Riding the Road in the Cold

I don't have a lot to say about my rides over the past couple weeks. It was just warm enough, for me, to ride on the road last Saturday and this Sunday. Last Saturday I did a one way ride to Avon and met my wife there for lunch. It was a barely 40 degree cloudy day with a light head wind from the east. The head wind made the ride a little harder. Still it was good to be on the road after a few weeks on the mountain bike. The beach was mostly empty so I didn't have to deal with any traffic.

This weekend Laura had a ride scheduled for Saturday out of MCP but the overnight rain/snow left the roads wet with possible icy spots so the ride was moved to Sunday where I actually ended up leading the ride. We had a large crowd for another 40 degree cloudy day. There was no wind on Sunday so it actually felt a little warmer than last week. Once I got a few miles on the road I didn't feel cold at all. I road in from home and met everybody at the park.

I lead a 41 mile loop through Allentown and Cream Ridge to our stop at Roy's. From there it was another 15 miles back to the park. I cut off for home just before the park. Because I road in from home I ended up with 47 miles which isn't bad for a winter ride.

There is just about a month left in winter so I hope I can grind out some more winter road rides until the weather gets warmer and I don't have to worry about being cold anymore.

Mushy Backwards LHT Ride

Saturday was one of those days where it was just a little too cold for me to ride on the road and because of the rain and snow during the week it would have been a muddy canal ride. It was hovering around 37 degrees when we started the LHT ride. The LHT trail is 60% paved and the rest of the trail is well maintained packed gravel. It turned out to be a little mushier than I thought it would be but at the same time it was kinda fun.

I was joined by Jack and Ricky. The rest of the posse was otherwise busy. I decided to do the reverse of my usual route and headed counter clockwise around the trail. This seemed harder than my normal way as it was mostly uphill to the ETS center. At the ETS center we took the usual short cut through the overgrown path to Proviceline Rd. This path had more water and mud than usual and we had to walk around a couple of large puddles and fallen trees.

I skipped the part of the trail around the equestrian center as that is a muddy mess on a good day. The path around Rosedale lake was solid but had parts covered with shallow puddles that made for some slow going and messy riding. My tights were already covered with multiple colors of dirt.

The part around the pole farm was a little more solid and it was actually fun going down the hill by the pole farm instead of up it.

The rest of the way back was on mostly paved paths. By the time we got back to the parking lot my tights looked like a Jackson Pollack painting. It was warm enough that I didn't mind a little water and mud but I will be happy when it will be warm enough to get back on the road.

The Education of Bob

Bob is one of the newer members of the insane bike posse and fits in good with the group. Laura and I mentored him through his first century a couple of Augusts ago. This year with a little peer pressure we got him to buy a mountain bike so that he could join us on our trail rides. His first trail ride was a few weeks ago on the ride I did out of Washington Crossing and was with us last week, in the snow, at Penny Pack park. Now that he has a mountain bike I am trying to show him how can expand his riding options.

This week I had an off the books ride out of Rocky Hill. The plan was to head north to where the Raritan River meets the Millstone and do an out and back ride of 20-25 miles. Even though it was  warmer than last week it was still only 25 degrees at the start. I had a big turn out for such a cold ride. Laura, Pete, Jim, Ricky, Bob and Chris were all there.

For the first part of the ride the path was a little bumpy as the tire tracks and foot prints made in the warm muddy conditions of a past couple of days had frozen. Once we got north of Blackwell Mills the path was more packed down and a lot smoother. The only thing that slowed us down was the occasional large branch or tree across the path. We also ran into work crew and a bunch of trucks on the path that left very little room to go around.

When we got to the place where the Raritan River meets the Millstone we stopped for a couple of pictures. I didn't manage to get any pictures because I had my camera in my outer pocket and the battery was too cold to put out any power.

We had a slight tail wind on the way which made the riding a little easier. When we got to Blackwell Mills I decided to split off with Bob and Chris to show Bob what is is like to do some real mountain biking in 6 mile run. Pete ended up coming with us too as the rest of the group headed back down the path to the start. Instead of doing the longer Blue trail I decided to ride up to the Jacques Rd parking lot and do the White trail to Red trail. This would give us a 3 mile trek through the woods and would be enough to give Bob and intro to mountain biking. Bob's bike was still way to clean for a mountain bike so it was time for it to get a little muddy.

