Wind or Hills?

Spring is here is so is some crazy weather. Thunder storms this past Friday lead to 25 mph winds with gusts close to 50 mph on Saturday. I put my dog out on Saturday morning and even with four legs to steady her she was having problems standing in the wind. I have ridden in some pretty windy conditions but I didn't think it would be safe to ride on Saturday.

Luckily Sunday was a little better it was still windy but it was down to a 20 mph which although not fun is ridable. Laura had a ride out of Mercer park that I considered doing but she was headed south toward some of the more open and flat land which would have made dealing with the wind a little harder. I decide instead to head to the Sourlands and start doing some hill training. I hoped the hills would block most of the wind and even if they didn't the way the wind was blowing meant that it would be in my face on the way out not on the way home.

We started at Rocky Hill by the canal and went west towards the Sourlands. The wind was in our face all the way to the base of the Sourlands which made it slow ride but once we got to the mountains the wind wasn't a problem. I took the easy way up and over Sourlands, Hollow to Zion, then stayed on the ridge a little while before heading down to the Valley. The climbing was a slow steady grind but was a nice respite from the wind.

We did a little more climbing and worked our way towards Neshanic Station crossing the Raritan river a few times. The weather was cool but sunny and we had some nice views as we kept riding along. I took a few pictures along the way. My route took us along and over the Raritan river a few more times. The wind was there but wasn't too annoying although the direction kept changing. I think I made the right choice heading for the hills.

On the way back to the canal we got some nice tail winds on a few stretches and were easily pedaling over 20mph with out any effort. We can around the north end of the Sourlands on the way home so there were no major climbs on the way back. By the time we go back to the start we had done 45 miles. It was a good ride with some nice views. We did some climbing but nothing really hard. I think this was a lot better than trying to fight the wind.

Coffee Run

During the winter months New Egypt is one of the favorite stops for a bike ride. It is a relatively easy ride and there are a couple good places to stop and warm up on a cool winter day. There are also may different ways to get to and from New Egypt from the Hightstown area where we usually start the ride so it is easy to keep varying the route.

This past weekend I lead my first official ride for the club. I ended up with a good crowed and we took a short ride to New Egypt. I have posted the route on my NJ Road Biking site here. This is my standard short route which will give you an template to vary on your own should you want to head to there for a ride. I will post the longer route later in the season so you can see some of my other variations

Indian Summer or Early Spring?

Click here for more Pictures

What do you call it when it's 70 degrees in early March, Indian Summer?..Early Spring? I think Indian Summer only happens in the fall and I won't call Early Spring because there is still some cold weather ahead. In any case this past weekend was a nice reprieve from the cold winter we have been having.

For a change of pace this weekend I decide to take a ride to Pennington and do a ride with the Hill Slug gang since I hadn't seen some of them in a while. I also heard that Laura had attracted a bunch of Fixes to her ride and I wanted to see how they could climb some of the hills in the Sourlands with just one gear.

With the warm weather there was quite a crowd, 16 total, and all the regulars showed up. It was so warm some people were in shorts and short sleeves. I left my jacket in the car but still left the tights on.

I spent the first feel miles of the ride just talking to everybody I hadn't seen in a while. We eventually found the hills. Laura's plan was to do some long slow hills today. We ended up going up Province Line. It was a clear sunny day so the view was nice. Half way up the hill I stopped for some pictures. Although it was clear the hills in the distance still had fog rolling through them. This picture will be much nice when the foliage fills in.

About 3/4 of the way up as I was trying to catch up with the group I realized a couple of things. First I was actually "hot" which I hadn't felt while riding a bike for the past 4 months. The second thing I realized was that I'm really not in very good hill climbing shape as this climb was feeling a lot worst than it should. I eventually slugged up the hill with Marilyn who is always good company.

We then cruised along the ridge for quite a while before taking 179 into Lamberville. At the bottom of the hill where 179 comes into Lamberville Mike M took a quick hair pin turn to the right as a short cut to Rojo's. I followed him because I thought he knew where he was going but when ended up loosing the rest of the group as well as making a few wrong turns before we got there.

Rojo's was crowed and we ended up spending a long time there. By a strange coincidence we actually ended up running into Michael H and his wife there.

The climbed out of Lamberville wasn't bad and when we turned onto Harbourton-Mount Airy Road Laura said she was going to stop to get some pictures of Dinosaur Rock, which I had never noticed before. After the picture stop we took Rock Road to 579. We were close to getting home so the group stretched out as people started racing back. I was at the back with Marilyn and in no particular hurry. It is rare when I'm on a ride and not leading so I was relaxing knowing Laura always waits for everybody at the turns.

This was Marilyn's first ride of the season so she was a little tire by this time after all the hills. When she go caught at the light at 518 I waited on the other side until it changed not wanting her to get lost or ride alone. By this time we had lost sight of the group so I just continued on. I didn't know exactly where I was but I had a general idea. As we continued on I didn't see any sign of Laura or the rest of the group. So much for the, and I quote from the ride description here "nobody will be dropped" mantra Laura is so proud of.

At this point I knew we were on our own and that I needed to make a left to get to Pennington so when I saw Woosamonsa I made the left even though I knew it meant a couple of small hills. Although I have done a lot of rides with Laura out of Pennington we normally come back through Stony Brook which I am very familiar with. I have come back through 579 a couple of times with her but I'm not as familiar with the exact route back. If I knew she was going to drop my ass I would have studied the map before I left home.

I knew I could feel my way back to Pennington because I had a general idea of where I was and which direction Pennington was in. I was going to make the right on Burd but Marilyn said that 31 was straight ahead so I figured if we get to 31 I may be able to get by bearing a little better. We ended up on Titus Mill which sounded familiar. When passed the Bristol Myer Squib entrance I knew where I was and realized I was taking the long way back to Pennington.

