A Few Nice Days

Over the past couple of weeks we have had few days which were actually NOT as hot as hell. Last Saturday was the first day in a while below 90 where the humidity was low. Laura scheduled her pick your distance ride to Belmar. She and a few others were doing a hundred miles a couple of others started in Etra for 67 miles. Since the route almost goes by my house I met them at their first rest stop and did 55 miles. It was nice to ride out of my house for a PFW ride since I don't get a chance to do that much anymore. It was low 80s and low humidity so for the first time this summer I didn't feel like I was riding inside an oven. 

With a light west wind we made our way quick to the beach and our normal stop in Belmar by the beach for a break. The beach was crowded but not overly so and the traffic wasn't all that bad as we didn't have much of a problem getting in our out of Belmar. 

On the way back there was a small head wind but it didn't really slow us down. I left the group when they turned towards Freehold and headed home. I had about 10 miles more to get home and cruised home with out a problem. For once I did over 50 miles and didn't cramp or feel dehydrated.

The past week most days were over 90 with high humidity. I did a quick ride early Wednesday morning just to get some miles in but was home before 10am. I didn't really leave the house the rest of the week. Saturday was another 90+ degree high humidity day so I decided skip riding and instead do a ride on Sunday where the weather would be in the upper 70s with low humidity. I thought of doing Jim's Sunday ride but on Thursday it was almost full and the start of his ride is at least an hour away for me. I looked at other rides but nothing appealed to me so I scheduled to lead a ride out of Yardley.

I usually don't lead rides on Sundays especially when another person I normally ride with, like Jim, has a scheduled ride because I don't like to split up the group. However Jim always has more than enough people to fill his Sunday rides so I don't think he had a problem with it. I know I pull a few people off his ride but I'm sure he didn't miss them.

We did this route which goes over the 95 bridge into Pennington and back through Lambertville and New Hope. It's hilly but I haven't done a lot of hill work this year so figure it would be a good day for a hilly ride. 

There was some emails before the ride stating that Stony Brook Rd was closed because of a bridge out. The way around Stony Brook would have involved a short but steep climb up Van Dyke so we checked out the bridge out. The bridge over "Zippy Creek" is gone. The have poured the foundations but there was no walkway for the workers to get over the creek. However "Zippy" is not much of a creek and only about a foot and a half wide so we made our way down the embankment and walked over a couple stones to get over to the other side. The only problem with the crossing is that some people got some mud in their cleats so had to clean them out before starting again. 

We made our way to Lambertville and stopped at Union Coffee for our break then headed over the bridge to New Hope to continue the ride. Lambertville and New Hope were really crowded so it was slow going over the bridge and through New Hope until we got out of town. 

There were still a few more climbs left and I was mostly in the back on the way up the hills. The last 5 miles was along the river and that is when to ride became a race as most of the group sprinted for home. 

The weather had stay cool and dry so I wasn't too worn out after the ride. I know there is still some more hot weather ahead this summer but hope we get a few more days like this.

The Summer Heat

Even though the average temperature has been below normal, the humidity has be off the charts which means the heat index has been really high for a lot of my rides this month. You can start rides early or try and stay in the shade but it only helps a little. There is just no way you can avoid sweating your ass off in this weather so you just have to hydrate as much as you can and don't push too hard yourself if you want to ride in this weather. 

This past Saturday I lead a ride to Robling from Bordentown. I wanted a flat ride after last weeks hilly Round Valley ride. On early Saturday morning when I checked the list of registrants it was mostly my usually crew however when I got to the start of the ride I there were a few other people there, that registered right before the ride, that I don't normally ride with but knew they were fast riders. It was going to be a hot and humid ride so I didn't want to push the pace. Because of the possibility of rain later in the day I was hoping for cloudy skies but it was only partially cloudy so the sun was beating down on us. 

We made our way quickly through Bordentown and towards Robling. On Old York Rd there is a trail I take to get to Robling as it is the best way to get across 130 to the roads along the Delaware river. I was behind the group as I had to wait for a rider that had stopped for a few seconds for an adjustment. I jumped on the trail but the rest of the group sped ahead of me. I thought about dropping the who group but instead waited by the turn in the trail where they could see me and yelled at them to turn around. Everybody had the route on their GPS so not sure why they missed the turn. 

We continued on through Robling and down to Burlington City where we stopped for pictures by the Eagle and Burlington Bristol bridge which has become a tradition on this ride. From there we made our way out to quieter roads while detouring through a park and over a sidewalk just to keep things interesting. 

