Road Trip

Click Here for more Pictures

99.9% of the rides I do are with in an hour or two of my house. I occasionally sneak in a bike ride on some of my business trips or vacations like my rides in Moab UT and Las Vegas NV but I haven't really taken any dedicated bike vacations until now.

The destination was the Vermont side of Lake Champlain close to Burlington. Lake Champlain is a large lake that stretches 125 miles from the top of Lake George all the way into Canada and is 14 miles at it widest. The lake has many big and small islands and is surrounding by mountains on both sides. It is an extremely picturesque place with a lot of interesting things to see. This is a long post that describes our trip if you just don't feel like reading the whole post just Click Here for pictures which will show you most of what we did.

We rented a house on South Hero island right on the water. The house ended up actually being nicer than expected and was a pretty comfortable place to stay. The only surprise was that the water for the house came directly from the lake meaning we couldn't drink it and had to buy some bottled water. There isn't a lot in South Hero so everything is down the road a piece (meaning 15 miles to the nearest dinner) but Burlington is about a half hour away if you need some entertainment.

The drive up was a long 6 hour plus drive since we had to go almost to Canada to get there. Once we all got there we settled in, got some supplies and had a decent dinner at a local diner. We had planned to stop at the local pizza place but it was closed for some reason.

Thursday morning was our first bike ride and the plan was to use the ferries to do a 50 mile loop down to Burlington then across the lake and back up the New York side to Plattsburg. We had plan to start from the house but the road was gravel so we started in town about a mile away.

It was a bright sunny day so we had some good views of the surrounding mountains. This is one of the reasons that I came up here to do some rides where the scenery is dramatically different than in NJ.

The area around Burlington is filled with nice bike paths so after about 10 miles on a county highway we wound our way along the coast and through the woods to the city. Along the way we enjoyed some nice views of the different part of the lake.

The ferry from Burlington to Kent only runs a few times a day so we timed the ride to take the 1:30 pm ferry. I padded our starting time to make sure we got there early so by 1pm we were at the dock waiting for the ferry. It was windy so the ferry ride itself was a little rough and cold. Once we got to Kent on the NY side we warmed up quickly climbing a hill away from the lake then following the Amtrack rails up the coast.

The wind was at our back and getting stronger so we made really good time all the way up to Plattsburg. From there we took the ferry back to South Hero island. We stayed at the back of the ferry on the short trip to the island because the wind and waves were spraying water over the front. At times it was a little hard to stand.

We ended up getting back around 5pm because of the late start and ferry ride but it was fun day. Today the pizza shop in South Hero was open so since is was late and we were tired we got some decent food from the pizza place and relaxed in the house for the night.

Friday we headed out for another bike ride. This time the idea was to ride close to the Canadian border and do a loop over the border. We started on the Isle La Motte at the Saint Ann Shrine. This shrine is advertised as the place of the first catholic mass in Vermont. The church has an unusual outdoor pavilion full of pews where they hold services.

From the shrine we took a quick tour of Isle La Motte then headed up the coast of another island toward Canada. The wind was still blowing from the south around 15-20 mph so we made good time but knew it would a head wind on the way back.

We eventually made our way near the top of Lake Champlain and crossed from VT to NY into the town of Rouses Point which is small town on the NY/Canadian border. There was construction on the bridge which make it a little tricky to get over it. There was only one lane was open and the east and west traffic had to alternate going over the bridge. I wasn't expected much from this town since we were north of the middle of no where and as we rode in the town it did look a little run down. We did however find one of nicest coffee shops that we have ever seen. I don't drink coffee but the others said it was really good. They also had some great pastries and I had a good piece of crumb cake that they even heated up for me.

From Rouses point Lynn, Cheryl, Laura and I headed into Canada. Larry did not have a passport so he rode off back the way we came to meet us where we would be coming back into the US. Once we got over the border we had to stop for 10-15 mins for some paving work they were doing on the rode. This area is mostly farmland and once we got pass the road work we has some nice views and quiet roads then we turn backed toward the US and hit a hellacious headwind that had us a times in single digits for speed.