I expected the trail to still be frozen but after the first few hundred feet it looks like the ground was thawing and it was getting muddy. Pete wisely turned around but Chris, Bob and I kept going. There were a lot of spots where the trail was dry and flat and these parts were fun and not too hard. There were also a lot of icy puddles we had to work our way through. You had to try to run through them as fast as you could and try not to put you foot down and get wet. I wasn't always successful but only had to put my foot in the water once.

I forgot how many steep little hills this place had. I had a problem getting in my bottom ring in the front as some mud was frozen on the derailleur. I kick it a couple of times to try to loosen it up but eventually gave up and walked up the steeper spots. I remember why I don't do this type of riding much any more. Chris eventually kicked it into gear and riding was much better after that.

Bob was having the usual beginner problems getting use to handling the bike over this kind of terrain. He did have the occasional fall but got better as we kept going. He said it was like going skiing for the first time.

Once we got out of the valley and on to the drier parts of the trail it was a little better and I started to enjoy it. A few more icy puddles and a couple stream crossings later we made it back to the parking lot and headed by down Canal Rd to Rocky Hill. I was feeling pretty tired after the riding through the woods so we didn't bother getting back on the canal path as the road was easier and would be faster.

When we got back to Rocky hill, Ricky was still there waiting in his car. He had left his lights on so had a dead battery. Luckily Chris had some jumper cables so we were able to get Ricky's car started.

I was muddy and tired but was glad that I did the loop in six mile run as it was fun introducing Bob to another part of the biking experience.

Hot and Cold

Let's hope that useless over pampered ground hog call Punxsutawney Phil is right and that we will have an early spring this year. Over the past few weeks the polar vortex has descended a couple of times to produce some really cold weather before getting blown away by a warm south wind. This had made if and where to ride a little harder over the past could of weeks.

Last weekend was a hike and bike weekend. We could have done another canal ride on Saturday but for a change of pace I decided to get the normal posse together to do a hike in the Sourlands Mountain Preserve. We did a 7 mile hike along the ridge trail. It was just below freezing when we started the hike. I got Jack, Ricky, Pete and Laura to join me.Even though I have lived in this area for almost 30 years I had never been to this park. The park has a small lake by the parking lot and hiking trails through the woods and hills of the Sourlands from a mile to about 7 miles.

The land is very rocky with a lot of little stream and water flowing through the rocks. I'm glad the ground was frozen or it would have been a muddy mess. The trails are well marked and there are some interesting rock formations and other things to see along the way.

We came across this shallow frozen pond. The white blotches are frozen methane from the decomposing leaves. In arctic climates there can be multiple layers or methane bubbles frozen in a lake from top to bottom which can produce and interesting 3D affect. Take a look at this video for an example.

The hike brought us through and around a lot of large rocks including the Devils Half Acre Bolders.  These were kind of interesting but are mostly just a bunch of large rocks that you can climb around or over. The most interesting thing we found was some tree snot. There was a lot of talk of what it actually might be but it looked like snot to me. Here is Laura looking it up on her phone.

The was a moderately difficult hike mostly because of all the little rocks and roots on the trail. It would have been real easy to twist and ankle and fall if you didn't look where you were going.

On Sunday it was warm enough to get out on the road. Jack and I did a just under 40 mile ride in and around Clarksburg. It was good to be out on the road again. When you get temps over 40 you have to take advantage of it as you never know when it is going to turn cold again.

And we did get another blast of arctic air this week with lows in the single digits and highs barely in the teens. It wasn't as bad as Chicago where they had to set fire to the trail tracks to clear off the snow. Whenever there is this type of cold you get the usual weather people going out and showing how cold it is by throwing boiling water in the air and having come down as snow. Then you get the people who use this one cold event to say that global warming is a hoax even thought global warming is probably causing these quick cold snaps as this article points out.

It did warm up just enough for Saturday to think about doing a ride. It was still cold on Saturday and we had got a dusting of snow on Friday but this type of weather is the perfect time to go to Pennypack park. Pennypack park is a beautiful park along the Pennypack creek. It has a paved trail that you can ride on from north east Philly all the way to the Delaware. If you want a scenic winter landscape this is the place to come.