At that point Marilyn's phone rang. I figured is was Laura who finally learned how to count again and realized we were missing. I told Marilyn to tell Laura that we were dying by the side of the road because I knew this would make Laura be all apologetic and worried.

In another 15 mins we were back in the parking lot and I thanked Laura for "dropping my ass". I wasn't really upset with her. With a group as big as she had it is easy to, unintentionally, drop some one. However I plan to remind her being dropped through out the year just to keep her humble.

Marilyn sent me an email later that said she came up with a great way described being dropped by Laura. The term is "Lynched". I agree with her but would like to take it one step further. Just like the term "Spragued" means dropping riders off the front of a ride I think the term "Lynched" should come to mean dropping people, "unintentionally", off the back of the ride :-)

When Animals Attack!

Ok, I really didn't get attacked by any animals but did have a close run in with a few deer so I couldn't resist the title.

On our way out of Etra Park this weekend we ran into some deer as we cruised along Disbrow Hill Rd. At first we saw a couple of deer running across the road about 20 feet in front of us. Then a couple of more ran across the road. I slowed down and scanned both sides of the road. I saw a couple more deer ready to cross the road so I yelled at them. Although this stop them from crossing the road it made them more nervious. So now the deer were walking parallel to me as I kept creeping along. My yelling also had the unintended side effect of spooking out a few more deer in the woods who ran out a few feet in front of me.

At this point the others riding with me had fallen back so I was alone surrounded by about 10 deer on both sides. It felt strange having that many deer watching me. I kept both eyes open as I kept creeping along hoping they won't jump in front of me. After a slow couple of hundred feet they were behind me and we continued along. I have had a couple of other close calls with deer but have never seen this many at one time.

We also had another interesting animal encounter during our ride. As we road through Cream Ridge we passed a farm with a bunch of horses. Most horses I normally see are just grazing in the field. These horses however were all laying down. They looked tired and disheveled. I suggested that these horses looked like they just go beat up by the Budweiser Clydesdales. So we ride along another couple of miles and what do we see... a Clydesdale pulling a couple people in a wagon with a dog sitting in it. It looks like the Budweiser commercial where the Clydesdale is training to become part of the team. It was a pretty funny coincidence.

Left or Right?

Most of my winter rides tend to be close to home. I don't usually take the time to map out these rides since I know these roads so well and can easily make up the routes as I go. A couple of weeks ago I did an afternoon adhoc ride with Herb, Mary and George and decided to head to Englishtown. I had the route all mapped out in my head but was not really paying attention and ended up taking a slightly different route than I was planning. No problem I just recalculated the route in my head and mapped out new route to get me on track. Part of this re routing had me taking a Gravelhill Spotswood road which I hadn't been on in years so I was a little disoriented but knew the general direction I was heading was correct. I eventually found the road I wanted but made a left instead of a right and got totally turned around. What I ended up doing was an unintentional 8 mile circle that got me no closer to Englishtown. It's really embarrassing getting lost so close to home and the others deservedly harassed me the rest of the ride.

At this point George wanted some coffee and Englishtown was too far so I just headed to Roy's in Millstone and then we wandered around back to our starting point. We never did make it to Englishtown but still had a nice ride.

The next week we all went out again and this time I was determined to get to Englishtown so before the ride I actually created a ridesheet just to make sure I won't get turned around this time. Although Herb and George kept doubting my abilities to get them to Englishtown we did eventually make it. This is not a route I would do with a big group because there a couple of spots with a little traffic but it is a nice ride to do for a change of pace with a small group. The ridesheet is now on my NJ Road Biking site in the ridesheet page in case your interested in trying it out.

Winter Projects

Winter is usually the time when I spend more time doing projects around the house. I don't mind doing project around the house because I am pretty handy and can usually get the job done the way I want it in the time I want it done. It also saves me a little money and replaces some of the exercise that I'm not getting because I'm not riding as much.

This winter so far I have put up a shed, insulated the attic, built some cabinets for the basement and probably have some painting in my near future. The other big project this winter has been getting my book ready to publish. I have spent a lot of time proof reading the manuscript, making maps for each ride and number of other little things needed by the publisher to get the book to print. Its almost done and I finally got some of the proof pages of the actual book and I am happy with the way it looks. A few more passes of proof reading and the book should be ready to go. According to the publisher, Falcon Press, it should be available on April 14th.

To provide some detailed information about the book for people looking to buy it I have created a web site NJRoadBiking that explains what's in the book. The site is very simple doesn't contain much more than a description of the book. For those of you who follow the blog and ride with me there will not be much new information here. The one part that you may be interested in is the ride sheet page where I have some ride sheets for some rides that I have done over the last couple of years but didn't make the book. There aren't a lot of ride sheets here yet but I will continue to add more in the weeks and months ahead. I have always wanted to have a way to share my ride sheets with everybody in the club so now that I have the web site set up this will be easy to do.

Beautiful Desolation

In this months Bicycling magazine there was an article about how riding in bad weather can be beautiful. This past weekend was finally warm enough to go out for a ride. I took my camera with me hoping to capture the beauty of the winter landscape.

The truth is that the landscape is pretty desolate in the winter. The farms are all plowed and empty, the trees are leafless, and the roads are filled with salt and sand. There really isn't a lot of beauty out there. I did get a decent pictures of some trees along the Millstone river but this picture and the rest of the landscape would be a lot nicer in the summer. So although I enjoyed getting out on the road this past weekend after a few weeks of being stuck inside. I really didn't see anything I would call beautiful.