At the Canada US border we had a little hard time getting the attention of the border guard but eventually made it through the border and met back up with Larry. From here we continued along the roads of the island and worked our way back through the head winds back to the shrine.

Dinner that night was in Burlington which is a college town with a good selections of restaurants in a nice open mall area in the middle of town.

The next day the wind was really kicking up and was probably gusting close to 30 mph so instead of biking we decided to go to Stowe.

Stowe is one of the best ski area on the east coast and a good place get some scenic views of the Green Mountains. We didn't have any really plans but once we got to Stowe we headed towards the main ski mountain and ended up driving most of the way to the top of Mount Mansfield then doing a 1.4 mile hike to its peak. Although the trail had a few difficult spots where we had to climb over a few large rock we eventually made it to the peak while enjoying some good views along the way.

After the hike we when into the town of Stowe itself, for lunch, before heading back to the house. We of course had to stop at the Ben and Jerry's factory which was on the way back. We spend a quiet nite at the house before heading home the next day.

On the way home we stopped off in Saratoga Springs to visit Dave F who moved there a few years ago. It was nice to catch up with him and we talked about coming back up this way again to do some rides in this area.

If was a good trip besides riding and hiking in a different area it was nice to spend some extended time hanging out with some of my biking friends. This is definitely something I will try to do more next year.

We Have Nothing to Fear but Fiddler's Elbow

Click Here for More Pictures

Fear is one of our base emotions and has been useful to our survival as a species. There is a excellent book "How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer that explains how emotions can both enhance or impair our decision making ability. Fear is useful when it helps us avoid dangerous situations but other times fear can take over our ability to reason and cause us to make bad decisions.

One of the examples, in Jonah Lehrer's book, of fear causing some people to make a deadly decision is the story of the Mann Gulch Fire. You can read the full account here. In the Mann Gulch Fire a bunch of smoke jumper got dropped on to the side of a ridge to fight the fire. Unfortunately soon after they arrived the fire got out of control. The men tried to head down to the river but burning embers had lit the grass by the river on fire and the fire was quickly spreading up hill. Most of the men panicked and headed up the hill to a rocky crevice for cover but the fire was moving to quickly. One man however, Wag Dodge, was able to control his fear and come up an ingenious idea to save his life. He actually lit the grass in front of on fire as he headed up the hill. This took the fuel away from the fire behind him. This allowed him to quickly create an area which he huddle down in and allowed the fire to pass around him. His ability to control his fear saved his life. The other men weren't so lucky.

The question is when do we listen to our fears and when do we dismiss them as irrational. Fear is a powerful motivator which is why it is a used in commercials to try and sell us stuff we don't need.

     "Is restless leg syndrome ruining your life!!!. Then have we got some useless medicine to sell you"

This weekend I decided to try and climb Fiddler's Elbow. For those of you who don't know about Fiddler's Elbow it is by most accounts the steepest and hardest hill to climb in NJ. Check out Ken Roberts site that describes all the hard hills in NJ here. You can check out Google maps to see the profile but basically in three quarters of a mile the hill rises about 600 feet. Most of the road is between 10%-15% grade with a really steep part of about 140 feet that is over 20%. The hills profile and reputation scare most people away. Some people who think too hard about attempting the climb wake up in a cold sweat at 5:45 am in the morning worrying that they will fall over an crash if they attempt the climb.

To those who are gripped by fear, get over it, Fiddler's Elbow is just a hill. It's a steep mother but if you know your limits and do a little prep you can probably make it most of the way up the hill and live to tell about it.

The route I took to Fiddler's Elbow was more or less my normal route to Merrill Creek with a detour to Fiddler's Elbow. You can find the route here. Luckily I didn't have to do this ride myself but got a few other crazy people to come with me Laura, Blake, and Jeff L. We started from Milford and headed up along the river. It was mostly an uneventful ride to Stewardsville. As has happened a lot to me this year one of the roads that I wanted to take had a road closed sign acrossed it. I am famous for not letting a road closed sign stop me so we went up the road and found the problem was a closed tunnel which we were able to get through.

