Today I decided it was a "me" day. I wanted to go somewhere
I had never been. So Roger and I went to Allamuchy State
Park. This is one of the
who do not know, this is the mountainous county of NJ. It is
near the Delaware water gap, two hours from NYC and
Philadelphia. What a gorgeous place with over fifty miles of
unrestricted rocky, climby trails.
We chose the northern part of Allamuchy (near where the 24
hour race is run - 24hoursofallamuchy.com24hoursofallamuchy.comOpen ↗)
because it is more technical and has more trails. The only
problem with this part is that only one of the trails has
been marked. It is easy to get lost and we did.
We head up the rail trail. This is the old railroad
bed of the
but we decided to try it anyway. Immediately we are
presented with a steep 1000' climb up a loose rocky bed.
This would be the norm for these trails. Very loose granite
with an occasional outcropping to go over.
pchospital.netPAViewPhoto.aspOpen ↗
pchospital.netPAViewPhoto.aspOpen ↗
Occasionally we would hit a smooth part of the trail, but
they were few and far between. You'll see in the video I
took, what I mean.
pchospital.netPAViewPhoto.aspOpen ↗
The downhills were so much fun. I haven't been on rocks this
big since my Colorado trip.
WARNING: POSEUR PIC!
pchospital.netPAViewPhoto.aspOpen ↗
We rode on a few different trails, always hoping that we
would find our way back. When we reached the top of one big
climb we decided it was time to start heading back. We
figured down must be the way.
pchospital.netPAViewPhoto.aspOpen ↗
pchospital.netPAViewPhoto.aspOpen ↗
When I reached the bottom, Roger wasn't behind me but two
other bikers were. We got to talking and I found out he was
the head if the JORBA chapter for Allamuchy. He is also the
one who designs the course for the 24 hour race. He told us
how to get back to the car, but we decided to ride a bit
more instead. BIG MISTAKE! We got very lost. It is so easy
to get turned around. Every tree looks the same. I pulled
out my POS GPS (iPaq with a Pharos) and it wouldn't work! Uh
oh! We road on, always going down until we ran into a hiker.
He told us to follow the yellow trail which eventually ran
into the white trail. Finally, it brought us back out onto
the road where we made our way back to the car.
This place rocks! Literally. I wish I had more time, but I
had to be home by 3:30. I can't wait to go back and
participate in the race.
Video coming soon!
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o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
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