# Hell of hunterdon



## NJBiker72

Anyone doing it? Not really trained to that point this year but calendar suddenly opened up and am considering it.


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## AlanE

Too late. It's sold out.


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## NJBiker72

AlanE said:


> Too late. It's sold out.


Too bad. Went on the site those afternoon and still seemed open. Oh well. Can still get a good ride in that day.


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## RJP Diver

NJBiker72 said:


> Anyone doing it? Not really trained to that point this year but calendar suddenly opened up and am considering it.


I wanted to, but will be 2,000 miles away on that date.

Are you going to join us next Saturday for the "Ah, What the Heck" of Hunterdon?


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## NJBiker72

RJP Diver said:


> I wanted to, but will be 2,000 miles away on that date.
> 
> Are you going to join us next Saturday for the "Ah, What the Heck" of Hunterdon?


Can't. Wife is working which means I am watching the kids. But you got me motivated to try rougher roads. Put tougher tires on the "winter" bike finally. So if it is not this month I will do this type of riding soon .

Have fun next week and lets get a rise soon.


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## RJP Diver

NJBiker72 said:


> Can't. Wife is working which means I am watching the kids. But you got me motivated to try rougher roads. Put tougher tires on the "winter" bike finally. So if it is not this month I will do this type of riding soon .
> 
> Have fun next week and lets get a rise soon.


Any Sat/Sun you want to come out this way for a ride... let me know.


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## NJBiker72

RJP Diver said:


> Any Sat/Sun you want to come out this way for a ride... let me know.


I'll take you up on that one of these days. Always fun to try some new roads.


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## gpcyclist25

I'm signed up for it. Hope to have training done by then and not get totally embarrassed. Will probably ride a 68 mile course in and around the race the week before, and may join this weekend. Knocked off 58 miles today so feeling more comfortable with distance, but still only have a couple of hundred miles in my legs this season.

Either way, it was really just a motivation to get an early start on the season and get into condition a little earlier than I normally do.


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## NJBiker72

gpcyclist25 said:


> I'm signed up for it. Hope to have training done by then and not get totally embarrassed. Will probably ride a 68 mile course in and around the race the week before, and may join this weekend. Knocked off 58 miles today so feeling more comfortable with distance, but still only have a couple of hundred miles in my legs this season.
> 
> Either way, it was really just a motivation to get an early start on the season and get into condition a little earlier than I normally do.


Yeah that was kind of my thought too. Have been riding all winter this year but nothing longer than 40. Probably would have done more last week if Hell hadn't sold out. 

Hmm. Last sentence sounds kinda interesting.


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## RJP Diver

NJBiker72 said:


> Yeah that was kind of my thought too. Have been riding all winter this year but nothing longer than 40. Probably would have done more last week if Hell hadn't sold out.
> 
> Hmm. Last sentence sounds kinda interesting.


If anyone's interested we can do a HoH route a little later in the Spring when folks are available... and ready. We'll need pay for our own beer and pizza when we finish, though.

:aureola:


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## NJBiker72

RJP Diver said:


> If anyone's interested we can do a HoH route a little later in the Spring when folks are available... and ready. We'll need pay for our own beer and pizza when we finish, though.
> 
> :aureola:


Sounds like a plan.


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## psycleridr

I would be interested as well!


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## RJP Diver

psycleridr said:


> I would be interested as well!


Several of us are doing a 50mi version this saturday if you'd like to join us.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/ne...k-hunterdon-rbr-group-ride-3-17-a-274716.html


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## psycleridr

Unfortunately can't make this Saturday due to other commitments. So this week Sunday is my ride day. Also I am up in NE jersey so need to plan ahead as it will take me a little over an hour to get down there but it is always fun to ride somewhere new. 
Likewise if anyone wants to do a ride up north near GW bridge let me know and I can set something up


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## stoked

I might be interested also for a later time(can't do it this weekend).


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## stoked

psycleridr said:


> Likewise if anyone wants to do a ride up north near GW bridge let me know and I can set something up


Let me know when your crew is ready to climb Bear Mtn.


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## gpcyclist25

It looks like I should've joined you guys. This weekend looks rainy so a run-through of at least parts of the course looks unlikely, at least until sometime during the week hopefully.


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## thegock

*Epic weather*

My guess is that if it is 46 degrees and raining at 9am on Saturday, half the preregistered riders will DNS. More beer for moi.

Here's the current NOAA forecast for New Hope, PA:

Tabular Weather Forecast for 40.36N 74.96W


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## gpcyclist25

Let's just say I'll be watching the forecast carefully. I did a century last summer in a monsoon (4+ inches of rain), but it was summer. At 46-50 deg, with gravel and hardpack, the calculus will be different.

Then again, I signed up for Hell of Hunterdon. This was the point, wasn't it?


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## AlanE

gpcyclist25 said:


> Then again, I signed up for Hell of Hunterdon. This was the point, wasn't it?


