October 19, 2023 - Tannersville, PA, to Hackettstown, NJ

Start: Tannersville, PA
End: Hackettstown, NJ
Miles: 54.0
Feet climbing per mile: 75
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/137694987

I experienced some minor cramping around my left ankle in the middle of the night, the first cramps of this trip. I think drinking more water and adding Trace Minerals 40,000 Volts! has been helpful in preventing cramps and dehydration.

I also had a dream that one of my water bottle cages was cracked. What do you think that means?

I wanted to get an early enough start to be able to catch the 4:51 train at Hackettstown which would arrive in Manhattan at 7:01, rather that the 7:06 train which would arrive at 9:23. I checked out of the hotel at 9:45, figuring that seven hours would be plenty of time to ride the distance of a little more than 50 miles.

I wore shorts rather than tights despite the temperature being only 46 as I departed, knowing that it would warm up. I felt fine dressed that way.

I was pleased that my route to Hackettstown did not include any of the road I had to walk two days prior. After five miles I found myself on a beautiful road with little traffic, although its right edge was paved with chipseal.

Cherry Lane Road

One mile later a barn caught my attention.

I crossed Broadhead Creek at mile 11.

After crossing the creek I needed to pee. The sign below said that several actions were prohibited but there was no mention of urination, so I relieved myself.

On this trip I saw many homes decorated for halloween, my favorite of which was the one shown below in East Stroudsburg.

Due to the construction at mile 15.2 I walked a short distance after which I rode through a few parking lots.

I was fascinated by the bridge I saw at mile 16.3 over Marshalls Creek next to the Minisink Hotel.

One would think the that Minisink Hotel is a hotel, but it is not. It's a bar and restaurant. The article about it at Pocono Go includes the following:

The Minisink has a storied history: originally erected in the 1740s, it has served as a stagecoach stop, a general store, and a hotel. The Minisink has persevered for over 250 years, and now it’s a place to pop in for a quick burger and a beer.

I recognized the Minisink Hotel from the second day of a three-day trip I took in October of 2020 (October 5, 2020 - Stroudsburg, PA, to Port Jervis, NY, and return). After continuing past the Minisink Hotel I saw the hotel where I stayed three years ago and the restaurant where I ate both of my dinners. At mile 17.5 I stopped at Doughboy's of the Poconos Pizza to get a slice. Again I ask where do people get the idea that a plural is formed with an apostrophe?

I asked for the slice to be plenty hot. This time, in contrast to the slice I had for yesterday's lunch, my slice for breakfast had a crispy crust.

For the 16.6 miles after leaving Doughboy's (sic) I would ride roads I had taken three years ago (October 4-6, 2020 - Stroudsburg, PA), including the walkway over the Delaware River which is part of the Appalachian Trail.

The scenery was so beautiful that after leaving the bridge I stopped to take another video.

I was soon on Old Mine Road which I remembered from my trip three years ago. Although the scenery was gorgeous and the traffic was light, the surface was often broken requiring me to moderate my speed. I'm not surprised that this would be the case on a road that is closed in the winter.

Old Mine Road

In the video below you can see of the damage to the road as well as the Delaware River which is often visible from Old Mine Road.

At mile 30.5 was the beginning of a climb I had to walk for eight tenths of a mile three years ago. I had chosen to take the route that included that climb three years ago and again this time in order to avoid riding five treacherous mile south on Route 611 in order to cross the Delaware River at Portland. I knew about Route 611 because I had ridden it on the first day of my trip three years ago (October 4, 2020 - Newark, NJ, to Stroudsburg, PA). I wondered how I would do this time on that steep climb at mile 30.5. I took the picture below where I started to walk. As usual, the picture does not capture how steep the climb actually is. I wonder whether a video might show it better. This time I walked about the same distance I had three years ago.

Millbrook Road

The climb was so steep that pushing my bike up the hill was quite a challenge. I took the picture below about two thirds through my walk.

The climb was followed by a descent of a few miles in which my top speed was 37 miles per hour. As I began the descent I called out the following from Aphorisms and Exhortations:

Who goes up gets to come down!

At mile 37.4 my route turned onto Millbrook Gate Road. I presume the picture below is of the Millbrook Gate.

I don't know why I didn't try to open the gate, which would have allowed me to go more directly to the Blairstown Diner about a mile away. Instead I followed the path indicated by the red line below rather than the blue line.

At the Blairstown Diner, famous for the making of the movie Friday the 13th, I enjoyed a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Having ridden 38 miles I had encountered almost no traffic. That changed immediately after leaving the diner as I rode 1.6 miles east on Route 94, but then I was again on backcountry roads.

Mill Road

At mile 43.1 an old building caught my attention.

After I took a picture of the building I saw a sign identifying it but did not stop to take a picture of the sign. Fortunately I was able to find one on HMdb.org which has information about the building. By the way, a gaol is a jail.

Starting at mile 48.5 I rode Route 517 for 4.2 miles. There was heavy traffic but fortunately only the first half mile did not have a shoulder. The only other heavy traffic I encountered this day was on Route 94 for 1.6 miles which I mentioned previously. So there was heavy traffic on only 5.8 miles out of a total of 54.

I arrived at the Hackettstown train station at 4:35, just 16 minutes before the train would depart. It's a good thing I left my hotel at 9:45 rather than 10:00.

* * *

On this four-day trip I rode a total of 184.4 miles (46.1 miles per day) and averaged 76 feet per mile of climbing. Both this trip and the trip I took to Jim Thorpe in June (June 5-9, 2023 - Jim Thorpe Camping Resort, PA) followed the same plan:

1. Train from Manhattan to outside the city / Ride to point A where I spend the night
2. Ride to point B where I spend two nights
3. Ride a loop
4. Ride to point C / Train to Manhattan

I will continue to use this plan or variations of it because it allows me to ride farther away from Manhattan than I already have.

This month marks the three-year anniversary of starting to take multi-day trips after returning from my 90-day 4,500-mile trip in 2019. Since October of 2020 I have taken a total of eighteen such trips. On Multi-Day Trips you can find links to pages with links to my blog posts about those trips. Below is the map that shows each of my trips since October of 2020 with one color per trip. There are more trips than colors so some of the colors are used for more than one trip.

Multi-day trips October 2020-October 2023

My experience near the end of my ride on the second day got me thinking that I need to avoid arriving at my destination during rush hour, especially if I'm going to be on a road without a decent shoulder. My fatigue along with with the heavy fast traffic because the drivers are familiar with the route and in a hurry to get home is a dangerous combination.

I was surprised that some of the roads without shoulders had as much traffic as I encountered. I wonder whether there are heatmaps available showing how heavy traffic is.

On this trip I travelled roads I had previously ridden as well as new roads. I enjoy the experience of riding somewhere familiar far from home. The more that happens the more I feel that I own all the territory shown in the map above. On the other hand I always plan my trips to include a large portion of roads I have not already ridden, thereby expanding that territory.

On the third day of this trip I asked you to guess what I had for dinner based on a picture of what I had my waitress wrap for me to take home. Below is a picture of the unwrapped items. What do you think I did with the bones when I returned home? Please post your guess in the comments.

It's now one year since I was well enough to take a trip after the severe stiffness I experienced due to inflammation starting in February of 2022. I'm glad to have all that trouble behind me. You can find links to my reports about my health here: Health

Previous day: October 18, 2023 - Tannersville, PA loop

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