indyfabz

Five-day planned starting on Sunday:

Dashboard · Ride with GPS

After a 2 mile ride from home and 25 minute train ride to the start it will be 40 miles to Wharton State Forest, which will be a new camping experience for me.

Day 2 is about 45 miles to Belleplain State Forest, where I have been so often one of the rangers recognizes my name on the list if I make a reservation.

Day 3 is 25 miles to the Cape May-Lewes Ferry then a short ride to Cape Henlopen Sate Park in DE for two nights. (The DE portion is not shown on the map.) The park was formerly a military base created to guard the Delaware Bay from Nazi invasion. Sometime after WWII, the feds donated the land to the state. Not uncommon to see dolphins in the surf (and during the ferry ride.) Very bike-friendly place. On Wednesday I'll probably ride around the park then down to Rehoboth for lunch. Lots of bike trail mileage in the park and surrounding area, some of which is through tidal marshes. I am doing this trip entirely during weekdays because even at this time of year the park's campground is usually booked solid on weekends.

Day 5 it's back on the ferry and up the coast to Atlantic City for about 50 miles to catch a train home. The map for that segment is a little wonky as Google Maps has not been updated to show trail mileage that has been added. I will probably take the trail farther north than shown before heading to the coast from Cape May Courthouse to Stone Harbor.

Looks like Day 3 is going to be wet, but it's only 25 miles, and it's all flat. Day 5 may also have some showers off and on, but it now looks like the wind will be blowing up the coast. The last time I rode from the ferry to AC I had some light/drizzle and a pretty stiff headwind all the way. Not fun when there is nothing to shelter you.

One thing I don't like about touring this time of year is how early it gets dark, but what can you do? The only real time pressure is to make the 10:30 ferry on Day 3. (The next sailing is not until 2:30) While it's only a 25 mile day, there is a section that might be slow because of traffic lights, and it will likely be raining. Also, you are supposed to arrive at the ferry 45 min. before departure. I will probably start out before official sunrise. Shouldn't be a problem because the early mileage is on little used roads.

smudgy

Have a great trip! Stay safe. The shorter riding day thing is definitely a factor. That and there is more down time in the dark. Almost all of my tours have been in the summer, but once I did the Natchez Trace in mid-March. It got dark by 7 pm. I wasn't ready for that. I was used to riding until 9 or so. Again, have a great trip.

Doug64

Enjoy

Tourist in MSN

Have a great trip.

The only tour I had with limited hours was Florida in February. Had to change out headlamp battery part way thru the trip but it was a two week trip and the headlamp only had one AA battery in it.

I hope you have a good alarm on your watch or clock or phone so that you do not oversleep on the morning you want to get out early.

indyfabz

I do. And as luck would have it, everyone got a 10,000 whatever power bank at a recent company staff meeting. Pretty light and compact. No more hanging around outside bathhouses or laundry rooms while the phone charges. I keep the phone on low power mode most of the time but still need to give it juice once in a while, especially if I take a lot of photos. I also get photos and videos from my cat sitters.

staehpj1

Given that the shortest day is December 21st, February and March are far from the worst time to go for length of daylight hours in the south. I think I figured that there was something like a full hour more daylight by doing the ST from mid Feb - Mid March than doing it in early. winter depending on the exact date selected. That is why I consider Feb-Mar to be the ideal time for the ST, if like me you hate riding in the heat and don't mind frost overnight some nights.

All that said, the days are still not all that short around Cape May this time of year. It is still pretty close to 11 hours. Not bad if you don't lolly gag around too long in the morning.

Tourist in MSN

This is the watch I wear for traveling, it has five setable alarms. And loud enough I can hear them. I had to get rolling early this day to catch a 8am ferry. I almost NEVER get out of the campsite before 7am.



And yes, this was also proof that the mosquitos were up that early too.

Clyde1820

A fall colors tour. Always worth doing. Even if you miss every scheduled stop, ferry, etc.

Enjoy the trip. Be safe.

indyfabz

Fall colors are just starting to awaken in SE PA & NJ. Many days have been running 10+ degrees above normal. It’s funny because when we have had days in the 60s, which is normal for this time of year, people have been complaining about how cold it is.

kaos joe

Hey, have a great trip! I've been plotting and conspiring to get away but one thing or another has got me stymied so far this fall.

zandoval 

Yep... But you are doing it! BRAVO...

