climbed it as slow as I could. It one of those hills that get steeper as you climb it so at the top I was at my max heart rate but I made it and actually felt better than I expected.

The road after the climb, Black Brook is a shaded rolling hill and very scenic. Then we made our way through Glen Manor and Hampton on our way to the Blue Army Shrine. On the way however we hit two problems with the route. The first was Dutch Hill Rd which is a steep winding downhill on a beat up road. This was the hill last year where Laura's rim got so hot from braking that it caused a bulge in the tire. This time there were no issues with tires an every body made it down safe but this is one of the hills we will never do again.

The other problem was getting across Rt 31 on Rymon Rd. I don't remember this being a problem last year but there was constant traffic and we had to take more risk than I wanted in order to cross the road. So this intersection is off the list of places to ride. Part of exploring is learning where not to go

After getting across Rt 31 we were on to our main attraction the Blue Army Shrine. The shrine is neither blue or has anything to do with an military army. It is a catholic shire dedicated to the Lady of Fatima who is credited with seeing a vision from the virgin Mary. You can find more details about her story here. The mission of the people who built the shire which was to fight against the atheistic policies of the Soviet Union and their Red Army. The member wore blue ribbons, hence the name blue army. If you want to read the whole story check this out. 

The Blue Army shire is an odd place with some strange statues on the lawn and a tall chapel at the top of the hill which was one of the steepest hills we climbed. After checking out the site we headed to Asbury for a break. There is a new coffee shop there. The place is a little expensive and the baked goods are just OK but there aren't may other choice to stop around here. At the stop we ended up running into Mike H and his ride.

From Asbury the ride is much flatter although there were a few rollers we had to get over. When we got to Bloomsbury I decided to make a slight detour to the planned route and check out the center of town and see what happen to the general store we used to stop at (its not a pizza joint).  When I signaled a left turn both Laura and Jim told me I was wrong but I yelled trust me. So when I made the left, Jack followed me but Laura Jim and Blake went right. Its nice to know after 10-15 years of leading these people on rides all around this state that they have so little trust in my navigation skills. I will admit to occasionally getting lost but that is part of the fun of these rides and since getting lost was in the actual description of the ride I think they should have trusted me. To be fair I should have made it clear that I was just taking a small detour through town and not making a major change it the route.

After splitting up and going through town we did meet up soon after where I busted them for their lack of trust in the ride leader. Like the Belmar PBC ride publishing the route in advance so everybody can have it on their GPS can sometimes cause a fractured ride.

After Bloomsbury we made it to the Delaware and the nicest part of the ride. As Jim reminded everybody this is one of his favorite roads in the state. It was getting hot at this point. I had been drinking as much as I could and even taken a gu pack to not cramp. I was actually feeling better than expected. I was slowing down, however, and took a little longer to get up some of the rollers on the way back but knew I could make it. I did feel on the verge of cramping but I think the gu does help.

We were all pretty tire by the time we got back. It was a good ride with some good parts and a couple parts that we will never do again. The value of exploring is in the fun of the journey itself and the knowledge you gain as part of it. There are times when I want to do a tried and tested route and don't want the mental strain of exploring but most of the time I will choose to try rides our routes where I can do some exploring.

There is No Such Thing as Too Many Downhills.

Saturday was my hilly ride from Cocoluxe in Gladstone NJ. I have done this ride 4 or 5 times before but continue to tweak the route to find good roads and try and get the perfect mix between scenery, climbing and good downhills.

The starting point for this ride is an hour north from our normal rides so I only got 3 other people to join me (Laura, Bob, and Jack). I know Jim would have been there too if he hadn't been on call. Because of that I took the parking lot photos that he usually takes.

For once there was no threat of rain this Saturday. It was a little humid but otherwise a nice day for a ride.

The climbing starts almost immediately as there is no flat way out of Gladstone. The climbing continued as we made our way towards Tewsbury and Rockaway Rd. The climbs are in the 3-5% range so nothing too difficult but there is also not a lot of flat riding so you are either climbing or coasting down hill. For some reason in years past I would get a stomach cramp 5-6 miles into the ride and have to stop for a few minutes. I'm think doing so many hills at the start of the ride may cause it but didn't have any problems today.

The longest climb of the day was up Rockaway Rd and then up Guinea Hollow. These are gentle climbs next in the woods next to flowing brooks so even though you are climbing for over 5 miles it doesn't feel hard and you aren't continuing wondering if this is ever going to end.

