Two Ridges and Two Valleys

23.0 miles in the afternoon. As the title suggests, my route took me over two ridges and into two valleys. It was a bit colder than it has been the past few days, but not by much. Definitely the decision to wear long sleeves was a bad idea; I ended up rolling my sleeves up after less than a mile. On the upside, I did bring a camera (even if it is an ancient point-and-shoot), so there are photos this time. I started out on a similar course as my ride to Catawissa heading to Arbutus Park Road and from there along the grassy paths to Upper Campus. Slow going. I stopped at the clearing overlooking Bloomsburg and took some pictures.

 Looking southwest towards Bloomsburg

Looking south towards Wonderview

 The trail

Looking northeast towards Knob Mountain and some other very blue hills.

After that, I reached Upper Campus and descended into town, and then past the hospital to First Street. This time I went down the little hill near the Bloomsburg/Fernville Bridge on Main Street instead of Ridge Avenue (which is apparently a one-way street). After that, I crossed Fishing Creek into Fernville and continued straight. The village-like part of Fernville is basically blink-and-you-miss-it, and I was through within a minute or so. The road continued north as Creek Road, where I've never biked before, though I've run there a few times. It paralleled the rather muddy Fishing Creek, sometimes approaching to within a few yards, other times receding to dozens of yards. On the other side of the road was a steep hill/small cliff. The road was mostly flat, but there were a few little uphills. Eventually, I got to the mouth of Little Fishing Creek and the I-80 bridges over Fishing Creek. I stopped briefly for a drink. The noise of the cars above was tremendous and I contemplated that probably none of them realized there was a cyclist down below on a leisurely excursion while they were rushing along on the highway. I wonder how many cyclists I've overlooked as I've passed over that stretch of road. After the bridges, it was mostly downhill riding for a while, as Creek Road went onto a cliff above Little Fishing Creek.

 I-80 bridges, Fishing Creek, and miscellaneous graffiti.

A nice descent

After a while, I reached the bottom of the hill and started climbing up Schoolhouse Road. After crossing Pennsylvania Route 42, there were a few more small climbs. None of them were truly grueling, though they were a bit of a surprise since I remembered Schoolhouse Road as being mostly flat. Shortly after Ivey Road, where I've run several times, the road began descending past the Schoolhouse Garden Market to Pennsylvania Route 44. A short stretch on Route 44 brought me to Dahl Road, where I crossed Hemlock Creek and turned onto the very innocently-named Orchard Drive.

 Spring flowers

The beginning of the first brutal climb. Orchard Drive isn't innocent after all....

After crossing West Hemlock Creek, Orchard Drive began climbing up through a forested hollow carved in a ridge by some unnamed stream. In the lower part of the hollow, the climb wasn't too steep, but it got steeper the further I climbed, as hollows tend to do. After more than a mile, I rode back into civilization and soon afterwards reached the top of the hill. There were some tremendous views, but my point-and-shoot camera couldn't really do justice to them.

My bicycle slacking off near the top of the hill.

 Clouds

 Next destination, Montour Ridge

Then I started riding down Wagner Drive. There were even better views there; to the east I could see more than 20 miles, all the way to the nuclear power station, about a county and a half away. I don't know why on earth I didn't try to take a picture. Wagner Drive was a started out as a steep and curvy descent through farmland before abruptly becoming unpaved and entering the woods. After a few more twists and turns, I arrived in Frosty Valley and began paralleling Interstate 80. At one point I saw a large patch of skunk cabbage, but I didn't want to sacrifice my momentum by stopping to take a picture. After the skunk cabbage, there was a small hill, but I still ended up doing that mile in at about 18 mph. Soon after that, I reached the Columbia/Montour County line and crossed I-80 on County Line Road.

Looking back to where I came from (I rode down that ridge).

