Down the Upside

 
 I have been exploring the area around Califon for over 5 years and have some really good routes that I use to lead rides a few times a year. There are so many good roads and ways to put a route together that you can ride here a 100 times an still not know it all. For this Saturdays ride around Califon I wanted to change things up a little and come up with route that felt a lot different than my normal ride. What I decided to so was to do a lot of the regular roads backward. Basically go up our normal downhills and down our normal uphills.

We ended up doing this route. When I first planned out the route it looked wrong and harder than the normal route yet as I looked at it there was no individual climb harder than are normal climbs. For example instead of climbing 440 feet up Valley Brook we climbed 450 feet up Black River Road. I did add a couple of new downhills and uphills but statistically the route did not look harder than normal. Of course actual physical effort may not match ride statistics. We have all be on 4000 ft vertical rides that were easy an other 4000 ft vertical rides that felt more like 6000 ft.

We started out from RVCC and I had a most of my normal riders. Laura, Jim. Blake, Barry, Cheryl and surprise guest Larry. We worked our way through Tewsbury and up Black River Road. I was concerned with Black River not only because I knew it would a long climb with a couple of steep spots but because last year when I came down this hill the road surface was really beat up to the point it was total gravel in some areas.

Luckily they had fixed or repaved most of the broken up areas the only problem was the actual climb. We have been down this road a number of times a when the road is in good shape it is a great down hill. It fact when you go down it and get to the bottom you say I'm glad we didn't have to climb that one. Well to be honest now that we were actually stupid enough to climb the hill I can say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was long and steep in a couple of spots and about halfway up I switched into the bottom ring of my triple but I was never concerned about running out of gears to get up the hill.

Once we got to the top of Long Valley I did a loop around some of the local roads before our rest stop. We found one cool totally unexpected downhill (Coleman Rd) which was smooth, straight and traffic free. This one will be on my list of must do roads the next time we are in this area.

Our rest stop was in a combination deli/liquor/coffee shop that has a everything and more a biker needs for a good rest stop.

After the rest stop was an immediate 240 ft climb to get back to the ridge. This was another hill we had been down a few times and I wasn't looking forward to going up but again it wasn't too bad. From here we headed down into Califon and down Valley Brook a 440 ft drop that we normally climb. That felt really good. I then made a hilly detour around the north side of Califon before going through town.

Then a flat ride along the Raritan before going up Hoffman Corner. Hoffman Corner is a steep downhill with a good view. I wasn't really looking forward to going up it. It was steep but the first part was doable. I think what most of us forgot was that there were two steep downhills on Hoffman Corner and most of us forgot about the first one which is almost as steep.

We took a break at the top of the hill since some of us were feeling the strain of all the climbs. Unfortunately we still had some more uphill to go. It wasn't real steep but since this was towards the end of the ride when even the smaller hills felt hard.

Once we got to Suttons Rd however we had almost continuous downhills for 6 miles. We started on Sutton then down Guinea Hollow and lastly down Rockaway. Although I don't think I want to go up Hoffman Corner again I am going to find a way to do the Suttons, Guinea Hollow, Rockaway downhill together again because it was a blast.

The last 6 miles of the ride was mostly flat until the last climb back up to RVCC which always sucks. Doing the normal roads backward turned out to be a decent route. I don't think I would do this exact route again but I now have a different perspective on some of our regular roads and how some of the combination work together so I have some more choices when planning rides around Califon.

Happy 4th of July

This past weekend was the July 4 holiday. As usually it was filled with a couple of rides and a family barbecue. This year was a little unusual as the holiday was on Friday instead of Monday. The plan was to ride Friday the 4th, go to the family barbecue on the 5th and ride again on the 6th. My plans changed when a passing hurricane came through on Friday. The hurricane when further out to sea than expected and we didn't get much rain but there was the imminent threat for most of the day.

I still wanted to get 2 rides. So on Saturday I decided to ride up to the family barbecue in Long Valley from my house. It would 58 miles and only hilly in the last 14 miles. I figured if I took my time I could do the ride and still feel good enough to lead a hilly ride on Sunday. The ride to Long Valley was nice except for the constant head wind which I had for the entire ride. It wasn't a very strong head wind but it was something I felt through the entire ride and definitely slowed me down.

