Roamer in Fishing Creek Township

It was a nice, fairly mild day on Wednesday, so I decided to go on a bike ride in the afternoon. I had intended to do a 27-mile ride to the small hamlet of Pealertown, but ended up going about nine miles further. The ride started out typically enough, heading down Dennys Hill, along Papermill Road, and to Lightstreet. I tried to explore a couple of interesting little side streets in Lightstreet, but they turned out to be dead ends. I then headed over to Back Branch Road and turned onto Whites Church Road.

Papermill Road

The climb up Whites Church Road was long, as it usually is. I rode up the valley of a small unnamed stream that I call South Whites Church Road Run. At times, I passed by woods--including a stand of evergreens on a steep hill--and at times I passed by shrubbery or fields or houses. Eventually, I came out of the greenery and made the final push up to the top of the hill. There was a tractor coming up the road, so I waited for it to pass before continuing on my way.

 Whites Church Road in the woods

The view from the top of Whites Church Road has changed yet again.

I rode down Whites Church Road at a fast clip and then crossed Deerlick Run and turned onto Mount Pleasant Road. I've been there a few times before, but generally going in the opposite direction. There were some beautiful views of tall rows of corn as I rode into Orange Township. Knob Mountain was visible too, but was partly obscured.

Mount Pleasant Road

Field

Another view of Mount Pleasant Road

After a few minutes, I turned onto Green Creek Road, a mostly flat and fairly pretty road that ran between greenery-bedecked cliffs and Fishing Creek (and later, Green Creek, as one might imagine). A mile or two further on, I came to Rohrsburg Road.

 The rather verdant Green Creek

 Green Creek Road

Another view of Green Creek

I followed Rohrsburg Road northwards through some fields for several tenths of a mile. I could see Knob Mountain again, but much closer up and far less obscured than on Mount Pleasant Road. It's quite a majestic mountain, especially in summer colors.

 View from Rohrsburg Road

The spectacular Knob Mountain

I turned onto Sportsman Club Road--the first unexplored territory of the ride--and began heading along a rural road that went past some houses and barns. After a while, it became unpaved and headed into the woods. It gradually dawned on me that this road was the second major hill. Somehow I hadn't noticed, though in my defense, it started gradually. It didn't stay gradual, though. It became a tough, 450-foot climb that eventually came out of the woods.

Sportsman Club Road

The summit of the hill was about at the Fishing Creek Township line and I stopped to take some pictures. But right then, the camera decided it was a good time for its battery to die. Right at what was probably the most scenic part of the ride, too, with wild meadows flanked by forests, some mountains in the distance, and a few cumulus clouds up in the blue sky. I was a little annoyed at the time, but I think I rode better without stopping for pictures every few minutes.

I headed down the road into Fishing Creek Township, passing through the woods and glimpsing a few more meadows. After a long descent, I reached Savage Hill Road, which was fairly mild and gentle, despite its name. I turned left and began heading north. I had planned turn off the road and ride to Pealertown, but the road was so enticing that I decided to shelve the planned route and just roam.

Savage Hill Road was very nice and gentle for a while, but it soon descended steeply into the woods. At this point, I turned onto a small, intriguing-looking side road that descended steeply to Zaners-Rohrsburg Road. On a whim, I turned right; this took me down to Pennsylvania Route 487 and the community of Zaner, roughly halfway between Pealertown and Stillwater. I crossed Route 487 and continued heading east, across Fishing Creek.

Zaners Bridge Road was mostly on a gently-rising slope past typical scenery for the area. The views weren't bad, but they were nothing compared to what I saw up on Savage Hill. I saw an interesting-looking hilly road along the way and mentally marked it out for further exploration.

I turned around maybe a mile northeast of Zaner and headed back towards the village. On the way back, I decided to check out the hilly road that I had seen on the way out. Its name was Asbury Road and it was a hideous 230-foot climb through the woods. At least it was paved, though.
 And at the top there were some nice views. A bit further on, I came to the village of Asbury, which mostly consisted of a few houses, a church, and a bunch of fields. From there, I continued heading south, riding downhill again. A truck came up behind me, slowly gained on me, then passed me as I moved over to the side of the road. At the bottom of the hill, there wasn't really anywhere worth going that wouldn't have been too far, so I just turned around and rode back up the 200+ foot hill to Asbury.

From Asbury, I rode down to Zaners Bridge Road, and from there to the village of Zaner again. As I rode west on Zaners-Rohrsburg Road, I began climbing up the hardest hill of the ride, a 500-foot behemoth. It was a brutal climb, and to make it worse, some morons came driving up behind me and screamed something as they passed me. Idiots.

Eventually, I reached the top of the hill at 1143 feet above sea level. From there, there was a 500+ foot descent all the way to Rohrsburg. Sweet. I managed to reach 33 miles per hour at one point on th way down.

At the bottom of the hill, I arrived in Rohrsburg. I didn't have the strength left for the climb up Turkey Path Road, so I rode down Rohrsburg Road instead. A bit busy, but not terrible. It was mostly flat, though there were a few gentle hills. The road south went for about 2.5 miles in the valley of Green Creek. Then I turned onto Green Creek Road, which I already mentioned. From there, I just retracted my steps to Whites Church Road, then to Lightstreet, and then home. The distance ended up being 36.3 miles, the sixth-longest distance I've ridden ever (and the fourth-longest this year). My time was 2:42:32 and my pace was a respectable 4:29/mile.

2,822 feet of vertical rise and 5,654 feet of total elevation change. The lowest point was 515 feet and the highest was 1,143 feet.

 Route map. (source)(license) 

By the way, I was at the very hilly Sick Trail Run near Millville today. I had my best time yet there--31:21--and placed ninth overall. That was good for an unmarked wooden plaque (though I think it's meant to be a cutting board).