Author: alliumstozinnias

A gardener (along with the Brit) who has discovered there is more than hybrid tomatoes. And a cyclist.

Discovering Duke Farms on a bike

Duke Farms has 7 miles of paved trails plus additional gravel miles open to bikes.

Here’s a family-friendly place to ride a bike that you might not expect: Duke Farms in Hillsborough, NJ.

This is the estate of tobacco heiress Doris Duke, and it was opened to the public in 2012 (before that, it was only open for tours). Not only does it have 7 miles of paved trails (plus more miles that are gravel) that go past ruins of the foundation for the grand mansion that was never built, man-made lakes, the one-time horse barn that comes with a clocktower and much more, but it also has a bike-share system!

It has 80 bikes — a mix of cruisers (with a few gears), adult tricycles, even bikes for kids. So even if you don’t know how to bike, there’s a solution for you. Cost is $5 for two hours, though they hardly seem to be timing the rental.

Note that although it’s called Duke Farms, it’s not a working farm. Nor is it a traditional garden. It’s certainly a lovely place to ride! You can read my take on it here.

Now to find a route that will let me bike there from home. Perhaps the D&R Canal towpath (and East Coast Greenway segment) for much of the way?

UPDATE: We tested out a couple of routes! Read about it here.

Opening Day for Trails: Getting ready for another ride with George Washington

A chilly Opening Day for Trails, Where is spring?

A chilly Opening Day for Trails from Rails to Trails (and for New Jersey’s fishing season) — but at least it wasn’t snowing. A good time to head down the D&R Canal towpath and do some prep work for the second year of the Historical Society of Princeton’s “Chasing George” bike ride.

Yes, this is a ride with George Washington, heading from the Battle of Trenton to the Battle of Princeton. Irresitable!

The bike ride is May 6. Sign up now, before it fills up.

And the trail today? Muddy in some spots. Deep ruts where heavy machinery has been on the towpath while doing work on the canal or bridge. The damage from the winter storms is evident. Several trees on the banks of the canal have been uprooted and have fallen into the water, and the same as happened to even more big limbs. Not great news for canoers and kayakers! There was only one big tree blocking the path where we had to lift our bikes, and I’m guessing that will be gone fairly soon.

New Jersey’s Union Transportation Trail: A cross-county bike ride

This 9-mile trail goes from one end of Monmouth County to the other.

D1394DFE-1F68-45B9-908D-00CD71A06B73.jpegThis is my latest New Jersey trail discovery.  Well, kind of. I knew the Union Transportation Trail existed, but it was disjointed for several years while being built. The last segment was finished early last year, however, and now it’s a 9-mile stone-dust trail in Monmouth County stretching from the Mercer County line to the Ocean County line.

Today’s weather — warm and sunny — is finally a sign that spring is coming. A great reason to get out and finally ride it from end to end. And back of course. Continue reading “New Jersey’s Union Transportation Trail: A cross-county bike ride”

Exploring another section of New Jersey’s Lawrence Hopewell Trail

We explore the Mount Rose section of the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail, sandwiched between two gaps. With a lot of luck, one of those gaps might be closed this year.

Slowly but surely, the 22-mile Lawrence-Hopewell Trail is being built. My understanding is that the section from Bristol-Myers Squibb on Carter Road to a 90-degree bend on Cleveland Road will be built this year, taking the trail off a main thoroughfare that has no shoulder and can be unpleasant, especially if you don’t like riding with traffic. (SEE UPDATE BELOW) Right now, though, there’s only a small section on BMS property before you hit a “trail ends” sign (and then it becomes a private trail to the BMS entrance).

But what’s on the other side of Carter Road?

We recently had a chance to explore it, building on our exploration last fall of a “secret” section in the Mount Rose Preserve. Continue reading “Exploring another section of New Jersey’s Lawrence Hopewell Trail”

Giggles and squeals on an e-bike

We test out electric-assist bikes.

Wow was that fun! Kind of like you imagine one of those speeder bikes in “Return of the Jedi.”

OK, not quite that fast. And this bike was on the ground, not going through the air. But as long as you pedaled, it felt like you could fly thanks to the electric battery that provided a boost. That first time on an e-bike, I felt the assist kicking in — and it was set at the lowest level — and I couldn’t help but laugh with glee, like a kid building up speed going downhill. Me, who thinks motorcycles are scary.

But there I was, accelerating quickly thanks to the the rechargeable battery tucked behind the stem leading to the seat. After a few loops around the bike shop parking lot, it was off to the street. Just with that minimal assist, I went up a hill at 10 mph with no effort. And if you’re starting cold at the bottom of a hill? Flip the throttle for a second or too and the assist kick-starts the ascent. Just hold on for the jolt. Who needs to huff and puff? Or even change gears? Wow.