After I crossed Rt 22 I started getting into some real hills. I was riding my Feather because most of the ride was flat and there were no real steep hills that I couldn't power my way over in the Feather. The weather had heated up since it was mid afternoon but as I approached the hills I felt the cool air rolling off the hills. I climbed up Rockaway the Guinea Hollow and I think the temperature actually dropped a few degrees.

Having the hills at the end of the ride was tough. I usually don't have a problem keeping hydrated but the wind and the length of the ride were getting to me. At the intersection of Frogtown and Valley Brook there as a short steep hill I had to stand up on. After standing for one pedal stroke both legs cramped up. I had to click out quickly to avoid falling. Both legs were cramped and I couldn't real bend them for a few minutes. Luckily I was only 5 miles from the finish but there were still a few hills a head. I managed to make it but I came close to cramping again at each little hill.

I spent the family barbecue trying to re hydrate so I could survive my Sunday ride.


On Sunday morning I felt sore but good enough to do the ride. I had 7 people on the ride besides me. It was the usually group with a couple of new people. This route was a route that Blake came up with a few years ago while I was breaking in my Synapse. Its also the ride I fell on with the Synapse on its 3rd ride. It is a good route so I wanted to do it again. This time with out the fall! (You can read about the ride and fall here)

This rides goes up the to the ridge on the NJ side and then down through Milford before crossing the Delaware and climbing some hills on the PA side. Its a really pretty ride if you don't mind the hills. I tweak the route this time to include Hickory Corner Rd. This is a great downhill the only problem is that you have to get to it which involves a long semi steep climb. It was worth it but I was glad I had the Synapse and the granny gear.

We had a nice stop in Black Eddy before going up Bridgeton Hill which is a 12-15% grade and a tough way to start after a stop. We had some more ups and downs before heading up the long shallow climb that is Dark Hollow on our way to Stover Park and the site of my previous fall.

Laura stopped to take a picture right before we took the road into the park. I thought she was close behind but when I took the road into the park (which has a "No Outlet" sign on it because only walkers and bikers can get through on the road) she and Jim went other way down a dirt road. I was concentrating on not falling and didn't notice them missing until we got to the other side of the park. I waited but they didn't show up and eventually they called me telling me they took a wrong turn. I gave then an alternate way back since it would have taken them a while to back track.

I do feel a little bad that they missed the turn as I try to make sure I don't loose any body on the rides. However the truth is I don't really like them much any way so I wasn't that concerned that I lost them. I mean look at the picture of Jim below striking a pose. He's got a face you just want to slap. And every time he is on the ride I have this constant ringing in my ears.

Besides they ended up having a cooler downhill than we did in the way back so I think loosing them made the ride better for all of us.

Of course I'm only kidding about being happy loosing Jim an Laura because I'm not the type of bastard that would post such derogatory things on a public blog. At least most people don't think so.

Cocoluxe 2014

This past Saturday I went back to Cocoluxe to lead a ride. I had been here a couple of times last year and wanted to explore some more.This years ride was longer and hillier than last years in part because I wanted to hit the highest point in Summit county and in part because I wanted to make the ride longer. There are no flat spots around here so longer is hillier. Here is a link to the actual route we did.

Even though the starting point for this ride is a hour from our normal staring points I had a good turn out. I had Cheryl, Blake, Ron, Marco, Barry, and Jim show up. I knew when I said the ride would be around 4500 feet of climbing that would be like fly paper for Jim. I also expected Ed but I guess he was busy.

There is no warming up in this ride as the climbing starts with in the first mile up and out of town. I have not done a lot of hills this year and I definitely felt my lack of training this year as I was towards the back of the pack. After about 5 miles I had to stop for a few minutes because of what can best be described as a stomach cramp. I get these on rare occasions where I push hard up hills. It probably has something to do with what I ate the night before and how well hydrated I am. The affect is I get a painful cramp in my stomach and start feeling a little light headed. The good news is that it goes away quickly once I sit down for a few minutes.

