Exploring Some New Roads

 

After 30 years of riding I have ridden almost every rideable roads in New Jersey (and quite a few that were unrideable). However New Jersey has a lot of nooks and crannies so its always possible to find a few roads that I haven't ridden yet. 

The area where I moved to is close to a lot of roads I use on my Rova Farms Ride so I am familiar with most of the roads by my new house. Since I try to ride once or twice a week after work I will be doing more short rides in this area. To make sure I can have some variety on my nightly rides I decided to try all the roads in the area so that I can always quickly put together a ride of any length and difficulty. I try and use my after work rides for training to keep or get in shape for my weekend rides. I usually do between 15-25 miles and try to find some small hills to get my heart rate up. 

From my old house I had a really good variety of roads and could do anything from quick flat ride to a hill ride with almost 1000 ft of climbing in 25 miles. There are less hills where I live now so it will be a challenge to find more than 500 ft of climbing. 

From the new house it takes almost 2 miles to get out of my community and I have only a couple of ways out so the first and last couple of miles are going to be mostly the same for any ride from my house. However once I'm out I don't have to cross any main roads like route 130 as I had to do from the old place. There are a good number of quiet flat roads around the new place and I'm enjoying exploring some new back roads and finding my way around the local neighborhoods. Most of the back roads are low traffic and the busier roads usually have a wide shoulder. I just need to do some more exploring to find some hills to climb.

Now that it has been a few weeks since we moved in we are now more settled. We still have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do but the office, living room, bedroom and kitchen are set up so enough to live comfortably so we can now unpack the rest at our leisure.

Now that I'm past the hectic part of moving I can get back to my normal weekend rides. A couple of weeks ago I did a ride out of Yardley so I could get back to doing some hills. We did this route which was close to 3000' of climbing. I also tried a new way up the hill from Yardley to Tyler State park where we climbed the toughest hill in the park which felt just as hard on a road bike as it was in the winter in with my heavier mountain bike. 

It was good to get back into the hills but this past week I kept it flat as it was a hotter weekend.  After a few weeks of no dirt roads or bridge outs we actually had two on the ride in the Pinelands but both were easy to get through. 

It felt good to get back to some regular rides and get some routine back in my life after the move. The new house doesn't feel like home yet but some of us are getting use to the new digs.

 

 

Change of Address

Selling your current house and moving to new home is a complicated process. There are so many little details to take care that it can almost be a full time job. Then there is the stress that come with worrying about all the things that could go wrong and totally derail the process. Our move was even more complicated because we were trying to do a simultaneous sell and buy on the same day which is harder than completing the triple lindy.

I am however a man who enjoys a plan especially when it involves challenging logistics. We were also lucky as the people who were buying our house did not make any unreasonable requests for repairs or changes to the house. The only thing they really asked for was for more time as they had a lease until the end of July. This wasn't a problem for us as we were not in any real hurry to move and actually worked out for us as the people we bought our new house from needed some extra time to take care of a death in the family. Although I'm sorry for the families lost it did allow us to do a simultaneous closing which meant we only had to move once.

Even though all the parties involved were reasonable it was still a very stressful process. There are just so many ways for the things to go wrong and turn the transaction into an adversarial process. As our realtor said there is at least once catastrophe in every sales she does that puts the sale on the edge of falling though. Both she and our lawyer said that this was one of the smoothest transactions they have been a part of. I'm not sure this was because we worked hard to get the house in good shape before the sale or if we were just lucky.

Still is was a lot of work getting the house ready for sale and cleaning up 30 years of living in it. Then there was the packing up of all the stuff we wanted to keep while at the same time looking for a new place to live. The last week was the hardest as we had movers come in and put most of our stuff into storage then we had to clean up the house for the new owners. In the middle of this there was a small plumbing problem I had to fix. The last two days before the move I worked 12-15 hours a day to do all those little last minute things that needed to be done before we could leave the old house. This included packing the last bit of stuff we needed to live until the movers delivered our stuff to the new house as well as cleaning up the old house for the new owners. 

Finally around 1:30 pm on July 15 we left our old house with our car's fully stuffed to drive to the new house. It was a little emotional to leave a place we have lived for 30 years but we knew it was time to move on.

It was about a 25 min drive to the new house where we unloaded our cars. I also asked Jack and his van to help us with the move since all the stuff we needed for the two weeks until our furniture arrived won't fit into our two cars. 