That's the spirit. Good man.


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## Terex

I will be doing the "Hell of Taos" that day. Doesn't have quite the same ring, does it? I will try to have beer and pizza at the end. Will be back in NJ 4/8-5/8.


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## gpcyclist25

AlanE said:


> That's the spirit. Good man.


Yeah well, hold on to the kudos until after I decide to be asinine. Rain and 43 deg temps with hilly gravel/hardpack is starting to seem unwise.


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## AlanE

Terex said:


> I will be doing the "Hell of Taos" that day. Doesn't have quite the same ring, does it? I will try to have beer and pizza at the end. Will be back in NJ 4/8-5/8.


That gives you another week to get in shape. TiBoy is strong. Be afraid.


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## RJP Diver

gpcyclist25 said:


> Yeah well, hold on to the kudos until after I decide to be asinine. Rain and 43 deg temps with hilly gravel/hardpack is starting to seem unwise.


I would like to formally invoke Rule #5 and Rule #9.

Velominati › The Rules

:thumbsup:


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## thegock

*Or this*

insert something clever here:

Ronnie Johns - Chopper - Harden the Fuck Up - YouTube


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## gpcyclist25

RJP Diver said:


> I would like to formally invoke Rule #5 and Rule #9.
> 
> Velominati › The Rules
> 
> :thumbsup:


I hate you.


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## RJP Diver

gpcyclist25 said:


> I hate you.



If it makes you feel any better, while you're trying to get up and over Pin Oak in the rain tomorrow I'll be sitting here...










...with a frozen margarita in hand.

:aureola:


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## AlanE

HoH definitely lived up to its name this year. Pretty good turnout considering the weather - I would estimate about 200 riders. And having done this ride every year, this year I had my first flat. Thankfully the SAG wagon was right behind me with a floor pump and an extra tube to get me through the rest of the ride. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the ride. Misery loves company as they say. Excellent post-ride beer and pizza as usual. I don't regret my decision to ride, but I'm sure those who decided to stay home don't regret their decision either.


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## gpcyclist25

Yeah the weather was something - really made the road surfaces live up to the name. The downhills on soaked hardpack were just treacherous, especially since half of them seemed to have a curve at the very bottom.

I saw at least 7 flats. Was also a little surprised at the turnout, but then again you sign up for this ride knowing that it may be crappy out. I'm obviously not in tiptop shape, but still in awe of a guy I follow on Strava who did it in 4:22. In those conditions, sort of amazing.

The bike will take a little while to recover.


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## gpcyclist25

The irony is that its going to take longer to clean the bike than the ride took.


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## AlanE

*HoH Article in Cyclocross*

http://www.cxmagazine.com/offseason-fundo-hell-hunterdon-sees-success

I liked the comments about Harbourton-Woodsville Rd.


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## gpcyclist25

AlanE said:


> http://www.cxmagazine.com/offseason-fundo-hell-hunterdon-sees-success
> 
> I liked the comments about Harbourton-Woodsville Rd.


Thanks for the link. I don't remember Harbourton-Woodsville specifically although I do remember some road that felt like marbles embedded in asphalt. And I do remember thinking "holy crap, this is like a f*** magic carpet" whenever we transitioned from gravel to asphalt.

The only stretch I remember other than Hunter Rd. was Pine Hill, and only because they decided to station the god**** photographer at the top so that I had to actually look like I wasn't about to die.


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## Terex

Arrrggghhhhhh!!! Next year I'm dropping 15 lbs., getting into shape, shipping my CX bike back from NM and riding this.

PS to gpcyclist25 : Alan does Pine Hill on his fixie. A piece of cake. Crumb cake.

PPS : Just found I my DVR in NJ recorded Paris Roubaix. Good times!


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## gpcyclist25

Yeah this ride might be the reason I decide to try and stay in year-round shape rather than let go for two months over the winter. That and it might encourage me to do my annual bike overhaul after this event, not before.


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## RJP Diver

Terex said:


> Arrrggghhhhhh!!! Next year I'm dropping 15 lbs., getting into shape, shipping my CX bike back from NM and riding this.


I think you'd regret doing HoH on a CX bike, at least for the ~60mi of the route that _*is*_ paved.

:thumbsup:


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## NJBiker72

RJP Diver said:


> I think you'd regret doing HoH on a CX bike, at least for the ~60mi of the route that _*is*_ paved.
> 
> :thumbsup:


I toyed with my winter bike to maybe do some of these next year. Swapped out the 23s for 28s. Nice ride quality but slower.


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## AlanE

gpcyclist25 said:


> the god**** photographer .


Speaking of the photographer, are the pictures posted anywhere?

Also, I saw a couple people with helmet cams at the start. Any new videos out there or just the carppy ones fromn last year ? ;-)


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## BethLikesBikes

RJP Diver said:


> I think you'd regret doing HoH on a CX bike, at least for the ~60mi of the route that _*is*_ paved.
> 
> :thumbsup:


We should find a weekend to do the HOH course.


