Giro di Jersey

   I don’t intend to write too much this week, since I’m down at the shore relaxing, but I’ll probably start rambling, as usual. While my memories are still fresh, I want to detail my annual (I guess you can call it that, now that I’ve done it for two consecutive years) ride to Stone Harbor. I started off last Friday morning as some overnight rain clouds were clearing, and the trip went tremendously well.

   I can attribute much of the success to my top-level conditioning, due to the longer rides I’ve been doing the past few weeks. However the favorable wind direction played a large part in reducing the fatigue that had set in fairly early during last year’s trip when gusts were hitting me directly in the face. I was amazed this time around to even have the wind at my back coming down the causeway onto 7-mile Island - a HUGE plus coming “down the homestretch”. I bet that only happens for me once or twice a whole summer when I’m riding down here!

   Not happy with last year’s route, which crossed through plenty of South Jersey farmland and left me exposed to the buffeting winds, as well as the baking sun, I plotted a course a bit further east, putting me more immediately into the shelter of the forested regions. I also thought I would enjoy the ride more if I shaved off some miles/reduced the saddle time, so I parked at my brother-in-law’s place in West Conshohocken then took Septa Regional Rail to Temple University and started from there. I ended up totaling just over 80 miles, compared to last year’s 90.

   Overall I found that the road conditions on this route were a great improvement as well, although I still couldn’t avoid the nasty conditions through the greater Camden area. The old concrete slab paving in and around the city was cracked or had shifted into wide gaps that were treacherous for my narrow road tires! Several bad sections had “temporary” (actually seemed to have been there for years) steel sheets anchored into the road, which proved dangerous not only because the thickness of the joints threatened pinch flats, but the surface was worn to shiny smoothness. I just assumed the steel lacked any kind of traction and tried to weave around them, although some of these sheets covered the whole lane!

   For the most part I took smaller county roads (as pictured on right) and avoided the larger highways, but I was pleased to find short sections of Route 73 and the Black Horse Pike that I had to traverse were quite pleasant. Besides having super-smooth paving, each highway featured enormous shoulders, often a full lane or more wide, which makes you forget the cars and trucks whizzing by at 55+ mph. AND the streets were completely free of the usual roadside debris. I’m not sure what steps the state is taking to make this wonderful condition a reality, but Pennsylvania really needs to use Jersey as an example on this one!

   The average bicycle-tourist wanting a flat shore ride probably would not have liked the stiff climb I included just south of Clementon to the aptly-named area of Pine Hill, but much like my other South Jersey ride this spring, I enjoyed the break in monotony and getting out of the saddle a bit. Speaking of which, I made a habit of occasionally switching into a bigger gear and doing “slow sprints”, standing on the pedals to flex the muscles and give my backside some blood flow!

   Unfortunately, no matter how many times I tried to keep loose by shaking my arms out to my sides or sat back and stretched them over my head or rolled my shoulders up to my ears or twisted my elbows across my body, I could not prevent my neck and shoulders from becoming numb from about the three-quarter-mark of the ride, onward. I have some issues for which I’ve had physical therapy treatments in the past, and I think it’s time for a repeat session!

  Perhaps my most memorable moment (for pure entertainment value) during the journey was provided by some nutty college kids stopped at an intersection, leaning out of their car windows. They hooted and yelled, insisting that I high-five them as I rode by, then repeatedly honked their horn and waved frantically as they went back past me. However, my two favorite segments of the ride included a 7-mile stretch on Atlantic Avenue along the former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Line, through several small communities, such as Audubon, Haddon Heights and Magnolia (photo left), that have beautifully restored/maintained their railroad stations. The other was an 18-mile portion of Route 50, most of which was newly paved! 

   Among “best moments” I might have considered the two Wawa stops along the way to fill my bottles with cool water, but those occasions weren’t exactly on the road.