Short day just leaves ya more time to rest and relax...

robow

The wife and I just got back from a week down south and while the weather was superb, the sunset at 6:30 pm does present a few issues. We're heading out for one last adventure of the year in the next few days but that's about as late in the year as I'm willing.

alan s 

I like Cape Henlopen. Rode there, but did not camp. Sounds like a nice trip.

Tourist in MSN

Looks wet today and tomorrow, and then again on Friday.

This is what it probably looks like at about 2am tonight.



I hope you are having a great time.

indyfabz

Yesterday afternoon from my campsite. Warmer now than yesterday.

staehpj1

It is finally just getting to be cool enough to not be unpleasantly hot outside here in Tallahassee and the days are still almost 11 hours, but are getting shorter. By December 21st the length of day will be 10:10:51 here. Personally I'll take the cooler temperatures with the short days rather than deal with 100 F heat. That said the days are much longer in the spring when the temperatures are the same as they are now. So planning a Souther Tier trip is it is better to go late winter IMO.

One other factor for outdoor activities, peak fall colors are just about the nicest time to be out in much of the country. Cool temperatures and beautiful fall colors are hard to beat IMO. Exactly when they are depends largely on lattitude and elevation, but around the first week of October is often a good time for the mid Atlantic mountains. I have done more hiking and canoe trips then, but it would be great touring as well. Lower or further south would extend that to now or later and direction of travel could accomodate that depending on the locale and route.

Tourist in MSN

I keep forgetting how long the days are down south in winter. I am in Madison WI, my GPS says that day is 9:00 long here.

I grew up in Minneapolis, even shorter there. Years ago I worked in a factory for a year to try to save up some money to be able to start college. Working day started before sunrise, sunset just as I walked out the door at the end of the work day. I did not see the sun for five days a week in the deepest part of winter.

staehpj1

On the other side of that I remember how long the daylight hours were on trips near the Canadian border in June. It was daylight for hours after I went to bed. It was weird to have something like 16 hours of daylight.

Here in the south we are closer to equal days and nights at both ends of the scale.

Tourist in MSN

REI used to sell their own brand of tents with a white or off-white tent fly so that the interior of tour tent would not be too dark. I brought one of those when I went to Iceland. The sun set but it was so close to the horizon that it never got dark for my whole trip. Even at 1:30 am, it was quite bright outside. And that means it was quite bright inside my tent.

Civil Twilight refers to when the sun has set or before sunrise but it is within 6 degrees of the horizon, light enough outside to carry out normal activities without artificial light. But you are a sailor, you know that stuff.

indyfabz

On the train home. Last night was probably the heaviest rain I ever experienced camping. There are states of emergency in NJ and NY due to flash flooding. More rain and wind expected later today.

To make my ferry I would have had to pack up in a deluge. Got little sleep because of the noise. At a couple of points the wind and rain made it sound like the forest was growling. Lewes, DE, where I was going to spend the next two nights, is expecting more rain later today and 30 mph+ winds tomorrow. Not ideal beach or riding conditions.

Snapped these on the way up the coast to AC. It’s Ocean City, NJ. At least I had a nice tailwind.

Tourist in MSN

That forecast map I posted looked unpleasant, but nowhere near as bad as you describe. Bummer.

You are safe and unharmed. Could be worse. I hope you enjoy the train ride. Thanks for the update.

indyfabz

When I got home the news was calling it a mini-Nor’easter, which is a type of coastal storm we can get in these parts. It was not forecast when I left on Sunday, and my cell service was so weak many places I couldn’t check on line. At some points Monday night I lost all signal. Not all parts of New Jersey are as developed as many people think. There are a lot of sand roads in the Pine Barrens. That stuff can be hard to ride in when damp. Deer bounded across my path, and I saw a small, red fox on this one. Near the end I saw something odd off to the side. Looked closer and saw that someone had dressed a dear and left the pelt and carcass in a ditch. Looked to have happened pretty recently as the flesh was still pretty pink.

pdlamb

Sounds like your planned doddle turned into an adventure! Glad it didn't turn into a three hour tour...

Foxes are neat. A neighboring house had a den under the floor -- we never had problems with chipmunks in the HVAC ducts until they left.

indyfabz

Funny you reference that. I don’t have the strongest sea legs. Never have. The last time I took that ferry to Lewes the bay was less than calm. I got a little queasy for a spell during the hour+ sailing.

“Somewhere in the swamps of Jersey.”—Bruce Springsteen

Tourist in MSN

You never have the camera ready that you need with the right settings for those rare wildlife shots.