After I recovered we continued on through some familiar roads in Califon like Rockway, and Guinea Hollow. Our rest stop was in Long Valley at larger Kausiers that was nice enough to let us use the bathroom.

We then skirted the base of Schooleys mountain before continuing our relentless ups and downs. It is a nice area to ride and except for a few stretches there wasn't much traffic. This is a very affluent area with a lot of palatial estates. The route took us through the town of Mendam on our point to the highest point in Summit county. Although I didn't have any more stomach cramps I was still not having my best day and stayed at the back of the pack most of the time.

We came in the back end of Peapack down a really cool downhill then around a lake before our mandatory stop at Cocoluxe for recovery.

So why am I sitting on a wicker chair putting on my shoes (picture courtesy of Jim). Because it is easier to put your shoes on from a chair than standing up next to the car. What other explanation do you need. 

Round Valley in Reverse

This past Saturday I lead a ride to Round Valley Reservoir. This is a popular ride I do almost every year. Its not the hilliest ride I do but is has a couple mild climbs. I haven't done a lot of climbing this year so I wanted to make the ride a little easier.  To do that I decided to do the route backwards. It still has the same amount of vertical climbing but no climb is as steep or long so it feels easier. You also get a killer downhill after the reservoir.

For a complete description of the ride you can read Jim's or Laura's blog. I had a good crowd  it was a perfect day for the ride. It was one of the few times I've been to Round Valley where is wasn't overcast or foggy.

The hardest hill of the day was Lindbergh. We stopped at the bottom to get a look at what is left of Peacocks after it burnt down last year. They still haven't finished the demolition so there is no telling if and when they will rebuild.

Tour de Philadelphia

Click Here for more Pics

It has been a couple of years since I have finished my Best Bike Rides Philadelphia book. Since then I try to do a couple of rides a year in or around Philly. It is one of the more bikeable cities there is and has a lot of good trails and bike lanes. One of the rides that didn't make the book was a long ride from north east Philly to Center City and back. I tried to do this ride two times last year but got rained out both times. Because of traffic I will only do this ride on certain weekends when I know the traffic won't be bad. So this year I scheduled the ride again for the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

Although the weather wasn't perfect it looked like the rain would hold off so we went for it. I had 5 people besides myself. Laura, Ron Ken, Dave H, and winter Larry. We started from Pennypack park and did this route. The first scenic stop was Bryn Athyn Cathedral before continuing our way towards center city. We wound our way through Jenkinstown and through some of the nicer neighborhoods eventually reaching the Valley Green Inn in Wissahickon Park. The Valley Green Inn was built before Revolutionary war and is still in use today for parties and weddings. This is a pretty area and was our second scenic stop.

From here we climbed uphill to get out of the Wissahickon valley then dove our way into Manayunk. This is a busy area so we had to deal with traffic. Once a year there is a bike race in Philly and one of the main features of the course is the Manayunk Wall. It is a steep climb that maxes out at an 18% grade but it is very short. So while we were in Manayunk we went up the wall. It's really not that tough a climb because it is short. There are much harder climbs out of Frenchtown but it was cool to say we road up the wall.

We stopped for a break in Manyunk although it took us a couple stops to find a good place. From Manayunk we headed into center city and road along the Schuylkill river. They have a good trail along the river but what is even better is that they close the road to traffic on Saturday and Sunday so we road along the wide open road.

For a scenic view of the city I took the group up to Belmont Plateau where you get a good view of the Philadelphia skyline although it was that great because of the overcast skies rolling in. Our next scenic stop was the steps of the Art Museum before heading past the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. There was a lot of traffic here but the bike lanes make it passable. Part of 6th street was closed so I had to take everybody down a one way street the wrong way but luckily there wasn't a lot of on coming traffic.

