April 10, 2024 - Milford, PA, to Hackettstown, NJ

Start: Milford, PA
End: Hackettstown, NJ
Miles: 47.2
Feet climbing per mile: 90
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/162989274

For this day I had originally planned to ride the 11 miles from Milford to Port Jervis and then catch the 1:35 train to Manhattan, but I realized that another option would be to ride about 45 miles to Hackettstown and catch the 4:51 train from there. I created two routes, 4A Milford, PA, to Hackettstown, NJ and 4B Milford, PA, to Hackettstown, NJ. The 4A route was based on my ride from Milford to Newark in December of 2020, but avoided a section of Route 206 that had no shoulder and a lot of traffic by traveling against traffic on a one-way section of a road through the forest. The 4B route avoided some of that section of 206 but included the rough section of Old Mine Road that I rode on the first day of this trip. I decided to ride the first 15.4 miles of 4A and the final 31.2 miles of 4B and created 4 Milford, PA, to Hackettstown, NJ.

When I got on the road at 10:15 the rain was more than a drizzle but forecasted to stop by 11:00. After riding a third of a mile I stopped at Café Wren to enjoy a hot chocolate and piece of banana bread while I waited for the rain to stop. When I was in Milford in 2020 the space occupied by Café Wren had been the Sparkomatic Cafe & Talkhouse. Café Wren had a comfortable vibe similar to that of the Sparkomatic Cafe & Talkhouse.

I had read that my iPhone 12 mini is water-resistant with a rating of IP68 which means it's fully protected from dust and can handle being underwater for up to 30 minutes at a depth of 6 meters, and that if it gets dropped in a puddle or a shallow pool, or gets wet from the rain, it will be just fine. I therefore kept my phone on its handlebar mount as I rode from the motel to the cafe. The rain had stopped when I left the cafe shortly before 11:00, but when I connected my phone to the external battery I saw the message below.

So while the phone is highly water-resistant, it can't be charged if water gets in the port. I put my phone in the handlebar bag and hoped its charging port would soon dry. I knew that I could switch to my backup phone if the port were to take a long time to dry and its battery were to run too low to use.

I rode across the Delaware River on the walking/biking path. I self-servingly interpreted the "WALK BIKES" sign to mean not that bikes were to be walked but that both walking and biking are permitted on the path. I encountered nobody on the path as I crossed the river.

At mile 2.0 I crossed from Pennsylvania into New Jersey.

Looking northeast up the Delaware River

I was pleased the I was able to ride the entire 4-mile climb with average grade of 5% starting at mile 2.5. As I rode this climb I had the following thoughts:

Resist the urge to work harder on a long steep climb. The slower you can go the more likely you will make it to the top without needing to walk.

I have included those thoughts, inspired by Tom Reingold, in Aphorisms and Exhortations.

At mile 7.3 I turned on the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. What a beautiful surface this backroad had!

Grand Army of the Republic Highway

I stopped at mile 12.1 to appreciate the view from the lookout.

Although I had to walk three times will on the backroads that allowed me to avoid that nasty section of Route 206, the surface of the road was beautiful from start to finish. Furthermore on the 7-mile section where I was riding against the posted one-way signs, I encountered only two vehicles. I wonder why those roads are one-way, since they're wide enough for two vehicles to go in opposite directions at slow speed.

For the last few weeks I had been having trouble with the contact lens for my right eye. I had good vision when the lens would settle into place, but it was rare that it did that. I had been concerned that the reason for the problem was that I wasn't making enough tears for my right eye, or that my right eye had become irritated. For a few days before I left on this trip I decided to not wear the right lens in order to let my eye heal. During that time I rode my bike wearing only my left lens. I was glad that my vision was sufficient with just the left lens so that I could be safe on my bike and that I could take this trip if the problem did not resolve itself.

During the first two days of this trip I wore both lenses, but on the third day I removed the right lens because the irritation was so strong. I rode about half of the third day with just the left lens. After completing my ride on the third day I wondered whether maybe it was the lens itself that was the problem. I inserted a brand new lens (I always carry a fresh pair) onto my right eye and immediately the lens settled into place. I was relieved that the problem had been the lens and not my inadequate production of tears.

On this day, while again riding with lenses in both eyes, I had a renewed appreciation for my binocular vision. The forest in the photo below appeared to me fully three dimensional.

At mile 28.4 I saw a dam on Paulins Kill.

Almost four hours into my ride I could still not charge my phone. Eventually I was able to do so, but I don't recall when that was.

At mile 30.0 I saw a hazard on the road which I brought home with me.

At mile 36.0 I passed a street sign that caught my interest. At first I wasn't going to take a picture, but then I remembered Michael Court, one of my classmates from grade school.

The route this day had been excellent, but at mile 41.7 I had to walk almost half a mile on the grass to the right of the road, Route 517, because there was heavy traffic and no shoulder. Later, on 517, there was again heavy traffic and no shoulder but I was descending fast so I did not walk.

I arrived at the Hackettstown train station at 4:15, 40 minutes before the train would depart. At the Newark Broad Street station I transferred to a train that would take me to Penn Station. I needed to pee shortly before the train was to arrive in Newark and did not think I had enough time to use a restroom. Can you guess how I solved my problem? There's a clue in the picture below. Although it was rush hour, the second train was rather empty, and there was plenty of room for my bike. 

I arrived at Penn Station about 7:15 and was home a few minutes later.

* * *

The stuff sack for my jacket and other items secured to the top of my trunk bag worked well. Likewise for the spare tire secured underneath my rear rack. So my plan to carry those items was successful.

In my post for the third day of this trip I wrote about the uneven braking due to my wheels going out of true. At home I do an excellent job of truing my wheels using a truing stand, but when I tried to true them on this trip, of course without a truing stand, I couldn't figure out how to do it. I was going to use the brake pads to show me the deviations from true, but holding up the bike with one hand in order to get a wheel off the floor made the truing task impossible. I now realize that I should have turned the bike upside down.

I wrote above about heavy traffic and no shoulder on Route 517 near the end of my ride. After I returned home I created the route 4 Milford, PA, to Hackettstown, NJ - 517 bypass that avoids the problematic section of 517. That route is 6.4 miles longer than 4 Milford, PA, to Hackettstown, NJ, a price I will be willing to pay when riding to Hackettstown from the north.

On this four-day trip I rode a total of 169.7 miles and averaged 76 feet of climbing per mile. I wrote in my post for the first day of this trip that while about to go to sleep I wondered whether I could be ready for my cross-country trip this summer. I was exhausted on the second day from my ride on the first, but I felt better on the third day and still better on the fourth day when I did less walking of steep hills and even attacked a few of the hills near the peak.

The day after I arrived home I bought my airline ticket to Portland. I will fly June 30th.

Previous day: April 9, 2024 - Honesdale, PA, to Milford, PA

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