I got the truly insane of the insane bike posse to join me for this cold ride. This included Laura, Jim, and new mountain bike owner Bob. It was just 22 degrees when we got started so I had all my winter gear on plus some hand and foot warmers. This is the limit of my cold riding and it was so cold that the valve of my camelback froze up.

Still it was worth being a little cold for the view. This was probably the best winter scenery I have seen at Pennypack. There was just enough snow to blanket everything with out making the path too dangerous to ride on. The paved path had about a half inch of snow on it but it was not icy and were were able to get up the hills if we were "careful"

The trail itself is easy to follow and with out too many people out today we quickly made our way down the trail. Most of it looked like these pictures above. We stopped occasionally to take pictures but none of them do it justice. I would have taken more pictures but my battery quickly froze up and lost power so I had to put in back in my jacket to warm it up so it could take more pictures.

Eventually we made it down to the Delaware which was semi frozen.

Then it was back up the trail the same way we came. It had warmed up a little and some of the snow on the trail had melted to the point that we could see the paved surface. I managed to get a shot of the small waterfall near a bridge. I take this shot every time and it is always a little different.

This doesn't really capture how good this actually looked maybe one of these years I will get a shot that I'm happy with.

We all made it back to the start with out any problems. I always worry about falling in cold and icy conditions. I will mention Bob did fall but is was actually when we crossed a road with out any snow on it and he fell trying to go up a curb. He still getting use to the new mountain bike so falling it all part of the learning process.

Even though it was a cold ride I'm glad I made the trek to Pennypack as it really was a beautiful ride and one of the few places you can safely ride through a frozen snowy landscape.

Super Wolf Mother, Bloody Bad Ass Moon

It seems like every time there is some astronomical even related to the moon the news media make up a new nonsensical name for the headlines. This time it was the name was the "Super Blood Wolf Moon". It made it sound like a once in a lifetime event. In reality it was just a normal lunar eclipse that happen to fall in January which is the wolf moon. Although a lunar eclipse is not as cool as a solar eclipse it still can be fun to watch.

I didn't really expect to see the eclipse since the long range forecast showed it would be cloudy. The storm ended up clearing out quicker than expected so the skies were clear for the eclipse. Unfortunately it was 15 degrees out so there was no way I was going to stand outside and watch it. Luckily the position of the moon during the eclipse was directly above the skylight in my kitchen. I was able to actually set up my telescope on my kitchen floor and point it through the skylight to watch the eclipse. The view was a little fuzzy since I had to look through a semi dirty triple pane window but it was better than freezing my ass outside.

I did manage to get a few picture but none came out that great because of shooting through the skylight. It was also very windy so that makes a more turbulent atmosphere which makes it harder to get a clear view of the moon.

When the moon got to full eclipse it seemed dimmer and not as red as other ones that I have seen. It was actually too dim for me to get a clear picture. I may have to invest in a little better camera for the next one in a couple of years. Each lunar eclipse is a little difference and interesting in its own way so I'm glad I got a chance to see it. 

Riding in Bad Weather

During the winter you tend to extend the type of weather you ride in just so you can get out. Some people think this makes us bad asses for going out in the cold but the reality is that we are so addicted to biking that we would rather get cold and muddy on a bike than sit home and be pissed that we didn't get a ride in.

Two weeks ago it was warm enough to get out on the road Jack and I did a 40 mile loop to Bordentown. It was sunny and close to 50 degrees so it wasn't a bad day for a road ride especially in January. There was a little wind from the west but since we went mostly north and south it didn't feel too bad. This was one of the few rides we didn't run into any bridge outs. However we crossed Old Trenton road a couple of times by Mercer park so Jack suggested we check out the closed bridge down the road. Jack had crossed it a month ago and wanted to see the progress. This of course meant that we were going to cross a closed bridge even though there was no reason to do this. I guess I have taken the people I ride with over so many closed bridges that they now depend on that thrill of walking through a construction site and getting muddy to be able to enjoy a ride.

I didn't ride last week because I had a minor sinus infection and didn't want to make it any worst. I am pretty sure I got the infection at a play in New York. We went to Lincoln Center to see a revival of  "My Fair Lady" starring Laura Benanti. If you don't know who she is she is the actor that plays a parody of Melania Trump on the Cobert show. She is not only a good comedic actor but has a phenomenal singing voice and was amazing on stage. I can understand why she is one of the top Broadway actors at the moment.

