The first few miles were the same as always: to Papermill Road, to Lightstreet, to Back Branch Road, and then up Whites Church Road. It was cloudy when I set out, and the sky seemed to be threatening rain, but the forecast only showed a 1 percent chance of rain. The first few miles were uneventful, as they usually are. I did see a crazy squirrel running on top of a fence on Papermilll Road, though. Those crazy little rodents....
Dennys Hill
Papermill Road becomes unpaved
From the end of Papermilll Road, I rode through Lightstreet to Back Branch Road, and from there across Fishing Creek into Mount Pleasant Township. I was going a good deal slower than usual, either because I was still recovering from the Smiths Knob Race (unlikely, since I wasn't sore on the run earlier today) or because I hadn't ridden in almost two weeks. I felt a few raindrops on Back Branch Road, but nothing serious. Soon after crossing into Mount Pleasant Township, I began riding up Whites Church Road, which climbs over two hundred feet through a hollow in a little less than two miles. The roadside vegetation always seems unusually green on overcast days; today was no exception.
Roadside vegetation
Whites Church Road, going up and up
View from the top of Whites Church Road. It's certainly changed in the last three weeks.
Around the time that I crested Whites Church Road and began heading downhill for the next mile. After about three minutes, I reached the bottom of the hill and crossed Deerlick Run. I then turned onto Mount Pleasant Road, a quiet country road that I would follow all the way to its end. The scenery included a bit of everything--fields, meadows, forests, residential areas, and even a pond or two.
Climbing on Mount Pleasant Road
Beautiful swirls and interesting patterns on an algae pond
An old tractor
Mount Pleasant Road started out climbing gradually, but it began to get steeper. The final stretch up to Millertown Road was hideously steep, but Millertown Road itself was at least flat. The scenery on this part of the road wasn't as amazing as it is on some other parts of the road, but it was still nice. I wasn't on Millertown Road for long before turning onto Kindt Road.
How...lovely.
View from Millertown Road
Kindt Road continued rising for a bit before making a steep and rapid descent. For a while, I rode past some houses, but after a few tenths of a mile, I descended into the woods. At the bottom of the hill, I came to Robbins Road. After consulting the map, I turned right and began following the road. It was a quiet road and it ran along the border between woods and residential territory.
Quiet back road
Robbins Road, took me to Johnson Road, which climbed steeply and couldn't seem to decide whether it was paved or not. A few tenths of a mile on Johnson Road took me back into civilization for a bit. I consulted the map again before continuing straight onto Rhodomoyer Road, the road where I took a wrong turn last time. On Rhodomoyer Road, I passed by a line of pylons. They're quite majestic really; I don't know why everyone thinks they're ugly. Then again, one of them was right next to someone's driveway. Even I might mind that.
Meadow
View with pylon
Rhodomoyer Road took me to Hog Back Road, where the real fun began. The road started out ominously, with gravel and a "No Winter Maintenance" sign. The road was a bit hairy at first, but it gradually smoothed out. I still took it very slowly and carefully, staying below 25 miles per hour the whole time. The road descended steeply before making 90-degree turn to the right and continuing the descent. A short time later, I came to the first of three hairpin turns and stopped for a picture. Then I continued onwards and rode around the second hairpin turn without stopping. On the way to the third hairpin, there was a steep drop to the left and I could see the buildings of Eyers Grove through the trees. The road reminded me a bit of Turkey Path Road.
Ominous beginning to Hog Back Road
The first hairpin turn
Looking down on Eyers Grove
A bit more descending brought me down to Pennsylvania Route 42. I had planned to cross Route 42 and ride south to Buckhorn on some more back roads. But as I reached Route 42, I noticed something unfortunate: the Eyers Grove Road bridge over Little Fishing Creek was closed. Great. There was no way to get to where I was going without going miles out of my way or spending a long time on Route 42, so I turned around and began the 350-foot slog back up Hog Back Road.
An impasse. And after coming all this way too.
The climb of Hog Back Road was extremely slow: I did the 13th mile in 8:59, which might be the slowest mile I've ever done on a bike since I began keeping track. When I eventually made it up to the top of the road, I stopped briefly for a drink and then continued on my way. I retraced my steps all the way to Kindt Road--descending about 300 feet in the process--and began yet another grueling 350-foot climb to Millertown Road. The climb seemed to go on forever, but was much faster than Hog Back Road. At least it was paved, I guess. Once I was done with that hill, only a couple of (comparatively) minor climbs of 150 to 200 feet remained. From the end of Kindt Road, my route went to Mount Pleasant Road again. I began another steep descent.
Kindt Road in the woods
State Route 4020
State Route 4020 was almost all downhill and I had a relaxing mile or two. The first bit was the fastest part; I hit 31.6 miles per hour at one point. After a while, the descent leveled off and I began pumping up Whites Church Road. As I passed the cow farm about halfway up, one of the cows came up to the fence to look at me.
White cow
The last few miles were mostly unremarkable, but I do have a few pictures. I continued retracing my steps down Whites Church Road, to Back Branch Road, to Lightstreet, to Papermill Road. From there, I made the long, hard climb up Dennys Hill and then rode back into the neighborhood.
Lake at the Hanson quarry
Reentering Scott Township at last
On Papermill Road
Cornfields on Papermill Road
My time was 1:59:13 and my pace was 4:53/mile. Very slow. But perhaps there is an explanation for that...
...2301 feet of elevation gain and 4605 feet of total elevation change. Saying that that's a lot for a 24-mile ride is an understatement. The lowest point was 515 and the highest was 1016.
Route map. (source)(license) I usually don't do out-and-back rides since they provide less opportunity for exploration.
As always,great pictures and well written.Pollen swirls are beautiful and so is the little red house too.Hog Back Road looks really ominous.Great trip!
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