Since there isn't a lot of places to stop for food we made a quick stop in Stewardsville since we won't get to Bloomsbury until mile 40. From there we headed up the east side of Merrill Creek. These were roads I had not been on before. Rt 519 was a little busy but the other roads were nice. I deviated from the route here a little to shorten the ride a bit and take our one steep hill. So instead of taking the left on Garrison Rd I made a right just before onto Ridge Rd. This meant we would stay up on the Ridge and not go down to the Delaware River just to climb back up.

Ridge Rd was nice and after about half a mile we got a view of what we had to climb.

In 3 miles we got to the famous Fiddlers Elbow Road. On the left just before Fiddler's Elbow is Roxburg Station Road and the hill I cut out of the ride. One look down the hill confirmed this was a good idea.

After a couple of picture at the bottom of Fiddlers Elbow up we went with Jeff and Blake in the lead. Fiddlers Elbow is a winding road so you can't see the whole climb. The climbs starts off at 8% then you turn the corner and see it get steeper for most of the climb the grade is 10%-15%. It was tough but with my gearing I was slowly making it up the hill. Although my heart rate was high it was manageable. Although there are no flat spots on the hill it is amazing how a small 8% great feels easy after going up a 15% grade for a hundred feet. I stopped about a third of the way up to slow my heart rate and take a couple of pictures. The one below is Laura heading up one of the steeper part. It looks much worst in person.

I managed to keep going up the hill and made a brief stop just below the last part which is the steepest. Laura had passed me and was just ahead I saw her stop about 100 feet from the top. I headed up the final slope but as I got near where Laura was I had nothing left. It was a combination of my front wheel coming off the ground and my heart rate getting really high. I tried tacking a little bit but felt like I was going to tumble so I got off the bike and started my walk up the last 100 feet.

Laura had maintained a really nice slow steady pace and was really determine to make it up the hill on the bike. She tried a couple of times to get back on the bike. Falling a couple of times but in the end followed me on foot up the hill. It was so steep that walking up the hill was pretty hard but we all made it to the top. My GPS had a maximum grade of 24% for the last part of the hill which I believe.

Blake and Jeff were at the top waiting for us. Blake had had to walk the last 100 feet also. I knew Blake was a really good climber but he was impressive the way he went up the hill. If he actually had compact he probably would have made it to the top with out a problem. The only one who didn't have to get off the bike was Jeff. If you read the profile in this months Freewheeler you would have read that Jeff was competitive cyclist when he was younger and although this was the first time I have ridden with him it is clear he is still a very strong rider even through he has not competed in a long time.

After we completed Fiddlers Elbow we were at the top of Merrill Creek and headed down Millbrook. The last time I went down this road it was pretty beat up but it must have just been paved recently because it was smooth. We had a 2 mile 600 ft decent which was nice. From there we headed over a hill into Bloomsbury for a real break before climbing out of Bloomsbury and back down to Milford.

At the end of the ride I had 54.5 miles and 4834 ft of climbing. Except for Fiddlers Elbow none of the other climbs feel that bad and it didn't feel as hilly as a ride as the amount of climbing would indicate.

Ten years ago I road mostly in the flatter parts of the state but since then I have over come my fear of hills am open to riding any where no matter how hilly it is. After climbing Fiddler's Elbow today I know that deciding where I ride will not be restricted by fear of climbing but by where I can find the best roads and scenery to enjoy.

Lake Nockamixion 2012

Click Here for More Pictures

I'm not a lying bastard. I may sometimes accidentally misrepresent reality, forget to mention an important fact or slide by on a technicality. For the most part though I think I am a very honest person.  Still this year, for some reason, people seem to doubt my integrity. For those not on the ride this week let me explain why I need to defend myself.

This past Sunday, after a day's rain delay, I lead a ride to Lake Nockamixon from Peace Valley in Doylestown. It was a cool some what cloudy day but a nice day for a ride. There was a little confusion on which parking lot to meet in but eventually we all found each other and had five people for the ride Laura, Blake, Jim, Dave C and Jack.  As I do before most rides I gave a general overview of the ride and gave mileage, number of stops and mentioned that it would won't be too hilly. There would be some ups and downs but no really long tough climbs.