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## NJBiker72

BethLikesBikes said:


> We should find a weekend to do the HOH course.


I would be up for trying that. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2


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## gpcyclist25

BethLikesBikes said:


> We should find a weekend to do the HOH course.


Could work. The only tricky thing is figuring out a second rest stop. First would probably be the general store on Wertsville Rd. After that, not sure.


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## RJP Diver

BethLikesBikes said:


> We should find a weekend to do the HOH course.


I'm out of the country again next two weekends, but after that I'm pretty wide open.


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## RJP Diver

gpcyclist25 said:


> Could work. The only tricky thing is figuring out a second rest stop. First would probably be the general store on Wertsville Rd. After that, not sure.


No problem at all... Delaware Township, around 50mi mark or so, has a few places to stop and refill bottles for the home-stretch if needed.


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## psycleridr

How long is the the route? I would be interested as well depending if I am traveling or not


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## RJP Diver

psycleridr said:


> How long is the the route? I would be interested as well depending if I am traveling or not


77mi

But there are several "short cuts" out if you want to bail early. Some of us recently did a 50mi version...


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## AlanE

Terex said:


> Arrrggghhhhhh!!! Next year I'm dropping 15 lbs., getting into shape, shipping my CX bike back from NM and riding this.!


Next year ??? Geez Terex, it's only April. Are you writing off 2012 already? 

I'm thinking of putting together a ride that includes some of the dirt roads in northern Hunterdon County, just so I can call it "Hell of the North Hunterdon". Would make HoH look like a walk in the park.


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## RJP Diver

AlanE said:


> Next year ??? Geez Terex, it's only April. Are you writing off 2012 already?
> 
> I'm thinking of putting together a ride that includes some of the dirt roads in northern Hunterdon County, just so I can call it "Hell of the North Hunterdon". Would make HoH look like a walk in the park.


Sign me up - I'm always interested in a little humiliation!


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## Terex

RJP Diver said:


> I think you'd regret doing HoH on a CX bike, at least for the ~60mi of the route that _*is*_ paved.
> 
> :thumbsup:


Probably not. It's a 16.7 lb. C-dale SuperX. Hey, I did it on my old Trek 2700 with fenders a couple of years ago. I have no idea why I thought that fenders would be a good idea...

And then there was the hidden radial tire wire flat(s).


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## gpcyclist25

I'll probably rides parts of it again this weekend if I get my act together. Will probably cut out a bunch of dirt road segments - its just too hard on the bike and I'm more interested in using it for hill climbing work than otherwise. But I don't remember the course well enough to discern which was which so I'll probably still end up on a lot of dirt.


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## gpcyclist25

Terex said:


> Probably not. It's a 16.7 lb. C-dale SuperX. Hey, I did it on my old Trek 2700 with fenders a couple of years ago. I have no idea why I thought that fenders would be a good idea...
> 
> And then there was the hidden radial tire wire flat(s).


I rode the vast majority of the course with a female Ironman triathlete, who seemed to have no trouble covering it all on a cross bike. That said, I think she had road tires set up for it.


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## gpcyclist25

Pictures are in. See what you missed. Note the people who walked it up Pine Hill.

http://mullerrj.exposuremanager.com/g/2012_hell_of_hunterdon


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## JeffreyT

gpcyclist25 said:


> Pictures are in. See what you missed. Note the people who walked it up Pine Hill.
> 
> http://mullerrj.exposuremanager.com/g/2012_hell_of_hunterdon


All those pictures and I didn't get into any of them! That's really a blow to my fragile ego. Actually... I asked him not to take a picture of me pushing my fixed gear up Pine Hill. I knew that I was over geared for Pine Hill, but I didn't want to go too small for all the flat and downhill sections.
Jeff


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## AlanE

JeffreyT said:


> All those pictures and I didn't get into any of them! That's really a blow to my fragile ego. Actually... I asked him not to take a picture of me pushing my fixed gear up Pine Hill. I knew that I was over geared for Pine Hill, but I didn't want to go too small for all the flat and downhill sections.
> Jeff


If you did HoH on a fixie, your ego should be completely intact. Kudos. I once made it up Pine Hill in 42x16. Barely. I was zigging and zagging. And it was on dry roads and not 50 miles into an 80 mile sufferfest.


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## BethLikesBikes

RJP Diver said:


> I'm out of the country again next two weekends, but after that I'm pretty wide open.


I think we're around most weekends. I'm just not free Sat. mornings, so Sunday would work better.


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## gpcyclist25

Rode much of it again today, including Rileyville and Pine Hill. Not better the second time.


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## NJBiker72

Sunday is usually my group ride day so that would work. Might do Miles for Matheny this coming week. See other thread, anyone else?


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