phillychris498
Well-Known Member
I rode iron bridge yesterday, probably around 9:15
Moon Shadows are Evil
- Thread starter stb222
- Start date
- dats crazy.
- i don't care what it is called, it is still black.
- leaving lots of room for sourland climb PRs...that is my excuse, and i'm sticking to it 😀
well done, congrats on the new bike - its what you do, you deserve it.
twins are looking chipper - that makes smiles
Cool stuff Matty
Nice ride ace. I remember crossing dingmans ferry to go camping with my Dad when I was little. There was always a backwoods looking guy with an ace hardware type cotton tool belt collecting tolls. Super sketchy feeling in a car. I always thought that was so far away back then, I'm going to look at it on a map in a sec.
Wombats are crepuscular
It was damn peaceful and I will just leave it at that.
So here we are, in fall, probably the best time to ride bikes all year as we leave behind the humidity and welcome the cool, crisp air with open arms. Similar to how Hell of Hunterdon is my must do ride of the spring, Covered Bridges is my must do ride of the fall. The last few years I have made a point not to miss it and this year I became more and more stoked as the day approached. I also have made it a day I do hours / big miles and this year would be no different.
Approaching this ride I am on my 7th week of 10+ hour weeks, which began the first week in September and in October I am aiming for my biggest hour’s month, which currently stands at 51 hours, from March 2013 (HOH month). I have been riding road (duh), my all city with cross tires and actually riding my MTB (for my annual ride with @capedoc at Water Co). This little riding streak is getting those late summer rides in before that weather is gone (70 degree mornings and high pressure/ humidity = fast rolling) and enjoying the change of the seasons. Also, since school as started again for my son, I put him on the bus, which gives me about 20 min more each morning, which adds up over the month and opens up my rides to 6-7 extra miles so I can hit different loops and (more!) hills.
Last week I began to get super stoked for Sunday being that I wanted to ride some of my favorite roads and show @Mountain Bike Mike that there is more to riding than just training and racing. He originally was on board with some extra mileage but puss’ed out in the 11th hour, probably because @BiknBen suggested it would be detrimental to his 5 min power. I was riding it either way, so wasn’t a big deal. The only thing I didn’t have much stokage for was the low temps on Saturday night, which would be the coldest yet this season and maybe into the 20’s. This is a minor annoyance for a long ride since it makes dressing correctly much harder but there is enough climbing to get warm if you dressed maybe a tad light.
I thought about riding from my house, as I did the last 2 years, but decided not to since I ride the roads between my house and Lambertville all the time, all it would be is another 1.5 hours (roundtrip) of junk mileage and I already had an 8+ hour day this year so I decided to park in Lambertville. I had a coffee on the way, which I knew was a crap shoot per se and have unloading my bike it caught up to me. Not many options for such activity at 6:30am on a Sunday so I stopped at the Lambertville Police Station and it is a ghetto-ass PD considering that town is so uppity and it was not inviting for me to take a PRD, so just start riding and it went away.
I make my way up one of the ways Capers liked to start his routes and cross the river at Stockton since I don’t mind riding over that bridge and I stop to take a picture of the steamy river pretty close to sunrise.
It was damn peaceful and I will just leave it at that.
I make my way to Paxson Rd and Armitage and on Sugan Road the sun just peeps over the ridge on the jersey side and I sit up and put my arms out like a plane and fly through the moment. Come down Greenhill, which is horribly bumpy near the bottom and go over to Tohicken Hill Rd. All of these climbs are super awesome roads and ones I don’t get to often. Tohicken Hill Road warms me nicely and is a tunnel of yellow leaves with the sun just peeping through.
It was damn peaceful and I will just leave it at that.
Drop down to cross below High Rocks on the pedestrian bridge, which holds a special place for me as it is where I recut my technical MTB riding when I got back into it in 2004/2005. Picked up the pace a tad getting over to the start of the CB ride as Mike is planning to start at 8. About a half mile south of the start, all the sudden it is super thick fog on the river and in the field where everyone parks and seriously felt like 5 degrees cooler. I quickly found MBM, checked in, slammed two Krispy Kreme’s, took a wee, put my vest in Mike’s car and we were off.
People Do Stupid Things on Bikes
The first 4 miles is a low grade climb and is pretty easy. We are with people here and there and always left those people as soon as the road kicked up, even the slightest. Somewhere maybe 10 miles in there is a guy behind us for a while that motors after a bit. We catch his wheel and take a free ride. He knew we were there as he was calling road hazards but I did not do the curiosity of asking for his wheel and he never pulled off or flicked an elbow, to which I would have gladly pulled. We come to a mile long hill before the 1st rest stop and he pulls off and says something to the effect of:
you going to take a pull at some point
to which I respond
sure, I was waiting for you to pull off
About 30 seconds later he make some wise crank to a guy with a rear rack and a large bag on it and my asshole meter starts bleeping red. I drop back to MBM and suggest we should let the guy go and he is slowing so I just rode away from him, leaving Mike to talk to the guy. Sorry Mike. Mike drops him on the climb too, so that was nice.