Of course the part about not being too hilly was correct but what I forgot to emphasize was that to get out of Peace Valley we would have to climb up a small hill. So about a mile into the ride we had to climb 250 feel in a about a half mile the first part of which was a 10% grade. It was a little rude to start the ride this way and I heard some grumbling in the ranks but I wanted to get the worst hill out of the way early.

From there we had some rollers until we crossed South Perkasie Road and were faced with another hill. It was a short but steep hill. In a little over 400 feet the road rises about 60 feet and has parts that are close to 20% grade. For me the problem climbing this hill is not strength since it is so short but actually keeping my front wheel on the ground. I did this by myself last year and had to walk up the top part. This time I was ready and put as much weight as I could towards my front wheel but as I got about three quarters of the way up the hill my front wheel kept bouncing off the ground and I slowly headed to the right off the road with no way steer. I eventually had to get off the bike and walk the last 50 feet up the hill.

When I got to the top the others were there breathing heavy and Dave C looked over at me and said "Are you often called a lying bastard". Which was the best line of the day. I know that I said that this would not be too hilly of a ride but in the first 7 miles we had got up a 10% and 20% grade hill. Now if I'm being picky the 20% grade was not a real climb since, according to NJBikeMap, nothing less than 100 ft is consider a climb but you won't win that argument with somebody who went up a 20% grade no matter how short.

After this we headed through the town of Perkasie who's street laid out and names are the same as center city Philadelphia which is a little strange. Although there were a few more small steep climbs to get out of town by the the time we started the loop around Lake Nockamixion it was more rolling.

The roads around the lake are really nice and quiet. Its a quiet forested area with houses scattered about. There are some ups and downs but nothing too hard. We made our way into Lake Nockamixon Park and stopped for a quick break by the marina. Its a really unbelievably large marina with a lot of boats. We ran into an English women who gave us a quick history lesson about the lake which was man made in the 1980s. She and Dave C, who is also English traded some stories about the old country.

From the marina we continued around the lake with a brief stop by the dam which is a little unusual then continue to wind our way back home. When I planned the route I saw that there were a couple of points of interest from NJBikeMap close by so I extended to route to stop by number 148 which is  a small waterfall. These were all new roads to me but they were very nice. I will have to come back this way some other time to explore some more.

Eventually we made it back to Peace Valley. I decided to take a loop around the Lake Galena partly on the bike path which was a good way to cool down. We ended up with just under 60 miles and according to my GPS had about 3600 feet of climbing which isn't a lot so I stand by my statement that this wasn't a very hilly ride although I can see how some people would disagree with that after the first few miles.

I like this route and am glad I decided to revisit Lake Nockamixon If you are interested in doing this ride you can find the ride sheet HERE

The Long Grind

Riding a century is one of rights of passage as you become a cyclist. Everyone who gets serious about riding usually completes one eventually. I don't do a lot of centuries but will do one every year or two to test out myself out. I don't mind long rides but prefer rides around 60-75 miles at most as after that it becomes a real grind.

This weekend was the PFW event and Laura put a group together to ride the century. I hadn't done a lot of long rides this year but was feeling I was in good shape so I wanted to try the century since it has been a while since I had done one.

This was a safe way to do a century because I would be with a group that I could cruise with and draft off of and I knew it would be a relatively flat ride. Since I knew the roads we would be riding if I really wasn't feeling it I could always bail out early.

I started from my house and pick up the route on Windsor Rd. I arranged to meet Laura's group as they rode by. Herb also decided to join me for the start of the ride and plan to bail out half way through.

We meet Laura's group as expected, sort of. They waved as they went by where Herb and I were waiting but then keep going at full speed so Herb and I never really caught up with them until the first rest stop. I saw Ron there who was recovering from a bad fall last week. He ended up with a lot of road rash and a broken wrist but is on the mend so hopefully will be riding again soon.

