May 26, 2021 - Seaside Park, NJ, to Forked River, NJ, and Return

Start and end: Seaside Park, NJ
Turnaround: Forked River, NJ
Miles: 37.1
Feet climbing per mile: 25
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/67974966

I woke at 6:30 thinking it might be good to get up early in case I wanted to do the same the next day, but having already decided that I would catch a train home from South Amboy, I decided to go back to bed. I slept until 9:00. When I got up I planned a 37-mile route to replace the 73-mile route I had previously planned. I started my ride at 10:20. Instead of riding to Hot Diggity Dog in Chatsworth, I would first head to Double Trouble State Park and then to Mrs. Walker's Homemade Ice Cream before returning to my motel. Riding to Double Trouble instead of Hot Diggity meant cutting the mileage in half (and reversing the digits). I was hoping that my route would be through some rural territory.

There are two separate bridges across Barnegat Bay which connects the island to the mainland. The Thomas A. Mathis Bridge carries traffic eastbound, and the J. Stanley Tunney Bridge carries traffic westbound. As I approached the J. Stanley Tunney Bridge, I noticed that the westbound side of Route 37 had a shoulder where there was none on the eastbound side. There was also construction closing part of the right-hand lane on the westbound side, allowing me to ride safely in the lane. Finally, the sidewalk over the bridge was wider on the westbound side and I decided that on my return this day I would ride east on the westbound sidewalk. As I rode westbound in the morning, the traffic was light and so I was able to safely ride in the right-hand lane even beyond the construction.

The wikipedia article about Thomas A. Mathis says he was a Republican boss and racketeer who committed suicide in 1958. The wikipedia article about J. Stanley Tunney says he was mayor of Seaside Heights for 25 years.

I wore a black shirt because the forecast for Seaside Park showed a high of 75, and not until the mid afternoon. As I rode away from the ocean I soon realized that I should have worn a white shirt, but I wasn't going to add any extra crossings of the bay.

After about ten miles I was riding through what seemed to be a rural area. Three miles later I arrived at Double Trouble State Park.

One mile after leaving the park I was back in suburbia, and in six more miles I arrived at Mrs. Walker's Homemade Ice Cream. I had wondered whether they might serve black raspberry ice cream, and was pleased when I saw the sign saying they did.

The temperatures had risen to 88 so I enjoyed my double scoop of black raspberry inside the air-conditioned store. I had brought my camping utensils so I used my stainless steel spoon rather than a plastic one.

I asked where the ice cream was made and was told it was all made in the store.

Mrs. Walker's Homemade Ice Cream

Ten miles after I left Mrs. Walker's I stopped in Toms River at Huddy Park, the site of an attack by the British in 1782.

The park is named for Joshua Huddy, the commander of the fort attacked by the British. You can read about the attack and the subsequent hanging of Huddy here. After I left the park I rode up Robbins Street, so I must have gone past the site of the original fort.

I was puzzled by the lack of an apostrophe in the name "Toms River". I found the following in the wikipedia article about the town:

The settlement and the river were usually spelled "Tom's River" in its early days, though its current spelling has been standard since the middle of the 19th century.

The lack of an apostrophe bothers me, and I wonder why it was dropped. Here are a few possible reasons:

• There was a desire to save money on ink
• Nobody cared ("Apostrophe, shampostrophe!")
• It was in anticipation of the early 21st century when many people don't seem to know when and when not to use apostrophes

What do you think was the reason for dropping the apostrophe? Please let me know in the comments.

As I had planned earlier in the day, I crossed Barnegat Bay eastbound by riding on the sidewalk on the westbound bridge. Because of the strength of the winds and gusts, I ended up walking a substantial portion of the bridge. I arrived at my motel at 3:20.

A few days before I departed on this trip I wondered whether I might be able to submerge myself in the ocean. Several years ago I had gotten in extremely cold water by entering very slowly and staying calm. I don't know what the water temperature was that day. This day it was 62. I put on my swimsuit and headed to the shore.

I managed to enter the water only up to my ankles. Perhaps I would have gotten farther if I had taken more time and if I had not been so tired from riding in the heat for two days.

After a shave, shower, and change of clothes, I walked again to Klee's Bar & Grill for dinner. I was still hungry after eating a hamburger, sweet potato fries, and mixed vegetables, so I order a piece of carrot cake. It was ok, but nowhere near as good as the one I made for my previous birthday. I should have ordered the cheesecake. You can see a picture of the cake I made here.

As I left Klee's I saw that it was pouring and the streets were flooded. Although I had checked the weather forecast before I left my motel, I missed the part about the heavy rain, so I had not brought my windbreaker. My Dark Sky Weather app correctly showed that the rain would stop for a while in about 15 minutes. The rain soon let up and I headed back to my motel.

After revising my route home in order to avoid almost all of Route 34, I went to bed at 10:30 after watching two early episodes of Big Bang Theory.

My post about the previous day: May 25, 2021 - New York, NY, to Seaside Park, NJ
My post about the next day: May 27, 2021 - Seaside Park, NJ, to South Amboy, NJ