 Although the play was great we were sitting with next to a bunch of women who looked like they had the bluebonic plague. I tried my best not to make any contact with them but I suspect the air was infectious. I luckily only came away with a mild soar throat and was very tired. It only took me a few days to feel better.

This week with a big storm approaching it was a little too cold to hit the road so I posted a ride out of Washington Crossing. The plan was to head north towards Stockton and back. It was cloudy and around 35 degrees so I got a good turn out. Chris, Laura, Jack, Pete, Racer Pete, and Bob with his brand new and way too clean mountain bike. I guess he got the bike so he could join us on the cold canal paths.

It was the perfect temperature for a winter ride it had been cold enough that the path itself was frozen and would not be sloppy or muddy. There was still a thin layer of snow on the path from a storm a couple of days ago but it didn't make the path any more slippery. If you are dressed right with good gloves and booties its easy to stay warm at 35 degrees.

We went up the PA side through New Hope. At Washington Crossing there had been another group of PFW there doing a canal ride. Ron who was leading said that the path on the PA side was closed just above New Hope. I wasn't concerned about the closed path because worst case we would just have to ride on the road for a couple of miles. Besides as people that ride with me know closed does not always mean that much.

The closed part of the trail ended being because of a new bridge being built over the canal. The was a fence blocking the trail but it was possible to get around the fence if you were careful and didn't slip down the hill.

We crossed the river at Stockton and headed back to Washington Crossing on the NJ side. We spread out a little as a group on the way back but finished together. It was a decent ride for a cold winter day. I'm sure there will be more of these as we do our best to ride through the bad weather.

The Cookie to Speed Ratio

I was able to get in a few rides in between Christmas and New Years. This is important because of all the extra food consumed during the Christmas festivities. I felt a little slower on the rides and attributed it to the extra cookies and chocolate that I have been consuming.

Last Wednesday I got Laura, Chris and Ken to join me on a canal ride from Washington Crossing. We went down the PA side. I wanted to head a little south of Morrisville and look for possible places to park as I want to do a ride all the way down to Bristol and that is too far south to do it from Washington Crossing.

It was a sunny day and around 40 degrees so it was not a problem staying warm. When we got down to Morrisville the trail got a little sketchy and we had to make a quick detour over a ditch and through a parking lot to get across Bridge street. The plan was to head south for 3 or 4 miles before turning around. Instead we ran into construction about a mile later.

It looks like they are building a tunnel through a hill. We then turned around and headed back. We crossed over the Trenton Makes bridge and headed back the NJ side. We ended up with just over 20 miles.

On Saturday I posted a ride out of Cranbury. It was 50 degrees and sunny so I expected a big crowd like I had last weekend. I only got 4 people to join, Jim, Ricky, Larry and Eric. There was a good stiff wind coming out of the west so I plan a north south route to stay out of the wind as much as possible.

For most of the way out we only had a cross wind or a good tail wind. As we wound our way through the Assunpink there seemed to be a lot of hunters in the woods searching for their New Years Eve dinner.

On the way towards Allentown we had a few wind in faces stretches and I knew there would be a few more after the stop.

We stopped at Woody's for our break and found a cool aero-recumbant on the side walk.

We all ogled over it. We also talked to the owner who had ridden to Allentown from the shore. Of course one of my question is how good was it into a head wind. He said head winds didn't affect it too much because it was low and had low wind resistance. It was a trike and weighed 65 pounds so its not climbing any hills.

It was only 16 miles back to Cranbury but we had two long stretches into the wind. I sucked a wheel as much as I could during these stretches as Eric, Jim, and Ricky seemed to have more left in the tank than I did.

Once we got back to Cranbury I put out some cookies so I could fatten up these fuckers. That way they would not only block the wind better but be easier to keep up with.

I'm thinking of instituting a new policy at the end of the ride that will require all riders to eat a certain amount of cookies or chocolate at the end of a ride based on how far ahead of me and/or how much faster they make it up the hills. I will call this new stat the Cookie to Speed Ratio. So if you come on my rides and push the pace I will increase you waist line according.

Laura, Jack and I did make in down to Bristol on a New Years eve day ride, as the picture up top shows. You can read the details here. Its not the most scenic ride but it was nice to see another another part of the trail. The town of Bristol looks interesting so it might make a good ride in the summer.