Cycle trip to Round Valley Reservoir, Sept. 5 - 7, 2003.
Home DC trip Round Valley trip Einstein's house 9/11/01 daytrip Bikes: 520 IH 700
	I left my place at seven AM on the morning of September 5, bound for Round Valley reservoir. By straight line, (compass), measurement it's approximately 55 miles West/ Southwest of where I live in NJ. I originally estimated it would take seven hours total to arrive, based on more than a few rides of seventy plus miles... but I wasn't aware of the number of formidable hills I'd encounter. It took me until eleven o' clock at night to do the eighty - one total miles, due to what must have been about thirty hills, (a conservative estimate), which covered what I'd guess was over ten mountains. Seventy - three miles to the reservoir entrance, (at 7:30 PM), another 3 miles on the reservoir grounds to the start of a trail, 3 miles walking on a *very* tough trail to the start of the camp area, then 2.4 miles to the camp, where I arrived at 11 pm.
	A ranger doing a patrol told me that it would take at least two hours to get to campsite fifty, but he was wrong -- it took me almost three hours, because the trail was so difficult I was forced to walk the loaded road bike, (Though I knew the trail was rather rugged, I used the 520 since getting there would be the longer part of the ride). Due to the fact that darkness was falling and the difficulty of the trail, he said he would certainly have sent me away if I had a motor vehicle -- but due to the fact that I'd traveled all those miles by bicycle, he let me continue on in the soon-to-be darkness. The headlight on my bike was more than adequate to get me through the surprisingly tough trail, but I had used the last of my water before entering the reservoir grounds, (anticipating the hand-pumps that the reservoir info sheets mention). That means it was at least six miles of riding/ hiking on a very rugged trail before I would have access to water -- over two hours in total. That was the toughest part of the entire trip.
	Overall it was worth it -- these are very nice campsites -- but if I knew at the fifty mile marker what I eventually knew at the camp site, I would have turned around, (or at least guerilla - camped somewhere). Due to the seventy - one miles of continuous hills, I had knee pain all the next day and knew that the strain on my knees was much more than the single scheduled rest day could renew. I didn't make it back under my own power. For the return trip I called for my first ever bailout, which was disappointing at the time, but I'm glad I did it. My right knee still hurt six days later, so an attempt to return by bicycle could possibly have done permanent damage. I'm no stranger to hills or big mileage days, but the hills were just endless; it was literally one right after the other through Essex County, all of Morris County, and then part of Hunterdon County.
	The picture to the right is my campsite, number fifty, with the reservoir in the background, (it's designated as "water access"). Quite a few of the campsites in the surrounding area are accessible by boat -- thus avoiding that tough trail. This is the way to go if you own a boat and can haul it there, as the length and difficulty of the trail which leads to the campgrounds prohibits multiple trips for gear-hauling. Judging by the landed boats sitting around the reservoir overnight, a few of the campers used boats to camp.
	Hot air balloons were launching during most of the late afternoon, and kept going out until dusk. I didn't know they travelled at night, but apparently so. It was a pleasant surprise to see them, eventually there would be over fifteen. The exposure is bad, but it's a good enough picture that represents what I saw across the reservoir.
	A snail. There were many of these snails in the shallow water around the edges of the reservoir.
	Saturday night's sunset. Unfortunately, the hot air balloons had just drifted out of the frame when the sun hit its most dramatic. It's a nice picture regardless.
	Equipment wise, I tightened the spokes before I took this trip. The wheels were true enough as they came, but the spokes seemed a bit too loose to handle a load over rough surfaces. I debated with myself whether to tighten things up when I took delivery of the bike last year, because the spokes seemed barely taut enough for basic around-town riding, but I didn't touch them because I wanted to see how they handled the unloaded rides I have done on this bike up to this point. Something I've been wondering about since I first assembled a wheel is: how much spoke tension is adequate for basic riding vs. rough road riding vs. loaded riding, etc. The wheels, as they came stock, never lost true to the extent that they rubbed the brake pads, but I'm certain they weren't taut enough to handle a self - contained touring load over a rough surface, (which the trail leading to the campground certainly was). I'm glad I tightened the spokes before this ride because I am relatively certain that there would have been a problem given some of the terrain.
	The Jandd rack was a not as stiff as other racks I've used, but the bike was way overloaded. The jury's still out on this one.
	I now have a different philosophy on the weight of loaded bikes for touring, (or at least for long rides). Until now, I've taken the line that the weight of the load didn't matter since I'm a strong enough rider with as much stamina as I've ever needed -- I have done a fully loaded 100 mile day before, (in the midst of 60 - 70 mile scheduled days), and wasn't worn significantly after that... as a matter of fact I'm sure I could have gone on for another fifty miles without feeling it very much that day. In my defense, until now weight has made no difference, but now I think that it isn't as much a matter of being able to handle the weight as its a matter of being ready for anything. There's also the fact that less weight makes for a more enjoyable ride. If the bike were lighter it's possible that my knee may not have hurt badly enough to cause the bail-out, and the bike certainly would have been less of a hassle traversing the trail if it were twenty pounds lighter. I never before considered *not* taking something along based on weight alone, but from now on I will. There are a few tricks to lighten things up that I will be paying more attention to from now on.

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