Our last scenic stop was Penn's Landing for a view of the Ben Franklin bridge and the Battleship New Jersey. From hear we headed back north along Aramingo and Torresdale avenues for most of the way back. These are busy roads through some of the more blue collar and industrial neighborhoods. It wasn't pretty or interesting but the dedicated bike lanes made it a quick safe way back.  The only problem was by this time my bike had developed a gear problem. The chain would skip every 3 or 4 strokes. I tried a few adjustments but nothing seemed to help. I was still able to ride so and shift so we kept riding although is was really annoying. After I got home I traced the problem to a stuck link on a chain I just had replace so I will be bringing back in for a new chain.

The last 9 miles of the ride was along the Pennypack creek. The creek is surrounded by a beautiful park and has a well maintained paved bike trail. There were a couple of puddles and left over mud from storms of the previous week but it was a nice way to end to ride. It was a real contrast to the busy streets we had just been on.

The final distance was 55 miles and although there were no real tough climbs we had climbed over 3000 feet of little rolling hills. This isn't a ride I would do a lot but it was a nice change of pace.

Rocky Mountain High

Click Here for More Pictures
 

There are many inspiring places around the US that must been seen in person. Each of these places from Arcadia National Park to Yosemite have unique features and history. Every couple of years my wife and I take a driving trip to visit one of these places. This years trip was to the Rocky Mountains.

We spent a week driving around the Rocky's and saw them from many different angles and in a lot of different weather conditions. It was a great trip. For a quick summary of the trip you can just click through the pictures or read on for more details.

We started our trip in Colorado Springs in the Garden of the Gods Lodge across from the actual Garden of the Gods. They never said which gods created these gardens but I'm assuming it was relatives of Buddha since it was a bunch of rocks in a western zen like setting.

While in Colorado Springs we took a chance to head to the top of Pikes Peak.  We could not get to the top because snow had closed the final 6 miles of the road but we did get 11,450 feet and got some good views

After Colorado Springs we headed off for a scenic ride to Vail. The ride started out sunny and along the way we saw 4 of the 31 14,000 ft peak in Colorado as well as checked out a real ghost town. As we got closer to Vail and higher into the mountains it started to snow. At our first 11.000 ft pass the viability turned to almost zero and we came close to hitting a semi trailer making a U turn.  We went through 2 more 11,000 ft passes to get the Vail and the visibility and roads were a little better.

Vail was worth the trip. It is a beautiful European like village and what was even better is that it was almost empty. It turns out that even though there was plenty of snow on the mountain ski season was over. Most of the ski resorts are on government land and because of some animal migration the government decides when to close the resorts which this year was April 20th. The result was a we got one of the most luxurious rooms we ever stayed in for just $100 and had a world class meal in a good German restaurant. In fact we had the entire restaurant and wait staff  to ourselves. Now I know what VIPs feel like.

From Vail we had another scenic drive to Golden Colorado. Along the way we saw the famous Red Rock Amphitheater. The next day we continued from Golden pass Buffalo Bills grave into the heart of the Rockies and made our way to Estes Park which is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park was almost as empty as Vail. In fact the we were again the only resident of the condo village we stayed at.

We spent 2 days riding around Rocky Mountain National Park taking in the views and just relaxing at our condo.  Although the first day was a little cloudy the second day was perfectly clear so I took a lot of pictures to try and capture the scale and magnificents of what I was seeing. The park had a lot of places to take in the view and because it wasn't crowded it was easy to stop and take it all in. Although some of the roads in the park were still closed from the winter storms I don't think there was much we missed.

After Estes Park we headed to Denver where we took in a baseball game before heading home the next day.

Spending a week in and around the Rockies was one of the more scenic trips we have taken. From the views we saw it is easy to understand America the Beautiful was written from here.

I Wanna an Easter Egg

This past weekend was Easter and my wife and I hosted both our families for Easter dinner. Its a large gathering of around 20 or more people but it is always a lot of fun. We usually have a lot of traditional Polish food like perogies and stuffed cabbage as well as assorted other non traditional food like stuffed shells. My wife tries to make something visually spectacular for desert. This year she made and Easter egg from cream puffs and chocolate oreo balls. It was a simple but delicious dessert that was a crow pleaser.


By the way for those that remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon about Easter here is a link to I wanna an Easter egg.