We pull out of the rest stop just ahead of a group of around 8 guys with FIF on their jersey’s, Friends in Fitness, and they blow by Mike and I like we are standing still and then proceed to cut off a car as they make the next turn. Right after this we see a guy with a Speedvagen and I have to make sure I don't stand up for a tad and we drop back from the FIF's as they get their fitness on. We are pretty close to them before they make a wrong turn where the 50 and 63 mile routes split and we pass them. We are just chilling and they catch us at a stop sign that goes into a short downhill. One guy comes on my right, pedaling like crazy and I let him go and he completely pops on the slightest uphill grade and as we are passing him another guy is out of the saddle sprinting by on my left. I ask the guy:
What the fuck are you guys doing?
Not surprised that I get no response. We are behind them for a bit, maybe 150-200 feet and we come to a technical downhill where we both easily pass them and never see them again. If you are going to cock-off on a large ride like that, at least be able to ride a bike downhill. I have something else the first F in FIF stood for but that is a term isn’t allowed anymore.
Shortly after, we are climbing a low grade hill with a headwind (with brand new perfect pavement), on the way to the hardest climb and some group keeps trying to wiggle past. I turn it up the slightest and they are gone. The last two examples reinforces that people aren’t good at climbing and suck at descending. Mike hangs in there for the steepest part of the route, which isn’t a bad climb but it is good to destroy any sketchy people behind us.
Don’t Miss the Last Rest Stop
The middle of the course is uneventful and the winds aren’t too bad to get across the fields. I could do without the middle 20 miles, but they do serve as a way to get to the last rest stop. Mike mentions to skip it and I tell him it always has the best baked good and I was not disappointed to find the homemade Kandy Kakes and I asked the lady if she made them and she said no, that lady did. I went over and told her these Kandy Kakes are the reason I do this ride each year. I ate 3, probably could have eaten a @Norm or @UtahJoe portion:
The last 10 miles of the route always hurts me with its little up and downs and I am typically around 80-90 miles at this point. Before we know it, we are back and I try to convince Mike one more time to go ride Uhlerstown Road, which he declines, citing his 5 min power numbers.
I am off before I get cool and head to Uhlerstown Road and snap a picture near the bottom:
Death by Saddle to the Left, Please.
That road is a little bitch, but short and before I knew it, I was on top of the ridge again to which I immediately bombed Jugtown. Speaking of this road name, there is an exceptional high number of roads in this area that could make one giggle; Jugtown, Haycock, Hollow Horn, Dark Hollow, Sheep Hole. Anyways, took forever to cross the Frenchtown bridge because the 20 mile route peeps were all walking back over to PA and it was a constant stream of florescent yellow and then Frenchtown was filled with peeps looking to get their fall on. I was quickly out of that nonsense and onto Horseshoe Bend Rd, which was new to me. Beautiful road and this picture doesn’t capture it but the whole thing was another yellow tunnel.
It was damn peaceful and I will just leave it at that.
The road doesn’t come out where I was expecting and I take a road back down to the river that has a dirt section and I attempt to rattle some teeth out on. Chill on 29 and then back up Warsaw, another beautiful road and then come down another road with a dirt section with a super sketch switch back and then right back up Tumble Falls. I am starting to go a bit crossed eyed at this point and bomb down Federal Twist (sub-50mph, WEAK) and make it back to Lambertville.
I go right to Rojos to get my local on and enjoy a mocha and some pumpkin bread.
So that’s that, another covered bridges in the books and another fantastic day on the bike. These are the days and I am riding them for all they are worth. In the end, 7 hours, 117 miles , some good company, good laughs, good solo time, good scenery and some damn good roads.
It was damn peaceful and I will just leave it at that.
Edit: Fine Picture on a Fine Day
So here we are, in fall, probably the best time to ride bikes all year as we leave behind the humidity and welcome the cool, crisp air with open arms. Similar to how Hell of Hunterdon is my must do ride of the spring, Covered Bridges is my must do ride of the fall. The last few years I have made a point not to miss it and this year I became more and more stoked as the day approached. I also have made it a day I do hours / big miles and this year would be no different.
Approaching this ride I am on my 7th week of 10+ hour weeks, which began the first week in September and in October I am aiming for my biggest hour’s month, which currently stands at 51 hours, from March 2013 (HOH month). I have been riding road (duh), my all city with cross tires and actually riding my MTB (for my annual ride with @capedoc at Water Co). This little riding streak is getting those late summer rides in before that weather is gone (70 degree mornings and high pressure/ humidity = fast rolling) and enjoying the change of the seasons. Also, since school as started again for my son, I put him on the bus, which gives me about 20 min more each morning, which adds up over the month and opens up my rides to 6-7 extra miles so I can hit different loops and (more!) hills.
