December 11, 2020 - New York, NY, to Milford, PA
End: Milford, PA
Miles: 75.8
Feet climbing per mile: 78
Record of today's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/60166627
I woke at 6:30 and was on the street at 7:20, shortly after sunrise. I thought I had left early enough to complete my ride of 75 miles before sunset which would be at 4:30. It was in the mid 30s, but I was dressed appropriately and therefore comfortable. I rode a mile to the subway station at 34th Street where I took three elevators to get to the platform. It might have been simpler to ride just a few blocks to the nearest subway station and carry my bike down the stairs. A train soon came and I arrived at Washington Heights about 8:00. I crossed the George Washington Bridge and headed northwest through suburban New Jersey. I had previously ridden the first nine miles of my route, but after that it would all be new, except for the last mile and a half which I had ridden on the second day of my trip to the Delaware Water Gap in October.
The sun was out and it soon became warmer. After about 23 miles I stopped at a Starbucks to have a hot chocolate and brownie. As usual, I asked for 10 pumps of chocolate sauce (they call it mocha even though it contains no coffee), whole milk, 180 degrees, and no whipped cream. I sat outside in the sun to enjoy my snack (no indoor seating due to COVID-19) and noticed that the hot chocolate was not hot enough. I didn't bother to have it remade, but later I saw that my receipt says "Kids Temp". I think there may be a problem with the way Starbucks has one person taking the order and another filling it. Maybe I need to see that the order taker has recorded my requests correctly and then ask the next person to tell me how he or she filled my order.
Prior to setting out on this trip I had posted my route to Milford on two Facebook groups as well as my own page, asking for comments from anyone who might be able to help me avoid dangerous roads. I am grateful to Andre Schan for the suggestions he made, all of which I followed. As a result I was always on safe roads.
|
| Near Henion Pond: Are these Christmas decorations? |
By the time I stopped at Starbucks the neighborhoods were feeling less suburban and more rural. At mile 39 I entered route 23, a 4-lane divided highway. Although there was a wide and smooth shoulder, I found the noise of moderate traffic traveling at 55 miles per hour or more to be tiring. This continued for seven miles, where I stopped at Dunkin' Donuts and had a hot chocolate. Although the server did her best to satisfy me by using steamed milk rather than water to dissolve the powder, the hot chocolate was much too sweet and not very chocolatey, with the powder poorly dissolved.
I continued on route 23, now a two-lane road, for another 14 miles. My recollection is that riding the entire 21 miles on route 23 was somewhat unpleasant although safe, but as I now use Google Street View to examine the road I'm a little surprised at my memory. Perhaps the first seven miles on 23 and the awful hot chocolate at Dunkin' Donuts affected the way I experienced (or recall) riding that stretch of road.
At mile 60 I left route 23 and turned onto Libertyville Road, which had little traffic. I was now in the country. It was only 2:30 but already feeling very late in the afternoon. I had two hours in which to ride 15 miles, which sounds easy but the toughest climbing of the day was ahead of me. I walked a half mile at mile 65 and a quarter mile at mile 68. For my work climbing, both on the bike and on foot, I was rewarded with a fast descent of four miles starting at mile 69.5.
|
| My view as I began to walk for a half mile |
It was almost sunset as I crossed the Delaware River. I arrived at my motel at 4:45, having ridden the final ten minutes in the dark.
|
| Looking northeast on the Delaware River |
I checked in to the Myer Country Motel (my choice based on a recommendation of Marion Appel) and chose a room with a king bed because it was so much larger than a room with a queen, and only $5 more per night. My first task was to recharge my electronics, and I discovered that I had left my two adapters at home. Fortunately Sharon from the motel was able lend me a charger. I can get along without underwear, which I neglected to take on my trip to New Paltz in November, but not without an adapter. After the New Paltz trip I had planned to make a checklist but never did. I will do so now.
I enjoyed a hot bath, shaved, put on my off-bike clothes, and walked three quarters of a mile to the Dimmick Inn & Steakhouse where I planned to eat dinner. The bar was full of people and I saw a group of about ten crowded in a booth wearing no masks. I think I might have left even if there hadn't been a half-hour wait for a table. I walked back to the Mildford Diner which I had passed on my way to Dimmick. The staff was wearing masks but not always over the nose. As I was paying for my dinner, I told the manager (maybe the owner) that I noticed many of the staff were careless about their masks. When he asked me what I meant, I said, "Your mask is not over your nose". He replied, "That depends on how you look at it". I told him the virus doesn't care how you look at it.
|
| I occupied the right half of the duplex |
Back in my room, reflecting on my ride that day, I thought that my route had been safe but not especially interesting, with too much of it being suburban or involving a moderate amount of high-speed traffic. On the positive side I recalled that almost all the drivers passing me gave me a lot a of space. Several drivers in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania were especially polite, signaling that they would wait for me to move when they saw I was in a difficult situation. Tom Reingold's question about whether I had ridden from Newark got me thinking I might be able to return to Newark rather than to Washington Heights. I used the new route planner on the RideWithGPS app and Street View on Google Maps to create a route from Milford to Andover where I would connect with the route I had ridden from Stroudsburg to Newark in October. My return home would be 80 miles rather than 76, to be done in nine hours of daylight.
My plan for the next day was a 77-mile ride to and around Lake Wallenpaupack. Before going to sleep I decided to shorten the ride, maybe just to and from the lake for a distance of 55 miles. I did not set an alarm but would wake whenever I did and depart whenever it was warm enough and I felt ready to ride.
Take pride in climbing steep hills, but no shame for walking them.
- John Link
Comments
Post a Comment