Although this move was stressful for us I was concerned how Frisket would take it. She is almost 18 years old and doesn't like change. However she seemed to be okay in the new place after exploring it for a little while. 

We brought just enough stuff to camp out in our new house. This included an air mattress to sleep on.

 

As well as a TV and a couple of chairs as well as some minimal stuff for the kitchen. 

After a busy Thursday the plan was to relax Friday and just organize the house so we could live with the minimal furniture we had brought. The reason we didn't have the furniture delivered right after moving in is because we wanted to have the place painted. We had hired a painter and they were expected to start painting the week after we moved in but by lucky chance they were able to start the job on Friday right after we moved in. This was good because it would mean that we would get the place painted right after moving in. 

The only problem is that it meant that we couldn't sleep in and couldn't really organize the house. The company we hired to do the painting brought in 6 people to do the work. They worked fast and did a really good job. They were there for 10 hours both Friday and Saturday and painted the entire 2500 sq ft of the house. It was a quick transformation that really got rid of the outdated gold paint and updated the place to a more modern look.

During the painting I did what I could to organize and set up what I could. That meant getting the internet working which took a couple of calls to support and a trip to the Optimum office  to replace a faulty modem.

Sunday I spent setting up the little furniture we brought with us. Our living room is just a TV with two recliners.

And our dining room is just a card table and chair but it is enough to get by for a couple of weeks. 

 

I also set up an office in the library. The office is not as functional as I want it yet but good enough to work at until the furniture arrives.

There is still a lot to do to make this new house our home but the hard and stressful part is over. There are still a few weeks of work to get the house fully set up but we can now do that at our own pace with no deadlines so that will be easier than the last few days have been.

 

Perfect Bike Weather

 

There are two important things I want to know when I go on a bike ride. First what is the weather going to be so I know how to dress and prepare for the ride. Second I want to know where will we be stopping for a break so I know if I should bring food with me or buy a tasty treat at the stop. Although we can control where we stop for a break we can't control the weather and have to deal with what comes along. I will ride in a wide variety of weather conditions from 20 degrees to 95 degrees and don't care if it is sunny or overcast or even how windy it is. However I try not to go out if there is better than 50% chance of heavy rain and thunderstorms. Weather predictions are not perfect and in fact they can be down right wrong at times so there will be time you will be riding in weather you were not expecting. 

That's what happen at last weeks Belmar ride. Laura had listed a century from her house with an option to do shorter distances if you met her a certain points. I chose the 68 mile option. The weather was suppose to be in the mid to upper 70s with overcast skies clearing later in the day. There was a 10% chance of light rain at 11am. It was a good day for a long ride as it wasn't going to be really hot. 

Laura picked us up in Etra and we headed through Jackson, where we stopped for our first break, and then through Farmingdale towards the shore. As we approached the coast it got a little darker and there was a spritz of rain as we were waiting for a few people behind us to change a flat tire. 

When we got to the beach it was overcast and foggy but there were still plenty of people on the beach. We made our usual stop at the tables in front of the Dunkin Donuts before heading back. As we rode past Allaire State Park the clouds got darker and it started to rain. It was a heavy rain that was not in the forecast. Luckily it was just heavy rain and not a thunderstorm so we just had to ride through it. It was warm enough that getting wet didn't make us cold. The rain lasted about 10 mins. We then almost dry off before we rode through another downpour. 

It was definitely not fun to get wet but it did cool us off so in some ways it made the ride a little easier. Despite the rain and the miles I felt pretty good after 68 miles although I know I didn't really want to do too much more.

This past Saturday the weather forecast had a 50% chance of rain and not wanting to get wet again I moved my ride to Sunday. This was the second club ride I lead this year. The weather was perfect low 70s , low humility and abundant sunshine. I lead a hilly ride out of Lambertville to Frenchtown on the NJ side. I took the easy way up the hill and we got some good scenic views once we got to the ridge. 

We headed down the hill into Frenchtown for our break. It was congested and crowded but it was still nice to sit buy the river and enjoy the scenery. Eventually we headed out of Frenchtown and down Rt 29 for 5 miles before heading back uphill on Warsaw. It was the toughest climb of the day and we have a few more easier climbs before we got back to Lambertville but all in all it was one of the more enjoyable rides I did this year. 

Monday I did my own ride with a few of the members of the insane bike posse. The weather was about 10 degrees warmer and a lot more humid. My legs were tired which is why this ride was flatter. We headed from my house to Chesterfield and back on a 44 mile route. We cruised along at a decent clip. 

