Griggstown Grinder : 20120703

It was going to be a hot one. The temperature was 93F/34C as we gathered in the parking lot next to Montgomery park under a hazy sky.

The route took by the canal, up Mt Lucas Road and Cherry Hill Road toward the main ascent of the evening, Hollow Rd.

My route map varies from the direction the group took as we waited for a rider then rode directly for Route 518. The group, meanwhile, cut across from Cherry Hill Road to Province Line Road, before meeting up again for 518. Hollow Road is probably the most civilised route into the Sourlands, but lately the surface has degraded to not much better than a track. This is mostly an issue on the descent, but once you're on Long Hill with its rather better surface, it becomes apparent that Hollow's pitted and pocked surface imposes a significant burden.

Spring Hill has a relatively new and far smoother surface which encourages a swift descent, although I am always nervous of the right-hand corner - about mile 24 on this map - which in the past always had a patch of gravel running across the road which, at the very least always caused a nervous shimmy as you rounded the tight bend. The new surface seems to have eliminated that obstacle, but be careful, it's tight and can leave you on the wrong side of the road.

So a hot afternoon and evening with 1700ft of climbing. The map shows 1500ft, but Strava shows 1700ft. Most GPS mapping sites return different climbing data. I'm not certain why that is ... anyway, more on Strava another day.

Meanwhile, I'm writing this early morning, July 4th, wondering if the rain will ease of so I can ride with Princeton FreeWheeler's Independence Day event. Maybe a day to resist wearing my Union Jack jersey ...

Early morning Zipp ...

The Bridge at
Neshanic Station

This morning saw me off bright and early on a solo ride through Neshanic along the South Branch Raritan River to Three Bridges, returning over the Sourlands, interrupted by another pleasant interlude at Peacock's Country Store.

Certainly everyone was out and about as several familiar faces made Peacock's their stop too.

This week was a little different, because I was able to try out a set of Zipp 404 wheels and Mavic Aksion tyres.

I pumped the tyres up to about 115psi front and rear, although the tyre walls say they can be inflated to 130psi. This gave a much smoother ride than I expected, although I don't think the wheels enabled me to drop away on the descents as quickly as my regular tubeless Hutchinson/Dura Ace wheel combination.

On the other hand the wheels gave a much more positive feel on the ascents.

As I said, the ride was very good on a reasonable surface. However, the descent of Hollow Road, whose surface is now very poor, was made the more exciting with every jarring bump and crack in the road transmitted directly up through the handlebars.

Regardless, the Zipps were a confirmation that a wheel upgrade is the most effective improvement you can make to any bike, and these are about as good as it gets.

Peacock's Country Store -20120624

If you didn't know, last weekend's Montauk 100 was a disaster for me. I went down with severe cramps and had to SAG out. The ignominy ...

So after a week's break off the bike, I set off with SteveR for a leisurely saunter through the Sourlands to Peacock's Country Store.

Of course, a ride through the Sourlands can never be a saunter as a whole bunch of riders on the local Tour de Cure were finding out, but for us, the pace was just right, not really pushing hard and feeling free to ease off when the going got tough.

There were, as usual a bunch of cyclists at Peacock's, including another British Bloke on a weekend away from The Big Apple and pleasantly surprised at how nice the cycling is in the area.

So, a pleasant ride with few challenges. Just right.

Etra Lake to New Egypt : 20120610

A long fast ride with few hills, but I was wilting in the 30C/90F heat by the end.

So I'm a little apprehensive about the Ride to Montauk 100 this weekend, but hopefully I'll be fully recovered by then from a nasty virus I was in the depths of about 10 days ago.



*Thanks to Dave for providing this week's GPS map

Currently the weekend's weather forecast for Montauk doesn't look too bad; in the 20Cs/70Fs with a following breeze ... nice ...

Griggstown Grinder : 20120605

Tuesday evenings haven't a good weather record this year, and this evening threatened no better as rain spattered the windscreen on the drive up to the rendezvous.

It wasn't just me who was pessimistic as just a handful of riders showed up and with Diane away, it fell to Andy to lead.

We threaded a figure-eight path so we didn't stray too far from the cars in case of more rain, and indeed the heavens did manage a few spots plus a light sun-shower, but, being the hardy folk we are, we pressed on anyway.

I've posted the route below, and also a link to Strava, an application which compares your rides, matches up portions of the route you or others have done before and compares your performance. I do this with trepidation since, so far, my figures are pretty modest. However, I am one of the oldest there so I take comfort in that.

Griggstown Grinder : 20120529

My car thermometer was reading 33C/92F while we met up at Montgomery Park. While the sky was still blue, most of us had seen the forecast for thunderstorms, so we just sought out what shade was available as we waited to start and made bets on whether we'd run into them.



Fortunately, Diane took us on a route which made the most of tree cover, so the Coppermine climb, although brutally hot, at least, was out of the sun.

Around The Great Road, it became clear that we were in for a nasty storm, so we sprinted for home. This wasn't too difficult, because we had a terrific tailwind which bowled us along Skillman Road, through the pine tree debris, at more than 40kmh/25mph.

We made the cars without actually suffering more than on or two stray raindrops, but the evening had prematurely turned into night under the roiling clouds.

PFW Memorial Day All Paces Ride: 20120528

I missed my regular Sunday ride under the threat of rain, so it was a relief that Monday - a public holiday in the USA - dawned sunny and bright.

I arrived at the Princeton FreeWheelers's rendezvous a bit late due to ... well, what does it matter ... and after frantically pumping up tyres and getting into shoes I latched onto one of the last groups to leave. Turned out they were heading for New Egypt. That was good enough for me ...



The day was fine, but it quickly became very hot and sultry, so hydration was a major concern. By the time we'd returned to the cars the temperature was 33C/92F, but it was the humidity that was the real challenge.

I've never been to a PFW event before, and it was nice to speak to and occasionally encourage riders who'd not ever ridden more than 15 miles before and the sense of achievement they'd got from the day

Etra Lake | Battlefield Orchards : 20120520

Sunday dawned to a great day for cycling. Maybe a breeze which was a bit more than perceptible, but great nevertheless.



Gary's ride took us west, through Turkey Swamp to Battlefield State Park, where there had been a battle at some point, apparently, but now hosts a store that sells fruit and fruit products, most notably for me, fruit strudels.

Unfortunately, they no longer make blueberry strudel, but the raspberry was really good too.

Rocky Hill | Nashanic Station : 20120513

Time for another ride, up through the Sourlands to Nashanic Station.

This time I rode solo. Sometimes it's good just to proceed at your own pace; pause to listen to the birds, study the flowers and so on ...

Not many cars either. Other than on the main roads there were very few. Maybe everyone was off visiting their mum?

Not many riders at Peacock's Country Store either. But a chocolate croissant went down well.

Etra Lake to Clarksburg : 20120506

This was the first ride of the year for me from Etra Lake.

Gary, the ride leader, has upped the rate to B and consequently set off at a cracking pace under a gloomy sky. The weather held off and once or twice the sun struggled through the clouds.

It wasn't just the sun which was struggling. I just don't have enough miles in my legs at this stage in the year, which meant I completed the ride at my own pace. But still, I survived, but I really need to get a few more miles in before The Ride to Montauk Century next month ... what have I committed myself to???