The Road to Somewhere

xc62701

Well-Known Member
128EF4CE-9123-4DFE-8347-CDAF0ED55411.jpeg

Last weekend, myself and 4 of my buddies went and did a bikepacking trip from Denville to Port Jervis, NY to Mount Bethel, PA and back. It's amazing how things can and will change and like everything else it's good to roll with the punches. Our original plan was to leave from Denville and ride up to Port Jervis and then down the Delaware on the PA side to the Beach River Campground. Then day 2 was going to be riding from that camp to the Jugtown Mountain campground in Asbury, NJ. Day 3 was from Asbury to home. The best part about bikepacking is that everything we needed was on us. So a lot of the pretrip planning we never even used. 3 of us were on gravel bikes and two of us were on MTB's. It was a nice mix of gear and most of us were on our second bikepacking trip so we had a "little" experience doing this before. I should also say that we we weighed our setups before we left. Weight's ranged from 45 lbs to 70 lbs. Let's just say that some of us "may" have overpacked...lol.

On day 1 we rode from my place onto Randolph Trails and Patriots Path over to the West Morris Trail. Jumped on a little piece of the Columbia Trail, the cut through Stephens State Park and got to the Sussex Branch where we would spend a bunch of miles. Actually this is where the one bit of pre-planning really helped. We noticed a line of nasty thunderstorms coming through the area that Friday and they were expected at 2pm. Sure enough at 1:50 we saw the skies darken and the sounds of thunder were getting closer by the second. We jumped off of the Sussex branch for our first pitstop at mile 37 at the Newton QuickCheck. Perfect timing! We got some food and drinks, and refueled as the torrential rain and lightning crashed all around us. It was bad for about 20 minutes but we didn't mind hanging out under their roof. We finished our stuff and it lightened up a bit and we headed out. It was still rainy but we needed to get some more miles in if we were going to make it anywhere near where we wanted to camp for the night. We opted for the road instead of remaining on the Sussex branch as we knew it would be flooded and just not fun in sections. We kept on it and started to plan out our camp. We wanted to stop in Port Jervis for a beer and a burger and we did just that. Fox and Hare was great as usual! While we were there we found out the campground we wanted to stay at was closed - as in they closed for the day. So to avoid going there and possibly not having a place to stay we met up with Deejay from Action Bikes and he convinced us to stay in the new campground up in Elks Brox park up the hill. He gave us a guided tour along the way and it was a perfect camp. New wooden tent platforms, porto johns, and running water. That's all we needed. Day 1 was 70 miles in 6 hours flat. After we relaxed and got camp all setup, we took a late night stroll to the flagpole to check out the stars/overlook and it was worth the slog up the hill. The next morning we packed up and headed on our second leg with a decent night's sleep and ready for more.

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Day 2 was interested to say the least. Let me sum up the day...HOT. It was a scorcher out there. When we woke up it was warm and humid so it was only going to get worse from there. Actually it got worse I the first downhill. I talked the guys into taking Cosmic Charlie out the the campground. If anyone knows that trail it's downhill, fast, and rocky. It was essential to pick good lines with these heavy bikes. 4 of the 5 of us did well. The other banged a rim and needed a little TLC at Deejay's shop. So we grabbed some bagel sandwiches and threw them down and got the wheel fixed. Getting a little later start just meant it was getting hotter fast. The first leg was down 209 into Milford which wasn't bad. It had some traffic but at least the shoulders were big and it was no issue. Down by Milford we jumped on the McDade trail. Ahh back to gravel. It was good but not exactly the flattest as we were hoping. It definitely had some punchy sections that hurt the legs on those heavy bikes. It started to take a toll and then we figured out how little water was available there. At Dingmans we hopped back on the road to make some time and get to water quicker. We made it to Bushkill to get some lunch. After that we wen't a few miles down 209 and that road SUCKS. Shoulder got smaller and littered with everything and the traffic was fast and furious. We refilled our water at Wawa and wanted to get the hell out of there. We left 209 just before Stroudsburg and got to some quiet road to cross under 80 and start going south along the Delaware on the PA side. As we started looking at the time and the want to get to Jugtown...it wasn't happening. At All. So we started doing some googling and found Driftstone Campground in Mt. Bethel, PA. That was our new target. We just needed to keep on it and get there. That was the best call of the weekend. It meant our route for day 3 would have to be figured out, but at least we could get to camp, cool down in the river, and get some real food. Day 2 was 55 miles in 4:45.