On this ride we usually stop at the Jacksonville Deli but I added a few extra miles so we could go to the Olde World Bakery which has a better bathroom and better food. It was still relativity sunny and ridiculously hot at the bakery. We stood around in the shade but I still felt over heated. 

I was still feeling okay as we rode bake towards Bordentown at a brisk pace. The group started stretching out as we moved along. We would stopped and regroup a couple of time at major intersections but most of the faster people were racing for home and I was starting to fade by mile 45. I had nothing left for the last few small hills on the way back. I wasn't cramping which I was amazed at given the heat and humidity but knew I would if I pushed it too hard. 

I was definitely dehydrated at the end of the ride. It wasn't that I did drink enough it's just that my body can not replace the water and electrolytes as fast as I was losing it. Still when I look at my average speed I came in at 15.7mph which is the fastest I have even done this ride. So I'm not getting slower I'm just riding with faster people who make me feel slow.

It's Always Cloudy in Round Valley

I haven't done a ride to Round Valley since 2020. When I did that ride we discovered that they had closed the road around the reservoir to work on one of the dikes that hold back the dam. I have not been back since. I was planning on going there next weekend but Laura scheduled a ride for this Saturday so I signed up for her ride to see what has changed. 

The good news is that the road around the reservoir is open again. However like almost every time I do this ride it was a cloudy crappy day. This time with the addition of heat and extreme humidity. Laura schedule the ride to start at 8:30am to try avoid some of the heat but we didn't get going until 9am because she had a flat on her car. Luckily she was able to get a ride from another rider to the start of the ride. 

I was sweating just sitting waiting for the ride to start. I was well hydrated before the ride but was still worried I would cramp with the hot and humid weather we had especially since it was already 80 degrees and close to 100% humidity.

I was glad that once we started that the pace was reasonable as I didn't want to have to push myself to keep up. The first part of the route has just a few rolling hills and in general I felt pretty strong today although I knew we have a couple of long climbs ahead.

Around mile 10 Laura had another flat this time on her bike. I waited with a few others in the shade while it was fixed. I asked once we got started again if they found what caused the flat and they said they couldn't find anything. When I get a flat it always makes me a little anxious when I can't find the cause because I am worried I will get another flat.

We made our way to Stanton and started the trek along Stanton Road which brings us up to the reservoir. This is a 7 mile stretch that has a few rolling hills before the long climb to the reservoir. I fell back behind the group on the first roller when they stopped to regroup I kept going wanted to get ahead a little so I won't slow down the pace that much. 

The traffic on Stanton Road was light. There are about 5 miles of rollers with some good downhills before the main climb. I spend this time like I do everytime looking around each corner asking myself when will the big climb start. I was surprised that the group had not caught up to me before the climb. 

The long climb up to the reservoir is really three small climbs. Someone years ago named each part by painting words on the shoulder of the road. The first one which is the steepest and longest is called Papa bear. The next two are called Mama bear and finally Baby bear. I didn't see the name on the road this time for Papa bear but I saw the wall of the dam on the right that marks the start of the climb so as soon as I started up Papa bear I switched to Granny gear. 

The actual climb isn't super steep or that hard if you are in shape. I really didn't need to be in the granny gear but took it easy and spun up just to conserve my energy and try to reduce my chance of cramping. Once over the top I glided down to the parking lot by the entrance of the reservoir for a view. As you can see by the picture at the top is was cloudy. I'm sure Round is very scenic on a bright sunny day but as much as I have been here I have no visual evidence to back that up.

I waited in the parking lot for the group to catch up but after 10 mins they were no where in sight still. When they finally showed up about 5 mins later they said that Laura had another flat so for those of you keeping score Tires 3 Laura 0.  It turned out there was a small nail or radial thread in the tire that they missed before that caused the flat. This time they found the cause and there were no more flats the rest of the ride. 

The road around the reservoir looks the same as before and there was not much evidence of any construction or they work that kept the road closed for over two years. 

We made our way to the usual stop in Whitehouse Station. Although it was mostly cloudy the sun still peaked out and made if feel really oppressive. I was glad when we started again as the wind provided some relief. The way back from our rest stop does have a few rolling hills but no real climbs. I faded a little on some of the rollers but was able to keep up with the group. When ever I go on a hilly ride with this group I always feel a little pace anxiety. I don't want to be the one holding the group back. I am a little slower than I use to be going up hills but also some of the slower people I use to ride with don't come on these rides so the pace is just a little faster. When I start fading on the climbs I feel like an antelope that can't keep up with the herd and is about to be culled by a predator. 