A little more climbing along familiar roads as we made our way into Long Valley and had a flat or slightly down hill break for 5 miles. One of the changes I made to this years route was going down Coleman into Long Valley. I did this road a couple of years ago and remember that is was a fast straight downhill that I wanted to do again. It was a good as I remembered.

From there we climbed back out of the valley to a rest stop at a Quick Check. We meet a tri-athlete  on an aero bike at the rest stop. He left just before us but was still sitting at the light for a few minutes until we joined him and pushed the button so the light would actually turn and let us continue on.

I usually take Pleasant Hill Rd but took a different way up South Rd. This ended up being less or at least easier climbing and a nicer road. At the top of South Rd I took a GU pack since there was some hills coming and I wanted to see if it would prevent cramping.

We had a few killer down hills on the way into Medham. The downhill on Ironia it twisty and steep but I have done it enough times now to be able to take it at almost full speed and enjoy it. It also helped that a lot of the roads in this area seem to have been recently paved. One of the reason I like hills is that it can lead to good scenery and some fun downhills.

Before getting back to Gladstone we had one more tough climb up Bliss Rd. I could have cut this hill out of the route as there are other flatter ways to get back but going up this hill would lead to two more fun down hills. One that has a number of small humps in it that make it feel like a roller coaster ride and if you are daring enough (which I'm not) you might even be able to get some air.

At the bottom of the hill Jack complain about the number of fast downhills. Which I don't understand. I understand when people complain about too much climbing as they are getting tired and hurting (although I have learned to ignore them) but if you don't like going down hill fast just use the brakes.

The last part of the ride was past a lake and was the only road that wasn't nicely paved. We ended up with about 3200 feet of climbing in 45 miles. Besides the climb up Bliss nothing was painful or steep so this was an easy 3200 feet of climbing. It also seems that the GU worked as I didn't cramp during or after the ride.

I have another hilly ride in Warren county in a couple of weeks. I hope it will be as nice as this ride was.

Red White and Blue

The holiday weekend was a little longer than usually since the 4th was on Tuesday and most people either had or took off the 3rd for a 4 day weekend. Since we had a party planned for Sunday I road close to home on Saturday so I could get back early to clean up the house so everything would be ready for the party.

I'm not any more or less patriotic than most people but since I was born on the 4th of July it is required that I wear some red, white and blue during the holiday weekend. It started 5 or 6 years ago with a simple flag hat then a few years ago some one gave me the shirt then last year I got the shorts. I think the only thing left is the shoes.

The party on Sunday went well. It was a little warm and I was manning the grill so I was glad I was able to jump in the pool when I got hot. We have a Brontosaur in our pool this year to swim with. Its a blow up toy but if you put water in it instead of air it is neutrally buoyant and will chase you around the pool.   

On the 4th I went to the All Paces ride to catch up with some people I hadn't seen in a while. I ended up riding with Ira, Herb, Bruce, Larry and a few other people. It was a very relaxed and fun ride and gave me a chance catch up most of them.

In the afternoon I ended up going to a friend for another party so it has been a busy holiday weekend. Luckily I am also taking July 5 off to make it a really long weekend. 

Don

If you rode with the Princeton Freewheelers in the past 25 years you knew Don. If you rode with Don you heard a lot of stories, laughed a lot and you learned something about biking. The more you rode with Don the more you started to share his passion for riding and his sense of adventure. When I first started riding with the Princeton Freewheelers I was a regular on his Honey Do ride. It was there that I learned the roads. It was there that I met a lot of people I call friends and still ride with today. It was there that l learned how to be a good ride leader.

This week we lost Don. He was a unique character and just a great person to be around. We are all going to miss him and the joy he brought to all of us. It was a life well lived as witness at his funeral on Sunday. The funeral home was overflowing with friends and family sadden at his lost but also laughing and telling their favorite stories about Don. The richness of his life was easily seen by all the people who he helped along the way. Don is now gone but he left an example of how to lead a meaningful life. I know I am a better person for knowing him.  

In my Road Biking NJ book I included a number of routes I learned from Don including a slightly shorter version of his famous Belmar century.  There is one picture of Don in the book of him and Herb at Mendokers bakery siting outside and eating some baked goods. Don busted me about this saying

"You couldn't get a picture of me riding. The one picture of me in your book was me stuffing my face" and then he would laugh the way Don did.

So as a tribute to Don, at the top of this post, I have included a picture of him riding, taken that same ride, that didn't make it into the book. It is him on a early fall day riding with Herb and I with out a care in the world just enjoying the ride and each others company.  I am sad that I won't ride with him any more but wanted to thank him for helping me discover the joy of cycling.