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Day 3, I worked out a route on the roads I have ridden before coming back through Belvidere, NJ. The only issue was tired legs and climbing. There were at least two big climbs to get over to get home. We actually got an early start on Day 3 as it was supposed to get hotter than the previous day. It would have been a little earlier, but as we were gathering up everything at camp, I found an issue with my bike. The front tire had grown a tumor. It looks like the rubber delaminated and was bubbling outward. That wouldn't be good. Any piece of rock or debris could make me lose the front end which would not be pretty. Good thing I brought a spare tire! I threw the new rubber on with a tube and off we went. We were still on the early side so we headed out to get it done. The two big climbs were Jane's Chapel road in Oxford and Old Mine Hill road in Hackettstown. We crept over those and they weren't actually that bad if you took your time. Legs were soft but still moving. We got back into familar territory and the spirits picked up as we knew there was cold beer close by. We got back to my place and cracked open a few and enjoyed finishing this trip. Day 3 was 42 miles in 4 hours flat.

Final stats were 3 states, 2 taylor ham egg and cheeses, lotsa coke and snickers, 172 miles, 9600 feet of climbing, 14:45 riding time. Not a bad weekend. We all had our ups and downs. A few were ready to sell their bikes and call for an uber. The good news is that talks have already started about when will we do this again.
 
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xc62701

Well-Known Member
Oh and if you’re wondering about the giant jug of party snacks on the back it goes like this… It was bought for camp on the second day and it was about to be left behind. As I’m not a big fan of wasting things we didn’t wanna just throw that away, so I figured if I could strap it onto my bike it would make the journey home. It did… And my kids thanked me for it!
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
I did a thing. A race thing! Saturday night I went out to Williamsport PA and got ready for IronCross. It's always been on my list and for some reason I had the itch to get out there and I pulled the trigger on this one. Riding has been "kinda" consistent and training has been non-existent so what the hell? I would have been more prepared for a firewood splitting/moving contest rather than this but what the hell. Live and learn right? I had it in my mind all along that a MTB might be perfect for this "gravel" race and the storms the day before confirmed my thoughts. I knew I wouldn't regret the trail sections but the long gravel/road sections could suck. But my Epic was dialed and ready for action. Surprisingly enough I actually felt pretty good for the first 3 hours or so.

It was basically climb some gravel/fire roads, and bomb back down. Rinse and repeat. I saw @jimvreeland as few times as we were hootin and hollerin and it was good to chat for a few to keep my mind off of the pain, and then get back to task at hand. I hit one really rocky climb after 3 hours and knew to dial it back to make it to the end. I thought I was saving up juice for the final climb, but forgot there was one more big one to come. Somewhere in between there I hit the hike a bike and made my way up to Larry's to have a fireball shot and half a beer. So many people were just chilling there. It seemed like a lot just raced to get there and then just hung out for a while. I hit my drinks and got out of there. After that I pushed when I could I had to dial it back on the next climbs and just keep the pedals going. The last climb lived up to the hype. Greasy, rocky, rooty, and steep enough that it never let up until the finish. I was glad to have this one done and cruise back to the car. I was hoping I would finish in 6 hours, but I did better than I thought. Race time was 5:06. I finished well back in my age group but that didn't matter. I was happy to feel as good as I did, for as long as I did. There is still some fitness inside this fatness. I think it was all those beers I had to train for this ;)
 

JDurk

Well-Known Member
I won firewood splitting/moving contest this weekend then. I always keep an eye on doing this event and would definitely do it on the mtb. Nice work.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
I won firewood splitting/moving contest this weekend then. I always keep an eye on doing this event and would definitely do it on the mtb. Nice work.
Nice! Yes I wasn’t sure as I saw many more gravel bike than mtb’s, but on one of the rocky descents I saw plenty of bottles ejected and a few riders fixing flats shortly after that. I felt good with my bike choice.
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
Nice! Yes I wasn’t sure as I saw many more gravel bike than mtb’s, but on one of the rocky descents I saw plenty of bottles ejected and a few riders fixing flats shortly after that. I felt good with my bike choice.