Last week I began to get super stoked for Sunday being that I wanted to ride some of my favorite roads and show @Mountain Bike Mike that there is more to riding than just training and racing. He originally was on board with some extra mileage but puss’ed out in the 11th hour, probably because @BiknBen suggested it would be detrimental to his 5 min power. I was riding it either way, so wasn’t a big deal. The only thing I didn’t have much stokage for was the low temps on Saturday night, which would be the coldest yet this season and maybe into the 20’s. This is a minor annoyance for a long ride since it makes dressing correctly much harder but there is enough climbing to get warm if you dressed maybe a tad light.
I thought about riding from my house, as I did the last 2 years, but decided not to since I ride the roads between my house and Lambertville all the time, all it would be is another 1.5 hours (roundtrip) of junk mileage and I already had an 8+ hour day this year so I decided to park in Lambertville. I had a coffee on the way, which I knew was a crap shoot per se and have unloading my bike it caught up to me. Not many options for such activity at 6:30am on a Sunday so I stopped at the Lambertville Police Station and it is a ghetto-ass PD considering that town is so uppity and it was not inviting for me to take a PRD, so just start riding and it went away.
I make my way up one of the ways Capers liked to start his routes and cross the river at Stockton since I don’t mind riding over that bridge and I stop to take a picture of the steamy river pretty close to sunrise.
It was damn peaceful and I will just leave it at that.
I make my way to Paxson Rd and Armitage and on Sugan Road the sun just peeps over the ridge on the jersey side and I sit up and put my arms out like a plane and fly through the moment. Come down Greenhill, which is horribly bumpy near the bottom and go over to Tohicken Hill Rd. All of these climbs are super awesome roads and ones I don’t get to often. Tohicken Hill Road warms me nicely and is a tunnel of yellow leaves with the sun just peeping through.
It was damn peaceful and I will just leave it at that.
Drop down to cross below High Rocks on the pedestrian bridge, which holds a special place for me as it is where I recut my technical MTB riding when I got back into it in 2004/2005. Picked up the pace a tad getting over to the start of the CB ride as Mike is planning to start at 8. About a half mile south of the start, all the sudden it is super thick fog on the river and in the field where everyone parks and seriously felt like 5 degrees cooler. I quickly found MBM, checked in, slammed two Krispy Kreme’s, took a wee, put my vest in Mike’s car and we were off.
People Do Stupid Things on Bikes
The first 4 miles is a low grade climb and is pretty easy. We are with people here and there and always left those people as soon as the road kicked up, even the slightest. Somewhere maybe 10 miles in there is a guy behind us for a while that motors after a bit. We catch his wheel and take a free ride. He knew we were there as he was calling road hazards but I did not do the curiosity of asking for his wheel and he never pulled off or flicked an elbow, to which I would have gladly pulled. We come to a mile long hill before the 1st rest stop and he pulls off and says something to the effect of:
you going to take a pull at some point
to which I respond
sure, I was waiting for you to pull off
About 30 seconds later he make some wise crank to a guy with a rear rack and a large bag on it and my asshole meter starts bleeping red. I drop back to MBM and suggest we should let the guy go and he is slowing so I just rode away from him, leaving Mike to talk to the guy. Sorry Mike. Mike drops him on the climb too, so that was nice.
We pull out of the rest stop just ahead of a group of around 8 guys with FIF on their jersey’s, Friends in Fitness, and they blow by Mike and I like we are standing still and then proceed to cut off a car as they make the next turn. Right after this we see a guy with a Speedvagen and I have to make sure I don't stand up for a tad and we drop back from the FIF's as they get their fitness on. We are pretty close to them before they make a wrong turn where the 50 and 63 mile routes split and we pass them. We are just chilling and they catch us at a stop sign that goes into a short downhill. One guy comes on my right, pedaling like crazy and I let him go and he completely pops on the slightest uphill grade and as we are passing him another guy is out of the saddle sprinting by on my left. I ask the guy:
What the fuck are you guys doing?
Not surprised that I get no response. We are behind them for a bit, maybe 150-200 feet and we come to a technical downhill where we both easily pass them and never see them again. If you are going to cock-off on a large ride like that, at least be able to ride a bike downhill. I have something else the first F in FIF stood for but that is a term isn’t allowed anymore.
Shortly after, we are climbing a low grade hill with a headwind (with brand new perfect pavement), on the way to the hardest climb and some group keeps trying to wiggle past. I turn it up the slightest and they are gone. The last two examples reinforces that people aren’t good at climbing and suck at descending. Mike hangs in there for the steepest part of the route, which isn’t a bad climb but it is good to destroy any sketchy people behind us.