After the stop in Chesterfield we had tailwind most of the way back. It wasn't enough however to keep me from cramping up as I did a few miles before the end of the ride. I guess the heat and riding two days in a row caught up with me but after a little stretching I was able to make it home without cramping up again. 

We are now entering the dog days of summer so hot and unstable weather will be the norm. Although I will check the forecast before I ride I know the predictions will not always be reliable so will be ready to ride in whatever conditions come along.

Gettysburg

 

Bike trips are a great way to see other areas of the country. I like exploring by bike as it is a more leisurely way to see the sights. There are a lot of great places to take a bike trip in the US but if you want my recommendation on one of the best place to go in the tri-state area I would suggest heading to Gettysburg. Gettysburg and the surrounding area is one of the most interesting and beautiful places to ride in Pennsylvania. There is also a lot of variety to the roads by Gettysburg so no matter the type of riding you want to do you are sure to find something to like. 

Of course Gettysburg is the site of the civil war's most pivotal battle and now one of the more popular national parks in the US. The park does an amazing job of capturing the history and emotions of an important moment of America history. The park has over 40 miles of bikeable roads so it is easy to explore the many battlefields and monuments in the park.

Beyond the battlefield especially east of Gettysburg there are a lot of good roads to ride on and some interesting and historic things to see. I have been taking bike trips to Gettysburg for over 10 years, mostly with the Philadelphia bike club. I always enjoy riding in and around Gettysburg and haven't come close to explore all the areas and roads I want to. Which is why when Falcon press asked me to write a guide for ride in and around Gettysburg I said yes. 

This book is meant for casual riders who want to do rides in the 5 to 10 mile range. The main focus of rides in this book is exploring the different areas of the battlefield. Its a small book of only 16 rides but it does cover all areas of the battlefield as well as the best place to ride outside of Gettysburg. 

I had fun writing the book and learning more about Gettysburg so I could add some interesting facts throughout the book. I had planned to do a couple of trips out to Gettysburg over the year I worked on the book to get the best pictures and information I could but because of the pandemic I only got out there once in late 2019. Luckily I had enough pictures and knowledge from all my previous trips to put the book together and am genially happy with how it came out. We'll see how well it sells.

It has been a while since I have done any bike trips because like everybody else I was stuck at home. Now that the threat of the pandemic is waning I will be doing a couple of bike trips this year and one of them will definitely be to back to Gettysburg.

Best Sunrise Ever!

 

Over the years I tried my hand at getting a few good shots of sunrises and sunsets and a got a few good ones. The morning of June 10th however offered an opportunity to get a picture of a unique sunrise that my not happen again in my lifetime. In N.J. there was going to be a partial eclipse of the sun at sunrise. The weather forecast got better during the week but there was still only a 40% chance that the sky would be clear at sunrise. Still there was a chance. Since the eclipse was going to be in progress at sunrise I had to be in a place that had a clear view to the eastern horizon. I decided to sleep over at our condo in Avon so I could walk out in the morning and see the sunrise at the beach. 

When I woke up at 5am I looked out the skylight and it was still cloudy and hazy. But when I walked out to the beach the clouds were lifting and the sky was clearing. 

There was a marine layer so the horizon obscured by some clouds. The sun rose through the clouds and I could see it looked a little different.

 When the sun peaked above the low clouds the sun was a crescent instead of a circle.

 The sun eventually cleared the clouds and was fully visible. 

 

I got a few more pictures before the sun got too bright to take a picture without a solar filter. 

 

It turned out to be a reasonable clear morning so there were other people watching the eclipse.

The eclipses lasted an hour. For the first 15mins I was able to take a picture without any filters as the sun was dim as it is during a sunrise. This allowed for some cool pictures including the one at the top of post where I got lucky and got a jet trail across the sun at the same time a seagull flew by. 

As the sun rose higher I put the solar filter on the camera and caught the rest of the eclipse. 

It was a beautiful sunrise so I'm glad I made the effort to see it in person because the picture really don't convey how cool it was.

All Paces

 As another sign things are getting more towards normal there was an All Paces ride this Memorial Day. It was good to catch up with people I haven't seen in over a year and see that we all found a way to get through the pandemic. 

