We had some impressive storms on Friday. My wife and I spent some time on the other side of town, on a mountain overlooking the valley, and we had amazing views of some thunderclouds, some up high and some hovering low, over the valley. Yet at the same time, other parts of the sky were blue.

We went for a drive and as we were headed up Bunker Hill Road, one of my usual cycling routes, the road was blocked and we suddenly had to stop. We later learned that there was a mudslide, and some trees had been knocked over by the storm. I sure am glad I wasn’t out riding there at the time!

Later, the rain stopped and the sun came out, and we were on the lookout for rainbows. As we drove up a big hill, sure enough, we spotted part of a beautiful rainbow.

We continued our drive, and I took her on the route I rode the previous weekend. That’s something we’ve taken to doing. A lot of times if we feel like going for a drive, I’ll take Sarah and show her a route I’ve ridden. It’s great to be able to share the places I find with her, even though she isn’t into cycling. And I always see things a bit differently, too.

We saw a lot of beautiful scenery that day, but the rainbow was the highlight of our trip.

Last March, I did a long ride that I really wasn’t prepared for (see Chain O’Lakes State Park). After a long winter, long rides early in the year can be very difficult. But I enjoyed that ride so much that on Saturday, I decided to do another early-season long ride. Of course, in this Pennsylvania terrain, a 40-mile ride is long. I seem to average about 10 mph in the mountains.

I had fun mapping out a route — but frankly I wasn’t sure I could handle it. It included a big climb to start, another huge climb on a gravel road about halfway through the ride, a jaunt through a bit of Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains, and trips on several gravel roads. Of note, the Garmin Mapsource software (and therefore my GPS as well) can be quite useful because it indicates gravel roads, something I wish Google Maps did. And so far, their data about which roads are gravel seems fairly reliable. Here’s the map and elevation profile.

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Elevation Profile

It was an abnormally warm day, pushing 60 degrees, with rain in the forecast. I was nearly certain it would rain — the radar was covered in green, indicating widespread rain clouds. So, I set out flanked in wool, prepared for the rain. I also took my old camera despite its non-functional display, not wanting to get my new camera wet. It wasn’t raining when I left home, and I felt a bit warm, but I was convinced this preparation would pay off.

Beginning a long ride with the Bunker Hill climb can be a little daunting, but it really seems to be the best way to get out of the valley. Still, starting any ride with an 800-foot climb hurts. And I was sweating more than usual since I was dressed for rain, which had yet to materialize.

After the Bunker Hill climb, I was on familiar roads for a bit longer. Soon I reached some new roads, and I enjoyed some beautiful scenery along the way.

Scenery along Wyoming Rd.

Barns

For a while, the scenery was pretty, but not overwhelmingly so. Soon, I encountered some other cyclists. This has been a very rare occurence for me in this area, so I was surprised. There were four or five of them, all riding racing bicycles — much lighter and faster than mine — and I rode with them briefly, but we soon parted ways. Even if we hadn’t, they would have dropped me quickly due to their superior conditioning and faster bicycles. I briefly contemplated the advantages of lightweight bicycles, but stopped to photograph the very beautiful Lake Catalpa.

Cyclists

Losing ground …

Lake Catalpa

The Trucker by Lake Catalpa

Me

Intriguing (but private) small road along the edge of Lake Catalpa

I rested for a few minutes, and enjoyed the scenery at the lake. I had done quite a bit of climbing, and at this point it started to pay off — the next five miles were mostly downhill. Not surprisingly, I didn’t take a lot of photos during this time.

Winding road by Lake Catalpa

Steep downhill

Waterfall

After that, I spent a while on PA Route 309. I was a little worried about this as 309 is quite a busy highway in the city, but it was not bad, and there were wide shoulders most of the time. I was still glad to get off 309 and onto quieter roads, but 309 was quiet doable out there. The surrounding mountains got bigger as I entered the Endless Mountains region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The route I planned had me riding up one of them on a gravel road. When I sketched the route, I wasn’t sure if I’d feel up for doing this, and planned a couple of ways to bail out if necessary. But my legs still felt fairly fresh, so I decided to go for it.