Laura doesn't leave anyone behind so the group stopped at major turns to regroup. The way to Neshanic was mostly flat so it was easy to keep up. There was just a couple small climbs on the way back but we all pulled about the same time and even though this was a hot day and more the the 45 miles I like to do for hilly rides I didn't cramp(although I was close to having one). 

I ended up coming in at 14mph which is around my normal average for this ride which was good for such a hot day.   

 

Who'll Stop the Rain?

It's always disappointing to look at the weather and see rain in the forecast on the weekend. Weekends and especially Saturdays are when I do my big ride of the week. I don't mind missing a few days of riding because of rain but it seems like we have had a lot of weekends with rain even though the rain totals are low this year. 

Saturday was the predicted total wash out as there were on and off heavy rain all day. This is why this past Wednesday I did a hilly ride with some of the retired folks which was longer than my usual Wednesday rides. 

I spent Saturday taking care of a few chores and taking a few experimental rain pictures. I found out that you can get some cool mirror affects if you focus closely on rain drops on a window.

If you click on the above picture to enlarge it you will see the chair and some flowers being reflected in the raindrops. I think with a little more practice I can make this even better.

In between the rain I took a picture of a few flowers in bloom on the patio to see how the rain looked on them. Cloudy light is the best light to get pictures of flowers. I got a decent shot of a red dahlia.

Luckily on Sunday there was a few hours of sunshine in the morning. As soon as I saw the sun as I woke up I got on my bike cloths and headed out. I was on the road by 7:30am and did a quick 30 mile ride. I was back home by 9:30am. This had to be the earliest I have gotten out for a ride in a long time. It was weird to be back so early but the forecast called for popup showers later in the morning and by 11:15am some light rain started followed by some large thunderstorm. 

The forecast for the next week doesn't look great. I expect there will be clouds of mystery pourin' confusion on the ground as the song suggests. I just hope there will be some moments of clearing so I can get some riding in.

Air Quality

I always check the weather before I ride. I like to know if I have a chance of getting rained on. Even when it is clear I like to know which way and how strong the wind will be blowing so I can adjust my route accordingly. This pass week I had to add another weather check in to my pre ride routine. That is to check the airnow.gov site for air quality. That is because the smoke from the Canadian fires got funneled down to NJ and most of the mid east states by a low sitting up in New England.  Most of the time when smoke from wild fire drifts over us it is usually higher in the atmosphere and doesn't affect air quality that much. This time it made it unhealthy. It gave the sky that post apocalypse feel. 

Not only did you smell the smoke but the sky was gray and you couldn't even see the clouds above. The sun barely shown through the smoke. I took a picture of the sun with my camera and didn't get the usual glare because of all the smoke in the atmosphere. In fact the picture looked like a picture that I take when I have use my solar filter which blocks 99.9% of the suns light. You can easily see the sunspots. This just shows you how much crap was in the air blocking the light. 

I had initially planned to do a ride on Wednesday but after Jim alerted me to the smoke forecast I checked the air quality and canceled the ride. I did actually have to spend a couple of hours outside on Wednesday. My wife volunteers at a rescue farm and feeds the animals once a week. She needed my help Wednesday afternoon for someone who had canceled. The smoke was really heavy in the afternoon we went so I wore a mask while we fed the animals. The farm has a cow 

a few horses

some pigs, a bunch of goats.

and some cats in the barn.

Feeding the animals is a lot of fun especially the goats. These pictures are from Monday morning when we went to fill in for another person who couldn't do their schedule feeding. On Wednesday we didn't spend as much time with them as Monday as we wanted to minimize our time outside. I felt bad for the animals who had to deal with the smokey air for a couple of days.

Luckily by Saturday the smoke had cleared and I was able to get out and lead a ride. We haven't had a lot of rain this year so the risk of fire is high. We had a fire near where I live earlier in the week which took a couple of days to burn out. There are also a couple of fires burning down in the pinelands so until we get some major drenching rain we will have to keep an eye on the air quality before deciding if it is safe to ride.

My Artistic Side

Those of you that know me know that I am a very analytical person. As a software developer I have to have a good knowledge of the technology I use and be able to make logical decisions on how best to solve any problem or create any type of software. There are rules and patterns that I have to understand and apply so I have to stay within certain guidelines. This doesn't mean there isn't some creativity to what I do for a living as there are multiple ways to solve a particular problem or manage the team to get the required results.

