Laura OLPH emailed around early to see if there was interest in a ride to Asbury (no, not that Asbury; there's one in Warren County):
I'm thinking hills on Saturday, Frenchtown to Asbury (not the beach; the other one). The forecast is looking perfect.
The Asbury Coffee Mill, unlike some of the other decent places we've gone to, is still open. As far as I can tell, there is no quiche on the menu.
If there's interest in advance, I'll post the ride.
I remember the Asbury Coffee Mill; it's the only thing around for miles, and there's no reason for a coffee stop that good in that neighborhood... but there it is. It also turns out that the route was to include one of my favorite stretches of road, along the Delaware and the railroad above Riegelsville.
Yeah, I was in for this.
As were Ricky G, Martin (not Marty) G. (no discernible relation to Ricky of the same last initial), and Bob N. We met up in Frenchtown at the start.
We also met this guy, who impressed me as someone I might have been in contact with in my professional life (I've worked in mental health and addictions for the past 35 years):
After extricating ourselves from a rambling, tangential conversation with him, we got started on the ride.
It was a beautiful, cool, clear day.
At the bottom of appropriately-named Baptist Church Road, we came upon this intriguing ruin:
The sign refers to the Graveyard Society; the graveyard is much better kept than the church, which seems a bit macabre. But I digress*.
*Now THERE'S a surprise.
We rolled along into the Spruce Run Reservoir, which was closed to swimming due to an algae bloom. The emptiness there was a bit eerie, but that, also, was a beautiful place.
Many thanks to Laura for popping for the $2/person for our admission.
Some bridge or other, I think over the Musconetcong:
As we proceeded, off in the distance, we could see the Blue Army Shrine, a shrine to Mary in Asbury (no, not that Asbury; there's one up in... oh, never mind). It was interesting enough that we rolled in, and met a few buses of obviously Catholic tourists (I'm sure I heard Italian spoken, and possibly Polish, and there were undeniably Dominican nuns; the same flavor as the teachers in the Catholic school I attended when Johnson was president).
Visiting there was weird; I kept getting the feeling that a few burly fratres would come along and drag me to a basement cell for re-indoctrination. That Catholic thing never completely dies, no matter how atheistic I am now.
From there to the Asbury Coffee MIll... which was CLOSED EARLY*. I found out, and rolled back to tell Laura, who was deep in conversation with this guy about some unwanted warehouse project. I suspect Laura was pulling on her Sierra Club hat.
But the Coffee Mill was undeniably closed*... and there really was no alternative. We rolled over to a local bar that was setting up for the day, where some of our number were able to refill water jugs. I cadged a Clif bar from Laura.
(*Laura had checked to make sure the place was still there, and that the normal hours would allow for us to get there in time. This closure was a one-day event; Laura could not have foreseen that.)
But then... then we got to roll along Creek Road, and then River Road, and then Reigelsville River Road, along the tracks and the Delaware. This might be my favorite stretch of road in NJ.
I stopped to get this pic, and got separated from the others:
(Yes, that old geezer on the right is fishing from a motorized wheelchair.)
After I tried to catch up, I came to what I thought was the turn; I proceeded.... but that didn't look right, so I went the other way... and that looked even less right, so I went back the first way... but it didn't seem to improve. Luckily, Ricky called me with directions about that point, and I caught up again.
After that,I was reluctant to take more pictures and risk another separation.
At Reigelsville:
And despite not enough food on board, we came back strong to the start in Frenchtown, although Bob, Laura, and I went in search of food before the drive home.
And because of today's ride, I suspect I'll have no problem keeping my ride to a C+ pace tomorrow.
Ride page.
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