PA Route 309

Watch Children

Run-down house

I took a couple of meandering side roads before running into Dietz Mountain Road. This was the bad boy — a gravel road with a huge climb. I was pleasantly surprised to find the gravel surface was quite smooth, and the road was not muddy. I could hear a small stream rushing alongside the road. I passed a few houses here and there but overall this area was sparsely populated. The climb started out very gradual, but got steeper as it went along. Over the course of just under a mile and a half, the road rose some 500 feet. I had to stop a few times along the way — it took me 25 minutes to ride less than a mile and a half. At this point, I was really wishing I had not assumed it would rain. The rain hadn’t materialized, and I was extremely hot as I climbed, and climbed, and climbed.

Aside from having to stop, I rode well. During this time I thought back to the people on racing bicycles and now I was glad I wasn’t riding one. I simply could not have done this part of the ride on a racing bike. And I found solace in this remote, quite area. The grade steepened and switched back, trying my endurance. I smiled as I realized I was nearing the top, and churned my way up.

Up

My bicycle, by a creek

Steeper

Looking back

Switchback

It felt great to reach the top. I was tired, but it felt rewarding. I was just hoping that it was mostly downhill for a while. I couldn’t quite tell. I looked at the GPS and was shocked at the intricate patterns of topographic lines I saw on the screen. It was some wild terrain. I turned onto Wilsey Road.

Sure enough, it turned out I had a bunch of downhill riding ahead of me. I would have really enjoyed a speedy descent, but the scenery was too much. I took my time and stopped several times during the descent to take in the scenery and snap some photos. I was hoping all that climbing would pay off with some views, but I wasn’t expecting anything quite like this. It was actually a bit eerie, as the road passed quite a few derelict homes and vehicles, left to decay and apparently abandoned. The panoramic views were occasionally littered with such scenes, leading me to wonder: who could have lived out here, and did they really just go, leaving everything behind?

Cars

Barn

Barn doors

A house, sinking into the ground

The view, obstructed by cars, and pieces thereof

Jeep

The road

Another barn

Panoramic view

Steep descent

The views just kept improving as I got increasingly unobstructed looks at the surrounding mountains. It was difficult to pay attention to what was ahead of me, with the views off to the right.

Still descending

Panoramic view, including the road

The view, without the power lines

Farm

As you can see, all that climbing paid off in a big way. Not only were the views tremendous, I had the road to myself, and the setting was very quiet and peaceful. I lingered in several places, happy to trade a fast, adrenaline-fueled descent for these serene moments.

After these incredible views, it only took a few minutes for me to reach the base of the mountain, and PA Route 292. I rode on part of 292 before, and felt confident it would make for good riding. I was right. It felt a bit like a highway, but I only saw occasional cars. The scenery continued to be very good, but nothing as stunning as what I saw on Wilsey Road. I ran out of water and had been counting on refilling my bottles in the small town of Vernon. Well, there wasn’t much of a town, it was really just a speck on the map.  I had to wait until I got to Center Moreland to get more water. It was only a couple of miles away, so it wasn’t a big deal, but there was quite a bit of climbing between them. In fact, most of the rest of the trip would consist of some rather large ups and downs too large to be considered rolling hills, or to take advantage of momentum to carry me far up them. At this point the Long Haul Trucker became a bit of a liability as it was a real slog up those hills.

PA Route 292

Looking behind me

A familiar sight: a cornfield!

More climbing

The rest of the trip was quite scenic as well, taking me on a couple more gravel roads, by an orchard, and some other lakes/ponds.

Another gravel road

Orchard

Another shot of the orchard

Lake Louise

I could feel darkness was coming fairly soon. I had some lights with me, but not enough for full-on night riding, so I shortened my route a little and tried to get back as quickly as I could. The GPS makes it a lot easier to take short cuts as I can see which roads go through, or turn at a 90-degree angle, etc.