At the rest stop we reformed the group and all rode on together at a good pace. I was feeling pretty good despite it being a little hot and humid. One of my biggest problems on long rides is keeping hydrated. This seems to get a little harder as I get older. I use to be able to just drink water as I ride and Gatoraid at the rest stops but this has not been enough lately. I have been trying a couple of different things and now have started taking electrolyte tables a couple of times during the ride. For century rides I also bring a bottle Gatoraid with me and drink that as well as water as I ride.

Our second stop was at 40 miles and a little while after that Herb peeled off to follow the 65 mile ride home. The next stop was at 60 miles and it was starting to get hot but I was still feeling good and strong. I had developed a clicking sound in my right pedal which didn't affect the riding and was hoping it way just dirt in the cleat.

At mile 70 I notice my Gatoraid bottle was moving around a lot in the cage. When I took it out I saw that the cage was broken on one side. The bottle cage still seem to be able to hold the bottle in but I keep expecting the bottle to jump out at any moment.

Mile 80 was our last rest stop in Walenford. I was starting to feel the strain of the heat and long ride. Around 80 miles is almost always where I question why any one would want to do a century because no matter how hard you prepare for a century you never feel good after 80 miles and know the last 20 miles be a little tough. It's more of a mental game than physical. I did spend a little extra time at the last rest stop and when I saw Chris asking if any one wanted a sag I almost took him up on his offer.

After this rest stop I left the group and headed for home on my own because the way the century route was mapped out would have taken me out of may way and added more miles than I wanted. Once I got on the road again I actually felt okay and although I slowed down a little I still maintained a decent pace.

From the last rest stop it was only 15 miles back to my house so I ended up with just 95 miles. Close enough. I could have extended my ride home to get to full hundred miles in but if I had I would have been caught in the down pour that occurred about 10 mins after I got home.

Completing a century is tough and takes a toll on equipment and body. Besides the bottle cage it looks like my cleats reached their end of life as there was no metal left on part of the cleat where I normally step out of the petal. I was also getting a little sore in the saddle and felt like I was starting to cramp up. The century definitely pushed me to my limit but I'm glad I decided to do it.

Best Bike Rides Philadelphia

My new book "Best Bike Rides Philadelphia" is finally in print. I got the first copies from my publisher this week. I'm really happy the way it came out. Writing a book takes a lot of work. My co-author and I spent about a year doing the rides, write ups and maps for the book and then spent another few months helping the publisher clean it up and put it all together. I'm not sure when it will appear in stores but I'm guessing it will be some time in August as that's when Amazon will have it available.

Seeing the final book and being able to show people some cool places to ride is why I enjoy writing these books. I also end up meeting a lot of other bike riders and have fun sharing stories with them. Being a bike rider is sort of like being in a fraternity because we all share a lot of the same experiences. While doing this book I met a number of people from the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia (BCP) who helped me a lot with finding some good rides in and around Philly. BCP is a great club and if you live near the Philly you should join them for some rides.

This Saturday I rode with the Linda who is the president of the BCP. She wanted to do a ride to Belmar and asked for my help with the route.  It was nice seeing Linda again since I had not talked to her in a while. I was also able to give her a copy of the new book as a way to thank her and BCP for all their help.

The ride to Belmar started off pretty good and we made it to Farmingdale and through Seagirt with out a problem. The weather forecast had a chance of thunderstorms for late afternoon but as we headed up Ocean Ave the sky opened up and it went from a lite shower to torrential down pour it about a mile. We took refuge under the over hang of the stores by 16th street. We hoped the storm would pass quickly but it just keep raining and then the thunder and lighting started. One of the people in the group had a problem with their pedal so they headed to a bike store on 15th street. We joined him a little later and continued to wait out the storm. With the continued heavy rain and lighting we really could not continue the ride.

After we looked at the radar we saw that the storm would pass in about a half hour but that would be followed by another big storm. I decide at that point to call my wife and to be picked up. This was not an easy decision but Herb and I felt it was too dangerous to continue. If we had been in the pine barrens with light traffic we might have tried to continue but the combination of lighting, heavy rain and traffic around Belmar made riding risky.