That's sorta the fun thing about this event, there's no right bike choice. There's enough mix that it cancels out. I had more fun in the rougher sections last time with the 29er but the climbs were a lot better on the gravel bike. (Except the ones that weren't because I had no gears, but that's another story)
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
That's sorta the fun thing about this event, there's no right bike choice. There's enough mix that it cancels out. I had more fun in the rougher sections last time with the 29er but the climbs were a lot better on the gravel bike. (Except the ones that weren't because I had no gears, but that's another story)
Agreed. It’s really the perfect course to make you rethink your bike choice at any time. I might do the mtb with 2.0’s next time. That bike is super efficient but a little less rolling resistance would be beneficial. I was running 2.4/2.25’s.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
I just got back from a nice extended weekend with some biking peeps - @JimN, Dan S., Greg S, and Phil L. It was some solid riding time with a lot of other shenanigans in the mix that made it a blast. The plan was to hit Raystown day 1, Rothrock day 2, Coopers Gap day 3, and Rattling Creek day 4. It went pretty much as planned except mileage needed to be assessed as it would have taken a long time for some of the routes. The slower going was a combination of group dynamic plus leaves made it pretty challenging. I ended up getting 102 miles and 14,000 feet of climbing for the weekend. All on leaf covered rocky brutal goodness. This needs to be repeated again for sure. Maybe multiple times each year!
 

JDurk

Well-Known Member
I just got back from a nice extended weekend with some biking peeps - @JimN, Dan S., Greg S, and Phil L. It was some solid riding time with a lot of other shenanigans in the mix that made it a blast. The plan was to hit Raystown day 1, Rothrock day 2, Coopers Gap day 3, and Rattling Creek day 4. It went pretty much as planned except mileage needed to be assessed as it would have taken a long time for some of the routes. The slower going was a combination of group dynamic plus leaves made it pretty challenging. I ended up getting 102 miles and 14,000 feet of climbing for the weekend. All on leaf covered rocky brutal goodness. This needs to be repeated again for sure. Maybe multiple times each year!
The leaves of day 1 would be manageable, day 2-4 would be scary. Care to share your daily activities? The Cooper's Gap stage of TSE is my least favorite.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
The leaves of day 1 would be manageable, day 2-4 would be scary. Care to share your daily activities? The Cooper's Gap stage of TSE is my least favorite.
Day 1 was most of the north trails of Raystown in a clockwise loop from the skills park lot. Day 2 we started out with the old Stoopid 50 course in mind then threw in some other good stuff when we realized it would take too long to do all 50 miles. Day 3 was the Coopers Gap IMBA epic loop. This was good as we didn’t get to these trails as part of the Stoopid loop so we got to it this day. Day 4 was the Rattling Creek IMBA Epic loop.
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xc62701

Well-Known Member
So now it's 2022 and at the end of 2021 I went for my usual checkup and the doc told me that my blood pressure is elevated, my a1c is elevated, and my cholesterol is high. Time to end this BS. Due to Covid/Parenting/General Stress I haven't been that good. Too many beers, too much pizza, and generally not the best diet. It wasn't awful but it could be better. Add on top that my rides were dwindling as the weather got colder and I got lazy. So January 3rd I decided to try to fix things and see how much I can correct on my own.

I've been doing Noom for a bit and haven't done it very consistently or seriously but I want to feel better and try to improve my health so I figured here we go. Generally for me the winter months (Jan/Feb) are the hardest, so why not do this now to help me focus and hopefully get to a better place by spring. I do have intentions on doing some events this year so this should only help to motivate me to get back some fitness and confidence.

1/3 Starting weight 206.4
1/10 weight 197.8

The scale is going in the right direction, I just need consistency, prepping and some effort to keep this going in the right direction.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
Since the 3rd I've ridden every day, except yesterday where I went climbing. I got a punch pass to a local rock gym so I figured that could be my varied workout. Especially for the crazy cold days like yesterday. I went thinking I'd be hard pressed to get a decent workout in 1 hour, but 30 minutes in my arms/hands were shot. I have to figure out how to pace myself when I'm climbing solo. The great part of the place I'm at is they have a ton of auto belay devices which allow you to climb the walls solo and not just boulder. So I'm working on building back my endurance there and getting used to the heights.

Best news is that as of this morning I'm down 10 lbs. My calories have been cut significantly since I'm only eating good food and my body is having no choice but to lose weight. I figured out my goal yesterday. I want to get to 180 by March 15th. That's 60 days for 16 pounds. That sounds doable. I just need to keep prepping, keep the workouts going, and stay consistent. Every time I've lost weight this is what has worked and the weight stays off until IDGAF again. Here's to lower weight and hopefully better results when I see the docs again.
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
except yesterday where I went climbing. I got a punch pass to a local rock gym so I figured that could be my varied workout.

