A view through a power line shaft on Arbutus Park Road
Flowering tree
Closed part of Arbutus Park Road
Arbutus Park Road was a bumpy ride and I went easy on the speed. There were two sharp turns on the edge of a ravine. The first one went fine, but I wasn't able to slow down quickly enough on the second one and ended up riding into the weeds on the side of the path. Strangely enough, I saw two people on the path. Indeed I often see people there. I wonder why people would frequent such an obscure path that basically goes from nowhere to nowhere.... Soon after the second sharp turn, the road became paved and I passed by another gate. At one point, a dog came out and started pursuing. I happened to be at the top of the steep descent towards Millville Road, so I resolved to outrun it. As it turned out, there was no need for that; the dog was chained. I reached Millville Road without incident and headed towards the Bloomsburg Rail Trail on Summit Ave. Two hairpin turns (one of which was a blind turn) got me onto the rail trail. It's a nice, flat trail with reddish cliffs on one side and Fishing Creek on the other. At the end of the trail, I crossed into Fernville and headed north along Creek Road.
A curious small sub-channel of Fishing Creek. The waters are much swifter than the main channel.
The placid Little Fishing Creek
Creek Road climbed for a bit until reaching the I-80 bridges, where I crossed into the Little fishing Creek watershed and began a modest descent. The next mile or so after that was a modest uphill on Schoolhouse Road, with some views of Buckhorn. I then turned onto Ivey Road where I ran several times back in January and February. It was long and steep, but not brutally so. After about a quarter of a mile, the pavement gave way to unpaved roads, the terrain on which I would spend virtually all of the next several miles. After a while, the road came out of the woods and passed some farms.
The dilapidated Vanderslice Cemetery (interesting link)
Horse on Ivey Road
Calves, also on Ivey Road
The road turned left and reached an intersection with Reichard Drive, another unpaved road that continued to climb upwards. There was a brief downhill and then another small uphill and I reached the highest point on the ride. You can see several mountains from there, some of them dozens of miles away.
Knob Mountain. I would see more of it later.
Looking back at the road. Catawissa Mountain and Little Mountain are on the horizon.
Montour Ridge, probably.
After roughly 450 feet of climbing, I descended into the woods, proceeding carefully due to the lack of pavement. At the bottom of the hill, I passed by some houses and turned onto Ikeler Road, which descended a long way through the woods. That road took me to Fairview Drive. That was a steep and brutal climb as well, but it was only about half the size of the Schoolhouse Road/Ivey Road climb. I made it up in one shot, without having to stop.
At a crossroads
From the top of the hill, I continued straight and began a long descent. The terrain on this part of the road was very strange; I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be paved or not. There were woods all around, but the road itself was out in the sun. After several tenths of a mile, I came to a sharp turn onto Ebner Drive, which continued the descent. On the left, I saw signs for Hanson Sand and Gravel, but for a while, there was nothing but woods beyond the signs. Then, near the bottom of the hill, a large open-pit mine appeared out of nowhere.
Mining operation in the middle of nowhere
Apparently open-pit mines are dangerous
Says nothing about bicycles.
They've taken out a pretty big chunk of the hill.
Cows glaring at me
Ebner Drive briefly became paved and took me to Pennsylvania Route 42. I crossed that and then crossed Little Fishing Creek before making a sharp turn onto Crawford Road. The road was one of those no-winter-maintenance roads and rose steeply along the side of a steep hill. The road made a few turns, left the woods, and became paved, but still continued ascending. I stopped at the Jakey Hollow Natural Area, a patch of old-growth forest that occupies a mere 59 acres. There's a hiking trail going down into the hollow and I scoped out the first fifty yards or so on foot. It would be a good idea to come back with a decent camera and hike all the way to the bottom of the ravine.
Jakey Hollow Natural Area
Crawford Road continued climbing gently past some houses, though it seemed to take a while to end. But it did end eventually and took me onto Millertown Road
View of Knob Mountain from Millertown Road
Grimacing. Tough ride.
The road where I was going to turn off Millertown Road turned out to be a private road, so I ended up taking another detour, retracing my steps on Millertown Road to a narrow gravel road called Shaner Road. What followed was a rather interesting and tricky descent that suddenly dumped me onto the paved and flat State Route 4020. A few tenths of a mile on that road took me to Whites Church Road, where I crossed Deerlick Run and began another climb.
Deerlick Run
The climb up Whites Church Road was tiring, but not as steep as the previous climbs. It mostly went through the woods along a stream, but at one point, it passed by a farm where some black cows glared at me. From the highest point on the road, I decided to take one more detour, this one onto Oman Road. That meant more climbing, but also better scenery and a steeper descent. There were some decent views of Knob Mountain from a high point on Oman Road.
Knob Mountain majestically towering over the surrounding landscape
After the high point, there was a very short, very steep descent, a gentle rise, and then the main descent. It was steep, but I'm not sure it was faster than Whites Church Road since it was a lot curvier. Regardless, it took me to Back Branch Road, which I rode into Lightstreet. From Lightstreet, I rode on Papermill Road, up Dennys Hill, and into the neighborhood. I rode hard in the last half mile. My time was 1:39:53 and my pace was 4:39/mile. Not bad, considering all the hills.
2026 feet of climbing and 4057 feet of total elevation change. Of all the rides I've done this year, that's second only to this one. Maximum elevation: 961 feet. Minimum elevation: 476 feet.
It's always a pleasure to read your blog and see the magnificent photos!A great selfie too!
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