I crossed Frosty Valley Road and began the long, arduous climb up Montour Ridge. In the hopes of making the climb easier, I had tweaked my original route so that I could climb the ridge in two separate 300-foot climbs instead of one big 500-foot climb. It wasn't all that much easier. I had to stop once or twice even on the first stage of the climb. That part was my slowest mile of the whole ride: 7:20. I then turned onto Gotschal Road, a (relatively) flat road that went along the ridge about halfway up it. It gradually devolved into a rather interesting one-lane dirt and rock path. Another thing I wish I had taken a picture of. After some climbing and descending, it spit me out onto Susie's Lane, another one of those misleadingly innocent-sounding roads.

 A little creek that no one has probably ever thought of until now. I shall call it Jakob's Creek.

The bike on Susie's Lane

Susie's Lane was a steeply-rising dirt road. Who would've guessed that from the name? Fortunately I was only on it for a third of a mile. At one point I saw a tractor driving up the road and was surprised to notice that I was gaining on it. It must have been going very slowly indeed. I decided to see if I could catch it, but it turned onto another road. At another point, a puppy, a beagle I think, darted out onto the road and run alongside me for a few hundred feet before growing bored. Soon afterwards, I reached Tower Drive. At least the name wasn't so innocent-sounding at and least it was paved. A quarter of a mile on Tower Drive took me to the highest point on the whole ride and one of the highest points on the comparatively mellow eastern side of Montour Ridge (about five miles to the west, across the Mahoning Creek water gap, it evolves into a full-fledged mountain).

Looking back to the last stage of the climb and the hills to the north. Elevation: ~1240 feet. I still think the scenery was more impressive on Wagner Drive or even Upper Campus.

After that, the next mile or so was one long downhill and I rode my fastest mile ever: 2:11.3, or about 27-28 miles per hour. Also, it's probably the first time I've ever broken the speed limit (25 mph IIRC) on a bike. If I had let go of the brakes, I might've hit 30 miles per hour. Then again, I might've ended up lying in a heap on the roadside. That road was neither straight nor smooth. The descent eventually mellowed as I rode into the Dutch Valley.

Dutch Valley

That was the last picture I took for a while. After a few tenths of a mile of moderate descending, I came to Old Bloom Road. That was flat, so I was able to continue making up for time lost riding up Montour Ridge. Then came Welliver Road, but that was only a fraction of the climb that Montour Ridge was. And after it came Ridge Road, a long descent across Hemlock Creek and towards Fernville. After Fernville, I crossed Fishing Creek into Bloomsburg and rode up Blackberry Ave, a small but very steep climb. That intersected with Pine Ave, which I followed eastward. It wasn't much fun riding in town, especially with stop signs on every other block. As I headed east, I ran into another problem: the idiots who designed Bloomsburg must have deliberately made things difficult for people; half the town is a maze of one-way streets. I did well enough until I got past East Street and onto Third Street. It had a Do Not Enter sign. All the roads to the left had Do Not Enter signs. Going down to Fourth Street would've meant a climb up Spruce Street, something to be avoided even in the best of times. I ended up going up Third Street to Penn Street and past Carver Hall, one of the main buildings of Bloomsburg University.

Husky statue next to Carver Hall

I headed up Second Street, which at least wasn't one-way, through Lower Campus, where many students were coming and going. The street passed by some houses before heading back into campus as Swisher Drive. After passing the Rec Center, I crossed Pennsylvania Route 487 and rode up Country Club Drive to Upper Campus. That was the last uphill of the ride; it was, quite literally, all downhill from there.

Almost home

I went fast in the last mile in an attempt to get under a 4:40 pace. Didn't work. My total time was 1:48:50 and my pace was 4:44/mile (12.7 miles per hour). Still, not terrible. I consider 4:20 to 4:40/mile to be decent. And according to my Garmin, I hit 33.3 miles per hour at one point, probably on Tower Road.

 

Elevation graph. Auto-generated by my Garmin this time. Min elevation: 473 feet. Max elevation: 1232 feet. Elevation gain: 2178 feet. Total elevation change: 4353 feet.

Route map