YASSSS! I assume you're going to that place in Randolph?

I have to figure out how to pace myself when I'm climbing solo.

Yeah that's tough. Obviously, the more you get back into it, the more you can do without resting, but I still have a hard time with this too. I was climbing solo yesterday and I find that I have to just force myself to go sit on the couch for five minutes every couple of climbs.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
YASSSS! I assume you're going to that place in Randolph?



Yeah that's tough. Obviously, the more you get back into it, the more you can do without resting, but I still have a hard time with this too. I was climbing solo yesterday and I find that I have to just force myself to go sit on the couch for five minutes every couple of climbs.

Yes the Randolph Climbing Gym. It doesn't have a lot routes but for what they have it's pretty good. It's a bit too far after I put the kids down to get to the Vault or NJRG. This gives me a good quick workout that I can do while keeping the family...somewhat...happy. I forced myself to do the same. Do a few and then chill. Rinse and repeat. My arms/hands/forearms are feeling it today.
 

The Kalmyk

Well-Known Member
View attachment 159821
Last weekend, myself and 4 of my buddies went and did a bikepacking trip from Denville to Port Jervis, NY to Mount Bethel, PA and back. It's amazing how things can and will change and like everything else it's good to roll with the punches. Our original plan was to leave from Denville and ride up to Port Jervis and then down the Delaware on the PA side to the Beach River Campground. Then day 2 was going to be riding from that camp to the Jugtown Mountain campground in Asbury, NJ. Day 3 was from Asbury to home. The best part about bikepacking is that everything we needed was on us. So a lot of the pretrip planning we never even used. 3 of us were on gravel bikes and two of us were on MTB's. It was a nice mix of gear and most of us were on our second bikepacking trip so we had a "little" experience doing this before. I should also say that we we weighed our setups before we left. Weight's ranged from 45 lbs to 70 lbs. Let's just say that some of us "may" have overpacked...lol.

On day 1 we rode from my place onto Randolph Trails and Patriots Path over to the West Morris Trail. Jumped on a little piece of the Columbia Trail, the cut through Stephens State Park and got to the Sussex Branch where we would spend a bunch of miles. Actually this is where the one bit of pre-planning really helped. We noticed a line of nasty thunderstorms coming through the area that Friday and they were expected at 2pm. Sure enough at 1:50 we saw the skies darken and the sounds of thunder were getting closer by the second. We jumped off of the Sussex branch for our first pitstop at mile 37 at the Newton QuickCheck. Perfect timing! We got some food and drinks, and refueled as the torrential rain and lightning crashed all around us. It was bad for about 20 minutes but we didn't mind hanging out under their roof. We finished our stuff and it lightened up a bit and we headed out. It was still rainy but we needed to get some more miles in if we were going to make it anywhere near where we wanted to camp for the night. We opted for the road instead of remaining on the Sussex branch as we knew it would be flooded and just not fun in sections. We kept on it and started to plan out our camp. We wanted to stop in Port Jervis for a beer and a burger and we did just that. Fox and Hare was great as usual! While we were there we found out the campground we wanted to stay at was closed - as in they closed for the day. So to avoid going there and possibly not having a place to stay we met up with Deejay from Action Bikes and he convinced us to stay in the new campground up in Elks Brox park up the hill. He gave us a guided tour along the way and it was a perfect camp. New wooden tent platforms, porto johns, and running water. That's all we needed. Day 1 was 70 miles in 6 hours flat. After we relaxed and got camp all setup, we took a late night stroll to the flagpole to check out the stars/overlook and it was worth the slog up the hill. The next morning we packed up and headed on our second leg with a decent night's sleep and ready for more.

