Rain, rain go away. After five straight days of rain, enough already! Anyway, I got a small window today to get out and get the blood flowing through my legs again. I had more than the required recovery period, following last weekend’s monster ride.

I decided to do a road ride and stay out of the mud and puddles that cover the gravel roads and trails.

Matt at Action Bikes and Outdoor, suggested a route that covered some familiar roads and some new ones. I headed out under the dark grey skies at around 3:30pm. After navigating Milford, I pedaled across the bridge into Montague, NJ and up Deckertown Turnpike. Deckertown gets vertical immediately. You climb for just about 2 miles. A right on New Road and nice spin through the quiet Autum landscape. As you get to Rt. 206, Flatbrook Farm is on the left with their farm stand on the right side of the road, serving up fruits and veggies, fresh off the farm. It seems that this time of year, farm stands pop up all over the place, one of the perks of The Autum season.

A short ride on 206 and a left on Hotalen Road. Hotalen is a shaded street with very little traffic. It comes to a fork at the top. I missed the turn and went up the hill. At the top, I checked the map on my phone and spun around. I should have veered right at the fork and descended Back down to Rt. 206. I wanted to get off the main drag, so I turned left on Bridges Way and right on Layton Hainsville Road.

After a flat mile, I hung a left on Jager Road and climbed up the backside and dropped down, making a sharp right on Old Mine Road. You can reach speeds of over 45mph on Jager, just be careful as Old Mine comes up rather quickly.

Old Mine Road is the quintessential country Road. The only problem this time of day is that the shadows on the road surface make it extremely difficult to see all the pot holes, even on this overcast day. So, I soft pedaled all the way to the Milford Bridge. As luck would have it, I got to ride about 10 mph, right next to a deer that was trotting along side of me for about 1000 feet. Not spooked, she just eased her way back into the woods. Crossing the bridge, I caught a glimpse of the early fall foliage on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River. I hope the weather cooperates and allows me a few rides a week this month as I have signed up for the Erie 80, a 50 Mile Mountain bike race in the Port Jervis  Watershed trail system, on October 29th. My lack of Mtb skills it are making me think I might have gotten over my head a bit on this one. We’ll see. I’ll detail that race very soon in another post.

What’s playing: (What am I listening to while writing or what’s dancing around in my head while riding) Today – Argent – Hold you head up