TrentonMakes Posted July 21, 2014 Share #1 Posted July 21, 2014 I grew up riding little two-lane country roads in upstate New York. Now I live in New Jersey but I'm really in a great area for riding. The town just north of me has a whole lot of roads that look very similar to what I used to ride. I feel silly for going so long without taking advantage of it. People who think New Jersey looks like what you can see from the Turnpike are mistaken. A friend commented that it must have been windy! but those poles just lean that way. Chip seal! (or what we always called "oil and stone") - I avoided these growing up, as my town loved it, but this actually wasn't so bad. Still a shame as this is a great road. (One of the clips on the seat pack is broken but it seems stable enough) Looking back down "Goat Hill Road" which I'd just climbed I cut the ride a little short because I had someplace to be (and, well, my legs were feeling it) - ended up on this road that reminded me of "days gone by". I noted on FB that a hill on this road surprised me - looks like it was about 3/10 mile at 6.6%. I'm sure that's a walk in the park for most of you. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gump Posted July 21, 2014 Share #2 Posted July 21, 2014 Nice, thanks for sharing. I had never heard "chip seal" until I started on the forums. We too always call it "stone and oil" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted July 21, 2014 Share #3 Posted July 21, 2014 Thanks for sharing. I tend to ride a fair amount of chip seal. My county is very good a keeping up the back roads. That means lots of good routes. It also means a fair amount of fresh chip seal each year. Most of my routes are in good shape to ride after one year of vehicle traffic. I take the good with the bad. I have a couple of favorite roads that were chip sealed this year and surprisingly, they are still good to ride with the fresh stuff on them (fortunate). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted July 21, 2014 Share #4 Posted July 21, 2014 Looks like a beautiful place to ride, or did you photoshop out all of the cars? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted July 21, 2014 RE the chip seal, this road was just done within the last month or two. The car tracks are pretty smooth; a little washboarding here and there. But there's a pile of looser stuff along each edge you have to stay out of. There's very little traffic which is good because if a car's coming I'm not moving over into the soft stuff for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted July 21, 2014 Share #6 Posted July 21, 2014 RE the chip seal, this road was just done within the last month or two. The car tracks are pretty smooth; a little washboarding here and there. But there's a pile of looser stuff along each edge you have to stay out of. There's very little traffic which is good because if a car's coming I'm not moving over into the soft stuff for them. I understand the loose stuff on the edge. My county comes back a couple weeks after the chip seal is done and uses one of those tractor mounted brushes and brushes the stuff out into the road surface to get smashed down into the tar by the traffic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted July 21, 2014 Share #7 Posted July 21, 2014 How come all the power poles lean up there? This bothers me. Can you please have them straightened and then retake the pictures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted July 21, 2014 Share #8 Posted July 21, 2014 How come all the power poles lean up there? This bothers me. Can you please have them straightened and then retake the pictures? The poles are straight. It's the terrain that's crooked. Duh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Kosciuszko Posted July 21, 2014 Share #9 Posted July 21, 2014 People who think New Jersey looks like what you can see from the Turnpike are mistaken. If it's not near an Exit, it's not New Jersey! My daughter was looking at a house near Titusville. It's a nice area around there. Someday I'd like to ride the D&R trail and see Tumble Falls. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share #10 Posted July 21, 2014 My daughter was looking at a house near Titusville. It's a nice area around there. Yep, Titusville is the next zip code up the river from us. Titusville "proper" is a strip of old, well-maintained homes along the river, and I've ridden through it on almost all of my rides so far this year. The location of the chip seal photo probably has a Titusville address. I've ridden a bit on the canal towpaths both NE and NW of Trenton but I can't say I'm familiar with Tumble Falls.... time to Google. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destination Posted July 21, 2014 Share #11 Posted July 21, 2014 How come all the power poles lean up there? This bothers me. Can you please have them straightened and then retake the pictures? The poles are straight. It's the terrain that's crooked. Duh. In the Arctic, there are "drunken forests" where the trees are at all sorts of angles. This is because of the permafrost. I didn't know New Jersey had the same Arctic conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingtermite Posted July 21, 2014 Share #12 Posted July 21, 2014 Looks like a nice ride. How are the drivers in your area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share #13 Posted July 21, 2014 Looks like a nice ride. How are the drivers in your area? There are a fair number of cyclists riding these back roads so I think drivers on those are used to it. Cars usually pass with plenty of space, and twice I had a car just slow and follow me until they could see the other direction - both with friendly waves which was nice. But on the busier roads, most drivers aren't going to let a cyclist slow them down. They'll go past at speed, giving me a lot less room than I'd like. I know this is the case most everywhere I've ridden (Portland, ME being a possble exception). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySTL ★ Posted July 21, 2014 Share #14 Posted July 21, 2014 This is from one of the funniest movies ever: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted July 21, 2014 Share #15 Posted July 21, 2014 This is from one of the funniest movies ever: Encino Man? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingtermite Posted July 21, 2014 Share #16 Posted July 21, 2014 This is from one of the funniest movies ever: Square Wheels HBO Comedy special: Hawaii or bust? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share #17 Posted July 21, 2014 Whatever it was, it looks like it might have been sponsored by Volkswagen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UglyBob Posted July 21, 2014 Share #18 Posted July 21, 2014 This is from one of the funniest movies ever: One of my all time favorites! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySTL ★ Posted July 21, 2014 Share #19 Posted July 21, 2014 Whatever it was, it looks like it might have been sponsored by Volkswagen. There was an early 60's VW Beetle in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted July 21, 2014 Share #20 Posted July 21, 2014 One of my all time favorites! This makes me mad, mad, mad that you know it and I don't.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share #21 Posted July 21, 2014 There was an early 60's VW Beetle in it. Was there a number 53 on the hood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted July 21, 2014 Share #22 Posted July 21, 2014 LOVE that movie!! And Trenton, you are going to have to take me out on those roads. That looks beautiful.... leaning power poles and all!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokey Posted July 22, 2014 Share #23 Posted July 22, 2014 Was there a number 53 on the hood? What in the World are you talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySTL ★ Posted July 22, 2014 Share #24 Posted July 22, 2014 What in the World are you talking about? Another movie with a VW Beetle in it. In fact #53 was the star of that movie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted July 22, 2014 Share #25 Posted July 22, 2014 What in the World are you talking about? woosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokey Posted July 22, 2014 Share #26 Posted July 22, 2014 Another movie with a VW Beetle in it. In fact #53 was the star of that movie! Yeah...It's a shame that Herbie and Spencer never met. I'm sure they had a lot in common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randomguy Posted July 22, 2014 Share #27 Posted July 22, 2014 Now I live in New Jersey I am so sorry to hear that. You can always move, though! Anyway, nice pics, it is always fun seeing where people ride. I was near you over the weekend, the wife had a triathlon near Princeton, and it looked pretty nice for riding. Everything looks nice for riding to me, though, Prospect Park is kind of confining as far as rides go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoseySusan Posted July 22, 2014 Share #28 Posted July 22, 2014 Looks like a beautiful ride. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
az_cyclist Posted July 22, 2014 Share #29 Posted July 22, 2014 Great pics, Trenton. Some of them remind me of roads I would ride in Indiana 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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