View attachment 159796

Day 2 was interested to say the least. Let me sum up the day...HOT. It was a scorcher out there. When we woke up it was warm and humid so it was only going to get worse from there. Actually it got worse I the first downhill. I talked the guys into taking Cosmic Charlie out the the campground. If anyone knows that trail it's downhill, fast, and rocky. It was essential to pick good lines with these heavy bikes. 4 of the 5 of us did well. The other banged a rim and needed a little TLC at Deejay's shop. So we grabbed some bagel sandwiches and threw them down and got the wheel fixed. Getting a little later start just meant it was getting hotter fast. The first leg was down 209 into Milford which wasn't bad. It had some traffic but at least the shoulders were big and it was no issue. Down by Milford we jumped on the McDade trail. Ahh back to gravel. It was good but not exactly the flattest as we were hoping. It definitely had some punchy sections that hurt the legs on those heavy bikes. It started to take a toll and then we figured out how little water was available there. At Dingmans we hopped back on the road to make some time and get to water quicker. We made it to Bushkill to get some lunch. After that we wen't a few miles down 209 and that road SUCKS. Shoulder got smaller and littered with everything and the traffic was fast and furious. We refilled our water at Wawa and wanted to get the hell out of there. We left 209 just before Stroudsburg and got to some quiet road to cross under 80 and start going south along the Delaware on the PA side. As we started looking at the time and the want to get to Jugtown...it wasn't happening. At All. So we started doing some googling and found Driftstone Campground in Mt. Bethel, PA. That was our new target. We just needed to keep on it and get there. That was the best call of the weekend. It meant our route for day 3 would have to be figured out, but at least we could get to camp, cool down in the river, and get some real food. Day 2 was 55 miles in 4:45.


View attachment 159822
Day 3, I worked out a route on the roads I have ridden before coming back through Belvidere, NJ. The only issue was tired legs and climbing. There were at least two big climbs to get over to get home. We actually got an early start on Day 3 as it was supposed to get hotter than the previous day. It would have been a little earlier, but as we were gathering up everything at camp, I found an issue with my bike. The front tire had grown a tumor. It looks like the rubber delaminated and was bubbling outward. That wouldn't be good. Any piece of rock or debris could make me lose the front end which would not be pretty. Good thing I brought a spare tire! I threw the new rubber on with a tube and off we went. We were still on the early side so we headed out to get it done. The two big climbs were Jane's Chapel road in Oxford and Old Mine Hill road in Hackettstown. We crept over those and they weren't actually that bad if you took your time. Legs were soft but still moving. We got back into familar territory and the spirits picked up as we knew there was cold beer close by. We got back to my place and cracked open a few and enjoyed finishing this trip. Day 3 was 42 miles in 4 hours flat.

Final stats were 3 states, 2 taylor ham egg and cheeses, lotsa coke and snickers, 172 miles, 9600 feet of climbing, 14:45 riding time. Not a bad weekend. We all had our ups and downs. A few were ready to sell their bikes and call for an uber. The good news is that talks have already started about when will we do this again.

Eight months late reading this but sounds like a super chill time. Solid🤘🏻🤘🏻
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
Eight months late reading this but sounds like a super chill time. Solid🤘🏻🤘🏻
Yes it was a blast. I’d love to do it again but in a different location. I repeated that route again in 2 days with a buddy of mine. It was nice to do both versions.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
This weekend I got to get out a bit. I planned a trainer ride for sat and then I wanted something longer for Sunday. Instead I rode Stephens sat and hit the Sussex Branch/Paulinskill today.
Stephens was good as the conditions varied all over from crunchy snow and ice to a few clear spot and back to more snow and ice. Nothing that was unrideable - that was nice. It was slow going and LOUD though. I put 1:40 in and was back to be in my warm car.

Today I hit the rail beds and was hoping for 4+ hours. I set off up the Sussex branch from Newton and then went up to Augusta to hit the Great Valley Trail. Plan was to roll down to the Paulinskill as far as I chose and then turn around and head back. The Sussex was good as it was lots of ice and bumps, but the GV was lots of frozen ruts. By the time I was an hour in, my feet were frozen. My heated socks I had weren’t really helping. They defrosted me at one point but it was so cold my arch and heels were frozen. Then the rest of the feet just became numb. I walked a little bit and tried to stand and get the blood going but my shoes just aren’t made for this type of weather - specialized defrosters. So I hit my turn around at Marksboro and took some road to avoid terrible frozen hoof prints. My feet just kept bothering me more and more. I needed to get to a store or my car. There aren’t many stores out there so I popped my phone out and saw I was 3ish miles from my car if I left the railbed and went over the hills. So that’s what I did.

I tried to get my frozen popsicle feet moving but I was getting beat from the bumpy trails and the feet were hurting badly. I got back to my car in 3:30 and was happy to get all my wet gear off and get the heat going. I grabbed some pizza on the way home and my feet still weren’t thawed when I got home. It took a hot bath and curling up under a heavy blanket to get the feeling back. I was happy to get out in the freezing temps and get this done but it made me realize that if I want to do this again I need some proper footwear. I ordered some boots already. Now I’m looking forward to the next ride once the winter boots arrive. At least it’s better than losing toes to frostbite.
 
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