Then we headed to a quiet road behind the bike shop, experimenting with the different levels of assist. The model I was riding, the Blix Stockholm, has four levels that you can essentially toggle through (plus zero, for no assist) on the left handlebar, plus nine gears you can change like a normal bike just off the right handlebar.

I’m sure there’s a great balancing act between what gear you’re in and how much of an assist you take to stretch out the battery charge. To be honest, I felt level 1 was enough — and that was a 53-pound bike. Kick it up, and not even to level 4, and I could top 20 mph, no sweat.

This one tucks the battery behind the seat post.

So who buys an e-bike? The shop owner says they’ve sold a lot of them, almost always to people over 55. Sometimes it’s a bike widow/er who now can keep up with the other half. Often it’s someone who wants to exercise but finds it all so daunting. Especially if you live in a hilly area, which is where this shop is. You might not be powering yourself at 15 mph on a carbon-fiber bike that’s half the weight (and sometimes close to half the price), but you only get the assist if you’re pedaling — so you have to move. The owner told us of one customer who weighs about 300 pounds who has seen the numbers in his blood work come down substantially, even if his weight hasn’t. That’s the power of moving, of getting some exercise.

OK, the price is pretty hefty — this one was $2,300 in 2017, and the Brit was riding a $3,000 model. But I can see how this could turn you into a one-car family, using the bike to get to work just about every day if you have a reasonable commute. And when it rains? If you can’t hitch a ride with a co-worker, a cab (or Uber/Lyft) might not be a bad deal, especially given how much you save by not owning that second car.  (You really don’t want to know the true annual cost of car ownership.)  States still have to work out just how they view e-bikes — a bike or something more? There’s no assist if you don’t pedal, so it’s certainly not a moped). There’s also the question of limits on speed and power.

But my money is on prices coming down and batteries becoming lighter and more powerful, just like with phones and electric cars.

And who knows? One day I might own one too.

(Apologies for the delay in posting this one. We tested the bikes last winter.)

A weekend bike tour around Princeton NJ: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr

It’s easy to spend a weekend biking in the Princeton area.

Time to put some my knowledge about this area in one place. And for those who don’t want to just bike, there’s kayaking/canoeing and walking too.

Princeton, halfway between New York and Philadelphia, is more than the home of an Ivy League university. George Washington’s victory at the Battle of Princeton on Jan. 3, 1777 kept the American Revolution alive. Alexander Hamilton was alongside him, and Aaron Burr is buried in town.

Continue reading “A weekend bike tour around Princeton NJ: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr”

Day 6 — Biking the final 56 miles from Beaufort, South Carolina, to Savannah, Georgia

Some 320 miles later, another WAY tour is in the books.

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We biked a final 56 miles on the East Coast Greenway on Friday and crossed one state line (an unmarked spot between South Carolina and Georgia) to reach Savannah.

IMG_1276The day started with a ride to the end of the delightful (and expanding?)  Spanish Moss Trail in Beaufort and ended with — what else — a rain shower while we were grabbing lunch in Savannah.

The route included a stretch on a no-name side path of a trail along the Okatie Highway (maybe SC 170). Nothing scenic but definitely utilitarian, and we encountered plenty of cyclists going the other way. Hey South Carolina, that’s a sign of hidden demand. How about a bit more?

Alligator Alley has a scary name, but in the end I found it not that fearsome. No alligators sighted, for one. Traffic didn’t seem horrible, or maybe that’s because we had a support vehicle behind us. The road surface, though, was pretty awful, and of course there was no shoulder. Let’s see … lowest gas taxes in the nation, so little cash + road where poor people live = low on the priority list?

IMG_1303We continued our habit of riding in packs, sometimes splitting into a faster group and everyone else, in part to make it easier for motorists to pass. In this group, I can qualify as fast. The slower group got a police “escort” for a few miles once we hit Georgia, though from what we heard, he was pretty far in front.

So where did that crazy smell like rotten bananas come from? Is it somehow related to the paper mill we passed in Port Wentworth? The sugar refinery? And wow, those shipping containers piled seven high or more as we passed the port. But sorry, pack riding means skipping the photo ops.

But it means we took the back entrance into Savannah and didn’t really see its beauty. Next year?

Final tally: 320 or so miles in six days, plus 60 on Day 0 and my 70 or so over two days on the Virginia Capital Trail. Given the amount on crud on the shoulders — chunks of blown truck tires, nails, bolts, wood and more (plus road kill), it shouldn’t be a surprise that 13 riders — more than one in three — got flat tires, some more than one. And eight took a spill at one point, also way more than normal. Fortunately I was not in either camp.

One pleasant surprise: I saw very few Confederate flags, maybe one a day. I know we were on main roads for a lot of the time, but we did go past plenty of homes and businesses. And I saw many, many U.S. flags. Maybe times are finally changing.