I spent about 20 mins talking to people I don't normally ride with  as we shared updates on what had happen to us over the last year or so. I didn't sign up for any of the rides so as the rides left I went out on my own with Ricky, Jack and Bob and we did a 44 mile loop to Roy's. The weather wasn't great as it was cloudy and mid 50s when we started and didn't warm up much during the ride. 

When we left the park the sun did make a brief appearance and I thought I would have to shed some layers but it quickly clouded up again so I'm glad I left the jacket on. This ride wasn't has as hilly and hard as last weeks Cocluxe ride but as the day went on it got winder and the ride got a little tougher. 

 When we stopped at Roy's Ira's group was there so I got more time to catch with a few other people. We didn't spend too long at the stop because the wind really whipped up and it got colder. My route took us through the Assumpink where they patched some of the road. It's still pretty rough in spots but the part by the big tree and the hill in Roosevelt has been paved so its a lot less of a hazard. 

Since the rest of the weekend was a washout I'm glad I got out today and go in a good long ride.

New York, New York

 

The first ride in my Road Biking NJ book is a ride across the George Washington Bridge into New York City. New York is a crowded and congested city and not the easiest place to try and ride a bike but there are a few cool places that you can ride that can be a fun change of pace. One of the cool places to ride is the GW Bridge. It is relatively easy to ride across the bridge into NY and ride along the Hudson and check out the skyline. 

I haven't ridden in New York city for at least 10 years so when Dave posted a ride up there I decided to give it a try. The main attraction for me was riding over the new Tappan Zee bridge. A pair of new bridges has replace the old bridge and there is now a bike path across the Hudson. We did this route which heads up route 9W on the NJ side of the river to the town of Piermont and the over the Tappan Zee bridge. 

9W is a busy road along the Hudson but is has a wide shoulder most of the way and there are so many biker riding the road that the cars are use to sharing the road. 9W is the main escape route for people biking out of the city. One of the most popular ride for people in the city to do is to head across the GW bridge up to Piermount for lunch and the head back to the city.

When we rode through Piermount all the street side restaurants where filled with bikers. It looked like bikers took over the town which is what they actually did.

In Piermount we got a look at the new Tappan Zee (which is really call the Mario Cuomo bridge now but nobody is every going to call it that). 

 

Its hard to tell from the picture but there are actually two side by side bridges. Until the past year I drove over the old and the the new Tappan Zee once every couple of months for work and enjoyed watching the progress. They did a really good job with the bike path.

Its a nice wide path with plexiglass on both sides to give some protection from the wind. There are 4 or 5 observation bump outs along the path where you can stop and look at the views or take pictures.

I stopped at a few of them to try and few pictures of the Hudson Valley but with the flat light of the overcast skies none of the pictures really came out that good.

We had a quick rest stop at pizza and bagel shop on the other side of the bridge before climbing up the side of a hill to get to a rail trail along the Saw Mill parkway. 

The trail was tree line and somewhat scenic. It was 15 miles long and got us most of the way back to the GW bridge. The main problem with the path was the surface. It was paved and had the usual cracks and bump caused by tree roots which wasn't too bad. However there were a bunch of spots where the pavement was a total washboard with large bumps that rattled my frame and teeth. I actually hit a few bumps so hard I thought I would crack my frame. 

The 20 of us got spread out on the path and ended up meeting up at the end of the path by the golf course. By the time I got to the end of the path we were missing 4 people including Laura and Jim. We got word that Laura broke a seat post and didn't know exactly what happen until she showed up 15 mins later and explain that the bolt that held her seat on sheered off. Luckily Jim had the brilliant idea to try a bolt that was holding his head tube cover plate on which fit well enough to keep Laura seat on. 

From the golf course we made our way along the streets in the Bronx's toward the GW bridge. Although there was a bike lane there were a lot of cars double park in it and so we rode as safe as we could in the Sunday traffic. I went into bike messenger mode and swerved around parked cars and people and even had to ride on a side walk or two to get to the bridge. This was the worst part of the ride but something you just have to deal with when riding in the city. 

We were got split up again getting to the GW bridge. The bike path on the GW is no where near as nice as the one on the Tappan Zee. Its more like a narrow sidewalk with a couple of 90 degree turns that go around the metal bridge towers. With bikes going in both directions there are many places for a head on crash if you are not careful.

I did manage to get a picture of the city from the bridge. 

After making it over the bridge it was only a couple of miles back to the start. I'm glad I did this ride as it was a fun adventure but it may be a few years before I do another urban ride like this.