Popular Post TrentonMakes Posted August 12, 2017 Popular Post Share #1 Posted August 12, 2017 Photos will be forthcoming but I'm too lazy right now. I put the bike on the car and drove about 30 miles upriver to Frenchtown, so I could explore some roads to the north. In Phillipsburg, NJ the front tire went flat. First flat on these Gatorskins - instantly I remembered the problems I had getting them mounted. Thankfully I had a pretty easy time - I doubt I was stopped for more than 15 minutes. [sigh of relief] I briefly crossed the river to Easton and rode up the hill to Lafayette College - nice place. Many years ago for work I had to do parking counts there and I ended up doing it on the bike - so these were some of the only roads on the route that I'd ridden before. The real goal of this ride was to try "Fiddler's Elbow Road" which showed up on some lists of the toughest climbs in the state. It climbs about 540 feet over 8/10 mile. I was humbled, my friends. No no, more like - I got my ass handed to me, my friends. I had to stop three times - and then I got to the really steep part, which supposedly exceeds 20% and I believe it. I must confess I walked a little bit of this climb and even that hurt. I simply couldn't get enough momentum to clip in and get going. I don't remember the last time I had to walk a hill, and this might have been the first time since I got back on the bike three years ago. Around mile 50 I developed a craving for a slice of pizza and a coke - and I ended up riding around a town for five miles looking for a place. Around here if you're in town you can't spit without hitting a pizza shop but this wasn't Trenton, I guess. I rolled back to the car, exhausted, with 69 miles (almost a record) and 4,500 climbing feet (1200 feet more than my previous best). Happy happy. 8 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share #2 Posted August 14, 2017 well, I said I would post photos of Saturday's ride, so I will honor that promise - but they aren't as nice as TK's. Soon after I repaired my flat tire I crossed the Delaware River from Phillipsburg NJ to Easton PA (pictured). This bridge is a work of art (and an old one). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share #3 Posted August 14, 2017 Just upstream is the highway bridge (US 22) that superseded the one pictured above. The river's running pretty high for August. Back in NJ, riding along the river above Phillipsburg. No worries - I was wearing my helmet! I actually did see a few stones on the road that seemed to have come from above. The slope at left is on the other side of the river. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share #4 Posted August 14, 2017 Finally, the main event. It started innocently enough... ....but that didn't last. It already hurt and this wasn't the worst of it. I think I took this picture the third time I put a foot down. No way the photo can convey what I was looking at. Strava lists a 100-foot segment at 22.5%, on which I am currently ranked 544 out of 566. (Maybe I'm not the only one who walked it.) In my defense, just to get here I did a lot more climbing than I'd anticipated. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share #5 Posted August 14, 2017 Back down to civilization - Fiddlers Elbow Road ends at "Cass Brastle Road" (according to some maps). If I'd followed that east it would have taken me to "Brass Castle Road". That kills me. I thought a two-bore tunnel on a County highway under a railroad was unusual. CR 519 consistently shows up on lists of NJ's most scenic roads - this was just south of Route 57. It was around this time I was seriously looking for a place to get a slice of pizza. I don't usually get strong food cravings while riding - the fact that I did today suggested that I'd better do it quickly. On the home stretch, southbound below Phillipsburg, looking at the Delaware River Bridge to Riegelsville, PA. I really hope they keep up with the maintenance of these bridges, because if they ever have to be reconstructed I doubt they will be as nice to look at. Between Phillipsburg and Milford, NJ, a lot of the road alongside the river looks like this - railroad tracks and a one- or two-lane road squeezed in between the rock cliffs and the river. This is the old Belvidere-Delaware line - closer to home the tracks have been removed, creating the "towpath" along the canal. I didn't realize how much of this track is still intact. thanks for lookin'. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 14, 2017 Share #6 Posted August 14, 2017 Great ride! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Kosciuszko Posted August 14, 2017 Share #7 Posted August 14, 2017 On 8/12/2017 at 6:14 PM, TrentonMakes said: I had to stop three times - and then I got to the really steep part, which supposedly exceeds 20% and I believe it. I believe you're duly entitled to rename this post "The Fiddler's Elbow Death March". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtyhip Posted August 14, 2017 Share #8 Posted August 14, 2017 You would tear my legs off. Tall people have some mad pedal strokes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parr8hed Posted August 14, 2017 Share #9 Posted August 14, 2017 nice pics! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share #10 Posted August 14, 2017 5 minutes ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said: I believe you're duly entitled to rename this post "The Fiddler's Elbow Death March". But the difference between your ride and mine is that I went up there knowing how steep that hill was going to be. 3 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said: You would tear my legs off. Tall people have some mad pedal strokes. That's true but I still have 240 pounds to carry up the hill. And only a double chainring... my granny gear is a 34x32. I averaged 1.6mph for that steepest segment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted August 14, 2017 Share #11 Posted August 14, 2017 1 minute ago, TrentonMakes said: I averaged 1.6mph for that steepest segment. Yikes, I can't go that slow, I'd tip over. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share #12 Posted August 14, 2017 1 minute ago, Square Wheels said: Yikes, I can't go that slow, I'd tip over. That was on foot! (and I still almost tipped over - backwards) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Kosciuszko Posted August 14, 2017 Share #13 Posted August 14, 2017 6 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said: That's true but I still have 240 pounds to carry up the hill. No way! You don't look it, for whatever that may be worth. 7 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said: 1.6mph Well, I admit I almost feel a little better that I managed to hold a blazing 2.3mph with a 39x27 on the steepest grade I rode yesterday. A true testament of how stubborn stupidity and irrational, inflated pride can combine to accomplish something entirely inconsequential! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share #14 Posted August 14, 2017 8 minutes ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said: A true testament of how stubborn stupidity and irrational, inflated pride can combine to accomplish something entirely inconsequential! If you stayed on the bike and kept it moving forward, that's hardly inconsequential. I so badly wanted to do the same. When I was younger I was far too quick to get off the bike and walk when the road went up. I have made it my mission to ride everything, even if I have to stop multiple times. Slow and steady in a low gear has been serving me well, but not this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtyhip Posted August 14, 2017 Share #15 Posted August 14, 2017 36 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said: That was on foot! (and I still almost tipped over - backwards) On steeps, my garmin sometimes shuts off. This means I am traveling slower than 2.5 mph. So, I try REAL hard to never have it do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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