Don’t Miss the Last Rest Stop
The middle of the course is uneventful and the winds aren’t too bad to get across the fields. I could do without the middle 20 miles, but they do serve as a way to get to the last rest stop. Mike mentions to skip it and I tell him it always has the best baked good and I was not disappointed to find the homemade Kandy Kakes and I asked the lady if she made them and she said no, that lady did. I went over and told her these Kandy Kakes are the reason I do this ride each year. I ate 3, probably could have eaten a @Norm or @UtahJoe portion:
The last 10 miles of the route always hurts me with its little up and downs and I am typically around 80-90 miles at this point. Before we know it, we are back and I try to convince Mike one more time to go ride Uhlerstown Road, which he declines, citing his 5 min power numbers.
I am off before I get cool and head to Uhlerstown Road and snap a picture near the bottom:
Death by Saddle to the Left, Please.
That road is a little bitch, but short and before I knew it, I was on top of the ridge again to which I immediately bombed Jugtown. Speaking of this road name, there is an exceptional high number of roads in this area that could make one giggle; Jugtown, Haycock, Hollow Horn, Dark Hollow, Sheep Hole. Anyways, took forever to cross the Frenchtown bridge because the 20 mile route peeps were all walking back over to PA and it was a constant stream of florescent yellow and then Frenchtown was filled with peeps looking to get their fall on. I was quickly out of that nonsense and onto Horseshoe Bend Rd, which was new to me. Beautiful road and this picture doesn’t capture it but the whole thing was another yellow tunnel.
It was damn peaceful and I will just leave it at that.
The road doesn’t come out where I was expecting and I take a road back down to the river that has a dirt section and I attempt to rattle some teeth out on. Chill on 29 and then back up Warsaw, another beautiful road and then come down another road with a dirt section with a super sketch switch back and then right back up Tumble Falls. I am starting to go a bit crossed eyed at this point and bomb down Federal Twist (sub-50mph, WEAK) and make it back to Lambertville.
I go right to Rojos to get my local on and enjoy a mocha and some pumpkin bread.
So that’s that, another covered bridges in the books and another fantastic day on the bike. These are the days and I am riding them for all they are worth. In the end, 7 hours, 117 miles , some good company, good laughs, good solo time, good scenery and some damn good roads.
It was damn peaceful and I will just leave it at that.
Edit: Fine Picture on a Fine Day
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I'm assuming every time you said that, it was code for taking a shit.
Great recap. Had me LOLing.
I'm surprised you've never ridden up Horseshoe Bend. When we used to do the barn burner night rides from my house, we seemed to head up that road almost every ride.
FFR, next time you need to drop a deuce at 6AM, use the public restroom in Canal Studios. The back door is always open 24/7. When I lived behind there, on more than one occasion I found myself shutting it in the middle of the night because people would leave it propped open, forget about it and some alarm would end up going off.
I'm surprised you've never ridden up Horseshoe Bend. When we used to do the barn burner night rides from my house, we seemed to head up that road almost every ride.
FFR, next time you need to drop a deuce at 6AM, use the public restroom in Canal Studios. The back door is always open 24/7. When I lived behind there, on more than one occasion I found myself shutting it in the middle of the night because people would leave it propped open, forget about it and some alarm would end up going off.
More than half of it is my old kit haha. I am down with castelli.
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Thanks again for convincing me to do that ride. I think that will be a must do every year going forward.
Edit - I ate 4 of those cakes...
Edit - I ate 4 of those cakes...
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rick81721
Lothar
Yeah I gotta do it next year too. Pennsy is home territory.
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
16 bucks for the shirt
Johnny Utah
Well-Known Member
Great recap! I used to live off Dark Hallow Road, that area is a truly magical place in the fall, thanks for sharing.
Lot of great memories out there.
Lot of great memories out there.
Uhlerstown Road is a kick in the nuts but fortunately not too long. Have you ever ridden up it and a car would approach? It's never happened to me, but I often wondered where you would go. You've got a rock wall on one side of you and a drop on the other. I'm usually crosseyed when I climb that hill but I seem to remember that it's about as wide as a sidewalk.
rick81721
Lothar
Sounds like SAD Iron Bridge after the bridge.
The last two times I was up it a car was behind me and they just had to wait. In the summer it was a pickup truck and was behind me the whole steep section but he pulled up beside me at the top and said "that was awesome!". On sunday some dude crusing in an old convertible was behind me the whole steep section again and told me "amazing" at the top.
Iron bridge is much harder and longer. Uhlerstown is tough but super short. It is about the same part of Iron Bridge after you make the right turn and see there is 1/4 mile more pain.