Belt and Suspenders

You know those personality tests where they tell you which Friends character you are most like, apparently in the Belt and Suspenders version of that I'm the Belt.

This week I went on Laura's ride to Clinton. Because of problems with her Garmin she sent the route out to Jim (Suspenders) and me (Belt) in case her Garmin crapped out and need help keeping us on course.

The ride got moved to Sunday because of the rain on Saturday. Although we didn't have any rain it was close to 100% humidity when we started from Lambertville. Besides Laura, Jim and myself there was Andrew, Jack, and John. John turned back after the initial climb because he just wasn't feeding it today. The rest of us wound up the hill and through a couple of new roads on the way to Clinton.

It was a pleasant enough ride although because of the humidity and rising temperature I wasn't feeling my strongest. After a stop in Clinton it was time to climb back over the hill and head back to Lambertville. I have only been to Clinton a couple of times so am not as familiar with the roads around here. The initial ride out wasn't too back and we ended up on some dirt bike path by a river for a mile or so.

Then is was time to do the climb. I had seen the profile on the route Laura had sent out. I know the climb was 500 ft in 2 miles. It looked around 10% more or less but nothing worst than we have done before. However the topographical information doesn't always tell you what the road is really like. We had come down this road, Laura said but I didn't really remember it.

The first mile and a half were OK I was in my granny slowly spinning up. According to the RideWithGPS route the first part peaked out at 15%.  My heart rate was going between 160-170 bpm which is normal on a steep climb. With about a quarter mile to go I saw Jim and Andrew get off their bikes and start walking as the hill got a little steeper (Turns out it was 18%). I kept going but my heart rate hit 180 and I can't maintain that for more than 100 ft so I got off the bike walked about 20 ft to let my heart rate recover a little before getting back on the bike and getting over the top.

There was a little more climbing after that but it was not as steep so it wasn't as bad although with the sun going in and out of the clouds it was getting close to 90 so I was feeling the wear and tear of the heat.

By the time we got back to Lamberville we had 52 miles and about 3000 ft of climbing. I felt a little worn out but didn't cramp so I wasn't totally shot. Except for the steep climb it was a good route. However I think I will be heading for something a little flatter next week. 

Unexpected Metric

After last weeks trip to the Finger Lakes I didn't really have any definite plans this weekend. I knew I would be riding just not sure where. When Jim sent an email out asking what everybody was doing I too a look at the PFW book to see if there was anything interesting. I didn't want to do a Cranbury ride but saw there was a ride out of Reed Park in Allentown. It was only a 30-40 mile ride so I suggested to Jim and friends that we start from Edninburg to add a few extra miles.

I decided to ride in to Edinburg figuring I would cut off early at the end of the ride. So at 8am on Saturday I meet Jim, Ricky and Jack at the park and we took a less direct route to Allentown to get 10 miles in before the beginning of the ride. We got there a little early so had to wait for the ride to begin. Besides the 4 of us Chris, Bob and a few other people I haven't seen in a while went on Ron's ride.

Ron with Chris's help lead us down south to Wrightstown. It was good not having to lead and just follow the pack. It was a fast pace and we were quickly at the 7-11 rest stop then made our way back to Allentown. Even though it was only a 37 mile ride with the 10 miles before the ride and 5 miles getting to Edinburg I had 52 miles. It was 8 miles back to that start in Edinburg and the way we went back I couldn't cut off early and in fact had to add a few extra miles to get back home.

By the time I got back home I had 64 miles. I had not planned on doing a metric today but the weather was good and the riding was flat so I didn't mind doing a long ride.

How to Unsafely Mow a Steep Hill

One of the interesting stories that I didn't have room to share in my last post was about the guy across the street who was mowing the steep hill at the front of his law. Check out the video below.

This seems like an interesting solution to the problem of how to mow a steep hill yet it doesn't look entirely safe. You have to understand that he is doing this on a busy road with cars constantly going by. There is no ditch at the bottom of the hill so if the length of the rope is wrong its going across the road. The grass he was long and wet but this mower cut through it with out bogging down so this is a powerfully and dangerous mower. With all this in mind I have a few questions about the safety of his technique

• What if the rope breaks
• I guess the safety switch that shuts the mower off when you let go has been disabled
• If the mow flips over how to you shut it off (Again safety switch is disabled)
• How many cars see a mower flying down the hill and swerve into on coming traffic.
• Any chipmunk or squirrel on the hill doesn't stand a chance of getting out of the way.
• The Ithaca Journal will some day have a headline "Mower Crashes into Car"