Even in what I do in my photography is more technical than art as it is more about capturing some astronomical event than creating something artistic.  However as part of the last lunar eclipse that I took photographs of I managed a few good sunrise pictures. They were good but did not represent what I really saw or even felt. That lead me to join the photography club in our community to help me become better. Most of the people in the club are really good photographers and a few are even good enough to be professionals. I have learned a lot from them and picked up a few techniques I can use to take a better pictures.

However the main thing I learned about photography from the people in the club it that photography is more than taking at good picture. It is about telling a story, exposing some interesting feature of nature or life. The composition of the shot and making sure it has a clear subject that inspires some reaction is more important than any technical aspect of a photo. There is a lot more creativity and art require to take a good photograph so that is something I have to work on.

In March I decided to upgrade my camera to a DSLR. It's a entry level mirrorless camera from Canon. It's the EOS R10. The main different from my old Canon Powershot 740 is a real sensor and an interchangeable lens. Even though my Powershot 740 had a couple of different manual modes it still had some limitations especially for depth of field and focus. With the R10 I have a lot more control and flexibility on how to frame and capture what I see. For example I can finally do some macro photography and capture the details of a flower and blur the background.

Here is another example. 

I still have a lot to learn both technically and artistically but the more pictures I take and the more I talk with the people in the photo club the more confidence that I get that I can get a lot better and produce some spectacular photos like they do.

Once a year in the community I live in there is a photography and art show. There are some really good artists here. I mean painters, sculptors, and photographers. 

There is even a guy who does some amazing carvings. Theses are shoes carved and painted from a single block of wood. Only the shoe laces are real.

It definitely takes a lot of patiences. 

There were over 60 photos submitted by people in the photography club. There was a good range of landscape, portrait and macro shots.

 

I originally wasn't going to add any of my photos to the show as I didn't think any of my were good enough but the president of the club had seen some of my photos and encouraged me to submit a couple.

The first one was a picture of a Flamingo that I took on my phone and through some photo shop work it turned in a pretty good picture.

 

The other was a sunrise picture I took in Manasquan in November. 

When these were printed out and framed they actually looked better than expected. I got a lot of good comments at the show even from some of the other photographers. These are good photos but I know I can do a lot better. It was good talking to the other photographers and artists at the show and I now how some ideas of how I can improve my photography. I don't know how good I can get but I am enjoying it and gives me an excuse to explore something more artistic.

 

Teamwork

One of the most important questions I need to answer every week is where am I going to ride and do I want to lead. I usually have a couple of ideas of where I wanted to go. This week I wanted to do a hilly ride but wasn't sure where. Laura emailed me to say she wanted to go to the Fuel Factory in Flemington. I had route from Rocky Hill that would have worked but Laura also wanted to visit Lower Creek Rd which had been fixed an repaved after the flood took out the road a couple of years ago. I didn't want to go over the Sourlands to Flemington then down to Lower Creek and back over a couple of hills to get back to Rocky Hill. It would have been too many miles and too much climbing for this early in the season. So the solution is to start from Prallsville Mill. 

 I told Laura that I would work on a route but was busy at work and had to spend a day at my fathers so by the time I started to come up with a route Laura already had sent me one. It would go straight up to the top of Federal Twist. If it was later in the season maybe but I don't have the legs to do that so I said a definite NO!

Here next try had us going up Warsaw which is one of the easier ways up the hill from the Delaware so I took that route and made a few changes to my preferred roads and listed the ride. 

On the day of the ride Jim got to Prallsville Mill first because he is always a lot early. He found that the parking lot was closed for a private event. He called me and I decided to move the start to Bulls Island which is just up the road. He stayed at Prallsville Mill until I got there and directed people to Bulls Island. When I got there a few minutes later Jim and I made a few phone calls to let people know of the new starting point. With out much trouble we were able to get all of the people on my ride to Bulls Island and only started the ride a few minutes late. 

We did this route which was hilly but about as easy as I could make it in the area we were riding. Even though I haven't done a lot of hills I didn't have a problem going up the hills. I was just a little slower than the rest of the people. The weather was almost perfect with bright sun and 60 degrees and for once there was not a lot of wind. 

Fuel Factory was busy and made a good stop. I used to the roads Laura suggested to get into and out of Flemington and it was we didn't run into the normal traffic we usually do so I will use these road again if we go back that way. 

On the way out of Flemington we went through a couple of neighborhood roads that were a little steep but quiet. For once on one of my rides there were no road closed or bridge out adventures. When we got to Lower Creek the road was nicely paved. I think they moved part of it farther away from the creek so that the next flood won't take it out. 

So although I led this ride I had some help from Laura and Jim to make sure we had a good ride.