Hideous Hills, Danville, and More Hideous Hills

It's been a while since I rode to Danville, so yesterday I decided to do so again. I examined all the major routes to Danville and selected the hilliest one. Combine that with the fact that it was about 90 degrees, it was one of the hardest rides in a while. In fact, I brought two bottles of liquids--one of cranberry juice and one of Zero--along for the ride instead of the usual one. My route first took me to Arbutus Park Road, where I took the shortcut to Upper Campus. It was the usual bumpy, grassy ride, and it was all uphill as it rose to the summit of Turkey Hill. For this reason alone, it deserves to be labelled a hideous hill even though it only rises 150-ish feet. But there are some excellent views to make up for it.

 Field in the eastern part of the shortcut. It's not my favorite vista, but it's worth posting all the same.

After a while, I reached the my favorite overlook along the path. It looks southwards and one can see Catawissa Mountain, Little Mountain, and (if one looks from the right angle) Nescopeck Mountain. After a few moments, I headed onwards, passing within a few dozen yards of the summit of Turkey Hill, though it would've required some bushwhacking to make it all the way to the summit. Soon after that, I left the trail and began hurtling downhill into Bloomsburg. I mostly followed the usual route to Fernville, but I did make a slight variation on my route into Fernville: I cut down some alleyways in an attempt to avoid the infamously long light at West and Main Street. It almost didn't work, since I came close to getting caught in the one-way-street labyrinth instead. But it all worked out in the end and I crossed Fishing Creek and made it into Fernville quite painlessly. From there, my route took me down Drinker Street and up Red Mill Road, where I passed by the eponymous Red Mill building.

It's definitely red, but it doesn't look like a mill to me.

I then turned onto Ridge Road--or, more properly, a Ridge Road, since there are nearly half a dozen in the area. It crossed Hemlock Creek and then began to climb up through the woods, making it the second major climb.

 Hemlock Creek in the woods

I would be pleased to have such a large expanse of grass in my yard, but I have a feeling the landowner doesn't even care about this tract.

From the top of Welliver Road, I descended rapidly (how else does one descend?) to Old Berwick Road and then crossed US Route 11. After riding across Montour Run, the infamous Deussen Drive began its infamous 400-foot rise into the range of hills between Dutch Valley and the Susquehanna River. I stopped once at a hairpin turn, but that did not make the climb any easier. As usual, though, there were great views from the top.

 Ugh

Postcard-esque view of Catawissa Mountain

At the end of Deussen Drive, I headed off into unexplored (by bicycle, at least) territory. My two previous rides up the hill had both taken me down into Catawissa; this time I turned right onto Grovania Drive and rode along the ridgeline. There were a lot of short and easy ups and downs, but this was for the most part uneventful.

 Deussen again

Looking south towards Montour Ridge

After a while, Grovania Drive began descending to County Line Drive, which sailed serenely into Montour County. I didn't get to stay on this road for long, though; soon I turned onto one of those ominously named roads: Mount Zion Drive. At first it didn't see too bad, but it began to take its toll after a while. The hill rose just over 200 feet.

 Grovania Drive, one of those roads that goes from one spot in the uncivilized territory to another spot in uncivilized territory.

 Epic view of Dutch Valley

Climbing on Mount Zion Drive

After the top of the hill, there was a short, curvy descent. A car came up behind me and I kept pace with it for a little while. Then the downhill ended and it went out of sight. A short distance later I came to yet another Ridge Road, one I had not yet explored by bicycle.

This is at least the fourth Ridge Road I've ridden on, and that's not counting one Ridge Street.

Surprisingly, there was yet another massive hill on Ridge Road, this time a 350-foot downhill. When I planned the route, I had thought there would only be rolling hills in this stretch, not steep ones going up and down hundreds of feet. Clearly this range of hills requires a name. I shall call it Jakob's Hills. After a while on Ridge Road, I turned onto Toby Run Road. This road immediately began climbing (again!) through the woods, rising about 250 feet in three quarters of a mile.

 Ferns

Toby Run Road

After a while, Toby Run Road began descending through the valley of --guess what--Toby Run. It's a pretty small stream, but I still caught a few glimpses of it rushing through the woods down below. I also passed by one of the trailheads to the Myron Hopewell Memorial Park trails. The Humdinger trail race is on those trails and I've been running there a few times, but they're far too technical for me to bike on.

Toby Run Road in the middle of nowhere

At the end of Toby Run Road, I turned left on Clinic Road and continued heading downhill through the valley of Toby Run. For a while, it was just a forested road on the side of a ravine. But suddenly an asylum appeared on one side of the road. It was bordered by a 20-foot-high fence with massive coils of barbed wire. I half expected to see armed guards in watchtowers. 

Eerie asylum

At the end of Clinic Road, I left behind Jakob's Hills for good and turned onto the fairly busy East Market Street, passing by an old power plant. Soon enough, I began to approach the Danville borough line.

East Market Street, and a curious building connected to the power plant via some pipes.

Near the border of Danville, I left the road and turned onto a trail that went alongside the top of a dike for about a mile. There was some moderately interesting scenery there, but nothing special.

 My bike on the dike.

The Susquehanna River flowing lazily by

The dike path ended in someone's yard, but luckily there was an alleyway close by. A short ride along the alley took me to a regular side street, which I rode into the more urban part of Danville, crossing Sechler Run along the way.