I’ve now ridden the www from Newark NJ to Savannah, plus 350 or so miles in Maine and good chunks of the route in Connecticut and New York. The truth is that this was the least scenic of them all, given the need to stick with your pack, and definitely more of an assessment of the existing (mostly interim) route. There are definitely prettier places to ride. We saw two touring companies in Savannnah — Backroads and VBT — and those riders do a lot of shuttling and not much riding in their week between Charleston and Savannah. Now that sounds like a gussied-up sightseeing tour.

As for me, do I do the next two rides and reach Key West?

Oh, and the excitement wasn’t over just because we boarded a bus to head back to Wilmington. A hawk hit the windshield and cracked it into hundreds of pieces. Pro tip if this ever happens to you: slow down and buy a big roll of clear tape to hold everything in place. That got us back safely.

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One last thing: there was another blogger on the trip. Read her take.

A singing tribute to this year’s East Coast Greenway ride

Sing along to “The 12 Days of Christmas.”

 

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The WAY warriors prepare to battle the bridge over the Ashley River and then Highway 17

Sing along to “The 12 Days of Christmas” for this one.

Three of us had a bit of fun while on the few quiet roads between the highways this afternoon and then finished it before tonight’s final dinner. So much material ended on the cutting-room floor!

Maybe you had to be there to appreciate the references to the weather, the state of the roads and more … but here it goes:

On the first day of WAY tour, Dennis gave to me

Dexter with The Greenway flag

IMG_1296(And so on, with the second day, etc.)

2 live snakes

3 dead deer

4 feet of glass

5 fab’lous trails

6 cyclists tumbling

7 finished tours

8 squashed armadillos

9 melted Clif bars

10 knee-deep puddles

11 lost riders

12 stinky jerseys

 

Day 5 — Biking 76 miles (or a bit more) from Charleston to Beaufort in South Carolina

One star.

IMG_1272This is the day that I have finally had it with Highway 17.

I have a high tolerance for traffic, but this is simply not safe for the solo cyclIst. We rode for at least 10 miles with support vehicles in the front and rear of our pack for protection because there was no shoulder and we needed to take the right lane (and I could easily be undercounting). We had at least as many more miles where we could stick to a narrow shoulder, shrunk by almost constant rumble strips on the left side that jar your brain when forced to cross over and dodging chunks of rubber tire and other crud in the space that was left. It was ride in a pack, regroup when there was a break, get water if possible, hope you remembered to slather on more sunscreen, and repeat. You didn’t dare drop back or stop if it meant losing your posse. No lunch break either, just another Clif bar (at least for me) to keep you going. I think breakfast and lunch equaled 3 bars, and then it was just waiting for that group dinner.

Imagine if you were doing this on your own or with a few friends. Forget it.

I thought the East Coast Greenway‘s Trenton-to-Philadelphia stretch was bad, but this is far worse. I know it’s a new interim on-road route, shorter than going further inland, and road options are limited by the need to cross so much water in the low country. Yes, the Spanish Moss Trail in Beaufort is still under construction, with plans to expand that could help a bit. And we had some quiet stretches away from the highway.

Thankfully, Charleston has the nice West Ashley Greenway used by a wide range of people (just pave the middle section!) and hopefully will end the insane bike/ped situation over the river. Here we are doing last-minute preparations before taking the lane on the approach to the bridge:

IMG_1270But there is lots of work needed to make the entire stretch merely acceptable. Once again, it highlights the need for the East Coast Greenway Alliance, which strives for a route connecting cities up and down the East Coast that serves everyone from 8 years old to those who are 80.

Just putting up the tiniest “share the road” signs ever doesn’t cut it, SCDOT. We’re not all John Forester-style vehicular cyclists, let alone crazy vehicular cyclists. And given the pervasiveness of fire ants, a decent shoulder is needed not just for cyclists (as a minimum) but also for motorists dealing with a breakdown. Who wants to try fixing a flat car tire and end up itching from ant bites?

One star (out of five).

And I’m glad I live in a part of the country where the most basic infrastructure isn’t an afterthought.

Want another take? There was another blogger on the ride; read this one.

Images of Charleston, South Carolina

White gloves, a store devoted to ugly Christmas sweaters… and a fun name for a bike-share program.

IMG_1198We are staying in a new hotel a couple of miles from the Battery and a block from King Street and some hip restaurants. It’s an area that hadn’t yet gentrified when I was here about a decade ago.

The national clothing chains have invaded King Street, sometimes in buildings with beautiful old facades. But some local clothing stores are surviving, offering that southern genteel look.

Where else would you find a girl dressed like this, down to the white gloves? I wonder where she and her mother were headed.

IMG_1208And is this a city that takes Christmas sweaters seriously? This store on King Street is where they refuse to die; it’s all it sells.

IMG_1204And yes, bike share has arrived. With a names that has a bit of fun too.

IMG_1209Loved this sign.

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