I tried to stick to back roads that have less traffic. The only problem is that the cars that do come down the road are not expecting me to be there. For the most part I kind of had a route in mind but I did make some random turns. I did not go as far south as I originally planned.
I discovered Four JG's Orchard and Vineyard off of Hillsdale Road (I took the picture of the main house on vineyard as I was rolling by). In the folks at http://www.njbikemap.com/ were nice enough to mark it on the map. Vineyards are starting to become more popular in this part of New Jersey. There is a big one being started off of Navesink River Road that appears to be only growing grapes right now. Before my daughter was born we used to go out to Western New Jersey to tour the new Vineyards that were springing up. In those days most of the wine where fruity wines but now they are starting to produce some quality wines. The premise is that if New Jersey can produce quality tomatos, apples, strawberries and blueberries then it should be possible to grow quality grapes to make quality wines.
I took this picture by the reservoir. The bird in the picture was closed but I did not get my camera out in time and it moved further away. We have lots of wild life in New Jersey now. There is a group of Coyotes hanging out in Middletown and black bears have been breaking into houses in Vernon, NJ which is were Mountain Creek (Diablo) is located. We also have plenty of deer and geese as well.
After swinging through back to Holmdel I felt good and I decided I would ride Navesink River Road and take the Oceanic Bridge over to Rumson. As I was riding I noticed that the barges from Tuesday's fireworks show were being moved down the river. As luck would have it I got to the Oceanic just in time to see both barges pass. The first barge could get underneath the bridge without raising but the second barge had a crane on it. I got to the other side just in time for the bridge to be raised. I decided I would watch and take some pictures.
One of the two control towers on the bridge.
I decided to take a self portrait.
One of the many large houses that line the Navesink River.
Once I got over the bridge and completed my picture taking I rode into Red Bank and I stopped at Smoothie King. Since I had already rode much further than I planned I decided I could take a break and enjoy a Power Punch Plus. It was a nice day to sit on the bench outside the store and people watch.
While I kind of took it easy today I did try to sprint the hills as often as I could. One of the things I like about riding the Langster is that even an easy ride is challenging since you have no choice but to push the hills. In most cases this means getting up out of the saddle. I also concentrate on not coasting. Even though I am only riding a 42 - 16 I peddle on the downhills as well. Although it does not really make that much of a difference.
I am planning on riding a group ride on Sunday morning. Group rides are not really my thing but I am going to try it out. The Jersey Shore Touring Society is riding from Brookdale Community College in Middletown to the Manasquan Reservoir. I will need to get myself out of bed early in order to make the 8 AM start. If I take the direct route it should take me less than 30 minutes to get to the start point from my house. I am going to give that B pace a try. If I had the Specialized Tarmac I might go for the A pace.
No comments:
Post a Comment