The mighty Sechler Run

After a few tenths of a mile, I crossed Route 11 and began riding along a side street that was bordered by a low red wall on one side. Eventually, I crossed Old Bloom Road and began riding past the hospital. I was quite surprised to find yet another substantial hill there; I had thought this part would be mostly flat. But then, I had only ever been there in the car before.

A tower that vaguely resembles Barad Dur.

Red Lane went through suburban areas with some minor climbs before arriving at Kaseville Road. Along the way, I saw a connector path linking to the Geisinger Stewardship Trails. Might be worth exploring further one of these days. At Kaseville Road, I turned left on the latter road and began the brutal climb up Montour Ridge. It seemed to go on forever and I didn't stop along the way. Finally, 300 feet above Red Lane and an incredible 600 feet above Danville, I reached the summit. I immediately coasted over to the side of the road. It took at least a minute before I had revived enough to do anything. But the views to the south were stunning. Distant ridges twenty or more miles away were quite visible.

 Kaseville Road

 Looking south from the summit of Montour Ridge

At 1066 feet, the summit of Montour Ridge was the highest point on the ride. I descended 450 feet at a tremendous pace (averaging just under 30 mph and topping 34 mph at times). At the bottom of Montour Ridge, I began heading east on Frosty Valley Road. The next nine or so miles would be mostly flat and uneventful. Frosty Valley Road began with a small climb. I hadn't yet recovered from the battle with Montour Ridge, but I took it slowly and made it up without incident. A few miles further on, I passed into Columbia County, and maybe a mile after that, Frosty Valley Road began to trend in a downhill direction.

 Hills

 Columbia County, at last

 Corn

And more fields

Eventually, I reached the eastern end of Frosty Valley. Frosty Valley Road went up a little hill and dead-ended into Red Mill Road.

Nice shot of Red Mill Road

The rest of the ride didn't contain anything of note either. I rode back to Fernville and then up the Bloomsburg Rail Trail, as I usually do when returning from the west or southwest. From there, I headed to Summit Ave and then up Arbutus Park Road, the last major climb. After a while, the road narrowed to one lane, and a (fortunately chained up) dog tried to chase after me. Then the road became a trail and went through the woods.

 Bloomsburg Rail Trail

 Gateway of green

 Overlook

Arbutus Park, um, "Road"

Arbutus Park Road became paved and from there it was pretty much a straight shot home. My time was 2:29:17 and my pace was 4:53/mile.

2596 feet of climbing and 5184 feet of total elevation change!

Route map. (source)(license)

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).

Speedwork

I haven't really been all that inspired to go biking for the past week or so. Between increasing my mileage in preparation for the Sick Trail Run, summer classes, and learning to drive--on a stickshift no less--I've had less time for riding. I still didn't want to go for a long ride even yesterday, so I settled for something that would be a change of pace, both literally and metaphorically: a short, fast ride. I did the old 12.2 mile course that I used to ride on quite regularly. Since this was to be an all-out ride, I didn't take any pictures on this one, but it's a scenic course.

From the house, I rode down to Fifth Street and then Central Road, before crossing Pennsylvania Route 487 to Papermill Road. I did a decent clip, reaching 32.7 miles per hour on Dennys Hill and doing the first mile in 3:53. Then Papermill Road flattened out and went alongside Interstate 80 for a while. Eventually it crossed under I-80 and became a gravel road that wound first through some fields, then through the woods. I got to test out the new, highly aggressive tire that I got from the Dutch Wheelman last week (the old one was worn completely smooth). I didn't really notice much of  a difference.

After turning into the woods, Papermill Road ran along the side of a steep hill. I caught a few glimpses of a large and beautiful private lake down below. After several tenths of a mile, the road became paved again and headed into Lightstreet. I then began a long, gradual ascent on Ridge Road. At the top of the hill, I stopped for some zero, then headed down a little hill before beginning to rise again.

For most of Ridge Road, I stayed a few seconds ahead of a 4:00/mile pace (15 miles per hour). Towards the end, as I rode down a little dip and back up, and then entered the Briar Creek watershed, I began to creep a little further ahead of 15 miles per hour. I then turned onto Hidlay Church Road, rode past Hidlay Church (where else?) and began the long climb up Horse Farm Road, the second-most-difficult hill on the ride. It wasn't terribly steep, but it went on for a while. I can see how it would've been difficult when I was a beginner. One I made it to the top of the hill--passing fields and houses along the way--it was a short ride to the radio tower that marked the turnaround point.

The next four or five miles were mostly downhill so I really made good time: the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh miles were all under 4:00, and the fastest (the eleventh) was 3:12.7. Those miles passed by pretty uneventfully and by the time I was on Papermill Road, breaking 46 minutes came to be a real possibility. That would've been interesting, since there are those who speculate that the course can be done in under 45 minutes.

However, the tough climb up Dennys Hill slowed me down and made 46 minutes impossible. 47 minutes was still a possibility, so I decided to aim for that. After waiting for the light at Route 487, I headed off down Central Road and into the neighborhood.

I did make it to sub 47 minutes: 46:56 to be precise. That corresponds to a 3:51/mile pace (15.6 miles per hour). I think my previous record for the course was a 3:58/mile pace, but I didn't stop the watch for breaks. Then again, discounting traffic stops, I was probably only stopped for about three minutes or so. The fastest mile--as mentioned--was 3:12.7. The slowest, which was naturally on Dennys Hill was still fairly fast for a hilly mile: 4:53.8.

Elevation change: 1392 feet. Highest point: 781 feet. Lowest point: 515 feet.

 Route map. (source)(license)