When the rain did let up Linda and a couple of others decided not to wait for the pick up and rode off. They did make it back safely but got a little wet along the way. Although I now owe my wife big time for the pick up I think it was the right choice.

A Cool Day in July

When I schedule rides for July I always worry about hot weather. A couple of weeks ago I had to cut my Pinelands metric 20 miles short because it was so hot.This has been one of the hottest summers on record so when I had a my hilly Schooley's Mountain ride in the book for mid Judy I was concerned that it might turn into a death march. Luckily this particular day in July will probably end up being the coolest day of the summer. There was a good chance of showers on the morning of the ride but the rain missed us and as the storm front when past it brought a lot of cool air with it. In fact it was so cool I thought I might need arm warmers.

A few years ago Laura and I had done some exploring around Califon and found a lot of nice roads. It is a hilly but very scenic area to ride. I didn't get up this area last year because of the rides I had to do for the Philly book so I really wanted to get back here this year. The route we took was a modified version of my Middle Valley Ride which I had only done by myself.  This route starts out easy from Raritan Valley College and takes us slowly up hill and down into the Raritan Valley. The climbs at the start of the ride aren't too bad and you could not have asked for better weather.

Every time I do a ride up in this area with a group it never goes completely smooth. This area was where Lynne fell and broke her elbow, Mike M broke his rear derailleur cable turning his bike into a single speed, and there were other more minor problems. Today was no different. At about 10 miles into the ride Bob had a flat on his front tire. He fixed it then had another flat about 2 miles later. Both of us really took a good look at the rim and tire and could not see any flaw that would have caused the flat.

Bob decided to go back to the start and not to continue on with us. Having two flats so close together makes you lose confidence in your equipment. It may have just been a total fluke but when these types of things happen the best thing to do is to get back home as soon as you can so you can thoroughly check out the bike and try and find the cause of the problem. Bob also didn't want to slow down the rest of the group which I appreciated. I felt bad about him having to go back on his own but he came well prepared and still had two spare tubes left. When I got back to my car there was a note on the windshield that said he made it back with out any other problems.

After leaving Bob the rest of us when on to Schooley's mountain. The toughest climb is on Slicker road. It starts out slow with a few rollers but the last half mile gets steep and then when you turn off on to Pleasantville the climb continues just a little longer just as steep.

From there we rolled along the ridge to our rest stop which is a nice old general store/post office. Then after a quick stop at a park for a bathroom break we headed down hill. The last part of the downhill is really steep with a hairpin turn that is scary and fun at the same time. Most of us had the death grip on our breaks for the last park of the hill so when we all got to the bottom our rims were smokin hot.

For every good downhill there are at least 3 climb to make up for it and we did as we headed up Beacon, Beavers and Farmersville. These hills weren't as bad as the ones on my Jockey Hollow ride so although there was some grumbling there wasn't much foul language or epic songs being sung. The pay off was going down Fox Farm. This is becoming one of my favorite downhills because it is a long mostly gentle downhill with an occasional killer view off the left. This hill is also towards the end of the ride so when you get to the bottom there is mostly flat roads ahead.

This ride confirmed again how nice this area is to ride and definitely worth the trip. As long as you are ready for the hills there is a lot to like here. Hopefully I can back here again later in the year.

Pimping My Ride

Although I like to keep my bike well maintained I don't really care how it or I look. Some people.will spurge for a special paint job or add some accessories to decorate their bike. My main bike is polished titanium and after 10 years still looks OK except for pealing on some of the decals. The one small flashy feature on the bike has been the red value caps. The person who built the bike for me added them for character and I have always liked them.

Even though I have changed many tires over the years I have never lost the red value caps which is pretty amazing. However after 10 years they are were pretty dirty and beat up. After a quick web search I found Purely Custom which among other things makes custom value caps. The new value caps I ordered are anodized aluminum and much better than the old plastic ones that I had. They really won't make my bike look any better but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to put the normal black plastic value caps on my bike.