Delawhere did all these hills come from?

   I drove out to The First State a few days ago to meet up with someone who does the same thing as me, at least as far as building up project bikes for resale. Paul, however, works mostly on modern machines and also stays away from the repair work. He had a couple of bicycles I wanted to check out, and I was also hoping he might have some parts I was having trouble finding to complete some of my own builds.

   I had brought along my Colnago, with the plan of taking a ride around Hockessin after visiting my new bicycle connection. My sister-in-law Sandy used to live west of this area, just across the border in Pennsylvania, so I was well aware that this part of Delaware, unlike the majority of the state on the Delmarva peninsula, is quite hilly. In fact, it has some absolutely brutal inclines!

   It did not help that it was a windy day (we've had very few days in 2022 that haven't been), and shortly after leaving the library lot onto Southwood Road, I was smacked in the face by a stiff breeze and a long drag that was an unwelcome wake-up call for my legs. The idea of "every downhill means an uphill" quickly crossed my mind as I turned right on Route 7, crossed Gap Newport Pike and rode along Red Clay Creek, which winds clockwise, roughly around the perimeter of Hockessin.

   I later mentioned to some friends that there were some really pretty sections of the ride, which were unfortunately very difficult to get to, and I referred to a particularly leg-busting triumvirate of nasty climbs. The first two were on Mount Barley Road, near Mt. Cuba Center and then before my righthand connection with Centerville Road. The other was an exhausting 2-1/2-mile drag up Lancaster Pike and through Westgate Farms.

   There were very few flat sections of road anywhere on this route so far, and I actually yelled out, "Enough of the hills already!" as I made my way west on Graves and Mendenhall Mills Roads and met up with Route 7 again. I turned left and eventually linked up with Papermill Road, which had a nice wide shoulder/bike lane most of the way to White Clay Creek Park.

   It seems some of this trail area had been newly paved, because it was yet to be marked on GoogleMaps, but it roughly followed the old Whitley Farms Trail west from Smithmill Road. I really enjoyed weaving through the forest, sheltered from the winds that had picked up even more as the afternoon wore on. I eventually reached Nine Foot Road (Fairhill School Drive) and then rode northwest on Thompson Station Road. This was a really cool place (literally and figuratively) to ride, as the upper section was closed to traffic, and I can't imagine this densely-forested gorge gets much sunlight any time of the year!

   I pedaled through the small community of Corner Ketch and took on (thankfully) the last couple of short, punchy climbs as I zigzagged over to Star and Valley Roads for a wonderful flat out, big-ring spin back to the library lot. I laughed to myself later as I saw the course I had plotted on MapMyRide and clicked the "delete" button, knowing I would not be returning to this grueling route!

   By the way, I picked up two bicycles that day, which made for a crowded cargo area of my Honda Fit, but I had brought along some padding just in case. The first is a 2006 Giant TCR C2, a lightweight carbon bicycle equipped with Ultegra components. The bike is intended for a friend's daughter to try out, but if there is a change in plans, I'll alert you to its availability:

   The other is a 2004 Cannondale R800, featuring a classy looking aluminum frame painted in blood red, white and sparkling gold. This machine has been upgraded with modern 105 and Ultegra parts:

   Another project I neglected to mention earlier is a 1980s Vicini. The company shop was in the city of Cesena, in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, just to the northwest of San Marino. Granted, Mario Vicini did not have the level of racing success that other legendary builders like Merckx, Bottecchia and Moser experienced, but Vicini did win the 1939 Italian championship, finished second and sixth in his two attempts at the Tour de France, and won three stages of the 1939 Giro d'Italia, placing third overall.

   The frame had been badged up for the O'Neill racing team of that era, but I have removed those decals and will be applying the appropriate vintage Vicini replacements. I will equip the bike with mostly Campagnolo Nuovo Record gruppo.

