Following the Pipeline

Rosemont-Ringoes Road at Lambert Road

22 March 2015

Today's route was a bit much, considering the temperature, the wind, and the winter that won't quit. I took the Slugs to Sergeantsville on a route that followed, to some degree, the proposed PennEast pipeline (you can see the full route here. This involved adding five extra miles to the 22 or so that get us to the general store on a normal day.  Considering the legs that showed up, I figured it wouldn't be a problem for any of them.

Marc and Plain Jim met me at home. At the edge of Pennington we picked up Pete G and then Jack H. I felt like a piece of flypaper. In Pennington we gathered John K and Bagel Hill Barry.

Woosamonsa Road is a good test hill.  If you feel like shit on Woosamonsa, you'll feel worse on the rest of the ride.  One of our number figured this out and turned back, which was wise, because even our strongest riders were feeling wrung out before we made it back over the Sourlands on the return trip.

This is all totally okay.  We've had the worst winter in recent history, and no amount of indoor training can substitute for a long day on the road. I have no doubt that the legs that quit today will be kicking my butt next week.

Anyway, the pipeline.

I pointed out the farms and preserves it would sever, our roads it would cross, and the streams it would disrupt.  I played the role of policy wonk; the guys had a lot of very good questions. 

All in all, they were good sports. We could have bagged it in Lambertville, but we didn't. I think we all feel as if we need to make up for lost time.

The proposed pipeline cuts through the village of Mount Airy, which is an historic district.  The top of the hill is where we regroup and photograph cows.

From Pennington to Sergeantsville, yards were festooned with signs. "Stop the PennEast Pipeline." "Stop the Fracking Pipeline." "Save the Sourlands."  We noticed a lot more "no trespassing" signs, which are part of the strategy to keep PennEast surveyors off people's land and force them to take each landowner to court individually, thus costing PennEast both time and money. So far, few landowners are granting permission.

At the corner of Seabrook and Brookville Hollow was a "posted and patrolled" sign.

We riffed on that one, imagining mercenaries guarding the woods, shooting first and asking questions later, burying the bodies.

Eventually we got to Sergeantsville, where the gawked at the Inn that caught fire on March 9.

Geez. Are we going to lose one iconic building each spring? At least this one is going to be rebuilt. Peacock's has been leveled.

We took our time at the general store. Jack tossed out the idea of a pool party. I said, "I have no problem with Spandex, but I'm just not comfortable wearing a bathing suit."

John K said, "You could not wear a bathing suit."

I looked over at him and said nothing. The guys erupted. Jack was pretty sure I'd burned a hole straight through John's skull.

We took a direct route home. We had a tailwind too.  On Woodsville Road, I stopped to use the bushes. I crested the first hill to see the guys climbing the second. They looked like a line of ants on a wall.

In two weeks I'll be leading the Chocolate Bunny Ride. I wonder how much snow we'll have between now and then.