More gravel

Abraham’s Creek

Back by Bunker Hill Road

I was home before it truly got dark. This was an incredible ride — beautiful, but brutal. The rain never did materialize, something I was happy about, but it just meant I was quite warm the whole time. I underestimated how brutal the climbing would be. I knew there were a couple of monstrous climbs, but I tend to underestimate the terrain between them.  Nonetheless, I look forward to more long rides, and more exploration. I’ve only hit the tip of the iceberg as far as the Endless Mountains are concerned, and that was the most beautiful part of my ride; I need to venture further into that area.

All told, I rode just under 40 miles, with over 4100 feet of climbing. I was gone over 4 1/2 hours. When I lived in Bloomington, at my peak I would average around 16-17 mph. Not so here, the mountains add a whole new dimension to riding that is at once rewarding and humbling. It can make it a bit daunting to go for a a ride, but this ride reminded me that it’s worth the effort.

I did a great ride yesterday, trying a new way of climbing up Bunker Hill and exploring the area to the north of Frances Slocum State Park a bit.

I also hit 1,000 miles on the Long Haul Trucker, and I have to say, this is turning out to be the ideal bicycle for me. It’s rugged enough to take on gravel roads and light trails, but it doesn’t feel clunky on the road. I can explore just about anywhere, unless things get too rocky or technical. The Trucker’s comfortable geometry makes it easy to ride for hours without discomfort, and it also descends with confidence — something I wasn’t too concerned with when I bought it, but it’s absolutely essential with the mountainous terrain here. The only downside I can think of is that it’s a heavy bicycle and not conducive to spirited climbing, but the gearing is low enough that I can spin my way up all but the steepest inclines. I certainly don’t climb quickly, but I don’t think I could sustain more aggressive climbing in the mountains for very long anyway. In short, I love this bicycle!

A couple of weeks ago, I hit a speed bump too hard and my camera popped out of the side pocket of my handlebar bag and fell to the ground. I’ve dropped it a few times before and it always comes out OK. Not this time. The camera still works, but the display does not. I’ll probably still use it in situations where I need a real beater camera, but for the most part, I’ve retired it.

In its stead, I ordered a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4. The main draw of this camera is its Leica 10x optical zoom lens, which is very sharp indeed. I’m having a hard time adjusting to this camera — it’s a lot different from the old one — and I keep thinking I’m dissatisfied, but then I go back and look at the photos and they always seem better than I remembered. I think I have just not quite tweaked the settings how I want them yet.

For my ride yesterday, I did approximately the same ride as the Ride Around Frances Slocum Lake I did previously, but in the opposite direction. I wanted to try climbing up Eighth Street. I had mixed feelings about doing it this way — the climb was easier than the Bunker Hill Road climb, as it was more gradual. But this meant I climbed for four solid miles, including a steep section at the end. It was also a very narrow road, often with just a guard rail and nowhere to go, and the traffic was a little heavier than I’d like. It wasn’t horrible, but the traffic did make me a little nervous.

Narrow road

Creek with a strange bridge

Steep section

Rolling hills

As I was riding toward the state park, I saw a road going further up the mountain that looked quite interesting. I rode up, which was harder than I thought it would be, but I got some great views of the lake.

Looking back toward Frances Slocum Lake

Mount Olivet Road

I reached the top and continued a little further, far enough to see some rolling hills on the other side. I will have to explore this area some more, it looks like some great riding. I also tried my new camera’s 16:9 mode, which yielded some cool results.

Mountain

The 16:9 shot feels a bit more cinematic

I flew back down the mountain, passed the state park, and found myself on Green Road surprisingly quickly. When I rode the same section of road in the opposite direction, it was very slow going. I enjoyed the twists and turns of Green Road.

Green Road

Before long I was back at Bunker Hill Road. I climbed a couple hundred feet and then plunged back into the valley. I’ve taken a couple of videos of this descent so far, hopefully I can take a couple more and edit them into a fun video sometime soon.