   Speaking of Italian cyclists, I heard recently that Vincenzo Nibali plans to retire after this season. Nibali is an absolute LEGEND, being one of the select few to have won each of the three Grand Tours, including the Giro d'Italia twice. He claimed titles twice at Tirreno-Adriatico, the Giro di Lombardia and the Italian Road Championships. Perhaps his favorite victory - and one of the most exciting bicycle race finishes you'll ever see - was at the 2018 Milano-San Remo.

   ...and if you didn't know, Nibali is a big reason for the presence of the Cannondale SuperSix 5 (in the colors of his former Liquigas team) among my bicycle collection. 

   I have only two regrets about the career of "The Shark of Mesina", one of which is very personal. I was attending the 2015 World Championships in Richmond, and at a pinch point in the course, the peloton came to a halt. The Italian star, fresh off his Tour de France victory that summer, put his hand out and balanced himself on the barriers right in front of me. I could have said, "Ciao..." or "Buongiorno, Vincenzo," but I was starstruck and froze.

   The other regret is that during his 2015 Tour win, rivals Chris Froome and Alberto Contador had both crashed out early in the race. Nibali was in absolutely fantastic form, and I would have enjoyed seeing him smack those two around a bit!

Buon viaggio, Vincenzo - you will be greatly missed!

   

Croton Badasses

   Well, Cycle Tech Sojourn #1 is in the books, and although I wish it had been a little better attended, the weather was perfect, and the ride was fantastic. The sun shone brightly, and there was just a bit of a chill in the air when we started across the George Washington Bridge a little before 11:00, but in short time we were warmed up by the nasty little hill that leads up to the Henry Hudson Bridge over Spuyten Duyvil (the creek that connects the Harlem and Hudson Rivers).

   Just a few days before the trip I had read that the Old Putnam Trail had been paved through Van Cortlandt Park up to the South County Trailway. That section had been an unpleasant experience back in 2016 when Sue and I had ridden this route, and since then I had been riding up along the bike lane on Broadway to a wickedly steep climb over to meet the Trailway. The new connection was smooth and flat, saving our legs for the rest of the trip.

   I knew that the Trailway had been resurfaced since my last visit, and it was wonderful! I told my friend Lee about the many sinkholes and tree root cracks/bumps that used to mark this path, and the four-inch thick asphalt ribbon that weaved up through Yonkers up to Elmsford was quite an improvement.

   A previous trip through here was in the reverse direction, so I apologized that I missed the new(er) connection to the North County Trailway, but I knew exactly where I was going and used the same detour Sue and I had used through the village to meet what was the original trailhead at the NCT's southern end.

   We had a little "butt break" at the trail lot in Pleasantville, then rode down the winding Sleepy Hollow Road to meet the quirky trailhead for the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park behind Sleepy Hollow High School. I love that their mascot is The Horsemen - check out the cool gameday photo:

   We had to take a bit of a detour around Lyndhurst Mansion on Jay Gould's estate, as there was a craft fair taking place, but we easily found our way back to the OCA. The trees along the trail were not yet full of leaves, so we were afforded fantastic views of the Hudson River and the rocky Palisade on the Jersey side. At Dobbs Ferry we stopped to talk to Eddy, the resident historian at the Keeper's House.

   Eddy was thrilled to hear where we were from, and was intrigued by the route we were pedaling from Ft. Lee and back. He said he loved the Philadelphia area, and I told him we were about a 1/2-hour northwest of the city, along the Schuylkill River. I quickly corrected myself, saying that phrase was repetitive, since Schuylkill means "hidden river", and he loved that fact, since New York has the Fishkill, Peekskill, Catskill, etc.

   Before allowing us to get back underway, he insisted on taking our photo, as he said we "looked so badass". Maybe it's because I'm not a cell phone user and don't have that desire to take a picture of everything, but it didn't even occur to me to give him an email address or anything to share his pic.

   From his bike Lee did snap this going-away shot of me climbing up away from our crossing of the High Bridge:

   Regrettably, I've had so much repair and tune-up work this spring that I haven't had much time to devote to my own projects. I did squeeze in some time to finish off the Pogliaghi build, and it is now included, along with its specs, on my For Sale page. I'll say goodbye with some photographs of that bike: