Orchard Road, East Amwell, NJ
17 February 2018
"That road with the two hills and the potholes was a good road. Except for the hills and the potholes," Joe M says.
Potholes. What a crop we have this winter! I'm going to have to take a few roads off the list until they get paved over. The trip up to Pennington from my house is going to have to get two miles longer so I can avoid Route 206. Marshalls Corner-Woodsville Road between 518 and Mine is a goner too. That's the one Joe was talking about.
Ricky arrived at my house early because he knew I'd be brewing some of my too-strong coffee. It was a little bit above freezing, sunny, with a light south breeze when we started off for Pennington. Only Joe was in the Twin Pines parking lot, doing loops to warm up.
This is the first hilly ride I've done since I tore my calf. It's been about a month, and I felt it. A couple of times the injury reminded me of its presence, not hurting exactly, but hinting that if I didn't switch gears or change my cadence bad things could happen. So I found myself lagging behind Joe and Ricky on every hill between Hopewell and Sergeantsville. I had full range of motion so it must be that the muscle hasn't completely come back.
We passed by the Mount Airy cows without stopping for pictures. I have enough already.
I don't often approach Sergeantsville from Route 523. From a quarter mile away the store, bright salmon, stands out in a way that it doesn't from other approaches. From the bottom of the hill we could see the whole thing at once. I took that picture right after the store went from white to orange. Today I got a close-up.
We sat in the vestibule and dallied while Joe had dumplings and I drank hot chocolate. I made sure to take a picture of our two bikes before we left because I have a Synapse and he has a Soma. This is pure neuroscience geekery.
Tired and wary of re-injury as I was, I decided to find an easier way home without repeating roads and avoiding big climbs. We went east, down Route 604 towards Ringoes. Clouds were coming in fast.
That was the last we saw of any sun. The wind picked up too as we crossed over to Dutch and Back Brook Roads.
I'd forgotten what Van Lieus looks like when turning onto it from the north. What an annoying set of little hills, and the new chip seal didn't help.
We went up Runyon Mill to Saddle Shop, and turned on Orchard, where I paid a visit to the horses that hang out in the pasture around the dilapidated barn where the cows and chickens used to wander across the road.
There was a donkey in the mix.
Not wanting to repeat the Snydertown-Stony Brook-Wargo-Titus Mill stretch, I turned right on Roue 654 and we rode on the shoulder of Route 31 for a mile or so (don't worry; the shoulder is wide and the sight line clear) to Woosamonsa. The wind and clouds made the air chilly again.
Trying to make the route easier made the route longer; we got Joe back to Pennington with 48 miles and close to 3000 feet of elevation gain. I apologized for going over the advertised distance; I'd listed the ride as 40-45 miles, which it would have been had I planned even a little. Joe and Ricky didn't mind though. Ricky is always about extra miles. Joe confessed to being a little lost during the second half but he said he liked the route. So I guess I'll do this one again on a day when the sun is out and I have more power in my legs.
Which won't be long now. The first snowdrop of the season has bloomed next to my driveway.
Meanwhile, my legs hurt far more than they should after what I would have considered a nothing ride. Better luck next weekend, OLPH.
No comments:
Post a Comment